March 2009 Offering Of The Month: "Gethsemane" Written by Edward Jerlin Musical seed planted by Higher Ground Baptist Church © 2009 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing - All Rights Reserved Although I committed to completing "On Broken Wings" before working on any other musical endeavors, I was asked to provide the background music for the "Garden of Gethsemane" scene in my church's Easter musical, a challenge I felt privileged to accept. It's not every day one gets to set the bible to music... The scene takes place just after the Lord's Supper. Jesus is with his disciples praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is betrayed by Judas & is arrested by an angry mob. The mood & action in this dark scene is intense & sinister. I had a 3-minute time frame in which to work. As a starting point, I was given a brief repeating thumping minor chord motif (from Higher Ground Baptist Church) which opens & closes the piece to give me an idea of what kind of feel they were looking for. The first thing I did before undertaking this was read the four gospel accounts of the scene from Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 & John 18 for inspiration, which was probably the best thing I could have done. What came through clearly to me in the gospel accounts was that as dark & as evil as this scene is, the Father's will is being done & even in the midst of extreme darkness, there were moments of triumph: "Then Jesus, knowing all things that were coming upon Him, went out and said to them, Whom do you seek? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I AM! And Judas who betrayed Him also stood with them. Then as soon as He had said to them, I AM, they went backward and fell to the ground." -John 18:46 "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so? In that hour Jesus said to the crowds, Have you come out in order to take Me with swords and clubs, as against a thief? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not lay hands on Me. But all this happened that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." -Matthew 26:53-56a "And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched his ear and healed him. -Luke 22:50-51 Thus, there are brief moments during this intense & dark piece that a little "light" shines through & it almost sounds borderline triumphant before the darkness is re-established. This is by design. The 7/8 meter maintains the tension as the frenetic pace of the events quickens. I can easily see this piece being expanded upon & extended into a 10-15 minute "epic", or slotting it into a longer-form piece like "Rapture" someday. I confess that I had some concerns about whether this style of music would be appropriate, but Liz Decker, the director of our Easter musical told me I captured what she was looking for: "I love it! The bells are very ominous, eerie, very haunting. It gives the feeling of the garden scene speeding up getting out of control. The scene also ends with the Pharisee watching it all and being the last to leave the garden; he is the last face seen. He leaves with an evil smile. The music is going to make it extra effective." Enjoy! Comments & feedback are always welcome at our guestbook. Thank you & God bless you during the Easter season. To download the music, RIGHT CLICK and choose "Save Target As": "Gethsemane" MUSIC 2:57