[This paper was written for the Hymns and Christian Tradition class at Capital University, where I am seeking a minor degree in religion.]
NOTES
NOTES
Hymn: “Go To Dark Gethsemane”
Tune: REDHEAD, REDHEAD 76, REDHEAD #76, PETRA, AJALON
Author: James Montgomery (1771-1854)
·
James
Montgomery was a Moravian minister who had published over four hundred hymns,
with over one hundred still in common use today (“Hymnary.org”).
Composer:
Richard Redhead (1820-1901)
· Richard Redhead was a big supporter of
the Oxford movement, which was a push for the Anglican Church to go back to its
Catholic roots (“Hymnary.org”).
Alternative Tunes: NICHT SO TRAURIG (Johann Sebastian
Bach)
LA TROBE (Christian
Ignatius LaTrobe)
ARFON
(Welsh minor tune)
OUSELEY
(Frederick A. Gore Ouseley)
SPANISH
HYMN
ASHBURTON
(Robert Jackson)
DIX
(Kocher)
TOPLADY
TICHFIELD
GETHSEMANE
(Christopher Tye)
Topic:
Holy Week
LITERARY STRUCTURE
Literary pattern: progressive indicative form (“Do this”).
Meter: 77 77 77
Rhyme
Scheme: ABABCC
Pattern
Accent: Trochee
(DA da DA da DA da)
THOUGHT STRUCTURE
Scripture:
Matthew 6:9-13
Psalm
69:21-22
Luke
9:23
John
19:30
Theology: We should be reminded that even though Jesus
died two thousand years ago, we could still learn a lot from his death. We can learn to pray, bear our cross, die,
and rise like him.
Summary by Stanza:
1.) We are tempted to fall asleep and not pray,
just like when Jesus commanded his disciples in Gethsemane.
2.) Learn to be the person Jesus was.
3.) Follow Jesus to the cross.
4.) The story is never complete.
MUSICAL CHARACTARISTICS
Phrase Structure: ABCCAE
Melodic Movement: Steps M2 up and down, M3 up
Range: D-C
Tessitura: medium
Meter: 4/4
Rhythm: simple quarter notes, dotted quarter note,
eighth note, and half note in 2, 8, and 10th measures
Harmony: 4-part SATB homophonic. Altos and tenors mainly follow the soprano
line’s motion. Bass line leaps.
Suitability of text to
tune: If
played too fast, this tune can seem pretty positive sounding. However, when slowed down, it will seem sad
and dreary, even though it’s in a major key.
It makes the singer want to stop and take a breath after each phrase,
slowing the pace down considerably. Each
phrase is almost like a big sigh. The
small intervals in the melody may have a part in keeping this song
sad-sounding. The rhythm makes this song
feel like a funeral march.
USAGE
Appropriate Occasions for
Usage: Good
Friday
Place in Worship Service: After sermon, during readings of Jesus’
arrest, trail, and execution.
Age Group: Teenagers and up.
Methods of Presentation: Sing the appropriate verse after a scripture
reading of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution.
Omit the final verse on Good Friday.
ANALYSIS OF TEXT
The
text has an interesting historical background.
The author, James Montgomery, published two versions of this text. The original version was published in 1820 in
Thomas Cotterill’s book called, Selection
of Psalms and Hymns (Haeussler 197-9).
Montgomery had these for the text printed in Cotterill’s book. He later rewrote the words and published
these new words in E. Parsons’, A
Selection of Hymns for the Use of the Protestant Dissenting Congregations of
the Independent Order of Leeds, published in 1822 (Westermeyer 149). It was published as “Christ our Example
Suffering,” (McKim 87-88). This second version
is the more commonly seen version. Many
hymnals, including the newest Lutheran hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, include this version. However, as recent as 1964, the hymnal for
the United Methodist Church, The Book of
Hymns, included the original 1820 lyrics.
The
first line, “Go to dark Gethsemane / all
who feel the tempter’s power.” The
gospel of Mark describes Jesus and his disciples going to the Garden of
Gethsemane. The disciples saw something
to didn’t seem right to them, (Your
redeemer’s conflict see.”) Jesus
told his disciples to stay put while he goes off to pray by himself. When he came back, he found Simon asleep
instead of keeping watch, (“Watch with
him one bitter hour.”) The disciples
were tempted to fall asleep, and they did.
Jesus came back again to see them sleeping again. Jesus tells his disciples to pray. “Pray that you may not enter into temptation,” (Luke
22:40 ESV). He may be referring to the prayer he taught
them, which is referenced in Matthew 6:9-13, more commonly known now as the
Lord’s Prayer, (“Learn from Jesus Christ
to pray.”)
