When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, version 1 on hammered dulcimer by Timothy Seaman

www.timothyseam... Timothy Seaman works on a new arrangement of one of the greatest of all hymns, on solo hammered dulcimer. The melody is by Lowell Mason, 1824; he claimed to have developed it from a Gregorian chant, so Timothy has chosen to begin and end with parallel octaves with a chant-like sense of timing.
The sublime melody is fairly short and simple, so the artist has decided to change octaves and keys several times, in different ways, and to contrast pure melody with verses using thoroughly developed diatonic chording that adds in a secondary dominant and a tonic-b7 chord as well. The keys are D, E, G.
The words, by Isaac Watts, are a perfect contemplation of the Passion of Jesus and of that love's implications for our lives; so the musician keeps that in mind while arranging and while playing. The result is a sober and reflective mood, with moderate outbursts of emotion at times. Another result is that each playing is different: Not only is this an early stage of exploration of ways to express the piece pianistically on hammered dulcimer, but two different takes had such subtly varied instances of detail that we decided to publish both. This is the first; its high points include more meaningful improvisational passages between phrases.
Isaac Watts's matchless text (1707):
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o'er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.
www.timothyseam...