Go to Dark Gethsemane (REDHEAD NO. 76) – six handbells and piano

Richard Redhead was a vocalist and an organist in Sussex in the nineteenth century. He also spent a career building the next generation of church musicians. In the nineteenth century, he published a book of hymns, and the tune name of this arrangement includes his surname.

Go to dark Gethsemane, / You who feel the tempter’s pow’r;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see; / Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away; / Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

Follow to the judgment hall; / View the Lord of life arraigned;
O the worm-wood and the gall! / O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suff’ring, shame, or loss; / Learn of Him to bear the cross.

Calv’ry’s mournful mountain climb / There’ adoring at His feet,
Mark the miracle of time, / God’s own sacrifice complete:
“It is finished!” Hear the cry; / Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb / Where they laid his breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom; / Who hath taken Him away?
Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes: / Savior, teach us so to rise.

Our arrangement for six accompanied handbells is straightforward to play, and will contribute to your services during Holy Week.

Bells used: Bb5, C6, D6, Eb6, F6, G6
Key: Bb major

Church Calendar: Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter

Hymn Tune: REDHEAD NO. 76
Find metrically-matched hymn texts

Other arrangements available for eight handbells.

Purchasing this 6-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to three copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment/instrumental score(s), if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

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