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Thread: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

  1. #1
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

    Just in time for Thanksoweenmas, here’s an Easter tune. “O Sacred Head” was
    originally the tune of a secular song composed in 1601 by Hans Leo Hassler, but J. S.
    Bach reworked it for his St. Matthew Passion. (It was later reworked
    yet again by Paul Simon as “American Tune.”) I was asked to play it as
    a solo tune recently, and worked it up on a Hamlett mandola that I borrowed from Cafe member DerTiefster. I’ve transposed it here for mandolin.

    What amazed me about Bach’s four-part choral arrangement is that the
    soprano and alto lines, for the most part, sit very nicely on the mandolin just as he
    wrote them. So the first half of my arrangement is pretty much lifted
    straight from Bach. I had to change, I think, one note in the alto
    line. It’s a bit of a “finger buster,” and involves some tricky
    shifting, but it is playable! It is a slow piece, and it’s perfectly
    acceptable to pause between phrases, so you can take your time with
    it. I've suggested some fingerings in addition to tabbing it out.

    The second half is a little more typical of my arrangements. I’ve
    moved the melody to the lower half of the instrument and laid some
    chords (again, all borrowed from Bach’s brilliant harmony) on top of
    it. If you feel like playing the tune a third time, and you want to
    show off, you can move the melody into the highest octave (starting on
    the seventh fret of the E string), forget about most of the chords,
    and use lots of tremolo.

    One fond memory about this tune: I was visiting the Montmartre district of Paris, and had in fact just come out of Sacre-Coeur, the gorgeous basilica there. I stopped to listen to a street accordionist who was playing "O Sacred Head." A pickpocket came up behind me with a knife, and cut the strap on the brand new shoulder bag I had just purchased at the flea market at the base of Montmartre. He didn't quite cut all the way through it, but the bag was ruined. Had he managed to make off with that bag, he'd have gotten for his troubles one copy of Rick Steves' Guide to Paris ... which I don't think he really needed anyhow. That's all I was carrying in it.

    Have fun with it – start practicing now and you’ll have it ready by Good Friday.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails O Sacred Head - Mandolin.pdf  
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  3. #2
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    Default Re: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

    Martin,

    Thanx for the tab and for the story! I play the Milwaukee Rescue Mission regularly and the Salvation Army Kettles at Christmas so you can always count on me to be more than happy to use your arrangements!


    I have stories similar to yours from our trips to Paris ... kind of sad that those stories stand out as a lot of our main memories ...

  4. #3
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

    Most of the time when I'm a tourist in Europe, I'm on my guard against pickpockets. I've had close calls but never lost anything, just had the bag ruined. And it happened because the accordionist was playing a gorgeous rendition of this tune, and I allowed myself to be caught up in listening. Fortunately, I have many memories of Europe that don't involve people trying to steal things from me.

    Now in the cold, clear light of day, I see I made a fingering mistake, so here's a correction.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails O Sacred Head - Mandolin.pdf  
    Last edited by mrmando; Oct-21-2012 at 4:27pm.
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

    Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!

    Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls

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