"How Firm a Foundation"

A little over a year ago, "How Firm a Foundation" was one of the hymns in church, and I noticed a small feature at the end of the second verse.  The last line is "'Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand'" sung to this phrase from the tune "Foundation":

"Upheld" is sung with an ascending melisma (D E G), musically giving a sense of its meaning.

LSB #507 "Holy, Holy, Holy"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 6:2-3, Revelation 4:2-11, Exodus 15:11, Revelation 7:9-12

Isaiah 6:2-3:  "2 Above him [the Lord] stood the seraphim.  Each had six wings:  with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  3 And one called to another and said:  'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'"

Revelation 4:2-11:  "2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.  3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.  4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.  5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

"And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:  7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.  8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'  9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.  They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 'Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.'"

Exodus 15:11:  "'11 Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?  Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?'"

Revelation 7:9-12:  "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.'"

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The text is public domain:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

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The repeated "Holy, holy, holy!" comes from Isaiah 6:3 (although it also appears later in Revelation 4:8).

The second verse comes mostly from Revelation 4:2-11, specifically drawing on the "sea of glass" (verse 6), the elders' casting down their crowns (verse 10), and the description of God as "who was and is and is to come" (verse 8).  The angels "falling down before Thee" come from Revelation 7:11:  "all the angels... fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God."

The second half of the third verse seems to come from Exodus 15:11.  While the verse from Exodus asks "Who is like you?" rhetorically, the hymn verse provides an answer:  "Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee."

"All Thy works shall praise Thy name" in the fourth verse also seems to come from Revelation 7, specifically the "great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages."

Messiah: No. 41 Let us break their bonds asunder

The text is from Psalm 2:3:  "'Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.'"

Some of the "away"s in this section - like the "away" in No. 22 - also have large intervals between the two syllables (A to F, C to F, and D to Bb), to underscore the distance to which the yokes should be cast.

Later in the section, Handel sets "bonds" & "break" and "bonds" & "asunder" against each other, like the "deliver"s and "delight"s in No. 28.

"O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" (TLH #146)

I transposed this up from Eb major to F major mostly because I dislike Eb major, but doing so allowed me to double one section of the melody on alto recorder (it would have fallen below the instrument's range otherwise).  I don't know if I'll always do this, but I want to highlight sections of the melody where the text is the same in all of the verses.

"Sanctus" (LSB #961)

When I wrote about "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" (LSB #957) a little over a year ago, I flipt through the "Liturgical Music" section of the hymnal and noticed a couple things in "Sanctus" (LSB #961).

The phrase "heav'n and earth are full of Your glory" is sung to this melody (no title is listed for the tune):

"Heav'n" is sung to a higher pitch than "earth" (both are D notes, but they're an octave apart), which musically illustrates their relative positions ("heav'n" above "earth").

In looking at this phrase again, I also noticed that "glory" is sung with a melisma (A F# E), musically giving something of a sense of being "full."

At the end, "Hosanna in the highest" is sung to this phrase:

"Highest" is sung to two D notes, and - appropriately - this is the highest pitch in the tune.

LSB #506 "Glory Be to God the Father"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 15:3-4, Revelation 7:9-14, Jude 25

Revelation 15:3-4:  "3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 'Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.'"

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."

Jude 25:  "to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.  Amen."

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The text is public domain:

Glory be to God the Father,
Glory be to God the Son,
Glory be to God the Spirit:
Great Jehovah, Three in One!
Glory, glory
While eternal ages run!

Glory be to Him who loved us,
Washed us from each spot and stain;
Glory be to Him who bought us,
Made us kings with Him to reign!
Glory, glory
To the Lamb that once was slain!

Glory to the King of angels,
Glory to the Church's King,
Glory to the King of nations;
Heav'n and earth, your praises bring!
Glory, glory
To the King of glory sing!

Glory, blessing, praise eternal!
Thus the choir of angels sings;
Honor, riches, pow'r, dominion!
Thus its praise creation brings.
Glory, glory,
Glory to the King of kings!

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The text from Revelation 7 appears in the second verse ("Washed us from each spot and stain" comes from verses 13-14) and in the fourth verse ("Thus the choir of angels sings" comes from verses 11-12, and "Thus its praise creation brings" comes from verses 9-10).

The phrase "before all time and now and forever" from Jude 25 seems to be appear as "while eternal ages run" in the first verse.

The title "King of the nations" from the text from Revelation 15 appears in the third verse.

And, of course, all three of the texts that are cited mention glorifying God, which is present in each of the hymn's verses.

