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Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ. Nikolaus Selnecker* (1530/1532 –1592).
The first stanza of this evening hymn ('Abide with us, Lord Jesus Christ') appeared in a Nürnberg hymn book, Geistliche Psalmen, Hymnen Lieder und Gebett (1611). It is a translation of a verse from a Latin hymn by Philipp Melanchthon*, beginning 'Vespera jam venit'. The remainder of the hymn is by Selnecker. Stanza 2 is the second of two additional stanzas found in the Nürnberg 1611 book (see Wackernagel, Das Deutsche...
Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
Written probably in 1523, and one of four hymns by Luther published in Etlich christlich lider Lobgesang un[d] Psalm (the 'Achtliederbuch', Nuremberg/ Wittenberg, 1524). This is a free version of Psalm 12, entitled 'Salvum me fac' ('Help, Lord'). It had six 7-line stanzas. A further stanza, 'Eer [Ehr] sey Gott vatter alle zeyt', was added in Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524), but it is not thought to be by Luther. The...
THEBESIUS, Adam. b. Seifersdorf, near Liegnitz, Silesia (Rosochata, Poland), 6 December 1596; d. Liegnitz, 12 December 1652. The son and grandson of Lutheran pastors, he was educated at Liegnitz and the University of Wittenberg (MA 1617), where he studied theology. He became pastor at Mondschütz (Mojęcice) in the principality of Wohlau (Wolów) (1619-27), pastor at Wohlau itself (1627-39), and finally pastor of the Oberstadtkirche, the principal church at Liegnitz (Legnica).
Thebesius is known...
KNAPP, Albert. b. Tübingen , 25 July 1798; d. Stuttgart, 18 June 1864. He was educated at the theological seminary at Maulbronn (1814-16) and at the 'Stift' at Tübingen (1816-20). He served as a 'Vikar' (assistant) at Feuerbach and at Gaisburg, both near Stuttgart, before being appointed 'diakonus' at Sulz am Neckar (1825-31), at Kirchheim unter Teck (1831-36), and at the Hospitalkirche at Stuttgart (1836-37). (During these years he was a friend of William Nast, who immigrated to the USA and...
ALBRECHT, Count (Markgraf) of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of Prussia. b. Ansbach, 17 May 1490; d. Tapiau (now Gvardeysk, Russia), 20 March 1568. Born into a branch of the Hohenzollern family, he was appointed Grand Master ('Hofmeister') of the Teutonic Knights ('Deutschen Ordens') in 1511, in the hope that he would restore the Order from Polish domination. He led the Prussian forces against Poland in an unsuccessful war of 1519-1521, followed by a four-year truce, at the end of which, at the...
Alle Menschen müssen sterben. Johann Georg Albinus* (1624-1679). This celebrated hymn (no longer in EG) was written for the funeral of a Leipzig merchant, Paul von Henssberg, 1 June 1652, and then became well known. It is said to have been a favourite hymn of Philipp Jakob Spener*. It was translated by Catherine Winkworth* in The Chorale Book for England (1863) as 'Hark! a voice saith, All are mortal'. She omitted verse 5, 'Da die Patriarchen wohnen' ('there the Patriarchs dwell'), which was...
Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr. Nikolaus Decius* (ca. 1490-1541).
The first three stanzas were probably written in 1522-23, when Decius was a schoolmaster in Braunschweig. It was published in Joachim Slüter's Eyn gantz schone unde seer nutte gesangk boek (Rostock, 1525), with a fourth stanza by Slüter. It was in Low German (Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. pp. 565-6, beginning:
Aleyne Godt yn der hoege sy eere und danck vor syne gnade...
This is the first of two such texts, the...
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ. Konrad Huber* (1507-1577).
This is found with other hymns by Huber in Ein New Auserlesen Gesangbüchlein (Strasbourg, 1545); but it was attributed by Wackernagel to Johannes Schnesing and printed at Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 176 (one of several versions, pp. 174-6). Wackernagel notes that this version of the text, entitled 'Ein Bettlied zu Christo unserem einigen Heiland' ('a prayer-hymn to Christ our only Saviour'), was credited to Huber (or 'C. Humbert') in...
BLARER (or Blaurer), Ambrosius. b. Konstanz, Bodensee, 4 April 1492; d. Winterthur, 6 December 1564. He was educated from the age of 11, after the death of his father, at the Benediktinerkloster at Alpirsbach in the Black Forest. He entered the University of Tübingen (BA 1511, MA 1512), and after a further period of study, he returned to the Benedictine monastery. He was elected prior, but left in 1522, having been introduced to the writings of Martin Luther* by his [Blarer's] brother Thomas....
LOBWASSER, Ambrosius. b. Schneeberg, Saxony, 4 April 1515; d. Königsberg, 27 November 1585. He studied at Leipzig, and became a tutor at the university there. He received a doctorate from the University of Bologna; he was appointed Professor of Law at Königsberg in 1563, remaining in post until 1580.
Lobwasser is chiefly known for his translation into German of the metrical psalms of Théodore de Bèze* and Clément Marot*, Der Psalter dess Königlichen Propheten Davids, In deutsche Reymen...
GRYPHIUS, Andreas. b. Glogau, Silesia (now Glogów, Poland), 2 October 1616; d. Glogau, 16 July 1664. He was the son of a Protestant priest (the family Latinised the name Greif to Gryphius, a common practice). He had a difficult childhood: he lost his father in 1621 and his mother in 1628, and his school education was interrupted by the disturbances of the wars of religion. He was educated at the Evangelisches Gymnasium at Glogau, the Gymnasium at Fraustadt, and the Akademisches Gymnasium at...
