Messiah: No. 31 He was cut off

The text is from Isaiah 53:8:  "By oppression and judgement he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?"

"Valet will ich dir geben" (TLH #138)

I recorded this on Friday, and on Saturday, I listened to Bach's cantata Christus, der ist mein Leben, BWV 95, which uses this tune in the third movement.  The first verse of TLH #407 "Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee" is a translation of the same text that's in the Bach cantata, so - apparently - that's the original text that goes with this tune.

"It Came upon the Midnight Clear"

Two years ago, I realized something about the Carpenters' version of "It Came upon a Midnight Clear" that's also present in LSB #366 "It Came upon the Midnight Clear."  Here's the third phrase of "Carol," the tune to which it's sung:

In the first verse, the text here is "From angels bending near the earth."  "Bending" is sung with a melisma (D Bb G), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

While looking at the hymn again in order to write this post, I also noticed that in the second verse, "cloven" in the line "Still through the cloven skies they come" is sung with this same melisma, musically giving a sense of that division.  (That's the first line of the verse, but the first and third musical phrases are the same.)

Four years ago, while practicing a section of this tune in my beginning piano book (meant to demonstrate how to turn the thumb under the hand when playing long ascending phrases), I realized something about the text accompanying the fifth musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "'Peace on the earth, goodwill to all.'"  This is taken from Luke 2:14, where the angel says to the shepherds:  "'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"  While not all of this is included in the hymn, the octave drop in the melody gives a musical sense of these different levels (peace from "the highest" sent "on earth").

While looking at the hymn again recently, I noticed that this octave difference gives a musical sense of height in the second verse ("Above its sad and lowly plains") and in the third verse ("Look up, for golden is the hour.").

There's also a second melisma'd "bend" (C Bb) in the sixth phrase of the second verse:  "They bend on hov'ring wing," sung to this phrase:

LSB #497 "Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 11:13, 1 Corinthians 12:13, John 16:13-14, 2 Timothy 1:14

Luke 11:13:  "'If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!'"

1 Corinthians 12:13:  "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit."

John 16:13-14:  "13 'When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.'"

2 Timothy 1:14:  "By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you."

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Luke 11:13 seems to appear in the first verse, but where the Biblical text is a summary statement, the hymn is more specific and implores:  "Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord, / With all Your graces now out-poured / On each believer's mind and heart; / Your fervent love to them impart."

The unity mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:13 appears at the end of the first verse:  "In holy faith Your Church unite; / From ev'ry land and ev'ry tongue."

The verses from John 16 appear at the beginning of the second verse:  "Come, holy Light, guide divine, / Now cause the Word of life to shine. / Teach us to know our God aright / And call Him Father with delight."

The idea of "guard[ing] the good deposit entrusted to you" from 2 Timothy 1 seems to appear in the second half of the second verse:  "From ev'ry error keep us free; / Let none but Christ our master be / That we in living faith abide."  The third verse also deals with this, but referring more to action:  "Grant us the will Your work to do / And in Your service to abide."

Messiah: No. 28 He trusted in God that he would deliver him

This is an-other thing I didn't notice until I started looking into the notation:  the choral parts are written in such a way that "deliver" and "delight" are sometimes sung simultaneously.  I'm not sure if there's any religious meaning behind this, but there's at least a poetic one, since "deliver" and "delight" exhibit consonance.

Later in this section, there's a melisma on one of the "delight"s so that it sounds like a laugh.  It's similar to the previous section (All they that see him laugh him to scorn) in that it's a musical effect to portray laughing and it's an-other way in which Christ was mocked.

"Mit Fried' und Freud'" (TLH #137)

"Jesus, Thy Church with Longing Eyes"

Last summer I recorded the tune "O Jesu Christ, mein's," used for TLH #64 "Jesus, Thy Church with Longing Eyes" (in the Advent section).  I noticed a small feature, specifically regarding the first musical phrase:

In the fourth verse, the text here is "Oh, come and reign o'er every land."  Because the text for the fourth verse is printed below the music staves, it's a bit unclear whether "every" is meant to be sung with three syllables or (as "ev'ry") with a melisma (G A B), but either articulation gives a sense of number.

LSB #496 "Holy Spirit, Light Divine"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 16:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Timothy 1:7

John 16:13:  "'When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.'"

1 Thessalonians 5:23:  "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Corinthians 6:19:  "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own"

2 Timothy 1:7:  "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

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The text is public domain:

Holy Spirit, light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Chase the shades of night away,
Turn the darkness into day.

Let me see my Savior's face,
Let me all His beauties trace;
Show those glorious truths to me
Which are only known to Thee.

Holy Spirit, pow'r divine,
Cleanse this guilty heart of mine;
In Thy mercy pity me,
From sin's bondage set me free.

Holy Spirit, joy divine,
Cheer this saddened heart of mine;
Yield a sacred, settled peace,
Let it grow and still increase.

Holy Spirit, all divine,
Dwell within this heart of mine;
Cast down ev'ry idol throne,
Reign supreme, and reign alone.

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John 16:13 appears in the second verse, specifically in the line "Show those glorious truths to me," and 1 Thessalonians 5:23 appears in the third verse.

"The Holy Spirit within you" from 1 Corinthians 6:19 appears in the line "Dwell within this heart of mine" in the last verse.

I must admit I don't fully understand how the hymn uses the verse from 2 Timothy.  The only explanation I can come up with is that the various activities mentioned in the verses are examples of the work of that "spirit... of power and love and self-control."

