Music Notes 8-25-24

Charles Wesley, the co-founder of the Methodist movement, wrote the text for Christ the Lord Is Risen Today in 1739 where it was initially titled Hymn for Easter Day. The new hymn was first performed at the first service at The Foundery Meeting House after Wesley had adapted it into the first Methodist chapel. Following this, Wesley published it in the Hymns and Sacred Poems hymnal of 1739, initially with eleven verses of four lines each. The hymn was subsequently published in the hymnal A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, and in 1754, it appeared in Harmonia Sacra, a hymnal compiled by Thomas Butts. When Christ, the Lord, is ris'n today was published by Thomas Butts in his 1754 hymnal Harmonia Sacra, it was paired with the tune Maccabaeus. The rousing melody was originally composed by George Frideric Handel, initially for his 1747 oratorio Joshua, and later added to his 1746 oratorio Judas Maccabaeus. This choice of a militaristic theme was intended to reinforce the metaphorical depiction of the resurrected Christ as a victorious warrior who has vanquished death and the powers of evil. Today, this tune is popularly associated with the 1923 hymn Thine Be the Glory.  Today there are two tunes commonly used for Christ the Lord Is Risen Today: these are Easter Hymn and Llanfair.  Easter Hymn, the most used tune for the hymn, was originally titled The Resurrection and published anonymously in Lyra Davidica in 1708.  Despite being anonymous, over time it has been misattributed to J. W. Worgan, Henry Carey and George Frideric Handel. The writer James T. Lightwood said of it: "there is probably no tune in Christendom so universally sung on any festal day as the Easter hymn, with its rolling "Hallelujah", on Easter morning.”  Christ the Lord Is Risen Today also gained popularity as a children's hymn by editors of children's hymnals. This was attributed to the tune being easy to learn despite the complex language within the text.  In our hymnal, the Easter Hymn tune is paired with the slightly altered lyrics “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today”.  Llanfair is the tune we use in our hymnal and was written by Robert Williams in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, Wales (the tune was named after the town).  This hymn tune was harmonized by the Director of Music of University College, Oxford, David Evans in 1927.

The lyrics to Christ Is Risen! Shout Hosanna! were written by Brian Wren, an English hymn poet and writer in 1984 and incorporates the well-known melody from the 4th movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – Ode To Joy, also known as “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. Wren’s hymn has been published in 23 different hymnals, and the Ode To Joy melody has shown up in over 450 hymnals.  The 9th Symphony was not Beethoven’s last work, but it is certainly his largest and most well-known.  Completed in 1824, it is considered to be a masterpiece of western classical music and one of the supreme achievements in the history of music.  Even more remarkable is the fact that Beethoven was almost completely deaf when it was being written and not only never heard it performed (he was at the performance and sort of conducted – he stood in front of the conductor’s podium and waved his arms in the air), but he didn’t know the audience was applauding at the end, and the contralto soloist had to turn him around to see the adulation of the audience.  He was given 5 standing ovations with hats and handkerchiefs in the air, as they knew he couldn’t hear the applause.  The symphony is a staple of most symphony orchestras, and personally, I’ve sung it probably 35-40 times.  Roger Wagner used to tell the story of the great conductor Otto Klemperer, when asked how many times he had conducted the piece, he replied, “Oh, about a thousand times.”  Roger asked him if he ever got tired of it, and Klemperer replied that every time he studied the score, he saw something new.