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

Friday, January 13, 2023

"Rise, Ye Children of Salvation"

In a church service I attended a couple months ago, one of the hymns was "Rise, Ye Children of Salvation" (The Lutheran Hymnal #472).  I noticed a couple small connections between the text and the tune ("Neander").

Here are the first two phrases, which are also repeated as the second two phrases:


The first two lines of the hymn are "Rise, ye children of salvation, / All who cleave to Christ, the Head."  "Head" is sung to a C, and since the tune is in C major, there's also a musical sense of this centrality.

The second two lines in the first verse are "Wake, arise, O mighty nation, / Ere the Foe on Zion tread."  Both "Rise, ye children of salvation" and "Wake, arise, O might nation" are sung to generally ascending phrases (from C to G), and this provides a sense of "rise" and "arise."