See 'Johannes Scheffler'*
NITSCHMANN, Anna, b. 24 November 1715; d. 21 May 1760; Johann, b. 25 September 1712; d. 30 June 1783. Born at Kunewald, near Fulneck, Moravia; the family moved to Herrnhut when they were children in 1725. Anna was appointed Unity-Elder, with responsibility for the unmarried women of the Herrnhut community. With her friend Anna Dober*, she founded the 'Jungfrauenbund' for them. Johann studied theology at the University of Halle and became private secretary to Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf*. Anna...
DOBER, Anna (née Schindler). b. Kunewald, near Fulneck, Moravia, 9 April 1713; d. Marienborn, near Büdingen, Hesse, 12 December 1739. She joined the Moravian community at Herrnhut in 1725, where she assisted Anna Nitschmann* (also born at Kunewald) in founding a young women's movement, the 'Jungfrauenbund'. In 1737 she married Johann Leonhard Dober*, later to be a Moravian bishop. She helped him in his missionary work at Amsterdam; she died aged 26 at Marienborn.
According to JJ, stanzas 4 and...
GOTTSCHICK, Anna Martina. b. Dresden, 29 September 1914; d. Kassel. 8 November 1995. Although born at Dresden, she moved with her family to Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland). She was a journalist on a local newspaper during World War II. After the war she worked at Kassel as a reader and editor for Johannes-Stauda-Verlag, a section of the publishers Bärenreiter. Her hymn, 'Herr, mach uns stark im Mut, der dich bekennt'* ('Lord, make us strong in courage, we who confess you') is in the 'Ende des...
ANNA SOPHIA, Countess of Hesse-Darmstadt. b. Marburg, 17 Dec 1638; d. Quedlinburg, 13 Dec 1683. She was the daughter of the Landgrave (Count) Georg II. She chose a convent life, and in 1657 was elected Pröpstin (lady provost) of the aristocratic Fürsten-Töchter Stift (the prince's daughter's foundation), a Lutheran institute at Quedlinburg. She was elected Abbess in 1680. She wrote Der Treue Seelen-Freund Christus Jesus mit nachdenklichen Sinn-Gemählden, anmuthigen Lehr-Gedichten und neuen...
PÖTZSCH, Arno. b. Leipzig, 23 November 1900; d. Cuxhaven, 19 April 1956. He entered the teacher's college at Bautzen in 1915. After an illness, he worked during the First World War in a grenade factory and served in the navy. After the end of the war he found refuge at Herrnhut, working as a teacher and studying from 1925 to 1927 at the seminary for mission, training as a social worker and finally beginning to study theology. While continuing his responsibilities and his work with young people,...
Auf, auf, ihr Reichgenossen. Johann Rist* (1607-1667).
First published in Rist's Sabbahtische Seelenlust (Lüneburg, 1651). The book is arranged with hymns for the Sundays of the Christian year, and this one is set for the first Sunday in Advent ('Arise, arise...'). It had twelve 8-line stanzas, with the title 'Uber das Evangelium am Ersten Advents Sontage/ Welches beschrieben wird vom heiligen Evangelisten Mattheuss / in seinem Evangelien Buche am 21 Kappitel: Da Sie nun nahe bei Jerusalem...
Auf, auf, mein Herz, mit Freuden nimm wahr. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676).
This joyful Easter hymn was first published in Johann Crüger*'s Praxis Pietatis Melica (1648), with the title 'Auferstehungs-Gesang' ('Resurrection Hymn'). It had nine 8-line stanzas. The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) and EG 112 both print an eight-stanza text, translated by John Kelly*, omitting stanza 3:
GerhardtJohn Kelly, 1867
Der Held steht auf dem Grabe Und sieht sich munter um, Der Feind liegt und legt abe Gift,...
Auf, ihr Christen, Christi Glieder. Justus Falckner* (1672-ca. 1723).
First published in August Hermann Francke (I)*'s Geistreiches Gesang Buch (1697) and then in Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen*'s Geist-reiches Gesang-Buch, den Kern alter und neuer Lieder (Halle, 1704). It was entitled 'Encouragement to Conflict in the Spiritual Warfare'. It was translated by Emma Frances Bevan* as 'Rise, ye children of Salvation' in Songs of Eternal Life (1858), where it was entitled 'Song of the Soldier'....
SPANGENBERG, August Gottlieb. b. Klettenberg, near Nordhausen, 15 July 1704; d. Berthelsdorf, near Herrnhut, 18 September 1792. He was a student at the University of Jena, first of law and then of theology. He worked at the University of Halle, but was deprived of his posts in the Theology Faculty and as Superintendent of the Orphanage schools because of his association with separatist churches. He joined the Moravians in 1733, where his talents were soon put to good use: he was the leader of...
FRANCKE, August Hermann (I). b. Lübeck, 22 March 1663; d. Halle, 8 June 1727. He was educated at the Universities of Erfurt, Kiel, and Leipzig, graduating from Leipzig in 1685. Two years later, at Lüneberg, he had a religious experience which caused him to call Lüneberg his spiritual birthplace, and which turned him towards Pietism. He became a disciple of the founder of Pietism, P.J. Spener*, who had instituted meetings for prayer, Bible study and devotion. Francke was more combative than...
FRANCKE, August Hermann (II). b. Gütersloh, 30 August 1853; d. Montreux, Switzerland, 31 May 1891. He had the same name as the great German Pietist (1663-1727). The son of a primary school teacher, he was educated at Barmen and at the Universities of Leipzig and Bonn, with interruptions owing to ill health. He worked as an assistant at the cathedral seminary at Berlin (1879) and at Halle, where he taught from 1882 to 1885, before becoming Professor of New Testament Theology at Kiel. He resigned...
