Good Friday at Wyndwood Community Church

With this being Good Friday, Jo-Anne and I went to church for the service. It was a good service as well, Garry and Dora did a good job reminding us of the solemnity of the day. The music was well chosen, which is going to be the theme of my blog.

As you may know, I play the Double B Bass or Tuba. It's the big thing that is in the back of the band. I think they put us there for a couple of reasons, the first being so we don't drown out any other band member and the second being so that we don't maim and injure when we carry the instrument to our seat.

This morning, the band was on duty to play a Song Arrangement by Sir Dean Goffin. The arrangement was "Redeeming Love", which was based upon the tune Horsley. The tune is named for the composer William Horsley.

The tune can be used for two hymns, the first is "There is a fountain filled with Blood":

1. There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

2. The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.

3. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more.

4. E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme
And shall be till I die.

5. When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy power to save.

The other is "There is a Greeh Hill". This may be the most popular hymn for the tune. The site Hymns without Words feature this as the hymn for the melody. In fact you can hear the tune by going to the site. You can find the place to listen. I tried to discover if the Song Arrangement is available on the Net, but so far no such luck.

There is a green hill far away,
Outwith a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains He had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiv’n,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to Heav’n,
Saved by His precious blood.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.

O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.

The Double B part follows, for most part, the melody and brings a depth to the song that is so important. For the ending, there is a three bar rest,a count of two and then a B flat concluding with a G that is held. It is a sublime ending bringing to all the immense importance of the words of either hymn.