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from Hymncharts arranger Don Chapman:
Kick off your Easter worship with We Sing Alleluia (Christ the Lord), my new Hymns Reborn version of Christ the Lord Is Risen Today. It’s a new melody for the Charles Wesley hymn. (Hymns Reborn is my series where I compose entirely new music for classic hymn lyrics, giving them a modern sound while preserving the timeless words.)
I’m continually trying to rearrange hymns to fit the more streamlined modern worship style, and Christ the Lord Is Risen Today is nearly impossible to retrofit! The long “Alleluia” melisma (where one syllable is sung over multiple notes) basically disqualifies it from the start, and the melody itself is such that a lot of chord changes must happen or the hymn just doesn’t sound right.
A few weeks ago I was slaving over trying to create yet another new version of Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, finally gave up, and decided I might as well rewrite the entire music. We Sing Alleluia (Christ the Lord) popped out in about ten minutes.
That’s usually how songwriting works for me: the core arrives quickly, then over the next few days I mull it over in my head and tweak a note here and there until it feels right.
This one just clicked. I love how the melody launches upward, coloring the lyrics:
Christ the Lord is ris’n today…
Soar we now where Christ has led…
Wesley’s 3rd verse has become the modern worship bridge, and it’s my favorite moment of the whole song. The awe-inspiring feel matches his declarative lyric so well, and wait ’til that soaring string pad comes in! When I hear it, I envision millions of saints worshipping Jesus for His triumph over death.
Love’s redeeming work is done
Fought the fight the battle won
Death in vain forbids Him rise
Christ has opened Paradise
And as an added bonus, the song is uptempo at 118 BPM in the comfortable congregational key of Bb. And don’t we need more uptempo worship songs these days 🙂
I think We Sing Alleluia (Christ the Lord) has a melody that can easily be picked up by your congregation, and the bridge is repeated to build intensity.
If you like it enough, you might want to sing it all year long. If so, simply modify that Easter-specific first line from Christ the Lord is ris’n today to Christ the Lord is crowned today.
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Get this arrangement of We Sing Alleluia (Christ the Lord) only at Hymncharts.com – you won’t find this fresh take anywhere else! As the arranger, I’m offering this new version exclusively on my website.
3 Comments. Leave new
Thanks for this version Don. You are truly gifted as a songwriter. The old hymns glorify our Lord and raise our hearts to Him in ways contemporary songs miss when they focus more on our emotional response to him rather than His person and work on our behalf. Thanks again for this new musical “take” on this inspiring hymn!
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it!
It’s a nice new song. I listened to it twice. I like it. I could see it being used at any time of the year, not just Easter. But I’m sorry, it’s not a replacement for Christ the Lord is Risen Today. There’s something about that old hymn that captures the majestic and celebratory tone we need to kick off an Easter Sunday service. Not every song has to be done by a modern worship band.