Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#640

640. Alleluia

Text Information

• First Line: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
• Title: Alleluia
• Author: Jerry Sinclair (1972)
• Meter: PM
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Topic: Doxologies; Songs for Children: Hymns; Alleluias
• Copyright: Text and music © 1972, Manna Music. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission
• CCLI Number: 16811

Tune Information

• Name: SINCLAIR
• Composer: Jerry Sinclair (1972)
• Meter: PM
• Key: G Major
• Copyright: © 1972, Manna Music, Inc. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Text Information:

See PHH 639 for a discussion of the "alleluia" text. In the style of praise choruses the following anonymous stanzas were added after the original setting was composed (note that each phrase is sung four times):

• 2 He's my Savior, alleluia!
• 3 He is worthy, alleluia!
• 4 I will praise him, alleluia!
• 5 Maranatha, alleluia!

With these additional stanzas the theme of "alleluia" becomes the praise of Christ. Stanzas 2 and 3 explain the reasons for this praise: Jesus is our Savior (Matt. 1:21b), and he is worthy of all praise (Rev. 4:11; 5:12). Stanza 4 makes the "alleluia" directly personal, and the final stanza, "Maranatha," urges the Lord to come quickly to receive perfect praise from all his creatures.

Liturgical Use:
Various occasions of praise to God, including the Lord's Supper; with the final stanza, "Maranatha," during Advent; see PHH 639 for additional suggestions.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Jerry Sinclair's (b. Calais, ME, 1943) tune SINCLAIR was initially published in several Scripture chorus booklets in 1972. Like the Taizé "Alleluia" (639) this simple chorus throbs with a solemn inner praise; that praise would be heightened by unaccompanied five-part singing (with some sopranos doubling the alto part an octave higher to create the fifth part) and should be disciplined by a restrained tempo. "Alleluia" thrives on such sobriety--the strength of its internalized praise may be lost with a fast tempo and/ or external flamboyance.

Jerry Sinclair began writing songs when he was a teenager in northeastern Maine. During the early days of the Jesus Movement, he ministered with a singing group, The Chosen Ones, in various churches in the western United States, often in association with evangelists such as Arthur Blessitt. Later he became an executive of a cellular phone company and owned his own publishing business, Southern California Music.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook