There's a B natural accidental, and to some degree, this complements the greatest/least merism. The extreme opposites of the merism and this foreign tonality both provide a sense of range.
Friday, September 1, 2023
"Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord"
When I wrote about the Biblical sources for "Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord" a little over a year ago, I noted that "For greatest and for least" is a merism. The hymn is sung to the tune "Old 124th," and when I recorded the arrangement in The Lutheran Hymnal recently (where the hymn has a slightly different title: "Draw Nigh and Take the Body of the Lord"), I noticed something else about this merism. Here's the musical phrase to which the line "Offered was He for greatest and for least" is sung:
