On That Cross
Publisher Desc.
The composer writes:
" 'On That Cross' is a powerful reflection on the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ. I came up with the lyrics at around 3am in the morning of 3rd
December 2014 sitting at a desk in room 703 of the De Syloia Hotel in Hanoi,
Vietnam. Often I find that my periods of working abroad give me the space to
think of things in new ways. This song is a good example of that.
One look at the first page of the score of 'On That Cross' is all you need to
realize that this is not a case of a choir singing with a piano
accompaniment. I put the piano part above the choir in order to dispel that
misconception. So if it's not that, what is it? I wanted to demonstrate that
it is possible to approach a subject from two completely different points of
view, without either point of view being compromised by the other, and yet
the result can nevertheless be a beautiful synergy. That is what the pianist
and the choir are doing here. Each is meditating upon the cross of Christ,
but from two totally unrelated points of view and yet somehow combining in a
way that is almost hypnotically beautifully. There is little obvious
relationship between the choir's and the piano's music; and yet each is
reconciled to the other ... and there's a very good reason why I wanted the
music to speak of such reconciliation.
In late 2014 people in Iraq were being beheaded, crucified and generally
killed in the most brutal and sadistic manner possible. Their only crime
was to dare to call themselves Christians. You can say what you like but in
my book nobody has the right to tell anybody else what they should believe,
much less murder them on religious grounds. The thing that incensed me almost
to the point of incandescence was that the perpetrators of this unspeakable
evil dared to justify their actions by claiming that they were acting on
behalf of their god. So in such frame of mind I started to write the lyrics
to 'On That Cross'.
The first words that came into my mind were Oh men who dare to call on
gods to justify your hatred of this be sure and I wanted to follow that
with threats of eternal damnation, torture in hellfire and so on. Except that
the words that flowed out of my fingers onto my computer screen were not like
that at all. Of this be sure I love you still, my cross your salvation
from all the sin of man.
It doesnt get much more powerful than that. I may be incapable of loving
the people of ISIS, ISIL, DAESH or whatever one calls them, but my God isnt.
He created them, he sent his Son to die for them and he is even now ready
to save them, as he is you and me. Thats grace.
A small group of us sang this at a Good Friday united service in 2016. We
sang it unannounced, at the end of the service, when one would have expected
people to start getting up from their seats and leaving the church. Nobody
did. Not one single person moved while we sang."
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