A classic hymn by Henry Hart Milman gives voice to the joy and foreboding of the Passion Week, as Jesus approaches his “last and fiercest strife.” Listen to it sung by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, during an Easter service.

It seems appropriate to start the year with a selection from the master of sacred music, Johann Sebastian Bach. The Christmas Oratorio (written in 1734) was intended to be performed in six parts, ending with the Feast of Epiphany on January 6.

Pre-Raphaelite poet Christina Rossetti penned this poem of grief, doubt, and faith after the death of her mother and brother. This radiant setting by composer Joseph Roff was recorded in an abandoned farm silo in upstate New York.