"Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds"

A couple months ago, I transcribed "Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds," and while doing so I found some connections between the text and "Lasst uns erfreuen," the tune to which the hymn is sung.

The second phrase of "Lasst uns erfreuen" ascends:

In verse one, the line there is "In praise of love that still abounds," and in verse three "Set heart and will on things above."  In the first verse, the ascent in the melody represents the "abound[ing]" of love, and in the third verse, it points upward to the "things above."

LSB #362 "O Sing of Christ"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 1:1, 4, 10-14; Colossians 1:15-20

John 1:1:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:4:  "In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

John 1:10-14:  "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Colossians 1:15-20:  "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn form the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

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The first verse contains elements from both Biblical citations: "Eternal Word made flesh and bone" from John 1 and "The fullness of His deity" from Colossians 1.

"To mend what sin had marred" in the second verse seems to come from the Colossians text, specifically "to reconcile to himself all things."  Jesus' coming "as life and light" is from John 1:4.

The third verse comes primarily from John 1:10-14.  "The world did not know him" and "his own people did not receive him" are represented in "He was not received."  The second half of the verse basically just paraphrases "To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God":

And some His name believed.
To these He gave the right to be
The heirs of heav'n above,
Born not of human ancestry
But born of God in love.

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I found more than a few references to Biblical texts that aren't cited.

The line "And Paradise was barred" in the second verse refers to Genesis 3:24:  "He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

"For when the time was full and right / God sent His only Son" - also in the second verse - comes from Galatians 4:4:  "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son...."

"As God with us, Emmanuel" in the fourth verse references Matthew 1:23 (which quotes Isaiah 7:14):  "'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)."

The lines "Though rich, You willingly became / One with our poverty" in the fourth verse bear some resemblance to Philippians 2:5-7:  "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."  The text doesn't mention poverty specifically, but it has the same structure and same general idea as the lines in the hymn: although Jesus had an exalted position, He accepted a lowlier one among us.

"Haf trones lampa färdig"

I recorded this one in advance because I'm going out of town to-day and I didn't know if I would have time to record a hymn tune.  I guess I've made it a "rule" that if I record one of these in advance, I also have to do the bass part.

This tune isn't in LW, so this is just twice through the LSB arrangement (#515).

"Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love"

An-other hymn in which I noticed a textual/musical connection while flipping through my hymnal a few months ago is "Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love," sung to the tune "Gott sei dank."  The second half of the first verse says that Jesus is the name "Unto which must ev'ry knee / Bow in deep humility" (Philippians 2:10)  The musical phrase to which this is sung descends (generally), mirroring the bowing in the text:

LSB #361 "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:1-15, Luke 1:68-75, Ephesians 3:16-19, Micah 5:2

Luke 2:1-15:  "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'"

Luke 1:68-75:  "'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.'"

Ephesians 3:16-19:  "That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Micah 5:2:  "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days."

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The text is public domain:

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary,
And, gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the king
And peace to all the earth!

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel!

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The first verse comes partially from the Micah 5 text, specifically the direct address to the city of Bethlehem itself.  The other part of the first verse comes from Luke 1.  Zechariah's prophecy recorded there is about the birth of Jesus, and in the hymn, this is referred to in the lines "The hopes and fears of all the years / Are met in thee tonight."  I'm not quite sure what the "fears" there refer to, but the "hopes" would include "that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us" and "that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days."

The second verse - detailing Jesus' birth and the angel's announcement of it - comes from the Luke 2 text.  This also appears as "great glad tidings" in the fourth verse.

The text from Ephesians 3 forms the basis of the last two verses.  The hymn's "blessings of His heav'n" include "be[ing] strengthened with power through his Spirit," "know[ing] the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge," and "be[ing] filled with all the fullness of God."  These last two verses mention that "the dear Christ enters in" "where meek souls receive Him" and asks that He "be born in us today," reflecting the "strengthen[ing] with power through his Spirit in your inner being" and Christ's "dwell[ing] in your hearts" from the text.

It's not cited, but part of the lines "O come to us, abide with us, / Our Lord Immanuel" comes from Matthew 1:23 (which quotes Isaiah 7:14):  "'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)."

"Es ist gewisslich"

Standard method of one verse of the LW arrangement (#462) and one verse of the LSB arrangement (#508).

"Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus"

A couple months ago, while flipping through the hymnal trying to find a tune to record that week, I happened across "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" and realized something about the first phrase.

The tune to which the hymn is sung is "Webb" (apparently named after its composer George J. Webb), and the first phrase starts with two ascending intervals (a fourth and then a third):

In each verse, the text sung to these ascending intervals is "Stand up, stand up," so in both the text and the tune, there's a "stand[ing] up."

The third musical phrase is the same as the first, and in the first verse, the text there is "Lift high His royal banner."  The "lift high" is sung to that ascending fourth, so there's a musical/textual connection there too.

LSB #360 "All My Heart Again Rejoices"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:8-14, Romans 8:31-34, 1 Peter 3:18-19, Ephesians 1:3-14

Luke 2:8-14:  "And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"

Romans 8:31-34:  "What the shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn?  Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us."