Aus tiefer Not laßt uns zu Gott. Michael Weisse* (ca. 1480-1534). Printed in Ein new Geseng buchlen (Jungbunzlau, Bohemia, 1531), in nine 7-line verses. It was the first of three hymns under the heading 'Geseng fur die gefallenen von der angenommenen gnad' ('A hymn for the fallen on the grace of adoption', Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 328-9). Although it begins in a similar manner to Luther*'s paraphrase of Psalm 130, this is not a psalm paraphrase (see Liederkunde zum EG, Volume...
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...
GESIUS, Bartholomäus. b. Müncheberg, near Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, 1551/52; d. Frankfurt an der Oder, 1613. His name is spelt in several ways (see MGG entry below). He studied theology at Frankfurt-am-Main from 1575. He broke his studies by working as a cantor in Müncheberg (documentary evidence survives from 1582), and then returned to university, where his presence is recorded in 1585. He became a domestic tutor to a nobleman in Muskau and Sprottau before 1588. He moved to be cantor at the...
RINGWALDT, Bartholomäus. b. Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, ca. 1530/1532; d. Langenfeld, 9 May 1599. The details of his early life are unknown until his matriculation as a student of theology at Frankfurt/Oder in 1543. He became a pastor in 1556, and in 1559 he was a pastor at Pieske (Polish Pieski), before becoming pastor at Langenfeld (or Langfeld), Neumark (near Sonnenburg, Brandenburg). He was a strong Lutheran presence at a time of division and disintegration in church and state, and a dependable...
Befiehl du deine Wege. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676).
First published in Johann Crüger* and Christoph Runge*, D.M. Luthers und andere vornehmen geistreichen und gelehrten Männer geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (Berlin, 1653) (the 'Crüger-Runge Gesangbuch') in twelve 8-line stanzas. It was entitled 'Der 37 Psalm (Vers 5)'.
It is based on that verse ('Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him'; cf. 'Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille'*). But this hymn is a remarkable acrostic on the verse as...
Bei dir, Jesu, will ich bleiben. Karl Johann Philipp Spitta* (1801-1859).
From Spitta's Psalter und Harfe, First Series (Pirna, 1833), entitled 'Ich bleibe stets bei dir' ('I stay ever by thee'). It had six 8-line stanzas. It is found in EG in the 'Geborgen in Gottes Liebe' section, using all six stanzas (EG 406). It is based on Psalm 73: 23: 'Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand' and on John 15: 4: 'Abide in me, and I in you.' The reference to John 15...
SCHMOLCK, Benjamin. b. Brauchitzdorf, near Liegnitz, Silesia, 21 December 1672; d. Schweidnitz, 12 February 1737. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he was educated at the Gymnasium at Lauban and at the University of Leipzig (1693-97). He was ordained in 1701. In 1702 he was appointed diaconus of the Lutheran Friedenskirche at Schweidnitz. He remained there for the rest of his life, as diaconus, then archdiaconus (1708), and then pastor primarius (1714). Following the wars of religion, Schweidnitz...
Bevor die Sonne sinkt. Christa Weiß* (1925- ) based on Kurt Rommel* (1926-2011).
Rommel wrote a text beginning 'Bevor die Sonne sinkt' at a 'composition weekend' at Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, in 1963, and published it in the same year in Lieder von heute ('Songs of Today'). It was entitled 'Abendlied', and had four stanzas. This was set to two tunes, one by Friedrich Endorf, another by Martin Striebel and Kurt Schmid. The second of these was used by Christa Weiß, who had worked with Rommel on...
Brich an, du schönes Morgenlicht. Johann Rist* (1607-1667).
This Christmas or Epiphany hymn is in three stanzas in EG. It was first published in Johann Risten himlischer Lieder ('Das Erste Zehn', or First Part, Lüneburg, 1641), where it formed part of a longer hymn of twelve 8-line stanzas, 'Ermuntre dich mein schwacher Geist' ('Courage, my weak spirit'). It was entitled 'Lob-Gesang. Von der frewdenreichen Geburt und Menschwerdung unsers… Seylandes Jesu Christi' ('Song of praise, for the birth,...
Brunn alles Heils, dich ehren wir. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769).
From Tersteegen's Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein, Drittes Büchlein (Book III) (1745), where it was designated as a hymn for many different occasions, 'Morgens, Abends, bey Tisch, nach der Predigt, und zu aller Zeit gläubig zu bäten' ('in the mornings, evenings, at the meal table, after the sermon, and in order to pray faithfully at all times'). It was entitled 'Der Segen über Gottes Volck' ('the blessing of God's people'), and...
GARVE, Carl Bernhard. b. Jeinsen near Hannover, 24 January 1763; d. 21 June 1841. He was educated at a school of the Moravian Brotherhood, becoming a teacher in a secondary school at Niesky (1784) and a lecturer in the theological college of the Brotherhood (1789). There he was introduced to the idealist and romantic spirit, which saw the influence of the Enlightenment as pernicious. He was transferred to work in the archives of the Unitas Fratrum in 1797. He became a preacher in Amsterdam...
WACKERNAGEL, Carl Eduard Philipp. b. Berlin, 28 June 1800; d. Dresden, 20 June 1877. The son of a printer, he left school following the death of his father in 1816, but with help from his mentor Friedrich Ludwig Jahn ('Turnvater Jahn') he graduated from the University of Berlin in 1819. He then studied mineralogy at Breslau, with help from another mentor, Karl von Raumer. In 1820 he followed Raumer to Halle and in 1823 to Nürnberg, where Raumer and Wackernagel taught at a private school. In...
In modern German 'choral' is the term used for a hymn tune, either the melody or its simple setting, in contradistinction to 'Kirchenlied' which is commonly used for both hymn text and its associated tune. In modern English usage 'chorale' can be used to denote a German hymn, both text and tune, though it is more frequently used for the tune alone, and commonly associated with simple harmonizations of German hymn tunes, such as 'Bach chorales', or 'four-part chorales'.
In the 16th century two...