The
line, “Follow to the judgment hall / view
the Lord of life arraigned,” is clearly a reference to Jesus about to be
sentenced by Pontius Pilate. William and
Randy Peterson, in their devotional book called, The One Year Great Songs of Faith, state that Jesus’ trial was, “a
shabby excuse for justice if there ever was one…” This thinking is seen in the
second verse of the first version of this text, which states, “See him at the judgment hall / Beaten,
bound, reviled, arraigned.” The line
from the first version goes, “See him
meekly bearing all.” This shows the
singer that Jesus wasn’t in a full gold-encrusted garb. He was probably naked with whip scars and
blood running from his body. The Mennonite Hymnary, The Hymn Book, and
The Book of Hymns all feature the
first version of this hymn. The second,
and less gory version, states, "Oh
the wormwood and the gall!” Gall,
according to Ovid Need, is a poisonous herb, referenced in Psalm 69:21-22. Need also states that wormwood is a curse,
usually in reference to bitterness.
Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23 that,
“Whoever wants to be
my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow
me.” We must learn to bear our cross,
just as Jesus did as he carried it from his trail to his place of
execution.
Jesus
was crucified at Calvary, or Golgotha, (depending on the original language that
is used.) “Calvary’s mournful mountain climb / there adoring at his feet.” Montgomery is trying to get the singer to
imagine himself or herself at Jesus’ feet while he hung on the cross, just like
his mother, Mary. “’It is finished,’” are the last words Jesus spoke, which is
referenced in John 19:30.
After Jesus died, a man named Joseph
offered up his tomb for Jesus’ body.
When the soldiers had seen Jesus was dead, they released his body to be
buried. He was laid in Joseph’s tomb,
which was quickly sealed. The fourth
line of the fourth verse, which is sometimes omitted, reads, “Who has taken him away?” This is a reference to the empty tomb, which
Mary Magdalene discovered when going to visit it. Before the singer knows it, the answer to the
question is sung. “Christ is risen! He meets our eyes / Savior teach us so to rise.”
As
mentioned above, the fourth verse is usually omitted. The Psalter
Hymnal, The Reformed Church Hymnal, The
Hymnal 1982, and The Hymn Book, all
seem to omit this verse. I have been
unable to see a correlation between all these hymnals and why they omit the
verse, except that I do know that many Lutheran or Lutheran based hymnals seem
to have kept the verse. Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Lutheran Book
of Worship, American Lutheran Hymnal,
Common Service Book with Hymnal, and The
Moravian Book of Worship all kept the verse.
The
text can be separated and used during a Good Friday service. Each verse, which carries it’s own foot,
could be sung after a reading from each of the gospels. Paul Westermeyer, in the Hymnal
Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship states that the final phrase of
each verse shows us we can learn something from Jesus, (to pray, bear the
cross, to die, and to rise).
There
are two main keys that arrangers have used: D, and Eb.
The Reformed Church Hymnal and
the Psalter Hymnal both use D. Many of the other hymnals, which use C, use Eb. See the Hymnals
section for more information about keys.
One should note that some hymnals use different tunes altogether. The
Evangelical Hymnal uses a tune called SPANISH HYMN in the key of Ab.
The Anglican Hymnbook uses
Bach’s NICHT
SO TRAURIG. The Mennonite Hymnary uses GETHSEMANE. (“Hymnary.org”).
An
English church organist named Richard Redhead composed the tune. It is said that Richard Redhead was so full
of himself that he named all his compositions after his last name and a
consecutive number (ex. REDHEAD 76) (Haeussler 198). Methodist author Carlton Young said REDHEAD,
“…expresses prevailing mid-nineteenth century Anglo-Catholic perceptions that
to recapture the spirit of antiquity is to compare a reserved, understated, if
not cheerless, hymn tunes.” However,
author and hymn composer Eric Routley said that Redhead, “did better work when
he was not composing,” (Westermeyer 149-150).
It may be clear that there are mixed reviews for this tune.
When
singing the REDHEAD tune, one should note that each of the seven syllable
phrases start on the same note, whether it be D or Eb. The tune is fairly easy to sing since each
phrase of the melody uses steps instead of leaps to reach the next note. The biggest ascending step is from DO to
MI. The
Lutheran Hymnal of 1982 (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) uses a different
harmonization, when compared to the Evangelical
Lutheran Worship hymnal. In The Lutheran Hymnal the F in the bass
part jumps down to the F in the lower octave, while the note is the same in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. This makes the former’s version more
difficult to sing.
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WORKS CITED
"Go to Dark Gethsemane." Hymnary.org. The
Hymn Society of the United States and Canada.
Web. 20 Feb 2013. <http://www.hymnary.org/text/go_to_dark_gethsemane>.
Haeussler, Armin. The Story Of Our Hymns. St. Louis:
Eden Publishing House, 1952. 197-9. Print.
McKim, Linda Jo H. The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion.
Louisville: Westminster/John Knox
Press, 1993. 87-88. Print.
Need, Ovid. "Wormwood and Gall - Deut. 29:18,19 ."
Biblical Examiner. N.p.. Web. 20 Feb
2013. <http://biblicalexaminer.org/m19911103a.htm>.
Westermeyer, Paul. Hymnal Companion. Minneapolis:
Augsburg Fortress Press, 2012.
149-50. Print.
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