Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir

Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir. Martin Luther* (1483-1546). Written in 1523/24, and probably first printed in a broadsheet and sold in the streets. It was one of four hymns by Luther printed in Etlich christlich lider Lobgesang un[d] Psalm (the ‘Achtliederbuch’, Wittenberg, 1524). It had four verses in that printing, and also in Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524). A five-verse text, replacing the original verse 2 with two verses, 2 and 3, appeared in Geystliche gesangk Buchlein (Wittenberg, 1524), and this has become the normal version (see Jenny, Luthers geistliche Lieder, no. 11, p. 69). The revision was as follows (Jenny, pp. 191-2): ‘Achtliederbuch’,...