109. Throned upon the awful tree
John Ellerton, 1826-93
A solemn dirge of the Passion, written in 1875 in the seclusion of a quiet rural parish and regarded as the author’s best composition. It appeared in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1875.
For comments on John Ellerton see [Hymn 43].
MUSIC. REDHEAD NO. 76, also called “Petra,” and “Gethsemane,” was composed by Richard Redhead, 1820-1901, English chorister and organist, and proponent of the Oxford Movement (not to be confused with the modern Oxford movement headed by Buchman). The tune, without name, appeared in his Church Hymns and Tunes, Ancient and Modern, 1853, as No. 76. In England it has long been sung to the hymn “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.”