A little over a year ago, "God of Grace and God of Glory" was one of the hymns I sang in church, and I noticed a small feature in the second verse. The third and fourth lines are "From the fears that long have bound us / Free our hearts to faith and praise," sung to these phrases from the tune "Cwm Rhondda":
"Long" is sung with a melisma (F E), musically giving a sense of duration.
Years ago, I also noticed an-other small feature. The first two lines of the hymn are "God of grace and God of glory, / On Your people pour Your pow'r," sung to these phrases:
"Pour Your pow'r" is sung to a descending group of notes (A G F), illustrating this "pour[ing]."
