King’s College Cambridge 2011 Easter 3 O Sacred head Sore Wounded JS Bach

“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded“ is a Christian Passion hymn based on a Latin text written during the Middle Ages. The hymn is based on a long medieval Latin poem, Salve mundi salutare, with stanzas addressing the various parts of Christ’s body hanging on the Cross. The last part of the poem, from which the hymn is taken, is addressed to Christ’s head, and begins “Salve caput cruentatum.“ The poem is often attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), but is now attributed to the Medieval poet Arnulf of Lo