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

Friday, January 30, 2026

"Our Father, Who from Heaven Above"

A few months ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 21 October.  The hymn was "Our Father, Who from Heaven Above," and I noticed three instances where phrases are sung to notes of all different pitches, lending a sense of breadth or entirety.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Vater unser."  Here's the second musical phrase:


In the first verse, the text here is "Bids all of us to live in love" (the subject is "Our Father" from the previous line).  The phrase "all of us" is sung to the notes G F Bb.

In the seventh verse, the text, describing temptation, is "Where our grim foe and all his horde" (the sense carries over into the next line:  "Would vex our souls on ev'ry hand").  Here, the phrase "all his horde" is sung to the notes Eb F G.

Here's the fifth musical phrase:


In the fourth verse, the text here is "Curb flesh and blood and ev'ry ill," and the phrase "ev'ry ill" is sung to the notes G F Eb.