Christ lag in Todesbanden. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
First published in Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524), and probably written in that year. It was entitled 'Der Lobesang Christ ist erstanden, Gebessert', and had seven 7-line stanzas. All seven are found in EG (EG 101), with the addition of 'Alleluja', as in some of the early texts (see Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied, III. 12; Jenny, Luthers geistliche Lieder, no 12, pp. 195-6).
The reference to 'Christ ist erstanden'*...
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This is one of the later hymns of Luther, dating probably from 1541. It is printed in Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 25, from Geistliche Lieder (1544), although a Low German version had appeared in a Magdeburg Gesang Buch in 1542. It was entitled 'Ein Geistlich Lied, Von unser heiligen Tauffe, Darin sein kurtz gefasset, Was sie sey? Wer sie gestifftet habe? Was sie nütze? etc.' ('A hymn on our Holy Baptism, in which it is...
Christe, du bist der helle Tag. Erasmus Alber* (ca. 1500-1553).
This is a companion-piece to Alber's morning hymn for children, 'Steht auf, ihr lieben Kinderlein'*. It is a German version of the Latin hymn, 'Christe qui lux es et dies'*. It was first printed with the morning hymn, in Die Morgen geseng für die Kinder newlich zusamen gebracht. Auch dabey die abent unnd Vesper geseng (Nürnberg, ca. 1556) ('A morning hymn for children newly assembled together; and also a hymn for evening...
BUNSEN, Christian Carl Josias. b. Corbach in Waldeck, Germany, 25 August 1791; d. Bonn, 28 November 1860. He was educated at the Universities of Marburg and Göttingen, becoming an assistant master at the Gymnasium (High School) of Göttingen. He resigned his post to engage in philological and historical research, which he continued throughout his career. He married Frances Waddington, of an English landed family, in 1817. He entered the diplomatic service, becoming Prussian Minister at Rome...
DAVID, Christian. b. Senftleben (Zenklava), Moravia, 17 February 1691; d. 3 February 1751. He was brought up as a Catholic, learning the trade of a carpenter (ca. 1713). He came to know the Bible well, and discussed its contents with the Jews. Intending to become a Protestant, he sought out the Lutherans in Hungary, in Leipzig and finally in Prussia. Working as a kitchen-boy, he took part in the operations to regain Stralsund. In Berlin he converted to the Protestant faith. In 1717 at Görlitz,...
RICHTER, Christian Friedrich. b. Sorau, Brandenburg, 5 October 1676; d. Halle, 5 October 1711. The son of a high-ranking civil servant, Richter studied both medicine and theology at the University of Halle. He impressed August Hermann Franke*, who made him inspector of schools and then medical officer of all the educational institutions in Halle. He was a chemist, who researched into materia medica. His hymns were much influenced by the Pietist atmosphere in Halle. In JJ two are annotated...
GELLERT, Christian Fürchtegott. b. Hainichen, Saxony, 4 July 1715; d. Leipzig, 13 December 1796. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he was educated at the famous Electoral College at Meißen. From 1734 to 1743, interrupted by periods of earning his living as a tutor, he attended Leipzig University. After finishing his BA and MA (1744), he launched into an academic career and was appointed professor of philosophy in 1751. Beginning under the auspices of J.Chr. Gottsched and taking part in publications...
BARTH, Christian Gottlob. b. Stuttgart, 31 July 1799; d. Calw, 12 November 1862. He was educated at the Gymnasium at Stuttgart, followed by the University of Tübingen (1817-21). He became assistant at Neckarweihingen and Dornham (1821-22), curate at Effringen and Schönbrunn (1822-24), and pastor at Möttlingen, near Calw, Württemberg (1824-38). In 1838 he resigned his living and went to live at Calw in order to devote more time to writing and missionary work until his death.
Barth translated...
GREGOR, Christian. b. Dirsdorf, Silesia, 1 January 1723; d. Berthelsdorf, Herrnhut, 6 November 1801. Born the son of a humble peasant farmer, he associated with the Brethren at Herrnhut from 1742, serving as organist. In 1748 he moved to Herrnhaag as director of music, and in 1749 to Zeist, returning to Herrnhut in 1753. From 1764 he was a member of the directing board of the Unitas Fratrum and was given the task of editing a hymnal which would collect and preserve what was valuable of the vast...
KNORR VON ROSENROTH, Christian. b. Alt-Raudten, Silesia (Stara Rudna, Poland), 15 July 1636; d. Großalbershof, near Sulzbach, Bavaria, 4 May 1689. The son of the pastor of Alt-Raudten, he was educated at the Latin School in Fraustadt, and later at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder and Stettin. After studying at the Universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg, where he did a dissertation on Roman coins, he travelled through the Netherlands, France, and England. Through meetings with an impoverished Armenian...
Christlicher Sängerbund
This is the name of a German free church choral organisation founded at Elberfeld (now part of Wuppertal) in 1879 by Wilhelm Elsner (1833-1892) to encourage the musical life of what is now the Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden in Deutschland (mainly Baptists), the United Methodist Church, and other German speaking free churches all over Europe. When Elsner died in 1892, Ernst H. Gebhardt* was appointed chairman. It is estimated that during the 1930s there were...
FISCHER (Vischer), Christoph. b. Joachimsthal (now Czech Jáchimov), ca. 1518; d. Celle, 1597 (buried 16 Oct). He was probably taught at school by Nikolaus Herman*. He studied at Wittenberg, where he was one of Luther's lodgers, together with Johannes Mathesius*, who lived there at the same time, and who also came from Joachimsthal. Mathesius left in 1542 but Fischer stayed until 1544, when he graduated MA and was ordained. He was pastor at Jüterbog (1544-52), near Wittenberg, where he was known...
