F. Pratt Green is an important, 20^th Century English Hymnist. In this text, he retells the story of the Good Samaritan in verse, ending each stanza with the refrain, "On the Jericho Road." The cumulative effect of this refrain is to tell modern audiences that all roads are the Jericho Roads, and that compassion needs to be extended to all who are in trouble.

When I needed a Neighbor
Words and music by Sydney Carter

Sydney Carter is an important, 20^th Century English Hymnist. In this text, the poet has the victim cry out, "Were you there?" In the last verse an anonymous voice, tutored by Jesus’ parable, sings, "I’ll be there…, and the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter, I’ll be there."

We Sinned
Words by Redmond McGoldrick - Music, an arrangement of the Tune Hiding Place by Russell Woollen

In the extensive literature that is based on the story of the Good Samaritan, this is one of the few texts that identifies the actions of the priest and Levite as typical behavior.

We all pass by our injured neighbors at one time or another on the road of life. When we do, we fail to love our neighbor as ourself.

In Praise of the Samaritan
Words from the Odd Fellowship in Song of 1888 – Music, an arrangement of a traditional English tune by J. Ritter Werner

The Order of Oddfellows is a benevolent and social society, similar to the Masonic Orders, with initiatory rites, and various grades of dignity and honor. This particular text is probably from an initiatory play which encourages the members to both praise and imitate the actions of the Samaritan.

The Good Samaritan
Words and music by Dallas Holm

Dallas Holm is a talented, American singer and songwriter who has been performing contemporary Christian music for decades. This ballad-like composition describes the inner thoughts and feelings of the victim who is half dead on the road. After several people pass by, all he can do is pray to God. To the victim’s surprise, God answers his prayer. But then he says, "God’s eye is on the sparrow, so why not on me?" This is another example how poets and musicians sermonize on this story.

The Good Samaritan Contata 1
The Good Samaritan Contata 2
Words by Bernice H. Runkel – Music by Kenneth E. Runkel

Sacred Cantatas are musical sermons that take a libretto, consisting of various biblical texts, and set it to music. The purpose of these compositions is to move congregations emotionally, which hopefully leads to moral action. This early 20^th Century, American composition is no exception. The first excerpt recounts the action of the Samaritan in a beautiful, romantic tenor aria. The composer tells the story slowly, savoring every moment. The second excerpt meditates on this aria and encourages the congregation to do the same by giving alms and never turning from any poor person.

The Good Samaritan Cantata
Word selected and written by Bryn Rees - Music by Lloyd Webber

This excerpt is from an English Cantata, written in 1964. Like the previous cantata, it meditates on the text of the Good Samaritan, but in a more abstract way. The tenor solo tells the Samaritan’s story in a simple musical recitation. In the complete work, this is followed by a chorus which reflects on the Samaritan’s action: "On this dark scene, like day springing after night / Gentle compassion sheds her light."

The Good Samaritan
Words by James Montgomery – Music by George Whitefield Chadwick

This Art Song for Tenor and Piano is the most complex composition on this Website. The poem is written by one of the most important hymn writers in 19^th-century England. This particular text makes no overt reference to the story of the Good Samaritan.  The poem cannot be understood without a prior knowledge of the Gospels and this parable.

The gist of Montgomery’s poem is as follows: The singer tells of a poor, victimized man, who the singer helps three times. Each time the situation recounted is more intense and revealing. Finally, at the climax, after the singer agrees to die for the victim, the disguise of the poor man drops, and Jesus is standing before the singer.

Chadwick, an important American composer and teacher in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, has taken this poem and set it in the grand, Romantic tradition. The end result is a composition which represents in sound the thoughts and feelings expressed in the text. Such sonic representation is called programmatic music. Toward the end of the song, as Jesus speaks to the singer, the piano sounds the "Dresden Amen," a famous musical melody that Wagner uses as the Grail-motive in the opera Parsifal. By using this melody at this point in his song, Chadwick is honoring the great German composer and pointing to the mystical nature of Jesus’ appearance in Montgomery’s poem.

Homo Quidam
Words, a Latin translation of verse 30 of the Good Samaritan Story – Music, a Medieval Chant

This is the only medieval chant of any part of the Good Samaritan story that is still available and occasionally sung. The melody was originally used for Evensong in the Western, Latin Church on the 12^th Sunday after Pentecost, which was Good Samaritan Sunday. The only noteworthy feature of the melody is that, when the text speaks of descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, the melody goes down to its lowest point. This technique is called tone painting. In its own limited way, this makes the melody "programmatic," which links it to the Chadwick composition.

Alleluia Domine Deus
Words, a Latin translation of Psalm 88.1 – Music, a Medieval Chant

In the Medieval world the Good Samaritan was read as an allegory. In such a reading each character or object in the story represents something. According to Augustine, the 5^th- century, African Bishop of Hippo, the victim in the ditch represents all humans. This chant, which was sung just before the singing of the Good Samaritan, puts the words of Psalm 88 into the mouth of the victim, "O Lord, the God of my salvation, by day I cry out, at night a call in your presence" [translation of the Latin Vulgate text]. Since the word Alleluia is sung before and after this plaintive cry, the help of the Samaritan, who in the world of allegory represents Jesus, is being anticipated.