Communion music
This week, we shall be listening to “Jesu, the very thought of thee” by Edward Bairstow (1874–1946), performed by the Choir of York Minster.
The text, often used as a congregational hymn, is attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), co-founder of the Knights Templar and a major figure in the reform of religious life through the nascent Cistercian Order. Bairstow, organist and choirmaster at York Minster and professor of music at Durham University, composed this setting in 1925.