Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.
Showing posts with label Gracious Savior Grant Your Blessing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gracious Savior Grant Your Blessing. Show all posts

Friday, July 21, 2023

"Gracious Savior, Grant Your Blessing"

A couple years ago, I found a number of features in "Gracious Savior, Grant Your Blessing," sung to the tune "Hyfrydol."  Here's the sixth musical phrase:


In the first verse, the text here is "And [defend them] from all that would destroy."  "All" is sung with a melisma (A Bb), giving something of a sense of entirety.

The seventh musical phrase:


In the second verse, the text here is "There You fill the empty vessels."  "Fill" is sung with a melisma (Bb G), providing something of a sense of the abundance that the word implies.

The eighth musical phrase:


In the last (fifth) verse, the text here is "[Bring us] To the endless wedding feast."  "Endless" is sung with a melisma (D C Bb), and since it's stretched out, there's a sense of duration.

In the fourth verse, the text is "Without wrinkle, spot, or stain," with "wrinkle" sung to the same melisma.  This may give a sense of the word's meaning (despite the sort of negation of "without"), but I'm not as convinced of this as I am of the others.