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

Friday, December 22, 2023

"O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide"

Last week, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 7 December.  The hymn was "O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide," and I noticed a couple features in it.  The tune is "O Heiland, reiss die Himmel auf."  Here's the second phrase:


In the second verse, the text here is "As morning dew, O Son, descend."  The last few notes of the phrase descend (A G F), musically illustrating the text.

There's also an ambiguity in the first line of the seventh verse:  "There shall we all our praises bring."  "All" could be in apposition with "we" or modify "our praises."