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

Friday, June 1, 2018

"God, Whose Almighty Word"

I'm still (slowly) working through my back-log of hymn features to write about.  I don't remember the context for this one, but what I noticed about "God, Whose Almighty Word" (Lutheran Worship #317) is fitting for this week, since Sunday was Trinity Sunday.

The tune for the hymn is "Italian Hymn," and this is the second phrase:


In the fourth verse, the text here is "Glorious Trinity," and "Trinity" is sung with a melisma.  The first syllable is sung to three notes, which - to some degree - represents the Trinity.  There are three notes for one syllable, in a similar manner to how the Trinity is "three distinct persons in one divine being" (to quote Luther's Small Catechism).

I'm a bit out of my depth with the theology, though, hence the "to some degree" and "similar."  I don't think this is a perfect representation, but it's something of an illustration.