Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.
Showing posts with label O du Liebe meiner Liebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label O du Liebe meiner Liebe. Show all posts

Friday, March 1, 2024

"Lord, 'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee"

A little over a month ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 25 January.  The hymn was "Lord, 'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee" (LSB #573), and I noticed some significant accidentals in the alto part.  Here are the fifth and sixth phrases from the tune "O du Liebe meiner Liebe":


In the first verse, the text here is "Thou hast from the sin that stained me / Washed and cleansed and set me free."  Under the first "me," there's a C#, and the accidental provides some sense of being "stained" by sin, but in the following phrase, it reverts to a C natural under "cleansed," giving some sense of that purity.

Friday, February 16, 2018

"Jesus, Refuge of the Weary"

My weekly tune from The Lutheran Hymnal this week was "O du Liebe."  I referenced The Lutheran Service Book to find that this tune (with a slightly longer title: "O du Liebe meiner Liebe") is used for "Jesus, Refuge of the Weary," and I also noticed a small musical/textual connection.  In the first verse, there are the lines "Often have Your eyes, offended, / Gazed upon the sinner's fall."  The second of these two lines is sung to this musical phrase:


The "sinner's fall" is sung to a descending phrase, musically representing the "fall."