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

Friday, March 29, 2024

"Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle"

Last year, I found a number of instances in "Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle" where the word "cross" in the text is highlighted by cross inscriptions in the tune ("Fortunatus New").  Here's the first musical phrase, which is also repeated as the third musical phrase:


The first line of the fourth verse is "Faithful cross, true sign of triumph," and the third line of the first verse is "Now above the cross, the trophy" (the sense is completed in the next line:  "Sound the loud triumphant lay").

There are also cross inscriptions in the last (sixth) musical phrase:


In the third verse, the text here is "On the cross His dying breath," completing the sense from the previous line:  "Like a lamb He humbly yielded."