RUNGE, Christoph. b. Berlin, 10 September 1610; d. Berlin, 1681. He was the son of a book publisher; he followed his father's profession. He printed the first of Paul Gerhardt*s hymns in Praxis Pietatis Melica (1648); he then edited D.M. Luthers und anderer vornehmen geistreichen und gelehrten Männer geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (Berlin, 1653), of which Johann Crüger* was the music editor. This is the book referred to in JJ as 'the Crüger-Runge G.B.'. The 'D.M.' stands for Doktor Martin.
It...
SCHMID, Christoph von. b. Dinkelsbühl, north of Augsburg, 15 August 1768; d. Augsburg, 3 September 1854. Born into a Catholic family, he was educated at Dillingen, obtaining a 'Schulbenefiziat' (benefice with teaching duties) at Tannhausen an der Mindel (west of Augsburg, not Tannhausen near Dinkelsbühl). There he published his first collections of hymns at his own expense, for distribution among his parishioners to encourage them to sing hymns. They were a children's book, Der erste Unterricht...
Christum wir sollen loben schon. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This hymn was first published in Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524) with the title 'Der Hymnus. A solis ortu'. It had eight 4-line stanzas. It is Luther's version of 'A solis ortus cardine'* by Sedulius* (cf. 'Was fürchtst du, Feind Herodes, sehr'*). It is found in Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied, III. 13, and in Jenny, Luthers geistliche Lieder, no. 16, pp. 210-12; it is not in EG.
JRW
Christus ist erstanden. Michael Weisse* (ca. 1480-1534).
First published in Ein new Geseng buchlen (Jungbunzlau, Bohemia, 1531). It had seven 4-line stanzas. It is based on an earlier German hymn for Easter, 'Christ ist erstanden,/ Von der Marter alle'*, which dates from the 12th century and existed in various forms (see Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied II. 43-4). That hymn was much loved by Luther*, who imitated it in 'Christ lag in Todesbanden'*. Weisse's version had seven 4-line stanzas...
Christus, der uns selig macht. Michael Weisse* (ca. 1480-1534).
Printed in Ein new Geseng buchlen (Jungbunzlau, Bohemia, 1531). It is Weisse's version of a Latin prayer, 'Patris sapientia,/veritas divina', ascribed to Aegidius of Colonna (1247-1316) (see Liederkunde zum EG, 8, p. 49). Weisse produced his translation in eight 8-line verses (see Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 259), all of which are retained, with slight alterations, in EG (EG 77). It is a hymn on the Passion, with a...
BRENTANO, Clemens. b. Ehrenbreitstein, 9 September 1778; d. Aschaffenburg, 28 July 1842. He was brought up in Frankfurt (Main), where his father was a merchant, Koblenz and Mannheim. Among his brothers and sisters Bettine (who married the poet Achim von Arnim) is known as a writer. He studied finance in Halle, medicine in Jena and philosophy in Göttingen, but never took an examination. 1803 he married the writer Sophie Mereau and lived with her in Marburg. Later they moved to Heidelberg, where...
BECKER, Cornelius. b. Leipzig, 24 October 1561; d. Leipzig, 25 May 1604. He spent almost his whole life in the city of his birth, studying at the University of Leipzig, becoming a teacher at St Thomas' School (1588), diaconus of St Nicholas' Church (1592), and pastor there (1594); he was also Professor of Theology in the University of Leipzig. A convinced Lutheran, he was disturbed by the influence of the Calvinism of the Reformed church, and especially by the popularity of the metrical psalms...
KRUMMACHER, Cornelius Friedrich Adolf. b. Ruhrort, near Duisburg, 16 June 1824; d. Werningerode, 5 February 1884. The son of the distinguished preacher, Friedrich Wilhelm Krummacher*, Cornelius studied at Bonn and Berlin, and after ordination in 1850 he was pastor of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halberstadt (1853-72), and at Barby. He retired on grounds of ill-health to Werningerode. He published sermons, Christus, sein Wort und seine Kirche, Drei Predigten (Berlin, 1857), and a book of poems,...
CRUCIGER (CREUTZIGER), Elisabeth (née von Meseritz). b. Meseritz, Pomerania (now Międzyrzecze, Poland), ca. 1500; d. Wittenberg, 2 May 1535. From a noble Catholic family, she was sent to be educated at a Premonstratensian convent, where she studied Latin and Biblical Studies. She became a nun, but under the influence of Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558, Luther's 'Doktor Pomeranus', the Lutheran apostle to Pomerania), she left the convent in 1521. She married Caspar Cruciger/Creutziger, a pupil...
GÜNTHER, Cyriakus. b. Goldbach, near Gotha, 15 January 1650; d. Gotha, 7 October 1704. Günther was educated at Goldbach and at Gotha. He studied at the University of Jena, after which he was appointed 'Conrektor' at Eisfeld, Thuringia; he returned to Gotha in 1679 as 'Collega tertius' (third-form master) at the Gymnasium, remaining in that post until his death.
At his death he left a notebook containing over thirty hymns. His son, Friedrich Philipp Günther, verger of St George's Church at...
SUDERMANN, Daniel. b. Liège (Luik), the Netherlands (now Belgium), 24 February 1550; d. Strasbourg, ca. 1631. He was the son of a painter and engraver. For much of his life he lived and worked in Strasbourg. In 1587 he was vicar of the Bruderhof, the chapter house of the cathedral. With Adam Reissner he published translations from the Latin hymns of Prudentius*, Tägliche Gesangbuch…Prudentius vor tausend Jahren, auss dem Latein verteütscht (Strasbourg, 1596). The majority of Sudermann's large...
VETTER, Daniel. b. Breslau, date unknown, mid-17th century; d. ca 1730. He was organist of St Nicholas' Church, Leipzig, and published Musicalische Kirch- und Haus Ergötzlichkeit (Part 1, 1709, Part 2, 1713). In this book he is thought to be the composer of four tunes, although he claimed one only. In Part 2 is the tune known in British books as DAS WALT' GOTT VATER, because it was set a hymn beginning 'Das walt' Gott Vater und Gott Sohn'. It has been pressed into service in different ways: it...
