This is the "LM" version of "Lasst uns erfreuen:" there are trailing alleluias and mid-verse alleluias, so the actual original text that changes from verse to verse is really just 8888. (The other text to this tune is "All Creatures, Worship God Most High," which...also has the mid-verse alleluias, so I would expect it also to be LM, but really it's 888 88??)

The text is attributed to Bede, a British saint who lived in the 700s and is often referred to as "the Venerable Bede." A while back I was doing a crossword and one of the answers was ST BEDE, and I was stuck because Bede was too short but "the venerable Bede" was too long. Oops.

This is a case of "with alleluias" (rather than "and alleluias"!). Each verse ends with an "Alleluia!" that doesn't count towards the meter, and in addition, there's a series of alleluias before the first verse and after the last verse. (But not in between, so the verses are written with a repeat sign to make it clear you just do that part over again, not the extras.)

We get the rare grave (backwards) accent; in English, this is pretty much only used to say "pronounce the -ed at the end of this word as if it was its own syllable, otherwise it won't scan." So Jesus describes his "piercèd side" to Thomas. (Sometimes Shakespeare's works, or over-the-top imitations of that style, get the same treatment.)

Similar to 371, this is plainsong with loose verse markers. I would say it's a little more structured, in that each of the verses ends with a matching "Alleluia!" and there's some melody repetition among the verses. (I guess this makes it one for the "trailing alleluias" category, although the arrangers gave up and went with "Peculiar Meter" for the tune.)

This is the same hymn tune, "Lasst Uns Erfreuen," as #367 (and two more). So when you sort by hymn tune name, they are all together.

The weird thing comes when you sort by meter. In 367, there were six unique-ish lines besides the trailing alleluias, so it was "888 888 and alleluias." This, however, has even more trailing alleluias, so it's "888 88." Which means it gets a second entry in the "sort by meter" index. There will be another text to this melody with even more alleluias in the middle, which would be "8888," except "8888" is abbreviated to "LM" for "Long Meter," obviously. So three entries for one song!

The lyrics are about various types of angels and saints. Catholicism in particular extrapolates loosely from some Biblical phrases about "dominions" and "thrones" and makes a whole hierarchy of angels and their special abilities based on that. Protestants are more likely to go "that's...probably a metaphor???" Mary also gets a verse to herself, which is also a Catholic thing.

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Meanwhile, I've attempted to put my money where my mouth is and write my own hymn for an ongoing contest. I can use a public-domain melody (and harmony), so I've been asking myself, "why yes indeed, the alto part is very boring, it's simple quarter notes even when the sopranos are doing something else...how do I get that to look nice in the software." Sounds like I'm not the only one who's frustrated at the difference between hymnal style and software for recording the "stems" of notes.

This is probably the most popular hymn for All Saints' Day (November 1 or thereabouts). The music is by Ralph Vaughan Williams which is part of the fame. As we'll see, there's a lot going on here.

Are there trailing alleluias?

Oh yes!

Is this why you liked it as a little kid?

I...don't know, but maybe? It was probably that or I enjoyed the hymn number in the old hymnal for some reason, but I don't think it was particularly special. But yeah, as a little kid I liked to flip through and find this one.

Is the melody the same for all the verses?

Yes.

Why are some of them listed with a different musical part then?

That's the harmony for if you want to sing in harmony.

Couldn't you put all the verses in harmony and just leave it up to the individual churches to decide which to sing the parts for? Or just put the extra text at the bottom if it didn't fit?

Yes.

Why did they do it this way then?

I'm...not sure.

Is it a culture wars thing?

I don't think so? I mean, the original text is kind of old-fashioned (thee and thine and militaristic imagery), and some of that got edited in previous hymnals, and now appears to have been rolled back to a more archaic version, which was probably a compromise about something, but...I still don't understand what that would have to do with the harmony?

Anything else of note?

In a sermon on All Saints' Day some years ago, one of my college pastors pointed out that the hymn tune name means "without a name," so it's a good way to indicate all of the saints who don't have their own feast days but who are important even if we don't know them. Also, even though it's regarded as a very impressive text and tune, the lines don't always scan in perfect iambic pentameter--there are parts where some notes are rushed together or held long to make the stress fit the music. Which means...nothing's perfect so we shouldn't be overwhelmed by its majesty? I don't know, it was interesting at the time.

Does this song feature trailing alleluias?

Not only does every verse end with an "alleluia," but also there's a line of "alleluias" for just after the last verse, and the same line just at the beginning! So...yes, definitely. This falls into the category of "with" rather than "and" alleluias.

Where has this been sampled?

A couple Easters my choir sang a big mashup of a bunch of different Easter hymns (and loud over-the-top original additions by the composer), this was one of them. There were some parts for everyone in harmony, some for a soloist, and then some for an ensemble of one each soprano/alto/tenor/bass. So I think towards the end this and another song traded lines, one for the soloist and one for the whole group.

What's the time signature?

Looks like 4/4, but with a couple random 6/4 measures thrown in.

How about the overall meter?

(I'll probably go into this more later, but for now, just know each number represents the number of syllables in one line.) "888 and alleluias."

So...three lines of 8, and then "alleluias"? Can't you count the syllables in them, too?

You can, but there are so many songs that just end with "alleluias" that they're their own classification. This is one of two tunes labeled as "888 and alleluias." Not to be confused with "888 with alleluias."

Oh come on, you just made that up.

I wish!

What's even the difference?

Apparently the "with" alleluias have lines of alleluias before and after the whole verse, while "and" is just at the end of every verse (although "with" might have these as well). It's the little things.

Is this the kind of thing you notice on the regular?

This kind of thing, maybe, but this specific one, no, actually I just figured it out right now for this song. See, I do learn something from this silly project.