Mr. Tritle oversees three levels of worship at St. Ignatius Loyola. High Masses, folk Masses and something musically in between serve different constituents of the church, often simultaneously on different floors. Mr. Golijov's Passion, in which Jesus' voice speaks through men, women or full choir, is not literally operatic. But the idea of theater that hovers between the stand-up oratorio and the fluid, visual musical stage is an enticing substitute. Here the composer can avoid the pitfalls and still make clear that his Jesus, like many of the Argentines he grew up with, is dark-skinned and familiar looking, with little kinship to the pale Tuscan complexions that populate Renaissance painting.
All religious artists face the paradox of the beautiful and the good.
Exalted music can be written and loved by evil people. The Episcopal Church has had to curb the language of the Book of Common Prayer because its exquisite English so hypnotizes worshipers that spiritual messages become secondary to the grace and euphony of sheer sound. Mr. Hancock has an explanation. They are refreshed by them, just as the child is refreshed by the same story continually repeated. In these psalms and responses, and in the great music of the church, lie reflections of the irresistible beauty of Jesus and what he did.