Das deutsche Kirchenlied DKL Kritische Gesamtausgabe der Melodien (1975) is the title of a work in the RISM series (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, VIII). It deals with the music of German hymnbooks from the beginning to 1800. The publishers are Bärenreiter (Kassel, Basel, Tours, London). The editors are Konrad Ameln, Markus Jenny and Walter Lipphardt.
It is a catalogue of printed sources of German hymns, of all denominations, that contain at least one melody in musical...
Das ist mir lieb, daß du mich horst. Heinrich Vogel* (1902-1989).
This is a paraphrase of verses from Psalm 116, published in Vogel's Psalmen (Munich, 1937), entitled 'Psalm 116'. It was included in Vogel's Gesammelte Werke (Suttgart, 1982) among the items 'aus dem dichterischen Tagebuch eines alten Theologen' ('from the poetic diary of an elderly theologian'). It is found in EG in the 'Psalmen und Lobgesänge' setion (EG 292). EG omits stanzas 5 and 6 of the original, corresponding to verses...
Das Jahr geht still zu Ende. Eleonore Reuss* (1835-1903).
Written in 1857-58, at the turn of the year, in commemoration of the early death of her close friend Marie Nathusius (1817-1857). It is based on Hebrews 11: 13-16: 'These all died in faith, not having received the promises, … they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth… But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly'. It is a hymn that is wonderfully suited to those who have lost loved ones: it acknowledges the tears that...
Das Kreuz ist aufgerichtet. Kurt Ihlenfeld* (1901-1972).
This was the product of two 'Kirchentags', one at Cologne in 1965, the other at Hannover in 1967. It was first published in an experimental book, Werkbuch Gottesdienst. Texte – Modelle –Bericht (Wuppertal, 1967), and then in Liederheft. Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (Hannover, 1967). It was included by Dieter Trautwein* in Der Frieden ist unter uns. Neue Geistliche Lieder vom Evangelischen Kirchentag (Regensburg, 1967). It has echoes...
Das Volk, das noch im Finstern wandelt. Jan Willem Schulte Nordholt, translated by Jürgen Henkys* (1929-2015).
This was published in the collection, Steig in das Boot (Berlin, 1981), edited by Henkys. It is a translation of a Dutch hymn by Jan Willem Schulte Nordholt, 'Het volk dat in duisternis wandelt' ('The people that wandered in darkness'). It is based on Isaiah 9: 1-6. It has a strong resemblance to the Scottish paraphrase of the same chapter beginning 'The people that in darkness sat',...
DENICKE, David. b. Zittau, Oberlausitz, Saxony, 31 January 1603; d. Hannover, 1 April 1680. Denicke was educated at the Gymnasium at Zittau, and at the Universities of Wittenberg and Jena, where he studied philosophy and law. He taught law at Königsberg as a 'Privatdozent', before making several journeys between 1624 and 1628 to observe the laws and customs in Holland, England and France. He was then employed as tutor to the sons of the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg at Herzberg. In 1639 he...
Dein König kommt in niedern Hüllen. Friedrich Rückert* (1788-1866). This hymn was entitled 'Adventlied', and appeared in a collection, Gesammelte Gedichte von Friedrich Rückert (Erlangen, 1834). It had six 6-line stanzas, all of which are found in EG. It celebrates the coming of the Christ-child in lowly form ('niedern Hüllen'). He is a mighty Lord without an army ('ohne Heere', verse 2), whose kingdom is not of this world (verse 3), and who comes to bring light to the world (verse 6).
JRW
...
Der du bist drei in Einigkeit. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This hymn to the Holy Trinity is Luther's version of 'O lux beata Trinitas'*. It is appropriately in three stanzas, although they are not divided into Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but rather praise the unity throughout. The hymn was probably written ca. 1543, and published in the 1544 'Klug' edition of the Wittenberg hymnal, Geistliche Lieder, where it was entitled 'Hymnus, O lux beata, verdeutscht'. It is thought to be Luther's last...
Der Mond ist aufgegangen. Matthias Claudius* (1740-1821). First published in a poetic annual, Musen Almanach oder Poetische Blumenlese für das Jahr 1779 (Hamburg, 1778, edited by Johann Heinrich Voß), and then in Part IV (1783) of Claudius's writings, Asmus omnia sua secum portans, oder samtliche Werke des Wandsbecker Bothen. It was called “Abendlied' (Evening Hymn'), and was a companion-piece or imitation of 'Nun ruhen alle Wälder'* by Paul Gerhardt*. It has an engaging child-like simplicity,...
Der Tag bricht an und zeiget sich. Michael Weisse* (ca. 1480- 1534).
This morning hymn was printed in Ein new Geseng buchlen (Jungbunzlau, Bohemia, 1531) in seven 4-line stanzas. It was one of the 'Geseng auf die tagezeiten' ('Hymns of the times of day'; Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 318). This was the second of three hymns: 'Es geht daher des Tages Schein'* was the first.
It is found in the 'Morgen' section of EG, in six stanzas (EG 438), omitting stanza 5:
GermanEditor's...
Die beste Zeit im Jahr ist mein. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This four-stanza hymn is praise of music (EG 319) is found in the 'Loben und Danken' ('Praise and Thanks') section of EG. It is taken from Luther's poem, 'Frau Musica', printed in the foreword to Johann Walter*'s Lob und preis der löblichen Kunst Musica (Wittenberg, 1538), and later in the edition of Geistliche Lieder (Wittenberg, 1544). In some printings it is given the title 'Vorrede auf alle gute Gesangbücher. D.M.L. Frau [or Fraw]...
