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Friday, August 16, 2024

"Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor"

One of the hymns on Worship Anew earlier this week was "Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor," and I noticed a handful of small features in it.  The hymn is sung to the tune "Bryn Calfaria."  Here's the fourth musical phrase:


In the first verse, the text here is "Lifting up Your people's head."  There's an ascent of a third between "Lifting" (sung to two Bb notes) and "up" (sung to a D), musically illustrating the meaning.

In the third verse, the text is "Shall forevermore remain."  "Forevermore" is sung with a melisma (Bb D C Bb A), and since it's drawn out, there's a sense of that duration.

Here's the second-to-last musical phrase:


In the third verse, the text here is "Cleansing souls from ev'ry stain."  "Ev'ry" is sung with a melisma (C Bb A G), giving a sense of that entirety.