1. Today is Good Friday in the Christian calendar. That means I have to listen to at least some of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which is s a religious experience all in itself. You can listen to an intro to the piece and why it matters on NPR, or just jump into a full version on YouTube.

2. If three hoursĀ  of Bach is a little much to commit to, there’s always Wagner. The “Good Friday Music” from Parsifal is also themed appropriately and is only ten minutes. The link goes to a Met performance, with good video notes: “…the radiant Good Friday Music is a poignant meditation on the chief themes of the opera: suffering, compassion and redemption.”

3. My inner hippie has no problem with Easter in its broadest form of “suffering, compassion and redemption” (with some pagan spring celebrations mixed in, too), but she also feels compelled to follow all the religious music with this: