"St. George" (TLH #71)

The "Amen" cadence at the end feels a bit rushed, but I was just following the notation.

"O Light Whose Splendor"

Back in March, I was watching some of the old One LSB Hymn a Week videos and noticed a bunch of things about "O Light Whose Splendor," sung to the tune "St. Clement."

Because I noticed so many things, I'm going to go through the tune phrase by phrase.

The first phrase:

In the second verse, the text here is "As twilight hovers near at sunset."  It's a small point, but "sunset" is sung to a descending phrase (if two notes constitute a phrase): F E.  Musically, this gives something of a sense of the sun's setting.

In the third verse, the text here is "In all life's brilliant timeless moments."  Here, "all" and "timeless" are sung with melismas ("all" to A Bb and "timeless" to F G D).  Because of these articulations, there's a sense of the breadth of "all" and the prolonged nature of "timeless."

The second phrase:

In the second verse, the text here is "And lamps are lit, and children nod."  Similar to the descending "sunset" earlier in the verse, "children nod" is sung to a descending phrase (G F E), giving a sense of their "nod[ding]" and falling asleep.

The third phrase:

Musically, this is the same as the first phrase, but I wanted to format it differently to point out the cross inscriptions.  There's a connection between the cross inscription(s) and the third line of the third verse: "O Son of God, our Life-bestower."  "Life-bestower" (sung to the five notes that form two cross inscriptions) could be taken simply in the sense that God created us, as Psalm 139:13 states: "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb."  In conjunction with the cross inscription(s), however, there's also the sense of God's giving us life through Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.  John 3:14-15: "'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.'"

Similar to the melisma'd "timeless" in the first line of the third verse, the text in the third line of the first verse ("Pure gleam of God's unending glory") has a melisma'd "unending" (G F G D).  It's stretched out, which gives something of a sense of the word's meaning.

In the second verse, the line here is "In evening hymns we lift our voices."  "Lift" is sung with an ascending melisma (F to G), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

The fourth phrase:

Like the melisma'd "timeless" and "unending," in the fourth verse, there's a melisma'd "endless" (D F E) in this phrase ("Whose glory lightens endless days").

LSB #429 "We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Galatians 6:14, 1 John 4:8-10, Philippians 3:8, Revelation 5:12

Galatians 6:14:  "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

1 John 4:8-10:  "8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

Philippians 3:8:  "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ"

Revelation 5:12:  "... saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'"

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The text is public domain:

We sing the praise of Him who died,
Of Him who died upon the cross.
The sinner's hope let all deride;
For this we count the world but loss.

Inscribed upon the cross we see
In shining letters, "God is love."
He bears our sins upon the tree;
He brings us mercy from above.

The cross!  It takes our guilt away;
It holds the fainting spirit up;
It cheers with hope the gloomy day
And sweetens ev'ry bitter cup.

It makes the coward spirit brave
And nerves the feeble arm for fight;
It takes the terror from the grave
And gilds the bed of death with light;

The balm of life, the cure of woe,
The measure and the pledge of love,
The sinner's refuge here below,
The angels' theme in heav'n above.

To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.

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Philippians 3:8 is present in the first verse, specifically: "For this we count the world but loss," and 1 John 4:8-10 is the basis for second verse.

The various descriptions of the cross in verses three to five seem to elaborate on the "boast[ing]... in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" from Galatians 6:14.

Finally, Revelation 5:12 seems to be present at the very end ("To Christ, who won for sinners grace / By bitter grief and anguish sore, / Be praise..."), although the hymn is much more concise, offering only "praise" rather than Revelation's seven-fold list.

"Vom Himmel hoch" (TLH #70)

I tried #69 but ended up skipping it because I couldn't figure out the time signature.  Some measures have twelve beats; some have nine; one has eleven.

"Son of God, Eternal Savior"

Earlier this year, "Son of God, Eternal Savior" was one of the hymns I sang in church, and I noticed a small feature in the first line.  The hymn is sung to the tune "In Babilone."  Here's the first musical phrase:

The text here in the first verse (repeated as the first line in the fourth verse) is "Son of God, eternal Savior."  The "eternal" is sung with a melisma (G A G A).  Since the word is spread across more syllables than normal, there's something of a sense of the span of that "eternal."

LSB #428 "Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 19:17-30, Colossians 1:19-20, Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 53:10-11

John 19:17-30:  "So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.  18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.  19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.  It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'  20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.  21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, 'Do not write, "The King of the Jews," but rather, "This man said, I am King of the Jews."'  22 Pilate answered, 'What I have written I have written.'

