"Darwall's 148th"

I'd intended to do something related to St. George since to-day is St. George's day, but I already recorded "St. George's, Windsor" back in February.

In lieu of that, I pickt a short and simple one: "Darwall's 148th."  I did some research on this tune a year or two ago, and apparently it was written for the 148th Psalm, which - according to my lectionary - is the Psalm for this week, so there's a topicality to this anyway.

The tune is used for a couple hymns, but I lookt at "Christ Is Our Cornerstone" (LW 290, LSB 912).

I've recorded this one before, but that was last September, before this project's current incarnation.

"No Tramp of Soldiers' Marching Feet"

One of the hymns sung in church on Palm Sunday was "No Tramp of Soldiers' Marching Feet," and while I was singing it, I noticed something about one of the phrases.  The text is sung to the tune "Kingsfold," and the end of the second phrase of that melody descends:

In the third verse, the text sung to this melody is "The palms, how soon laid down!"  The descending melody there is a musical representation of that laying down.  Furthermore, "soon" is sung to that second pair of eighth notes, and that melismatic pronunciation (two syllables instead of just one), with the second note lower than the first, expedites the descent.

LSB #352 "Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Acts 3:24-26, 13:32-33; Luke 24:27

Acts 3:24-26:  "'And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.  You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed."  God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.'"

Acts 13:32-33:  "'And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you."'"

Luke 24:27:  "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

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The text is public domain:

Let the earth now praise the Lord,
Who has truly kept His word
And at last to us did send
Christ, the sinner's help and friend.

What the fathers most desired,
What the prophets' heart inspired,
What they longed for many a year,
Stands fulfilled in glory here.

Abram's promised great reward,
Zion's helper, Jacob's Lord -
Him of twofold race behold -
Truly came, as long foretold.

As Your coming was in peace,
Quiet, full of gentleness,
Let the same mind dwell in me
Which is Yours eternally.

Bruise for me the serpent's head
That, set free from doubt and dread,
I may cling to You in faith,
Safely kept through life and death.

Then when You will come again
As the glorious king to reign,
I with joy will see Your face,
Freely ransomed by Your grace.

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The first verse comes from the Acts 13 text.  The hymn renders "what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus" as "the Lord / Who has truly kept His word / And at last to us did send / Christ..."

The second verse seems to come from the Luke text.  In the Luke text, Jesus interprets what Moses and the prophets wrote "concerning himself," and the hymn verse mentions the same thing: that the fathers (which I'm assuming refers to the patriarchs) and the prophets "longed for" Jesus, who is "fulfilled in glory here."

The third verse, specifically "Abram's promised great reward," seems to come from the Acts 3 text, which also mentions "the covenant that God made with your fathers, ... to Abraham."

The rest of the verses don't seem to reference specific Biblical texts, aside from "Bruise for me the serpent's head" in verse five.  It's not listed among the citations in the hymnal, but this is from Genesis 3:15.  God says to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

"Ewing"

This isn't particularly Easter-specific, but over the course of the Lenten services, there was a theme hymn ("The Fruit of Love Once Blooming") that was sung to this tune.  It was still in my head this afternoon, so I thought I'd record it.

As usual, it's one verse of one arrangement (LW 309) and one verse of an-other (LSB 672).

Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Over the last few months, I've been listening to Bach's St. Matthew Passion with some regularity.  When I listened to it a couple weeks ago, I noticed something about the Words of Institution, specifically "Trinket Alle daraus":

(notation found here)

In English, this section is rendered as "Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood."  In the German, there's a melisma for "Alle."  Because it's sung to a variety of pitches, there's something of a musical representation of the breadth of that "all."

LSB #351 "Creator of the Stars of Night"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Colossians 1:13-17, John 1:1-4, Malachi 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Colossians 1:13-17:  "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

John 1:1-4:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

Malachi 4:2:  "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:  "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

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The text is public domain:

Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people's everlasting Light:
O Christ, Redeemer, save us all
And hear Thy servants when they call.

Thou, grieving that the ancient curse
Should doom to death a universe,
Hast found the healing, full of grace,
To cure and save our ruined race.

Thou cam'st the Bridegroom of the bride,
As drew the world to eventide,
The spotless Victim all divine
Proceeding from a virgin shrine.

At whose dread name, majestic now,
All knees must bend, all hearts must bow;
All things celestial Thee shall own,
And things terrestrial, Lord alone.

O Thou, whose coming is with dread
To judge the living and the dead,
Preserve us from the ancient foe
While still we dwell on earth below.

To God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
Praise, honor, might, and glory be
From age to age eternally.
Amen.

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The first verse seems to come from the Colossians and John texts cited.  Where they say, "All things" were created by God, the hymn just specifies "the stars of night."  Both texts also mention God as light (although the Colossians text does it a bit by opposites, saying that God has delivered us from darkness).

The Malachi text seems to be present in the second verse, specifically "Thou... Hast found the healing, full of grace, / To cure and save our ruined race."  Both mention healing.

The second-to-last verse ("O Thou, whose coming is with dread...") comes from the Thessalonians text.  To that text's mention of the second coming, the hymn adds the judgement of the living and the dead and a plea to "preserve us from the ancient foe."

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The lines "At whose dread name, majestic now, / All knees must bend, all hearts must bow" in the fourth verse comes from Philippians 2:10:  "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."  However, this isn't cited in the hymnal.

