Near the Cross Trumpet Duet

Near the Cross

By Fanny Crosby, William H. Doane

For Trumpet Duet

Arr. Eddie Lewis

MTR 0233 4157

Add something special to your church service with Near the Cross trumpet duet arrangement.

The lyrics from Near the Cross focus on abiding in the gifts of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. It is a non-physical “place” of rest and healing, “free to all” who will live there.

This trumpet duet arrangement of Near the Cross attempts to portray a range of emotions that I associate with that nearness. The first verse is done softly and without vibrato. This is to portray a somber mood, acknowledging the price that was paid in Jesus Christ’s blood and death. The next verse expresses a sense of undeserved joy, the “Bright and Morning Star” that “Shed His beams around me”. The third verse expresses a more serious tone of hope, “help me walk from day to day”.

Along the way, between these changing moods are other, more subtle shifts in expression. Some of these I only “discovered” when I was in the process of recording the duet.

Perhaps other people would have expressed the text differently. That’s the interesting thing about music. We bring into our interpretation our own frame of mind. Some people find it difficult to experience joy in the cross. I see joy. Yes, it was an awful price to pay. But that’s a done deal, and the price has indeed been paid. To not see joy in this gift is, in my opinion, to miss the point entirely.

Trumpet Hymn Duets

This is the first Trumpet Hymn Duet I’ve written since we published the book of the first series. The Trumpet Hymn Duets are trumpet duets that honor the harmonies and moods of the original hymns. I tell people that they are “hymns first, and trumpet duets second”. My goal all along was to write trumpet duets that would be 100% appropriate for traditional Christian church services.

The reason I haven’t written more of these since the publishing of the Trumpet Hymn Duets book is because I am working on a Christmas version now. I am approaching the Christmas hymns (Christmas carols) the same way I approached the hymns in the original series, with wonderful results! But I wanted to at least publish a couple of these new Trumpet Hymn Duets this year (2022) while I continue to work on the Christmas duet book.

Skill Level

The skill level for this trumpet duet arrangement of Near the Cross is intermediate. I specifically went out of my way to limit the range to G above the staff, simply because I have written too many pieces in the next higher skill level. I’m trying to keep a balanced number of pieces across each of the different skill levels.

Also, I did get a request from someone asking for more pieces that go up to G above the staff.

We have two intermediate levels in our system. This Near the Cross trumpet duet arrangement is in the first of those two skill levels, the Trumpet Player level. If you’ve been playing trumpet for about two years, then this piece should not be very difficult for you.

Near the Cross Trumpet Duet Play Along

We have a free play-along video in our You Play First Chair video series for this Near the Cross trumpet duet arrangement. The You Play First Chair series is meant to give trumpet students an opportunity to practice their sight reading and ensemble playing. However, it also works very well as a way for you to try the piece before you choose to purchase it. You can access that video by clicking HERE.