"Stuttgart" (TLH #270)

"Lord Jesus Christ, the Children's Friend"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in "Lord Jesus Christ, the Children's Friend," sung to the tune "Wareham."  The last line of the third verse is "To find in Christ their all in all," sung to this musical phrase:

The first "all" is sung with a melisma (A G), giving a sense of that entirety.

LSB #648 "Glorious Things of You Are Spoken"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 87; 48:1-14; 132:13-18; Isaiah 33:20-21; Exodus 13:21-22

Psalm 87:  "1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded; 2 the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.  3 Glorious things of you are spoken O city of God.

"4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush - 'This one was born there,' they say.  5 And of Zion it shall be said, 'this one and that one were born in her'; for the Most High himself will establish her.  6 The LORD records as he registers the peoples, 'This one was born there.'

"7 Singers and dancers alike say, 'All my springs are in you.'"

Psalm 48:1-14:  "1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God!  His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.  3 With her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.

"4 For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together.  5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight.  6 Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as a woman in labor.  7 By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.  8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever.

"9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.  10 As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.  Your right hand is filled with righteousness.  11 Let Mount Zion be glad!  Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgements!  12 Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, 13 consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation 14 that this is God, our God forever and ever.  He will guide us forever."

Psalm 132:13-18:  "13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place:  14 'This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.  15 I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.  16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy.  17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.  18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine.'"

Isaiah 33:20-21:  "20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!  Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.  21 But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass."

Exodus 13:21-22:  "21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.  22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people."

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The text is public domain:

Glorious things of you are spoken,

Zion, city of our God;

He whose word cannot be broken

Formed you for His own abode.

On the Rock of Ages founded,

What can shake your sure repose?

With salvation's walls surrounded,

You may smile at all your foes.

See, the streams of living waters,

Springing from eternal love,

Well supply your sons and daughters

And all fear of want remove.

Who can faint while such a river

Ever will their thirst assuage?

Grace, which like the Lord, the giver,

Never fails from age to age.

Round each habitation hov'ring,

See the cloud and fire appear

For a glory and a cov'ring,

Showing that the Lord is near.

Thus deriving from their banner

Light by night and shade by day,

Safe they feed upon the manna

Which God gives them on their way.

Savior, since of Zion's city

I through grace a member am,

Let the world deride or pity,

I will glory in Your name.

Fading are the world's vain pleasures,

All their boasted pomp and show;

Solid joys and lasting treasures

None but Zion's children know.

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The first two lines ("Glorious things of you are spoken, / Zion, city of our God") come directly from Psalm 87:3.  The next two lines ("He whose word cannot be broken / Formed you for His own abode.") seem to come from both Psalm 87:1 and Psalm 132:13-14.  The rest of the first verse, which describes the impervious nature of Zion, seems to come from Psalm 48:1-14 and Isaiah 33:20-21.

The second verse begins with the line "See, the streams of living waters," and while Psalm 87:7 and Isaiah 33:21 may figure into this, the primary source seems to be Revelation 7:17:  "'For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

The passage from Exodus 13 appears in the third verse, which begins "Round each habitation hov'ring, / See the cloud and fire appear."  Near the end of the third verse, there are the lines "Safe they feed upon the manna, / Which God gives them on their way," which refer to Exodus 16.

"Herzliebster Jesu" (TLH #269)

Transposed from G minor to A minor

"Onward, Christian Soldiers"

I usually don't write about the arrangements of hymn tunes, but a few months ago, I noticed something in the LSB arrangement of "St. Gertrude" (the tune for "Onward, Christian Soldiers") that I felt was worth commenting on.

Here's the melody and the bass part in the first line of the refrain:

In each of the first three measures here, the bass part alternates between two pitches.  Musically, this gives an impression of the "marching" that's in the text:  "Onward, Christian soldiers, / Marching as to war."

This feature is also present in the Lutheran Worship arrangement (#518), but it's not in The Lutheran Hymnal arrangement (#658).

LSB #647 "Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's Head"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Ephesians 2:19-21; Matthew 16:16-18; Ephesians 4:3-6, 15-16

Ephesians 2:19-21:  "19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."

Matthew 16:16-18:  "16 Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'  17 And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"

Ephesians 4:3-6:  "3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  4 There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Ephesians 4:15-16:  "15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

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Most of the cited passages appear in the first verse.  The line "Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's head," comes from Ephesians 4:15-16, and the line "You are her one foundation" from Ephesians 2:19-21.  The lines "Built on this rock secure, / Your Church shall endure" come from Matthew 16:16-18.

Ephesians 4:3-6 appears in the second verse:  "O Lord, let this Your little flock... Continue in Your loving care, / True unity possessing."  This may overlap a bit with "being joined together" in Ephesians 2:21 and "joined and held together" in Ephesians 4:16.

The line "Teach us to bear Your blessed cross" in the fourth verse may refer to Matthew 16:24 ("Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'") or Luke 9:23 ("And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"), although the hymn has "Your blessed cross" where these passages have "his cross."

"Zion klagt" (TLH #268)

In order to make this easier to play on mandolin, I transposed it up a minor third, but I don't know if it was technically D major to F major or B minor to D minor.

"Forth in the Peace of Christ We Go"

In The Lutheran Service Book, "Forth in the Peace of Christ We Go" is sung to the tune "Angelus."  In Lutheran Worship, however, (where the title is shortened a bit to just "Forth in the Peace of Christ"), the hymn is sung to the tune "Lledrod."  I noticed a small feature specific to this tune.

