Andrew Carwood, director of The Cardinall’s Musick, talks about the penitential quality of vocal music and its transformative power

The new Instagram filter for Ash Wednesday – a smudgy cross, digitally superimposed on the user’s forehead – is one of the many indications that this was never going to be an ordinary Lent.

Because how do we mark a time of isolation, reflection and self-denial in a year that has been defined by nothing but? Cut off from all contact points – physical and spiritual – how can we come together as a community to share in a journey through the wilderness?

For Andrew Carwood, artistic director of The Cardinall’s Musick and director of music at St Paul’s Cathedral, the answer lies in art. “Lent is a process,” he explains. “It’s not just about not eating sugar and achieving some arbitrary goal. Lent needs to be a development of thought, of self, and any art that helps you with that – whether it’s music, spoken ­word, or a painting – is tremendously useful.