HOTC #31: LSB 491, Up through Endless Ranks of Angels
The Ascension by Gustave Doré, 1879
We arrive now at our first Ascension hymn. The selection of hymns for this occasion in Lutheran Service Book is really quite nice, being varied significantly in style and content even though there are only five of them (by comparison, there are eight Pentecost hymns and just four hymns for Holy Trinity).
(And yes, the capitalization on that title is correct. I’m not sure what style guide they used on these LSB hymn titles, but somehow “through” doesn’t get capitalized)
The Author
Last week we were introduced the work of Rev. Stephen Starke, today we’re back to that other giant of recent LCMS hymnody, Jaroslav Vajda, who we discussed back at the beginning of the year (literally).
The Text
Vajda produced this text for Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, who changed the incipit to “There through endless ranks of angels.” The original text is restored here in Lutheran Service Book.
The opening verse places us squarely in the scene on that Ascension Day: Jesus rising up to Heaven, past the “thrones…dominions…rulers…authorities” mentioned by St. Paul (Colossians 1:16), returning to the Father. The final scene in this verse is of Christ’s earthly followers, peering heavenward in floods of “…happy tears.”
The next two verses meditate on what this all means. The second verse begins with a reflection on the work of Christ - the “Death destroying, life restoring” life, death, and resurrection of Christ which has “Proven equal to our need,” the desperate need of humanity for a savior, a way of salvation. The verse concludes by pointing out the novelty of the Incarnation - one who once walked among us, or “brother,” to use the language of the hymn, now at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us.
The next verse points us forward in the church year, toward Pentecost with a plea for the assistance of the Holy Spirit in the broken, shattered sinfulness of humanity. The final phrases are an appeal to the ascended Christ that we might be similarly welcomed to the eternal Easter feast.
The poetry (and indeed the congregants singing this hymn) rise to a fever pitch as the alleluias clear the way for the declaration of the Trinity - not in a typically doxological closing verse, but in a threefold entreaty addressed to each of the persons of the Trinity.
The Tune
In the original Augsburg Fortress publication, Vajda’s text was set to the tune OUR LADY, TRONHJEM, a tune for which I can locate very little information aside from what is apparently a copy of it.
The present tune, ASCENDED TRIUMPH, is the product of Rev. Henry V. Gerike, one of the leading musical pens in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and a former kantor of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri (his Christ in Our Hearts, Christ on Our Lips is a must-do Bible study for choirs and church musicians). Per Companion to the Hymns, Vol. 1, this tune originated in an anthem by Walter L. Pelz for SATB choir, two trumpets, organ, and optional timpani, first published in 1976.
The tune fits the text to near-perfection. Indeed, one of the major things that makes this hymn “work” is the velocity with which the music rises once the word “Up…” has been sung, climbing an octave in just three notes! In a similar way, the phrase “Christ looks down…” toward the end of the first verse is accompanied by correspondingly descending music.
There’s a lot of energy in this tune, managed expertly by the use of the dotted figures, which carry the tune past the harmony and create momentum.
Being a fairly recent creation, all of the literature for this tune is modern church music (with a high percentage of it represented in the list below).
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Settings of this hymn and/or tune may be found in:
For organ:
Concordia Hymn Prelude Library, Vol. 1
Let All Creation Join: Twelve Brief Hymn Preludes
Musica Sacra: Easy Hymn Preludes for Organ, Vol. 7
Soli Deo Gloria: Eight Distinctive Chorale Preludes for Every Organist, Set 3
Alternate harmonizations:
Basic Hymn Accompaniments, Vol. II (Lent, Easter, Pentecost)