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

Friday, November 25, 2022

"Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend"

A couple months ago when I recorded "St. Petersburg," I found a couple connections between the tune and the text "Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend" (TLH #493).

Here are the last two musical phrases:


The second verse ends with the lines "To tend Thy flock, and thus to prove / How dearly they [pastors] the Shepherd love."  "Dearly" is sung with a melisma (C B A), musically giving a sense of degree (for "how").

The fourth verse ends with the lines "With all the bright celestial host [singing], / To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."  Here, "host" is sung with a melisma (C B), giving something of a sense of the entirety of "all."