Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

{{Short description|Christian hymn, Easter song by Charles Wesley}}

{{Infobox musical composition

| name = Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

| type = Hymn

| image = Jesus appears to his disciples after he has risen.jpg

| alt =

| caption = An 1873 depiction of a scene from the Bible, in which Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection

| occasion = Easter

| text = Charles Wesley

| language = English

| written = {{Start date|1739}}

| based_on = {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Matthew|chapter=28|verse=1-10}}

| meter = 7.7.7.7 with alleluias

| melody = "Easter Hymn", or "Llanfair" by Robert Williams

| composed =

| published =

}}

"Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" is a Christian hymn associated with Easter. Most of the stanzas were written by Charles Wesley, and the hymn appeared under the title "Hymn for Easter Day" in Hymns and Sacred Poems by Charles and John Wesley in 1739. The hymn eventually became well known for the "Alleluia" sung as a melisma after each line, which was added by an unknown author, probably to fit the commonly used hymn tune, "Easter Hymn". It remains a traditional processional hymn on Easter Sunday.{{cite web|url=https://www.cph.org/p-22951-easter-processional-on-christ-the-lord-is-risen-today-alleluia.aspx |title=Easter Processional on Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; Alleluia |publisher=Concordia Publishing House |date=15 December 2017 |access-date=13 January 2018}}

History

File:The Foundery.jpg in London.]]

Charles Wesley, the co-founder of the Methodist movement, wrote "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.{{cite book |title=Stories Behind the Traditions and Songs of Easter |first=Ace |last=Collins |year=2009 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0310542261 |chapter=Christ the Lord is Risen Today }}

Following this, Wesley published it in the Hymns and Sacred Poems hymnal of 1739, initially with eleven verses of four lines each.{{cite web|url=https://hymnary.org/text/christ_the_lord_is_risen_today_wesley |title=Christ the Lord is risen today |publisher=Hymnary.org |access-date=13 January 2018}}{{Cite book |last=Wesley |first=John |url=http://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_hymns-and-sacred-poems-_wesley-john_1739_0 |title=Hymns and sacred poems. Published by John Wesley, .. and Charles Wesley. 1739 |date=1739 |others=Internet Archive}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Temperley |first1=Nicholas |last2=Banfield |first2=Stephen |title=Music and the Wesleys |year=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-07767-8 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAI1EZNzJAkC&pg=PA15 |access-date=6 April 2021 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Butts |first1=Thomas |title=Harmonia Sacra, or a Compilation of Psalm and Hymn Tunes |date=1754 |publisher=Flagg & gould |location=Andover |page=118 |edition=1816 |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Harmonia-Sacra_(Butts%2C_Thomas) |chapter=Christ, the Lord, is ris'n today}}

The hymn was later edited by Martin Madan for inclusion in his Psalms and Hymns hymnal (1769) by removing the seventh, eighth and ninth verses. The hymn eventually became popular in the Church of England from around 1780. Charles Welsey's brother, John Wesley excluded it from the Wesleyan Methodist Church's Wesleyan Hymn Book, which John did to preclude the inclusion of any specific seasonal hymns. It was not until 1831, when the Supplement to the Collection was published by an unknown Methodist, that "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" made it into the hymnals of the Methodist Church regularly.{{cite web|url=https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/c/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today?q=Christ%20the%20Lord%20is%20risen%20today |title=Christ the Lord is risen today |publisher=Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology |access-date=13 January 2018}} {{Subscription required|date=January 2018}} Prior to this hymn being published, church music had maintained a similar style of dynamics to music and chants from the Biblical period. "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" was written as a more uplifting style of worship expressing personal feelings to God that eventually became the bedrock of Christian music into the modern era.

The composition of "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" originally consisted of eleven verses of four lines, which were later reduced to six,{{cite web |url=https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-christ-the-lord-is-risen-today |title=History of Hymns "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" |publisher=United Methodist Church |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115071612/https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-christ-the-lord-is-risen-today |url-status=dead }} and early in the 19th century "Alleluia" was added to the end of each line. This results in "Alleluia" appearing twenty-four times in the hymn. It is not known why this was done, but it is speculated by hymn analysts that it was to ensure that the hymn fit the "Easter Hymn" tune.{{cite web|first=Collin |last=Hansen |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/hymn-for-easter-day.html |title='Hymn for Easter Day' |work=Christianity Today |date=8 August 2008 |access-date=13 January 2018}}{{Subscription required|date=June 2018}} The hymn led to a more popular awareness of Alleluia being used for Easter to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.

The Methodist historian Bernard Lord Manning said about it:

But in the evening at the chapel, though I was uncertain about the prayers, there was no gamble about the hymns. I knew we should have Charles Wesley's Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," with its 24 "Alleluias": and we did have it. Among any Dissenters worth the name that hymn is as certain to come on Easter Day as the Easter Collect in the Established Church (the Church of England). And mark this further—those 24 "Alleluias" are not there for nothing: the special use of "Alleluia" at Easter comes down to us from the most venerable liturgies. Our hymns are our liturgy, an excellent liturgy. Let us study it, respect it, use it, develop it, and boast of it.

"Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" has been considered by many Christian hymnologists such as William Studwell, as being the most definitive church anthem for Easter.{{cite book |title=The National and Religious Song Reader: Patriotic, Traditional, and Sacred Songs from Around the World |first=William |last=Studwell |year=1996 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0789000997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalreligiou00stud/page/143 143] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalreligiou00stud/page/143 }} It is an example where Roman Catholics and Anglicans cease using the word "Alleluia" during the period of Lent but restore it into their services on Easter Sunday.

