When music became a prayer

音乐化为祈祷之时

The Documentary Podcast

2026-02-27

26 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Concert pianist Yirui Weng, 32, grew up in a communist, atheist family in China, where religion played no part in her life. Music, however, always did. As a gifted young pianist, she immersed herself in the great works of Western classical music. When Yirui moved to Italy to pursue her musical studies, curiosity began to replace indifference. While playing Vivaldi’s Gloria, she found herself drawn not just to the beauty of the music, but to its unfamiliar language: “Lamb of God”, “Son of the Father”. What did these words mean and why had composers been inspired by them for centuries? After meeting a Chinese priest in Milan, Yirui began attending catechism classes and encountered the teachings of Jesus for the first time. In 2023, Yirui was baptised. John Laurenson travels to Rome to meet Yirui Weng. She reflects on her journey of faith and explores a deeper question: why is music such a powerful and universal expression of belief?
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  • There is a mysterious link between music and religion.

  • Think of monks chanting in their monasteries and the Muslim call to prayer,

  • gospel singing in churches in Alabama,

  • and Bach signing all the music he ever wrote, solidio gloria to God alone the glory.

  • And sometimes music is a revelation.

  • We hear it and somehow we know, or think we know, that he is there and he is great.

  • I'm John Lawrence and this is a documentary from the BBC World Service.