"Ellacombe"

I usually record these the same day I post them, but since I'm going out of town to-day, I recorded this one in advance.  And because of that, I thought I'd try something I wanted to do for awhile: I recorded the bass part too.  I can pretty easily divide the melody from the harmony part in the treble clef as I'm playing, but apparently this ability doesn't extend to bass clef.  It's almost entirely double stops, so I copied it out and divided it into two parts.  I recorded both, but all four tracks together sounded too messy, so I ended up using only one (the one with the lower notes).

As usual, this is one arrangement from Lutheran Worship (#106) and one arrangement from the Lutheran Service Book (#443).

"Come to Calvary's Holy Mountain"

A couple weeks ago, I transcribed "Come to Calvary's Holy Mountain," which reminded me of something I'd noticed awhile ago and needed to get around to writing about.

This is just a small point, but - when the text is sung to the tune "Naar mit öie" - the line "Sinners, ruined by the fall" descends.  Here's the melody for that line:

There's a fall in the text, and a literal fall in the tune.  The melody there spans an octave (D to D).

LSB #350 "Come, Thou Precious Ransom, Come"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 20:28, Matthew 21:5, 1 Timothy 2:6, Psalm 49:7-8, Revelation 5:9

Matthew 20:28:  "'Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

Matthew 21:5:  "'Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."'"

1 Timothy 2:6:  "[Jesus Christ], who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."

Psalm 49:7-8:  "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice."

Revelation 5:9:  "And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.'"

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The text is public domain:

Come, Thou precious Ransom, come
Only hope for sinful mortals!
Come, O Savior of the world!
Open are to Thee all portals.
Come, Thy beauty let us see;
Anxiously we wait for Thee.

Enter now my waiting heart,
Glorious King and Lord most holy.
Dwell in me and ne'er depart,
Though I am but poor and lowly.
Ah, what riches will be mine
When Thou art my guest divine!

My hosannas and my palms
Graciously receive, I pray Thee;
Evermore, as best I can,
Savior, I will homage pay Thee,
And in faith I will embrace,
Lord, Thy merit though Thy grace.

Hail! Hosanna, David's Son!
Jesus, hear our supplication!
Let Thy kingdom, scepter, crown,
Bring us blessing and salvation,
That forever we may sing:
Hail! Hosanna to our King.

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Four of the five cited texts mention a "ransom," but because of the resemblance between "Open are to Thee all portals" and "Worthy are you... to open its seals" it seems that the Revelation text is the primary referent.

The third and fourth verses - with their calls of "Hosanna" and the mention of palms - hint at Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem (which the Matthew 21 text, quoting Zechariah 9:9, precedes), but they're more than mere references.  It's more like the hymn uses that imagery in describing current "homage" paid to Christ.

"Munich"

This tune is used with a couple texts in each hymnal, but I used the arrangements for LW 366 and LSB 658.

"God Loved the World So That He Gave"

A couple weeks ago, one of the hymns in church was LSB #571 "God Loved the World So That He Gave."  It was the 2nd Sunday in Lent, and John 3:16 - one of the Biblical sources for the hymn - was in the Gospel reading (John 3:1-17).  While singing the hymn, I noticed something about the pairing of the text and "St. Crispin," the tune to which its sung.  Not only is this specific to "St. Crispin" but also to the particular arrangement the tune has in The Lutheran Service Book (the same arrangement is also in The Lutheran Hymnal).

A couple years ago, I read John Eliot Gardiner's Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven and learned about the practice of inscribing musical crosses into works.  Here's Gardiner's diagram of some crosses Bach inscribed in BWV 4: III:

Since learning about this, I've found quite a few of these cross inscriptions, and one of them is in the particular arrangement of "St. Crispin" in The Lutheran Service Book.  The second musical phrase - melody and harmony - is:

When isolated, the harmony part in the last two bars has a cross inscription:

Not only is there a cross inscription, but it has relevance when considered with the text.  For the first four verses of the hymn, the words that are sung to the melody above this cross inscription deal with the cross or the crucifixion:  "His only Son the lost to save," "Who was made flesh and suffered death," "His Son with saving grace is nigh," and "Forgives all sins which you have done."  God saves the lost through His Son's crucifixion; Christ "suffered death" on the cross; Christ's crucifixion is an illustration of God's "saving grace"; and it's through Christ's death on the cross that all our sins are forgiven.

LSB #349 "Hark the Glad Sound"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah 61:1-2, Matthew 21:9

Luke 4:18-19:  "'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'"

Isaiah 40:3:  "A voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'"

Isaiah 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn."

Matthew 21:9:  "And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!'"

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The text is public domain:

Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes,
The Savior promised long;
Let ev'ry heart prepare a throne
And ev'ry voice a song.

He comes the pris'ners to release,
In Satan's bondage held.
The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He comes the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of His grace
To enrich the humble poor.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And heav'n's eternal arches ring
With Thy beloved name.

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The first verse seems to be an extension of the sentiments in the Matthew 21 and Isaiah 40 texts cited.  "The glad sound" is that of the people's "shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!'" in Matthew, and "Let ev'ry heart prepare a throne / And ev'ry voice a song" has the same sort of structure as Isaiah's "prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway."  Instead of a way and a highway, there's the call to prepare a throne and a song.

The second and third verses come from the Isaiah 61 text, which is quoted by Christ in Luke 4.  The lines "He comes the broken heart to bind, / The bleeding soul to cure" also seem to come from Psalm 147:3 (which isn't cited in the hymnal):  "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

The fourth verse - with its specific mention of hosannas - is also from the Matthew text.  The name "Prince of Peace" comes from Isaiah 9:6 (which also isn't cited):  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."