Alone thou goest forth, O Lord

Alone thou goest forth, O Lord. F. Bland Tucker* (1895-1984). Written in 1938 and published in H40. It is a free translation of a hymn by Peter Abelard* on the Passion of our Lord, ‘Solus ad victimam procedis, Domine’*, found in Abelard’s Hymnarius Paraclitensis. Abelard’s hymn was written for the nocturnal office on Good Friday at the Convent of the Paraclete where Heloise was abbess. In H82 it is found in the ‘Holy Week’ section, set to BANGOR, an 18th-century psalm tune. It has been particularly popular in Britain, found in BBCHB, BHB, CH3, and A&MCP. In BPW the first line was changed to ‘Alone now going forth, O Lord’, and in RS to ‘Alone you once went forth, O Lord’, the ‘thou’ of...