Classic Hymns and Their Stories
Puzzle 24 · The Wesleys and Methodist Song · Page 40 in print
Christ the Lord Is Risen
Hymnal editors added “Alleluia” after every line of the hymn; the original had none.
Jump to a word
The words
Adam
Biblical figure used as a type of Christ. The original sixth stanza uses the heavenly Adam image.
Alleluia
Refrain added by later editors, not part of Wesley’s 1739 text.
Corinthians
Pauline epistles echoed by the hymns (2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:22).
Discipleship Ministries: Christ the Lord (opens a new tab) · Discipleship Ministries: History of Hymns (opens a new tab)
David Evans
Welsh musician who harmonised LLANFAIR.
Grave
Burial image in the hymn.
John Parry
Editor of Peroriaeth Hyfryd (1837), where LLANFAIR was first printed. First publisher of an alternative tune.
Llanfair
Welsh hymn tune by Robert Williams, 1817. An alternative tune used with the text.
Maccabees
Tune paired with Wesley’s Easter hymn.
Hymnology Archive: Surrexit Christus hodie (opens a new tab)
Redemption
Theme named in the title of the 1747 first-printing collection, and in Wesley’s omitted Easter stanza.
Discipleship Ministries: Christ the Lord (opens a new tab) · Hymnology Archive: Love divine all loves (opens a new tab)
Resurrection
Rising from death, the central theme of the hymn. The hymn celebrates Christ’s rising and its meaning for believers.
Sacred Harmony
The Wesleys’ 1780 tune collection. Collection printing the hymn with MACCABEES.
Hymnology Archive: Surrexit Christus hodie (opens a new tab)
Salisbury
Name John Wesley gave the Lyra Davidica Easter melody in the 1742 Foundery tune book.
Discipleship Ministries: Christ the Lord (opens a new tab) · Songs and Hymns: The Center For Church Music (opens a new tab) · Hymnology Archive: Hark the Herald (opens a new tab)
Strahan
London printer of Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739).
United Methodist Church: “Christ the Lord Is (opens a new tab)
Trochaic Meter
Strong-weak poetic rhythm.
Hymnology Archive: Surrexit Christus hodie (opens a new tab)
Victory
The hymn’s theme of overcoming death. Central theological meaning of the Easter hymn.
Sources
- History of Hymns: Christ the Lord Is Risen TodayDiscipleship Ministries, United Methodist Church
- History of Hymns: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”Discipleship Ministries, United Methodist Church
- Mor 1995Hymnary.org
- Tune: LLANFAIRHymnary.org
- Surrexit Christus hodieHymnology Archive
- Love divine all loves excellingHymnology Archive
- The Center For Church Music, Songs and HymnsSongs and Hymns
- Hark the Herald AngelsHymnology Archive
- “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” by Charles WesleyUnited Methodist Church