File:Charles Wesley.jpg

Beyond Methodism and Anglicanism, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" has been adopted by other Christian denominations; Baptists have adopted the hymn.{{cite web|url=https://hymnary.org/hymn/BH1991/159 |title=Baptist Hymnal 1991 159. Christ the Lord is risen today |publisher=Hymnary.org |access-date=26 February 2018}} Likewise, Presbyterians have been singing the hymn since at least the 19th century where it was also included in hymnals used for missionary work in the colonies of the British Empire.{{cite book |title=A Selection of Hymns for the use of Presbyterian Churches in Jamaica |first=Charles |last=Hope |year=1842 |edition=2nd |publisher=C. Hope |oclc=561377501 |page=206}} The hymn is also used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; however the church's hymnals only contain three verses of the hymn and have an altered text for them.{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/hymns/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today?lang=eng&_r=1 |title=Christ the Lord Is Risen Today |publisher=LDS Church |access-date=26 February 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/tracks/nzcjhp |title=Christ The Lord Is Risen Today - Mormon Tabernacle Choir |publisher=BBC Music |access-date=26 February 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Wesley's hymn is a variation of an earlier hymn "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today", a 14th-century Latin hymn which had been translated into English and published in Lyra Davidica in 1708 (and later in 1749 in Arnold's Compleat Psalmodist). In some hymnals, Jesus Christ Is Risen Today is in fact the three-stanza Compleat Psalmodist version with one or more of the additional stanzas written by Wesley appended. Though "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" gained early popularity from within the Church of England, over time the Anglicans' preference moved towards "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today" and away from Wesley's hymn.

Text

Each verse of "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" features a focus on the Resurrection of Jesus. For the final verse, Wesley uses descriptive language to describe four requirements for Christians to enjoy eternal life with God. The focuses are for Christians: to know God, to bear witness to God, to sing their faith and to love one another.{{cite book |title=The Song Forever New: Lent and Easter with Charles Wesley |first=Paul Wesley |last=Chilcote |year=2009 |publisher=Church Publishing, Inc |isbn=978-0819227256 |pages=151–152 }}

The lyrics of "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" draw inspiration from a number of Biblical texts. The overall focus of the hymn is drawn from Matthew 28:5–6 where Mary Magdalene and the other Mary is told by an angel of Jesus' resurrection. The wording as well as the "Alleluias" are drawn from the Book of Psalms with a number of Psalms being used including Psalms 106, 111, 112, 113, 117 and 135. It also alludes to Revelation 19 where "Alleluia" sings out from Heaven.

In 1989, the United Methodist Church's United Methodist Hymnal altered the second line of the first verse from "Sons of men and angels say" to "Earth and Heaven in chorus say". The change was one of many gender neutralizing lyrical alterations the hymnal made in a professed effort to make the hymns more inclusive.{{cite web|author=United Methodist Communications |url=http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/risen-today-a-wesley-hymn-devotion-for-easter |title=Risen today! A Wesley hymn devotion for Easter |publisher=UMC |date=10 April 2017 |access-date=21 February 2018}} This altered version has since been adopted by some other Christian denominations.

Tune

{{listen |filename=HWW Jesus Christ is risen today.ogg |title="Easter Hymn" |description=A MIDI rendition of a tune for "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today"}}

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".{{cite book |last1=Til |first1=Marian Van |title=George Frideric Handel: A Music Lover's Guide to His Life, His Faith & the Development of Messiah and His Other Oratorios |publisher=WordPower Publishing |isbn=978-0-9794785-0-5 |page=16 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn8fz2qwjpwC&pg=PA223 |access-date=8 April 2021 |language=en |chapter=Guns to Good Effect|year=2007 }}

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."{{cite book |title=British Hymn Books for Children, 1800–1900: Re-Tuning the History of Childhood |first=Alisa |last=Clapp-Itnyre |year=2016 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |isbn=978-1472407016 |chapter=1. Congregational Singing and Musical Education }} "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.{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165458/https://www.iue.edu/hss/research/clapp-itnyre/childrenshymns/play.php?hymn=19|archivedate=2018-02-22|url=https://www.iue.edu/hss/research/clapp-itnyre/childrenshymns/play.php?hymn=19 |title=Christ the Lord is risen today — British 19th Century Children's Hymns |publisher=Indiana University East |access-date=22 February 2018}}

"Llanfair" was written by Robert Williams in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, Wales and the tune was named after the town.{{cite book |title=28 Hymns to Sing before You Die|first=John |last=Mulder |year=2014 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1630874117 |chapter=11. Christ the Lord Is Risen Today}} This hymn tune was also harmonised by the Director of Music of University College, Oxford, David Evans. Other hymn tunes used for "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" are "Orientis Partibus", "Savannah," and "Resurrexit". One of these could potentially have been the original tune when it was first performed by Wesley, but this is unknown.{{cite web|url=https://www.sermonwriter.com/hymn-stories/christ-lord-risen-today/ |title=Hymn story, Christ the Lord Is Risen Today |date=18 May 2016 |publisher=Sermonwriter.com |access-date=13 January 2018}}

British composer John Rutter published a choral arrangement of "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today", using the "Easter Hymn" tune, in 2016.{{cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today-9780193416550?cc=gb&lang=en& |title=Christ the Lord is risen today - John Rutter |series=The Cambridge Singers Hymn Series |date=June 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-341655-0 |access-date=21 February 2018}}

References

External links

[http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/t/l/ctlrisen.htm Cyber Hymnal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016191738/http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/t/l/ctlrisen.htm |date=16 October 2019 }}
Text, MIDI, and piano score from [http://hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh302.sht HymnSite.com]

Category:18th-century hymns

Category:English Christian hymns

Category:Easter hymns

Category:Hymns by Charles Wesley

Category:18th-century Christian texts

Category:Songs about Jesus

Category:Hymns in The New English Hymnal