Best-Selling Cantatas for Lent & Easter Friday, January 15, 2021
recommended by Jennifer F., Sacred Choral Music Specialist
Prepare for the coming Easter season with one of these best-selling cantatas!
Calvary’s Mountain by John Leavitt
This exceptional cantata can be used as a special service anytime during Lent and Holy Week. It is especially appropriate for Palm Sunday or Good Friday when the Passion Narrative is preferred. Titles include: “What Wondrous Love Is This,” “Were You There,” “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs,” “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” and “Jesus Died on Calvary’s Mountain.”
In My Place by Craig Courtney
“In My Place” is a poignant musical journey following Christ to the cross. It is a compelling reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus willingly made as He gave His life for each of us. Craig Courtney’s masterful compositions and Pamela Stewart’s inspired narrative will facilitate a memorable and meaningful worship experience for Lent or Holy Week. The music is a distinctive blend of original melodies and creative hymn settings. The narrative focuses on the observations of five first-hand witnesses to Christ’s final hours: Judas, Peter, the thief on the cross, the Roman centurion, and a crowd member who called for Christ’s death. Moving, dramatic, and life-changing are all appropriate descriptors of this exceptional Craig Courtney cantata. Titles include: “Lest I Forget Thy Love,” “Ah, Holy Jesus,” “When I Am Lifted Up,” “O Sacred Head,” “I Stand Amazed,” “Holy (Sanctus),” and “Behold the Lamb of God.”
Prayers at the Cross by Lee Dengler & Susan Naus Dengler
Truly a unique offering for Holy Week, Lent, or even general use! Employing poignant narrative and lush choral writing, this work focuses on the three prayers Jesus uttered while on the cross, transforming them into prayers we also may pray: a prayer for forgiveness, a prayer for God’s presence when we are alone, and a prayer of commitment of our lives to God. Supported by optional parts for violin and cello, “Prayers at the Cross” is sure to be a powerful addition in a variety of worship settings. Titles include: “Father, Forgive,” “My God, I Feel Forsaken,” and “Into Your Hands.”
It Is Finished by Mary McDonald
For Holy Week or Good Friday, It Is Finished is a unique, powerful, and compelling Tenebrae service from the always uncommonly creative Mary McDonald. At 30 minutes in length, it is easily prepared and will serve perfectly as a centerpiece for any Holy Week service. Or, perform the anthems separately during Lent and Holy Week. The optional chamber orchestration is elegant, yet practical. Optional PowerPoint files with inspiring images for projection during the service will add a moving visual element. Titles include: “Meditation on Wondrous Love,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “I Am Light, I Am Life, I Am Love,” “As You Will, It Will Be,” “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” “Let Him Be Crucified,” and “It Is Finished (with Were You There).”
Who Do You Say That I Am? by Lloyd Larson
Created and composed by Lloyd Larson, “Who Do You Say That I Am?” invites choir, narrators, and congregation to experience anew the earthly life of Jesus, seeing His life, ministry, death, and resurrection through the eyes of front-row participants, whose varied answers to the title question reveal the “Messiah,” “Emmanuel,” “gifted Teacher,” the “miracle Worker,” the “King of glory,” the “King above all kings,” a “Man of sorrows,” the “sacrificial Lamb of God,” and the “triumphant Lord of life,” the “Son of the living God.” This extended work, suitable for the Lenten season, may be presented in multiple segments during Lent or throughout Holy Week. It may also be performed in its entirety as a single 35-minute work, culminating with a resurrection anthem or saving that final chapter of the story for Easter Sunday. The short dramatic monologues may be presented from memory by actors in costume or by narrators reading the scripts from the cantata book. Titles include: “God with Us,” “Lord of the Wind and the Sea,” “You Are the Christ, the Son of God!,” “He Is the King of Glory!,” “Man of Sorrows,” “Truly, This Was God’s Son,” and “The Lord of Life.”
The Shadow of the Cross by Lloyd Larson
This is a cantata for Holy Week featuring both contemporary and traditional selections. Seven readings accompanied by the extinguishing of candles brings this 45-minute program to a meditative conclusion shrouded in darkness. For SATB or SAB voices, piano and narrator, with optional congregation and instruments (flute, oboe, French horn, and cello) or CD accompaniment. Titles include: “I Come to the Cross (with Near the Cross),” “We Remember You,” “O Jesus, I Have Promised (with I Need Thee Every Hour),” “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” “Lamb of God,” “You Are My All in All,” “When You Prayed Beneath the Trees,” “How Beautiful (with There Is a Redeemer),” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
Find more Lent and Easter cantatas on our website, or contact us for more information. Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!
About the Author:
Jennifer F. is a graduate of Otterbein College with a degree in Vocal Performance. She has worked at Stanton’s for over 15 years specializing in Sacred Choral, Classical Vocal and Handbell music. Jennifer is Director of Handbells at Worthington Presbyterian Church and sings in the First Church Choir at First Congregational Church in Columbus Ohio, and is also the founder, Artistic Director and bass bell ringer for Handbells Columbus.