"Vienna" (TLH #18)

Although this tune is also in LSB, I wasn't familiar with it.  The first phrase here reminds me of the penultimate phrase in an-other hymn tune, but since I can't place that other tune, I can't compare them.

"Jesus Shall Reign"

One of the hymns in church a few months ago was "Jesus Shall Reign."  It's sung to the tune "Duke Street," the first phrase of which is:

This phrase musically demonstrates something in each of the first lines of the hymn's verses.  The first two lines of the first verse are "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun / Does its successive journeys run."  The "wher'er" is sung to three syllables rather than just two, so there's a representation of the breadth.  The same feature is in the fourth verse, which begins "Blessings abound wher'er He reigns."  There's a similar feature in the third verse, which begins "People and realms of ev'ry tongue."  Here, "ev'ry" is sung to three syllables rather than just two, but there's the same representation of an entirety.

The second verse begins with "To Him shall endless prayer be made."  In this line, "endless" is sung to three syllables instead of just two, so there's a representation of the long period of time.

In the fifth verse, the line here is "Let ev'ry creature rise and bring," and the "ris[ing]" is represented by the ascent in the first part of the phrase.

I also noticed something about the third musical phrase:

There's a fairly large musical span (the second measure has D notes in two octaves), and in the first verse, the text here is "His kingdom stretch from shore to shore," so there's a large expanse in both the music and the text.

LSB #380 "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:13-14; Romans 5:10-11; John 1:1, 14; 11:26

Luke 2:13-14:  "13 And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"

Romans 5:10-11:  "10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

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

John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 11:26:  "'and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?'"

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The text is public domain:

Hark!  The herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark!  The herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest heav'n adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as Man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel!

Hark!  The herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail, the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Hark!  The herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

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The text from Luke 2 is the main referent, although where Luke 2 has the angels "saying, 'Glory to God in the highest...,'" the hymn has them "sing, 'Glory to the newborn King.'"

The reconciliation mentioned in the Romans 5 text is in the first verse:  "God and sinners reconciled!"

The line "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see" in the second verse comes from John 1:14.  There doesn't seem to be a specific line in the hymn that comes from John 1:1, but that verse is often cited alongside John 1:14, so it's probably listed because of the second verse's description of the incarnation.  Matthew 1:23 ("'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us).") and possibly even Isaiah 7:14 (which Matthew 1:23 quotes) should also be cited since the name Immanuel is listed in the verse.

The third verse also contains an un-cited reference to Isaiah; the name "Prince of Peace" is from Isaiah 9:6.  "The Sun of Righteousness" and "Ris'n with healing in His wings" come from (the un-cited) Malachi 4:2: "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall."

Finally, John 11:26 seems to be present in "Born that man no more may die."

"Hanover" (TLH #17)

This has a couple falling fifths, which I find difficult to play on mandolin (since the string courses are tuned in fifths and the fretboard is so small), so I took it a bit slower, although - with the other instruments parts added in - it's not really evident.

"I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table"

A couple months ago, one of the hymns in church was "I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table."  I realized something about the beginning of the fourth verse.  The first line is "Weary am I and heavy laden," and the melody there (in the tune "Ich sterbe täglich") descends, portraying both weariness and being heavy laden:

"Laden" is even sung with a melisma, which emphasizes the effect.

Additionally, while it doesn't seem to have any connection to the hymn text, there's a cross inscription in the second measure.

LSB #379 "O Come, All Ye Faithful"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Luke 2:15

Luke 2:15:  "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.'"

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The text is public domain:

O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him
Born the king of angels:

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Highest, most holy,
Light of Light eternal,
Born of a virgin, a mortal He comes;
Son of the Father
Now in flesh appearing!

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
In the highest:

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory giv'n!
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing!

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

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Since there's only one Biblical text cited, it's obvious that Luke 2:15 is the basis of this hymn.  There are a few uncited references, however.

"Glory to God / In the highest" at the end of the third verse comes from Luke 2:14, where the angels say, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'  The end of the fourth verse ("Word of the Father / Now in flesh appearing") comes from John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

"Liebster Jesu" (TLH #16)

This tune is in LW and LSB, although it's a bit different.  In comparison to those versions, the TLH version is rhythmically reserved.  It has only half and quarter notes where the LW and LSB versions add some eighth notes and dotted quarter notes.  The second phrase is even different melodically: in this TLH version, it starts with just four G notes, but in the LW and LSB versions, there's a sort of diatonic dip: G F# E F# G.

The title is slightly different in LW and LSB too, lengthened a bit to "Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier," which apparently comes from the first lines of the original German hymn text ("Blessed Jesus, at Thy word / We are gathered all to hear Thee").

Like last week, I recorded only one of the two bass parts, which is a format I'm going to try to continue.

