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

Friday, March 31, 2023

"Lord, Whose Love through Humble Service"

A couple years ago, I noted a few instances in "Lord, Whose Love through Humble Service" where "freedom" or "freed" are sung with melismas.  Since the words aren't constrained to only one or two syllables, there's a sense of their meaning.

The first instance is in the third line of the second verse:  "Still the captives long for freedom," sung to this phrase from the tune "Beach Spring":


"Freedom" is sung to the notes G F D.

Later in the second verse, there's the line "Healed the sick and freed the soul," sung to this musical phrase:


"Freed" is sung to the notes A G.

Finally, at the end of the fourth verse, there are the lines "That Your servants, Lord, in freedom / May Your mercy know and live."  The first of these two lines is sung to this phrase:


Here, "freedom" is again sung to the notes G F D.