What Wondrous Love

Charles Maggs preserved and underscored the plaintive quality of this familiar hymn tune from "Southern Harmony." Simple rising and falling chord progressions in the midrange bells, supported by a slow, simple ostinato pattern in the lower bells, provide a plain backdrop to the simple presentation of the melody. The end of the first section builds toward a bolder, more insistent restatement with a different tonal center, finally subsiding before returning to the original setting that rises and fades away to a final, quiet, hollow chord. A highly effective and quietly dramatic selection for use in worship during Lent.