"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.

History

thumb|The hymn was first sung on Easter Sunday of 1740 at [[The Foundery 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 sung at the first service at The Foundery Meeting House after Wesley had adapted it into the first Methodist chapel.

Following this, Wesley published it in the Hymns and Sacred Poems hymnal of 1739, initially with eleven verses of four lines each. The hymn was subsequently published in the hymnal A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists,

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, 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. and early in the 19th century "Alleluia" was added to the end of each line. The hymn led to a more popular awareness of Alleluia being used for Easter to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. 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. 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. 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.

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).

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. This altered version has since been adopted by some other Christian denominations.

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. "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.

"Llanfair" was written by Robert Williams in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, Wales and the tune was named after the town. This hymn tune was also harmonised by the Director of Music of University College, Oxford, David Evans.

British composer John Rutter published a choral arrangement of "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today", using the "Easter Hymn" tune, in 2016.

See also

  • Resurrection of Jesus
  • List of Easter hymns

References

Further reading

  • which cites Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal
  • Cyber Hymnal
  • Text, MIDI, and piano score from HymnSite.com
  • children's recording at soundingchildhood.org: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/sounding-childhood/christ-the-lord-is-risen-to-day?path=part-1-hymns--religious-songs