"23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.  But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.'  This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, 'They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.'  So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!'  27 Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!'  And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

"28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst.'  29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.  30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

Colossians 1:19-20:  "19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Philippians 2:5-11:  "5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Isaiah 53:10-11:  "10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities."

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The text is public domain:

Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
Where the blood of Christ was shed,
Perfect man on thee did suffer,
Perfect God on thee has bled!

Here the King of all the ages,
Throned in light ere worlds could be,
Robed in mortal flesh is dying,
Crucified by sin for me.

O mysterious condescending!
O abandonment sublime!
Very God Himself is bearing
All the sufferings of time!

Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
Where the blood of Christ was shed,
Perfect man on thee did suffer,
Perfect God on thee has bled!

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While the hymn is about Jesus' crucifixion and all of the Biblical texts cited also mention this, there aren't many textual similarities between the Biblical texts and the hymn.  "Being born in the likeness of men" from Philippians 2:7 seems to appear as "Robed in mortal flesh" in the second verse, and "taking the form of a servant" from the same verse is called "mysterious condescending" at the beginning of the hymn's third verse.

"Very God Himself is bearing / All the sufferings of time" in the third verse resembles "he shall bear their iniquities" from Isaiah 53:11, and the entirety of "All the sufferings of time" seems to be connected to "reconcil[ing] to himself all things" from Colossians 1:20.

"St. Thomas" (TLH #68)

Because this is a shorter tune, I did the verse three times rather than the usual two.

"Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure"

Earlier this year, one of the hymns I sang in church was "Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure," sung to the tune "Jesus ist kommen, Grund ewiger Freude" (German: "Jesus has come, reason for eternal joy").  I noticed a few connections between the text and the tune.

Here's the first musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Jesus has come and brings pleasure eternal."  There are melismas for both "pleasure" (G Ab G) and "eternal" (F Eb Bb Bb), and since these words are stretched out, there's a musical sense of that "eternal" nature.  This same text is the last line of the first verse, and while the melody is different, these words are again sung with melismas.

In the second verse, the text here is "Jesus has come! Now see bonds rent asunder!"  In this verse, "rent" (Ab G) and "asunder" (F Eb Bb Bb) are sung with melismas.  That these words are broken up into more syllables gives a musical sense of their meaning.

There's a similar feature in the third musical phrase (which is the same as the first musical phrase).  In the second verse, "burst" in the line "See Him burst through with a voice as of thunder" is sung with a melisma (Eb F), and in the third verse, "breaks" in the line "Jesus breaks down all the walls of death's fortress" is sung with the same melisma.  Again, because the words are broken up into more syllables, there's a musical sense of their meaning.

LSB #427 "In the Cross of Christ I Glory"

Biblical citations in the hymnal: Galatians 2:20, 6:14

Galatians 2:20:  "I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 6:14:  "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

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The text is public domain:

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow'ring o'er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

When the woes of life o'ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me;
Lo, it glows with peace and joy.

When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more luster to the day.

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.

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Galatians 6:14 seems to be reworkt into the title line.  Rather than "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," the hymn has "In the cross of Christ I glory."  Both are essentially the same view, just from different directions.

I don't think there are specific phrases in the hymn that come from Galatians 2:20, but the hymn - especially the last three verses - does seem to describe the "peace and joy" that comes with knowing what that verse expresses.

"Ach Gott vom Himmelreiche" (TLH #67)

"O Christ, Our True and Only Light"

Earlier this year, one of the hymns I sang in church was "O Christ, Our True and Only Light."  I noticed a couple things about it.

It's sung to the tune "O Jesu Christe, wahres Licht," which is more or less the same title in German: "O Jesus Christ, true light."  Here's the first musical phrase:

In the fifth verse, the text here is "That they with us may evermore...."  (The "they" is "all those who walk apart" from the previous verse.)  "Evermore" is sung with a melisma (the last four notes).  Because the word is stretched out, there's something of a sense of its meaning.

There's a similar feature with the third musical phrase:

Still in the fifth verse, the text here is "And endless praise to You be giv'n."  This time, "praise" is sung with a melisma (the A and G in the second measure).  Because there's an extra syllable, there's something of a representation of the praise's being "endless."

LSB #425, 426 "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Galatians 6:14, Philippians 3:8

Galatians 6:14:  "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Philippians 3:8:  "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ..."

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The text is public domain:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a tribute far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all!

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The Biblical sources for this hymn are clear-cut.  Philippians 3:8, specifically "I count everything as loss," is in the first verse, rendered as "My richest gain I count but loss."

The first part of Galatians 6:14 is paraphrased in the first two lines of the hymn's second verse: "Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast / Save in the death of Christ, my God."