"Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"

This summer I bought an alto recorder.  I haven't done much with it yet, so I thought I'd try recording a hymn tune with it.  Since it's Advent now, I did "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland," the tune to which "Savior of the Nations, Come" is sung.  This is also the tune I started with when I began re-learning how to read music seven years ago.

I followed the arrangement in The Lutheran Hymnal (in which "Savior of the Nations, Come" is #95).  The higher two voices are on soprano recorder; the lowest is on alto.

"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"

Recently, I was thinking about "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and discovered a musical feature in one of the lines, but then I found that I'd already noticed this and added it to my list of things to write about.  Lest I rediscover this a third time, I'm writing about it now.

In the first verse, there are the lines "What a privilege to carry / Ev'rything to God in prayer!"  At the end of the verse there are similar lines (sung to the same musical phrase) reflecting on the "needless pain we bear - / All because we do not carry / Ev'rything to God in prayer!"  Here's the notation for those two lines, from the tune "Converse":

The syllables of those two "ev'rything"s are all sung to different pitches (C F A) and - altogether - span a sixth, and these two musical features highlight the variety and breadth of "ev'rything."

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For what it's worth, here's a post from last June about some more musical features in "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

LSB #493 "A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Acts 1:9-11, Colossians 3:1-4, Psalm 47:5-9, Revelation 5:13

Acts 1:9-11:  "9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?  This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'"

Colossians 3:1-4:  "1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Psalm 47:5-9:  "5 God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.  6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!  Sing praises to our King, sing praises!  7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!

"8 God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.  9 The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham.  For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!"

Revelation 5:13:  "And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'"

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The text from Acts is the main source and appears in verses one through four.  The text from Psalm 47 could also be cited for some portions of these verses.

The text from Colossians seems to appear in the fifth verse, specifically in the lines "Be now our joy on earth, O Lord, / And be our future great reward."

The verse from Revelation appears in the hymn's last verse, in the lines "O risen Christ, ascended Lord, / All praise to You let earth accord."

Messiah: No. 24 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows

The text is from Isaiah 53:4-5 (although only the first part of verse 5):  "4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried out sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace..."

"Franconia" (TLH #133)

"Today Your Mercy Calls Us"

A little over a year ago, I noticed a small thing in "Today Your Mercy Calls Us."  The third verse ends with the line "It is our Father's home," sung to this phrase from the tune "Anthes":

The tune is in G major, and "home" is sung to a G note (the tonic), so the "home" in the text is matched with the home in the music.

LSB #492 "On Christ's Ascension I Now Build"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 14:3, Colossians 3:1-4

John 14:3:  "'And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.'"

Colossians 3:1-4:  "1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

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John 14:3 appears near the end of the first verse:  "For where the Head is, there as well / I know His members are to dwell / When Christ will come and call them."  These lines also incorporate the image of us as members of one body (Romans 12:4-5) with Christ as the head (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18).

"Seek[ing] the things that are above" and "set[ting] your minds on things that are above" from Colossians 3 appear in the second verse, specifically in the lines "For where my treasure went before, / There all my thoughts will ever soar."  This also resembles Matthew 6:21:  "'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'"

Messiah: No. 23 He was despised and rejected of men

The text is from Isaiah 53:3:  "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide the faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." and from Isaiah 50:6:  "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting."

An-other thing I didn't notice until I started following along with the notation is the cross-like figure inscribed here with "he was despised."

I first ran across this cross-inscribing feature in John Eliot Gardiner's Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven, where he points out how Bach does this in Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4:

I'm not sure if it was Handel's intent here (I don't know how well-known this cross-inscription technique was in the 1700s), but it does provide an example of one of the forms in which Christ was despised - the crucifixion.

"O grosser Gott" (TLH #132)

"Eternal Father, Strong to Save"

Two years ago, I wrote about some features in "Eternal Father, Strong to Save."  I sang the hymn in church last week (it was included apparently to coincide with Veterans Day this week), and I noticed an-other small feature in it.

The fourth line of the fourth verse is "Protect them wheresoe'er they go," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Melita":

The three syllables of "whereso'er" are each sung to a different pitch (E A G), musically giving a sense of that breadth.

LSB #491 "Up through Endless Ranks of Angels"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Mark 16:19, 1 John 2:1-2, John 14:16-18

Mark 16:19:  "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God."

1 John 2:1-2:  "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

John 14:16-18:  "16 'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

"18 'I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

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The verse from Mark 16 appears in the first verse, which - with some elaboration - describes Christ's Ascension.

The verses from 1 John 2 appear in the second half of the second verse: "Now for us before the Father / As our brother intercede; / Flesh that for our world was wounded, / Living, for the wounded plead!"