Die ganze Welt, Herr Jesu Christ. Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld* (1591-1635).
Probably written at Mainz in 1622, this is believed to have been published in a now-lost collection of Außerlesene Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesäng (1623), and is found in Catholische Kirchen Gesäng (Cologne, 1625), where it had the title 'Frewd der gantzen Welt' ('peace of the whole world'). It is an Easter hymn (EG 110, Gotteslob 219), which links the joy of the resurrection to the coming of spring, with the...
Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676).
This vigorous morning hymn was first published in Johann Georg Ebeling*'s Pauli Gerhardti Geistliche Andachten (1666-67). It had twelve 10-line stanzas, all of which are found in EG. It is remarkable for its short lines and insistent rhyming. These suit the topic of the sun rising, full of joy and bliss; although the hymn, while celebrating God as creator of morning and evening, also recognises the transience of human life,...
Die Nacht ist kommen/ drin wir ruhen sollen. Petrus Herbert* (ca. 1530-1571).
From the Bohemian Brethren book in German, Kirchengeseng darinnen die Heubtartickel des Christlichen glaubens Kurtz gefasset und ausgelegt sind (Eibenschütz, 1566), in the section, 'Abendgesenge' ('evening songs'). It had five stanzas (Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied IV. 442-3); all are found in EG in the 'Abend' section. It is a very moving evening hymn, praying for safety and peace, and then for the sick,...
Dies ist der Tag, den Gott gemacht. Christian Fürchtegott Gellert* (1715-1769). First published in Gellert's Geistliche Oden und Lieder (Leipzig,1757), in 11 stanzas, with the title 'Weihnachtslied' ('Christmas hymn'). It is found in EG in the Christmas section, in nine verses (EG 42), omitting verses 5 and 8 of the original:
5. Dein König, Zion, kömmt zu dir.
“Ich komm, in Buche steht von mir;
Gott, deinen Willen tu ich gern.”
Gelobt sei, der da kömmt im Herrn!
8. Gedanke voller...
Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III.15, prints this in twelve stanzas, with the title 'Die zehen gebot Gottes, auff den thon, in gottes namen faren wir'. It was published in Eyn Enchiridion (Erfurt, 1524) and in Wittenberg in 1524 by Johann Walter* in Geystliche gesangk Buchlein, where it was the first hymn (Jenny, pp. 149-53). In 1533 it was number 11 in the Wittenberger Gemeindegesangbuch as 'Die Zehen gepot Gottes lange'...
Dies sind die heiligen zehn Gebot. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This hymn version of the Ten Commandments ('die zehn Gebot') was first published in Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524). To make it memorable for singing, Luther used a well known tune of the pre-Reformation pilgrims' hymn, 'In Gottes Namen fahren wir'* ('We travel in God's name'). Thus the title of the hymn in 1524 was 'Die zehen gebot Gottes, auff den thon, In gottes namen faren wir' (Wackernagel, Das Deutsche...
TRAUTWEIN, Dieter. b. Holzhausen, Biedenkopf, near Marburg, 30 July 1928; d. Frankfurt/Main, 9 November 2002. He was educated at the Landgraf Ludwig Gymnasium at Giessen (1938-46) and the University of Marburg, with further study at Mainz and Heidelberg. He was awarded the Doctorate of Theology from the University of Tübingen in 1971 for his thesis on 'Lernprozeß Gottesdienst' ('developments in worship'). He trained for the ministry at Königstein in Taunus, and took up appointments at Bad...
BONHOEFFER, Dietrich. b. Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), 4 February 1906; d. Flossenburg, 9 April 1945. Bonhoeffer studied at Tübingen, and then in Berlin (doctorate in theology, 1924-27; Habilitation 1930). He was a curate in Barcelona (1929-30), and was ordained in 1931, after his return from a year at Union Theological Seminary, New York (1930-31). He was a lecturer in systematic theology at Berlin University (1931-33), and then moved to the German Evangelical Church, Sydenham, and the...
Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ. Jakob Ebert* (1549-1614).
This hymn is found in EG in three stanzas in the 'Schöpfung, Frieden, Gerechtigkeit' section (EG 422). As the first line, 'Thou Prince of Peace, Lord Jesus Christ' suggests, it belongs in the 'Frieden' ('peace') part of this section. It is found in Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 413, with the title 'Um Frieden zu bitten' ('To plead for peace'), one of only two hymns by Ebert in DDK. It was printed in Geistliche deutsche...
Du großer Schmerzensmann. Adam Thebesius* (1596-1652). This is a Passion-tide hymn ('Thou great man of sorrows') published in Passionale Melicum, Das ist: Außerlesene Geist- und Trostreiche Betrachtungen deß allerschmertzlichsten Leydens und Todes unsers Einigen Heylandes und Erlösers Jesu Christi ('Exceptional spiritual and comfort-full considerations of the all-sorrowful sufferings and death of our only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ'), edited by Martin Janus (Görlitz, 1663). This hymn was...
Du hast uns, Herr, gerufen. Kurt Rommel* (1926-2011).
Written in 1967 at Schwenningen am Neckar (Villingen-Schwenningen), and first sung there. It was originally in two separate parts of three stanzas each (1-3, 4-6). It was published in a local collection for family worship at the Pauluskirche in 1968, and then in Gott schenkt Freiheit. Neue Lieder im Gottesdienst (Berlin, 1968) and 111 Kinderlieder zur Bibel. Neue Lieder für Schule, Kirche und Haus, edited by Gerd Watkinson (Freiburg im...
Du meine Seele, singe. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676). This paraphrase of Psalm 146, 'Praise the Lord, O my soul', was first published in Johann Crüger* and Christoph Runge*, D.M. Luthers und andere vornehmen geistreichen und gelehrten Männer geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (Berlin, 1653) (the 'Crüger-Runge Gesangbuch') in ten 8-line stanzas. It is found in EG in the 'Psalmen und Lobgesänge' section (EG 302), in an eight-stanza text, omitting stanzas 2 and 3:
GermanEditor's free translation
2....