Near the end of the second verse, there's the line "With Christ the Servant-Lord of all," sung to this musical phrase:

"All" is sung with a melisma (Db C Bb), musically giving a sense of that entirety.

LSB #646 "Church of God, Elect and Glorious"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 Peter 2:9-10; Ephesians 2:19-22; 5:8-10; Revelation 5:9-10

1 Peter 2:9-10:  "9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Ephesians 2:19-22:  "19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."

Ephesians 5:8-10:  "8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."

Revelation 5:9-10:  "9 And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'"

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These passages are pretty clear to see in the hymn text.  1 Peter 2:9-10 appears in the first verse and at the beginning of the second verse.  In the second verse, there's also some overlap with Ephesians 5:8-10.  Ephesians 2:19-22 appears in the third verse, and Revelation 5:9-10 appears in the fourth verse, although 1 Peter 2:9-10 overlaps a bit here too.

"St. Gertrude"

This was the most difficult of the tunes I recorded for this project, which is why I skipt over it initially.  The tune is in Eb major in The Lutheran Service Book (#662) and in Lutheran Worship (#518) but in E major in The Lutheran Hymnal (#658), so I had to transpose it so that all three would match.  At first, I was going to try F major, but this was too high, and either of the original two keys would have been too difficult for me.  Eventually, I decided on transposing it down to D major, although this was too low and some parts fell beneath the instruments' ranges.  To work around this, I played the first phrase of the refrain on alto recorder, and I had to tune down the lowest string on my bass to get the one low D note in the refrain in the TLH arrangement.

In order, the arrangements are LSB, LW, and TLH.  Except for the refrain, the LSB and TLH arrangements are the same.  At the beginning of the tenor part in the LW arrangement, there's the same arpeggiation that appears in the soprano part later.

"Wär' Gott nicht mit uns" (TLH #267)

"Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in "Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain."  The hymn is sung to the tune "Herr Jesu Christ, mein's."  Here's the first musical phrase:

The first line is, of course, "Lord, help us ever to retain."  (The direct object is in the next line:  "The Catechism's doctrine plain.")  "Ever" is sung with a melisma (E F# G), and since it's stretched out, there's a sense of duration.

LSB #645 "Built on the Rock"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 16:13-18, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Corinthians 3:11-16, Acts 17:24

Matthew 16:13-18:  "13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?'  14 And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'  15 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'  16 Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'  17 And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"

Ephesians 2:19-22:  "19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."

1 Corinthians 3:11-16:  "11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.  14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.  15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

"16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

Acts 17:24:  "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man"

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The text is public domain:

Built on the Rock the Church shall stand

Even when steeples are falling.

Crumbled have spires in ev'ry land;

Bells still are chiming and calling,

Calling the young and old to rest,

But above all the souls distressed,

Longing for rest everlasting.

Surely in temples made with hands

God, the Most High, is not dwelling;

High above earth His temple stands,

All earthly temples excelling.

Yet He who dwells in heav'n above

Chooses to live with us in love,

Making our bodies His temple.

We are God's house of living stones,

Built for His own habitation.

He through baptismal grace us owns

Heirs of His wondrous salvation.

Were we but two His name to tell,

Yet He would deign with us to dwell

With all His grace and His favor.

Here stands the font before our eyes,

Telling how God has received us.

The altar recalls Christ's sacrifice

And what His Supper here gives us.

Here sound the Scriptures that proclaim

Christ yesterday, today, the same,

And evermore, our Redeemer.

Grant, then, O God, Your will be done,

That, when the church bells are ringing,

Many in saving faith may come

Where Christ His message is bringing:

"I know My own; My own know Me.

You, not the world, My face shall see.

My peace I leave with you.  Amen."

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The first three cited passages (Matthew 16:13-18, Ephesians 2:19-22, and 1 Corinthians 3:11-16) are all present in the first line:  "Built on the Rock the Church shall stand."  The passage from Ephesians 2 is also present in the lines "Yet He who dwells in heav'n above / Chooses to live with us in love, / Making our bodies His temple" in the second verse (overlapping with 1 Corinthians 3:16) and in the line "We are God's house of living stones" in the third verse.

Acts 17:24 appears in the lines "Surely in temples made with hands / God, the Most High, is not dwelling" at the beginning of the second verse.

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The lines "Were we but two His name to tell, / Yet He would deign with us to dwell" in the third verse refer to Matthew 18:20:  "'For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.'"

The lines "Christ yesterday, today, the same, / And evermore, our Redeemer" at the end of the fourth verse come from Hebrews 13:8:  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

In the fifth verse, the line "'I know My own; My own know Me'" is from John 10:14 ("'I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me'"), and "My peace I leave with you" is from John 14:27 ("'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.'").

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The version of this hymn in Lutheran Worship is a bit different, and at the beginning of the fourth verse, there's a reference to Jesus' blessing the little children (Mark 10:13-16):  "Yet in this house, an earthly frame, / Jesus the children is blessing."

"St. Thomas"

The arrangements in The Lutheran Hymnal and The Lutheran Service Book are the same, so I didn't do both.  I did the arrangements from Lutheran Worship (#12) and The Lutheran Hymnal (#68).  The last phrase of the tenor part is a bit high, and I cheated a bit and did just that phrase with alto recorder.

"O Herre Gott" (TLH #266)