The verses from John 14 are in the third verse, specifically in the line "Send Your Spirit, promised guide."

Messiah: No. 22 Behold the Lamb of God

The text is from John 1:29:  "The next day he [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"

One of the instances of "away" splits the two syllables into the interval of a fifth, which helps to underscore the completeness or the distance to which "the sin of the world" is taken away.

"Wo Gott zum Haus" (TLH #131)

I transposed this from Eb major to D major, and since it's a shorter tune, I went though it three times.

"For All the Saints"

All Saints' Day was observed on Sunday, and - of course - "For All the Saints" was one of the hymns in church.  I noticed a couple things while singing it, re-discovered a note about something else I'd noticed a year ago and hadn't written about yet, and found yet an-other thing while looking at the hymn again in order to write this post.

The tune to which the hymn is sung is titled "Sine nomine," which I think might be something of a joke because this means "without a name" in Latin.  I should also note that from verse to verse there are occasionally some differences in the music in order to accommodate the text.

Here's the first musical phrase:

In the second verse, the text here is "Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might."  The tune is in G major, and "rock" is sung to a G (the tonic note), so there's a musical representation of that firm foundation.

In the fifth verse, the text is "And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long."  "Long" is sung to a whole note, and since this is the longest note in the phrase, there's a sense of duration.

The third musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest."  "Forever" is sung with a melisma (D C B A G), musically giving a sense of duration.

In the fourth verse, the text is "Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine."  Here, "all" is sung with a melisma (C B), musically giving something of a sense of entirety.

LSB #490 "Jesus Lives! The Victory's Won"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Romans 8:11, 35-39; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Philippians 1:20-21

Romans 8:11:  "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."

Romans 8:35-39:  "35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  36 As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'  37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:15:  "and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

Philippians 1:20-21:  "20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

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The text is public domain:

Jesus lives! The vict'ry's won!
Death no longer can appall me;
Jesus lives! Death's reign is done!
From the grave will Christ recall me.
Bright scenes will then commence;
This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! To Him the throne
High above all things is given.
I shall go where He is gone,
Live and reign with Him in heaven.
God is faithful; doubtings, hence!
This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! For me He died,
Hence will I, to Jesus living,
Pure in heart and act abide,
Praise to Him and glory giving.
All I need God will dispense;
This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! I know full well
Nothing me from Him shall sever.
Neither death nor pow'rs of hell
Part me now from Christ forever.
God will be my sure defense;
This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! And now is death
But the gate of life immortal;
This shall calm my trembling breath
When I pass its gloomy portal.
Faith shall cry, as fails each sense;
Jesus is my confidence!

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Romans 8:11 appears in the first verse, most clearly in the line "From the grave will Christ recall me."

The other text from Romans 8 (verses 35-39) appears in the fourth verse:  "Nothing me from Him shall sever. / Neither death nor pow'rs of hell / Part me now from Christ forever."

2 Corinthians 5:15 is in the first four lines of the third verse.  The hymn makes it more personal, though, by using "For me He died" where the Biblical text has "he died for all."  Philippians 1:20-21 seems to be tied in with this too, specifically with regard to "Christ will be honored in my body."

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The line "All I need God will dispense" in the third verse reminded me of Genesis 22 (where Abraham nearly sacrifices Isaac, but instead God provides a ram in his place), and I realized that in the hymn, this line could be taken in two ways.  Especially since it follows a description of Jesus' death, there's the connection to God's "provid[ing] for himself the lamb" of sacrifice (Genesis 22:8), who "takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) and grants salvation.  But in a more straight-forward way, it could also refer to earthly necessities, as Luther writes in his explanation of the first article of the Apostles' Creed:  "He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life."

Messiah: No. 21 His yoke is easy

The text is from Matthew 11:30:  "'For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'"

"Valet will ich dir geben" (TLH #130)

"Thy Strong Word"

On two different occasions a number of months ago, I found a handful of things to note in "Thy Strong Word."  They're all within the first two phrases of the tune "Ebenezer":

The first line of the hymn is "Thy strong word did cleave the darkness."  "Darkness" is sung with a melisma (Ab G F at the end of the second measure), musically giving a sense of having been "cleave[d]."

The fourth verse begins with the lines "From the cross Thy wisdom shining / Breaketh forth in conqu'ring might."  Similar to the cloven "darkness," here "Breaketh" is sung with a melisma (C Bb C Db) musically giving something of a sense of the word's meaning.

The second verse starts with the lines "Lo, on those who dwelt in darkness, / Dark as night and deep as death" (adapted from Isaiah 9:2).  Reflecting that "deep as death" musically, there's a descent in the melody (Bb Ab G F).