"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"

A couple months ago, while watching the One LSB Hymn a Week video for "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," I remembered something I'd noticed before but hadn't yet written about.  Here's the video:

The second phrase of the tune ("Coronation") descends:

and in the first and seventh verses, this musically represents the lines "Let angels prostrate fall" and "We at His feet may fall!"

I also noticed some connections between the text and a group of eighth notes in the third and fifth phrases.  (The last two lines of each verse are sung twice, but the melody is different, so while there are only four distinct lines in the text, there are six phrases in the music.)  In the first verse, the line here is "Bring forth the royal diadem," and in the seventh verse, it's "We'll join the everlasting song."  "Diadem" and "everlasting" are sung to these four eighth notes (plus some quarter notes on either side):

Third phrase:

Fifth phrase:

These eighth notes have two different extra-musical functions.  In the first verse, they mirror the "diadem."  The melisma here ("diadem"'s being sung to five syllables rather than just three) is a musical ornamentation in the same way that a diadem is a decoration.  In the seventh verse, singing "everlasting" to more syllables than normal (six rather than four) gives a sense of that temporal continuation.

LSB #378 "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 9:2-7; 1 Timothy 2:5; John 1:1-5, 14; Ephesians 2:14

Isaiah 9:2-7:  "2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.  3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.  4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.  5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.  6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."

1 Timothy 2:5:  "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

John 1:1-5:  "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Ephesians 2:14:  "For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility."

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The light that's mentioned in Isaiah 9:2 and John 1:5 is in the first (and title) line: "Break forth, O beauteous heav'nly light."  Later in that verse is the line "Ye shepherds, shrink not with affright," which comes from (the uncited) Luke 2:10: "And the angel said to them [the shepherds], 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'"  The end of the first verse seems to come from 1 Timothy 2:5, although the line "This Child... Our peace with God now making" is from Ephesians 2:14, which specifically names Christ as "our peace."

John 1:14 (and, to some degree, 1 Timothy 2:5 and Ephesians 2:14, too) is referenced in the line "Thou hast my Brother deigned to be" in the third verse.  The common idea is Jesus as true man.

"Lasst uns erfreuen" (TLH #15)

When I lookt at this tune last week, I mis-read the key and thought it was in Ab major.  That's more flats than I'm comfortable with, so I transposed it down a half-step, thinking I was putting it into G major.  Within a few measures, I realized that it's actually in Eb major, and I was transposing it to D major.  Had I read the key correctly, maybe I wouldn't have transposed it, but I like the sharp keys better than the flat keys anyway.

I've been recording the bass parts lately just because I think that having them makes the tunes more interesting, but for this one, I recorded just one of the bass parts (the lower of the two).  I felt that a second one would obscure this one, which I really like.  Besides, the higher bass part is usually the more difficult of the two (in my experience), and I didn't feel like bothering with it.

"O Father, All Creating"

One of the hymns I sang in church a few months ago is "O Father, All Creating."  I noticed a small connection between the tune ("Aurelia") and the text in the third verse.  The first two lines of the third verse are "O Spirit of the Father, / Breathe on them from above."  (The hymn is in the marriage section of the hymnal; the "them" in the line refers to a newly wedded couple.)  The second half of the second line descends:

To some degree, this musically represents the Spirit's "Breath[ing] on them from above."

LSB #377 "On Christmas Night All Christians Sing"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:10-14, 20

Luke 2:10-14:  "10 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.  11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  13 And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"

Luke 2:20:  "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."

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The text is public domain:

On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring,
On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring,
News of great joy, news of great mirth,
News of our merciful King's birth.

Then why should men on earth be so sad,
Since our Redeemer made us glad,
Then why should men on earth be so sad,
Since our Redeemer made us glad,
When from our sin He set us free,
All for to gain our liberty?

When sin departs before His grace,
Then life and health come in its place,
When sin departs before His grace,
Then life and health come in its place;
Angels and men with joy may sing,
All for to see the newborn King.

All out of darkness we have light,
Which made the angels sing this night,
All out of darkness we have light,
Which made the angels sing this night:
"Glory to God and peace to men
Now and forevermore.  Amen."

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Because there are only two Biblical citations, there's not much to say about this one.  The hymn comes primarily from Luke 2, although - as I've pointed out before with other Christmas hymns - this hymn has the angels "sing[ing]," where in the text, they merely speak.

The last verse's mentioning light could have any of a number of Biblical sources.  Jesus is referred to as a "light" multiple times (even calling Himself "the light of the world" in John 8:12).  Because this is a Christmas hymn (and because the only cited Biblical texts are from Luke), I'd suggest Luke 1:77-79, where Zechariah prophesies that John will prepare the way of the Lord "77 'to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'"

"Old Hundredth" (TLH #13)

I was familiar with this tune (although I'm not particularly keen on it), so this was relatively easy to do.  The tune's supposed to start on the third beat, but I started on the first, which caused a problem at the end: I made the last half note into a whole note.

I already know that I'm going to skip #14 next week because it's the same arrangement of this tune.