The Story of the Hymns and Tunes, page 299 by Theron Brown
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ention must suffice of Luther's--
In the bonds of death He lay;
--of Watts'--
He dies, the Friend of sinners dies;
--of John Wesley's--
Our Lord has gone up on high;
--of C.F. Gellert's--
Christ is risen! Christ is risen! He hath burst His bonds in twain;
--omitting hundreds which have been helpful in psalmody, and are, perhaps, still in choir or congregational use.
"CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY"
Begins a hymn of Charles Wesley's and is also the first line of a hymn prepared for Sunday-school use by Mrs. Storrs, wife of the late Dr. Richard Salter Storrs of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wesley's hymn is sung--with or without the hallelujah interludes--to "Telemann's Chant," (Zeuner), to an air of Mendelssohn, and to John Stainer's "Paschale Gaudium." Like the old New England "Easter Anthem" it appears to have been suggested by an anonymous translation of some more ancient (Latin) antiphony.
Jesus Christ is risen to day, Hallelujah! Our triumphant holy day, Hallelujah!
* * * * *
Who endured the cross and grave. Hallelujah! Sinners to redeem and save, Hallelujah!
AN ANTHEM FOR EASTER.
This work of an amateur genius, with its rustic harmonies, suited the taste of colonial times, and no doubt the devout church-goers of that day found sincere worship and thanksgiving in its flamboyant music. "An Anthem for Easter," in A major by William Billings (1785) occupied several pages in the early collections of psalmody and "the sounding joy" was in it. Organs were scarce, but beyond the viols of the village choirs it needed no instrumental accessories. The language is borrowed from the New Testament and Young's Night Thoughts.
The Lord is risen indeed! Hallelujah! The Lord is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Following this triumphant overture, a recitative bass solo repeats I Cor. 15:20, and the chorus takes it up with crowning hallelujahs. Different parts, per fugam, inquire from clef to clef--
A