Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Friday, June 9, 2017

"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.