Contrapunctus I

My postlude today was the first Contrapunctus from "Die Kunst der Fuge," J. S. Bach's magisterial summary of the contrapuntal art. It would have been a fitting ending to the First Sunday of Lent. But it should have been better. And it is my fault that is was not.

At two crucial points, I got off-track and had to omit an inner voice for a few measures. It probably was not obvious to those who do not know the piece well, but in both places, the music was robbed of the power that it should have had. It needed that fourth voice.

Why is it my fault? I turned off my alarm this morning and rolled over for another fifteen minutes, which turned into forty-five. It is as simple as that. If I had had that half-hour or forty-five minutes for one last thorough work-through of it this morning, I think it would have gone very well. Instead, all it got was about fifteen minutes.

This was our fourth Sunday with the organ after its return from storage during the parish's construction project. Until today, I have played it well enough. Today was the most difficult piece that I have attempted so far, and its failure is a signal that I have much work ahead.

I do not mind playing wrong notes. There have been times when I have made complete hash of what I was trying to play. But when the poor playing is the result of sloth and negligence, that is another matter. I must do better.

From the liturgy for Ash Wednesday:
"I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word."

I can see what form "prayer, fasting, and self-denial" must take for me this season. It is going to involve more than giving up chocolate.