Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (Good Friday, 2012)

 

Psalm	Father, into your hands (plainchant, arr. Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
Gospel Acclamation	Christus factus est (Johann Ernst Eberlin, 1702-1762)
Adoration of the Cross	Behold the wood of the cross (Missal tone) When I survey the wondrous cross Vexilla Regis (chant) with verse 6 O Crux Ave (Rihards Dubra, 1964-) O Sacred head ill-usèd Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
Communion	Ave Verum Corpus (William Byrd, c. 1540-1623) Soul of my Saviour

 

We haven’t sung the Passiontide vespers hymn Vexilla Regis on Good Friday before (at any rate, not in the last twenty-odd years). Coupled with the Latvian composer Rihards Dubra’s haunting and beautiful setting of the text of verse six, it juxtaposed the stark simplicity of the chant with the prayerfulness of Dubra’s neo-Romantic minimalism, which made for a compelling combination.