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

Monday, April 13, 2020

Messiah: No. 48 The trumpet shall sound

The text is from 1 Corinthians 15:52b-53:  "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

It's pretty obvious, but I'll mention it anyway: taking a note from the text, there's a trumpet in this section (the top line of music).  Also, "the dead shall be raised" conforms to a rising melody.


I don't think I noticed this until looking at the notation, but one of the "we shall be changed" phrases also inscribes the cross figure, apparently illustrating that it's through believing in Christ's crucifixion and resurrection that we are changed: