Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?"
‹anonymous›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
11Nov
2003
Tue
16:32
author: Stingray
category: Hymns
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trackbacks: 0

Christ is Risen From the Darkness

Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-18

Well, I thought it about time to release this hymn as it has been sitting on my hard drive "collecting dust;" no changes have been made to it. So, almost two years after I first wrote it, I release it to the public.

And it's kind of an interesting release, too. This is the first hymn (that I know of) to be written to the East German National Anthem. Hymns have been written to the tune Austria, the West German/German National Anthem (such as Glorious Things of You are Spoken), but I am unaware of any being written to its counterpart, so to speak. It's a beautiful melody, despite it being written to honor godlessness and fascism. Ironic, then, that I would write a hymn to it, I think. And, to be honest, I'm not sure what I was doing that I ran across the anthem in the first place; I know simply that I found it at Wiki and fell in love with the sound. I guess it's also ironic that the national anthem entitle "Risen from the Ruins" would be used in writing an Easter hymn.

And there's a bit of an interesting fact with the tune, too. I haven't arranged it. Well, I tried once, but my knowledge of music theory is lacking, to put it kindly. So, if anyone would like to try, you are more than free to do so. If you want to submit something to me to consider, do so in MIDI format. I would only consider an arrangement done in a traditional hymn format (4 part harmony, maybe some dissonances, not too much syncopation...you know, the kind of stuff you would find in The Lutheran Hymnal). One change you would have to make to the melody to fit these words is the meter for the last two phrases: the DDR National Anthem is written in 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.5.5., this hymn is written in 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.6.6. (I envision changing the second half note to which the syllable "-land" of the word "Deutschland" is sung into two quarter notes to which the syllables "-sen to-" of the phrase "risen today" are sung). You may submit any "entries" to me at my email address. I am also considering consulting with some connections I have in the music field.