Messiah: No. 27 All they that see him laugh him to scorn

After the first line of this section, there are figures in the violin part that sound like laughing:

"Regent Square" (TLH #136)

I transposed this from Bb major to A major, thinking it would make it easier to double half of the verse on recorder, which is something I've been thinking about doing for a while.

"Jesus Came, the Heavens Adoring"

Two years ago, I noticed a feature in "Jesus Came, the Heavens Adoring," specifically with regard to the second musical phrase from the tune "Sieh, hier bin ich" ("Behold, here I am"):

There's a cross inscription in the tune, and this connects with the text in the third verse:  "Bringing news of sins forgiv'n."  Jesus' death on the cross is what gives us this forgiveness of sins.

LSB #495 "Look, Ye Saints, the Sight Is Glorious"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 7:9-14, Daniel 7:14, Acts 2:31-36

Philippians 2:9-11:  "9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Revelation 7:9-14:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Daniel 7:14:  "'And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.'"

Acts 2:31-36:  "31 'he [David] foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.  32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.  33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.  34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool."  36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.'"

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The text is public domain:

Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious;
See the Man of Sorrows now!
From the fight returned victorious,
Ev'ry knee to Him shall bow.
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crowns become the victor's brow.
Crowns become the victor's brow.

Crown the Savior! Angels, crown Him!
Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
On the seat of pow'r enthrone Him
While the vault of heaven rings.
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown the Savior King of kings.
Crown the Savior King of kings.

Sinners in derision crowned Him,
Mocking thus the Savior's claim;
Saints and angels crowd around Him,
Own His title, praise His name.
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Spread abroad the victor's fame.
Spread abroad the victor's fame.

Hark, those bursts of acclamation!
Hark, those loud triumphant chords!
Jesus takes the highest station;
Oh, what joy the sight affords!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
Crown Him! Crown him!
King of kings and Lord of lords!
King of kings and Lord of lords!

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The Biblical texts all talk about Christ reigning in glory, so it's a bit difficult to distinguish them in the hymn.  Philippians 2:10 clearly appears in the first verse:  "Ev'ry knee to Him shall bow," and the multitude around the throne in Revelation 7 seems to appear in the third verse:  "Saints and angels crowd around Him."

"King of kings and Lord of lords" comes from Revelation 19:16:  "On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."

Messiah: No. 26 All we like sheep have gone astray

The text is from Isaiah 53:6:  "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

The ends of some of the "have gone astray" phrases sort of trail off to mirror the wandering.

Once I started looking into the notation, I also noticed that in some places, the melodies of the various parts are going in opposite directions ("we have turned ev'ry one to his own way").  Some are going up while other are going down.

"Potsdam" (TLH #135)

"Comfort, Comfort Ye My People"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in "Comfort, Comfort Ye My People," specifically regarding the line "Mourning 'neath their sorrows' load," sung to this phrase from the tune "Freu dich sehr":

The end of the phrase descends, musically giving a sense of the weight of "sorrows' load."

LSB #494 "See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Mark 16:19, Colossians 3:1-4, Psalm 110:1, Revelation 6:11-13

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."

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 110:1:  "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.'"

Revelation 6:11-13:  "11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

"12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale."

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I think that last citation should actually be Revelation 5:11-13:  "11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'  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 is public domain:

See, the Lord ascends in triumph;
Conqu'ring King in royal state,
Riding on the clouds, His chariot,
To His heav'nly palace gate.
Hark! The choirs of angel voices
Joyful alleluias sing,
And the portals high are lifted
To receive their heav'nly King.

Who is this that comes in glory
With the trump of jubilee?
Lord of battles, God of armies,
He has gained the victory.
He who on the cross did suffer,
He who from the grave arose,
He has vanquished sin and Satan;
He by death has crushed His foes.

While He lifts His hands in blessing,
He is parted from His friends;
While their eager eyes behold Him,
He upon the clouds ascends.
He who walked with God and pleased Him,
Preaching truth and doom to come,
He, our Enoch, is translated
To His everlasting home.

Now our heav'nly Aaron enters
With His blood within the veil;
Joshua now is come to Canaan,
And the kings before Him quail.
Now He plants the tribes of Israel
In their promised resting place;
Now our great Elijah offers
Double portion of His grace.

He has raised our human nature
On the clouds to God's right hand;
There we sit in heav'nly places,
There with Him in glory stand.
Jesus reigns, adored by angels;
Man with God is on the throne.
By our mighty Lord's ascension
We by faith behold our own.

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All of the Biblical texts cited deal with Christ's Ascension and sitting at the right hand of God, and generally, this is also what the hymn is about.  Some passages, however, show up more clearly in some verses.

The verse from Mark is the basis of the beginning of the third verse:  "While He lifts His hands in blessing, / He is parted from His friends; / While their eager eyes behold Him, / He upon the clouds ascends."  The first few verses in the passage from Colossians 3 appear at the beginning of the last verse:  "He has raised our human nature / On the clouds to God's right hand."  Psalm 110:1 is elaborated upon in the second verse, which extols God's power, and the praise given to the Lamb in Revelation 5 appears in the first and final verses.

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The first few lines of the second verse ("Who is this that comes in glory / With the trump of jubilee? / Lord of battles, God of armies, / He has gained the victory") bear some resemblance to Psalm 24:8:  "Who is the King of glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!"

Messiah: No. 25 And with his stripes we are healed

The text is from Isaiah 53:5, continuing from the previous movement:  "... and with his stripes we are healed."

"St. George" (TLH #134)