1 Peter 3:18-19:  "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison."

Ephesians 1:3-14:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

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The text is public domain:

All my heart again rejoices
As I hear
Far and near
Sweetest angel voices.
"Christ is born!" their choirs are singing
Till the air
Ev'rywhere
Now with joy is ringing.

Hear!  The Conqueror has spoken:
"Now the foe,
Sin and woe,
Death and hell are broken!"
God is man, man to deliver,
And the Son
Now is one
With our blood forever.

Should we fear our God's displeasure,
Who, to save,
Freely gave
His most precious treasure?
To redeem us He has given
His own Son
From the throne
Of His might in heaven.

See the Lamb, our sin once taking
To the cross,
Suff'ring loss,
Full atonement making.
For our life His own He tenders,
And His grace
All our race
Fit for glory renders.

Softly from His lowly manger
Jesus calls
One and all,
"You are safe from danger.
Children, from the sins that grieve you
You are freed;
All you need
I will surely give you."

Come, then, banish all your sadness!
One and all,
Great and small,
Come with songs of gladness.
We shall live with Him forever
There on high
In that joy
Which will vanish never.

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The first verse clearly comes from Luke 2, where the angel announces Jesus' birth.

The third verse comes from the Romans 8 text, specifically the rhetorical question "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

In the fourth verse, the lines "For our life His own He tenders, / And His grace / All our race / Fit for glory renders" comes from "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" in 1 Peter 3.

The Ephesians text is sort of generally referred to throughout the hymn.  The only specific connection I can find (which isn't even that specific) is between our "hav[ing] obtained an inheritance" and the hymn's "We shall live with Him forever / There on high / In that joy / Which will vanish never."

"Nicaea"

Technically, this is my usual method of one verse of one arrangement (LW 168) and one verse of an-other (LSB 507), but since the arrangements are the same, I just lookt at the LSB notation while playing this.

"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"

This is my final post about hymn features I noticed during the Good Friday service way back in April.

The Lutheran Service Book provides two melodies for "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (#425 is "Hamburg," and #426 is "Rockingham Old").  When it's sung to "Rockingham Old," the line "Sorrow and love flow mingled down!" in the third verse is sung to a descending musical phrase:

There's a descent in the text, and it's paired with a descent in the tune.  Two of the words in the phrase ("mingled down") are pronounced with extra syllables, which seems to emphasize the "down-ness" even further.

LSB #359 "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 11:1-2, Matthew 1:20-21, Hebrews 2:14-15, Luke 2:1-18

Isaiah 11:1-2:  "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.  And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD."

Matthew 1:20-21:  "But as he [Joseph] considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'"

Hebrews 2:14-15:  "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."

Luke 2:1-18:  "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them."

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The text is public domain:

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As prophets long have sung,
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God's love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When half-spent was the night.

This flow'r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness ev'rywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens ev'ry load.

O Savior, child of Mary,
Who felt our human woe;
O Savior, King of glory,
Who dost our weakness know:
Bring us at length we pray
To the bright courts of heaven,
And to the endless day.

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The image of the "rose e'er blooming" that's continued in the second and third verses seems to come from Isaiah 11's "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit."  The first verse has the same "Of Jesse's lineage coming," and the second verse mentions Isaiah's prophecy: "Isaiah 'twas foretold it."  It's just that the specific plant is different; where Isaiah has "a shoot" and "a branch," the hymn has "a rose."

"It came, a flow'ret bright, / Amid the cold of winter" in the first verse and "She [Mary] bore to us a Savior, / When half-spent was the night" in the second refer to the Luke 2 text.  "She bore to us a Savior, / When half-spent was the night" also seems to refer to Matthew 1, although the line "From sin and death He saves us" in the third verse is probably the more significant borrowing from Matthew 1.

"He himself likewise partook of the same things" from Hebrews 2 shows up in the last verse, specifically in the lines "Who felt our human woe" and "Who dost our weakness know."

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The flower's "Dispel[ing] with glorious splendor / The darkness ev'rywhere" in verse three could probably have a number of Biblical referents.  I first thought of the end of 1 Peter 2:9:  "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light," but because this hymn is in the Christmas section, Luke 1:78-79 is probably more relevant.  As part of his prophecy about John the Baptist, Zechariah says, "The sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

The last line of the third verse - He "lightens ev'ry load" - could possibly come from Matthew 11:28-30:  "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

"Komm, Gott Schöpfer"

I love this tune, but - after having recorded it on mandolin - I don't think this was the best instrument choice.

In any case, it's the same scheme as usual:  one verse of the LW arrangement (#157), one verse of the LSB arrangement (#498).

This is in Bb, which is about as far as I get into the flat keys, but it doesn't resolve, which I hadn't noticed until I recorded it.

"O Perfect Life of Love"

Here's an-other post about something I noticed in a hymn during the Good Friday service back in April.  I write these in the order I noticed them and publish this type of post only once a week, so I'm very far behind.

"O Perfect Life of Love" is sung to the tune "Southwell," whose last two phrases descend:

The text of the first verse is:

O perfect life of love!
All, all, is finished now,
All that He left His throne above
To do for us below.

The last two lines of this, which mention that "He left His throne above" to come to "us below" are what are sung to this descending musical phrase.  The descent in the text is mirrored by the descent in the tune.