This is a revision to the previously released study on this hymn – ed.
We all have childhood memories of coming into church on Palm Sunday, waving palm fronds. For me, growing up in Miami, we had access to plenty of palm fronds in our neighborhoods, and some of those fronds were bigger than we were! It was all in celebration of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, a bold statement of His royal Messiahship, just days before His passion.
And the music of Palm Sunday has included marvelous celebrations of that royal entrance into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-10. And of course we love to hear the chorus Lift Up Your Heads, based on Psalm 24, in Handel’s classic oratorio Messiah.
Some of the greatest musical resources for us are found in our hymnals, including All Glory, Laud, and Honor. The music we use for this was written about 1615 by Melchior Teschner, a church theologian/ musician, about a century after Luther posted his 95 Theses that launched the Protestant Reformation. It has been given the tune name ST. THEODULPH, named after the man who wrote the words we use today, Theodulph of Orleans. Here is his story.