"Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend"

A couple months ago when I recorded "St. Petersburg," I found a couple connections between the tune and the text "Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend" (TLH #493).

Here are the last two musical phrases:

The second verse ends with the lines "To tend Thy flock, and thus to prove / How dearly they [pastors] the Shepherd love."  "Dearly" is sung with a melisma (C B A), musically giving a sense of degree (for "how").

The fourth verse ends with the lines "With all the bright celestial host [singing], / To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."  Here, "host" is sung with a melisma (C B), giving something of a sense of the entirety of "all."

"St. Petersburg"

Of the three hymnals I've been using for this project, this tune is in only The Lutheran Hymnal (#493).  My recording is twice through that arrangement.

I'm not sure this actually fits the conceit of this project (which is to record the tunes named after saints), but it was only after I'd recorded the tune that I started thinking about that.