Messiah: No. 40 Why do the nations so furiously rage together

The text is from Psalm 2:1-2:  "1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,"

I didn't notice this until looking at the notation, but there are tremolos during this section, apparently to reflect the "rag[ing] together" of the nations.

"O du Liebe" (TLH #145)

"Amazing Grace"

A little over a year ago, I happened to think of "Amazing Grace" and discovered a small feature at the beginning of the third verse, which begins, "Through many dangers, toils, and snares / I have already come."  The first of those two lines is sung to this musical phrase from the tune "New Britain":

"Many" is sung with a melisma (F A F), musically giving a sense of amount.

LSB #505 "Triune God, Be Thou Our Stay"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 31:1-3, Ephesians 6:10-17, Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 46:4

Psalm 31:1-3:  "1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!  2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily!  Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!

"3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me"

Ephesians 6:10-17:  "10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"

Psalm 55:22:  "Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved."

Isaiah 46:4:  "even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.  I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."

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The text is public domain:

Triune God, be Thou our stay;
O let us perish never!
Cleanse us from our sins, we pray,
And grant us life forever.
Keep us from the evil one;
Uphold our faith most holy,
And let us trust Thee solely
With humble hearts and lowly.
Let us put God's armor on,
With all true Christians running
Our heav'nly race and shunning
The devil's wiles and cunning.
Amen, amen! This be done;
So sing we, "Alleluia!"  [Lent: O Lord, have mercy on us.]

As the hymnal notes, "the hymn may be sung once" with "Triune God, be Thou our stay" as the first line or "it may be sung three times," each time with a different first line:  "God the Father, be our stay;" "Jesus Christ, be Thou our stay;" and "Holy Spirit, be our stay;"

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Psalm 31:1-3, Psalm 55:22, and Isaiah 46:4 all provide reasons to trust in God, which is central to the hymn ("And let us trust Thee solely"), but they seem to be incorporated more generally than specifically.

The passage from Ephesians 6 appears in the line "Let us put God's armor on."

"With all true Christians running / Our heav'nly race" seems to come from Hebrews 12:1:  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

Messiah: No. 38 How beautiful are the feet

The text is from Isaiah 52:7-9:  "7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'  8 The voice of your watchmen - they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.  9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem."

"Der am Kreuz" (TLH #144)

As with the previous tune, I waited until the end of the second verse to resolve to the major.  If I run into this sort of thing from now on, that's what I'm going to do.

"In His Temple Now Behold Him"

In church on Sunday, one of the hymns was "In His Temple Now Behold Him," and I noticed a small feature in the first verse.  The second line is "See the long-expected Lord," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Westminster Abbey":

"Long" is sung with a melisma (B A), and since it's drawn out, there's a musical sense of its meaning.

LSB #504 "Father Most Holy"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 6:2-3; 2 Corinthians 3:14; Psalm 145:10, 21; Psalm 86:12

Isaiah 6:2-3:  "2 Above him [the Lord] stood the seraphim.  Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  3 And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'"

2 Corinthians 3:14:  "But their minds [the Israelites'] were hardened.  For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away."

Psalm 145:10:  "All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!"

Psalm 145:21:  "My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever."

Psalm 86:12:  "I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever."

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The text is public domain:

Father most holy, merciful, and tender;
Jesus, our Savior, with the Father reigning;
Spirit of comfort, advocate, defender,
Light never waning;

Trinity blessed, unity unshaken,
Goodness unbounded, very God of heaven,
Light of the angels, joy of those forsaken,
Hope of all living,

Maker of all things, all Thy creatures praise Thee;
All for Thy worship were and are created;
Now, as we also worship Thee devoutly,
Hear Thou our voices.

Lord God Almighty, unto Thee be glory,
One in three persons, over all exalted!
Glory we offer, praise Thee and adore Thee,
Now and forever.

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The "holy, holy, holy" from Isaiah 6:3 seems to be condensed into "most holy" in the first line.

The two verses from Psalm 145 seem to be combined into the hymn's third verse.  Psalm 145:10 shows up a bit more clearly because of the resemblance between its "All your works" and the hymn's "Maker of all things," but the two Psalm verses and the hymn verse all mention the entirety of God's creation praising Him.

The "glorif[ing]... forever" from Psalm 86:12 appears in the last verse.

I don't see how 2 Corinthians 3:14 relates to the hymn, and because the tone is so different, I'm suspicious that this citation was meant to be a different verse.

Messiah: No. 36 Thou art gone up on high

There's some similarity between the text here and Ephesians 4:8:  "Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.'"

"Herzliebster Jesu" (TLH #143)

The verse resolves to the major, but I purposely didn't do this the first time through.