Effata is the title of a Catholic hymn book for young people published at Passau, Germany, in 1990, sub-titled 'Neue religiöse Lieder für Gottesdienst' ('New songs for Sunday worship'). The title is explained as 'öffne dich', open thyself, probably best rendered in English as 'open up!' Continuing the metaphor, it encourages young people to have open minds to meet with God and other people.
Its structure is strikingly traditional. It is within the context of the normal Sunday service that these...
Ein neues Lied wir haben an. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This was Luther's first hymn, written in 1523. It was entitled 'Eyn new lied von den sween Merterern Christi, zu Brussel von den Sophisten zu Louen verbrant'. It had twelve stanzas (Wackernagel III. 3-4). It was first published in ten stanzas in Eyn Enchiridion (Erfurt, 1524); stanzas 9 and 10 were added in Geystliche gesangk Buchlein (Wittenberg, 1524). In stanza 2 the 'Merterern Christi' were named as Johannes [Esch] and Heinrich...
Eine Heerde und ein Hirt. Friedrich Adolf Krummacher* (1767-1845).
According to James Mearns* in JJ, p. 634, this is from the Third Edition of Das Christfest (1821). Das Christfest was the second Festbüchlein, the series of publications in which Krummacher interspersed narrative, reflections and hymns. It had six 6-line stanzas, each ending with the line 'Jesus hält, was Er verspricht' ('Jesus holds – or keeps – what he promised'). The 'Heerde' in line 1 is sometimes spelt 'Herde' ('flock')....
Einer ist's, an dem wir hangen. Albert Knapp* (1798-1864). This hymn is in five 11-line stanzas, in the 'Sammlung und Sendung' section of EG. It is dated there '(1822) 1824', which makes it one of Knapp's early hymns. At this time he wrote a confirmation hymn at the request of a friend, 'Eines wünsch ich mir vor allem andern', and he was writing mission hymns, of which this is one. It was printed in Knapp's Evangelischer Liederschatz für Kirche und Haus (Stuttgart, 1837). EG omits verse...
REUSS, Eleonore (née Gräfin [Countess] zu Stolberg-Werningerode). b. Gedern am Vogelsberg, Hesse, 20 February 1835; d. Schloss Ilsenberg, near Bad Harzburg, 18 September 1903. She came from a distinguished family, and married into an even more distinguished one, marrying (1855) Prince Heinrich Reuss LXXIV. It was his second marriage: he was 27 years older than she. They had five children. She was a close friend of Marie Nathusius (1817-1857), wife of the editor of Volksblatt(es) für Stadt und...
NEUMEISTER, Erdmann. b. Üchteritz, Weissenfels (south of Halle), 12 May 1671; d. Hamburg, 18 August 1756. He was educated at the University of Leipzig (1689-95), where he taught as a lecturer (1695-97). He was assistant pastor and then pastor of Bibra (1697-1704), followed by a post as tutor and court preacher to Duke Johann Georg of Weissenfels (1704-06), and then as court preacher and Lutheran superintendent at Sorau to Count Erdmann II von Promnitz (1706-15). In 1715 he became pastor of St...
GEBHARDT, Ernst Heinrich. b. Ludwigsburg, Württemberg, 12 July 1832; d. Ludwigsburg, 9 June 1899. He was educated at Ludwigsburg, where he was inspired by some of his teachers with the ideals of the 1848 revolutions in Europe, with their separation of church and state. On leaving school he became an apprentice chemist, but gave it up to study land management and forestry at Hohenheim, near Stuttgart. In pursuit of this career he worked in Chile (1848-52), returning to Germany where he found his...
LANGE, Ernst. b. Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland), 3 January 1650; d. Danzig, 20 August 1727. Born in Danzig, he studied law at the university of Königsberg. From 1680 onwards he was successively town clerk, magistrate, and leader of the Council in Danzig. During a journey in the Netherlands in 1698, he became acquainted with the Mennonites. He was close to the Pietists and August Hermann Francke*, and from about 1700 he became involved in disputes with the orthodox Lutherans of the town, especially...
ARNDT, Ernst Moritz. b. Groß Schoritz (Rügen, then in Sweden), 26 December 1769; d. Bonn, 29 January 1860. His father, a former serf of the Count of Putbus, had been set free in 1769 and was administrator of Groß Schoritz. From 1780 to 1787 the family lived at the Grabitz estate. Arndt was taught by private tutors until he attended the gymnasium at Stralsund (1787-1789). He studied theology, history and philosophy in Greifswald (1791-1793) and Jena (1793/94), where he attended the lectures of...
Es kennt der Herr die Seinen. Karl Johann Philipp Spitta* (1801-1859).
First published in Spitta's Psalter und Harfe. Zweite Sammlung (Leipzig, 1843), in six 8-line stanzas. It was entitled 'Der Herr kennet die Seinen' ('The Lord knows his own', from 2 Timothy 2: 19). In EG it is included in full in the 'Rechtfertigung und Zuversicht' ('Justification and Confidence') section (EG 358), with the heading '1 Korinther 13,13', referring to the inclusion in stanza 5 of 'Glauben, Hoffnung, Liebe'...
MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY, (Jacob Ludwig) Felix. b. Hamburg, 3 February 1809; d. Leipzig, 4 November 1847. Grandson of the Jewish Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), Felix Mendelssohn was baptized in Berlin as a Protestant in 1816, around which time the family added the second surname Bartholdy. An extraordinarily versatile child prodigy likened by Goethe and Heinrich Heine to a second Mozart, Mendelssohn established his credentials through a precocious series of romantic...
KRUMMACHER, Friedrich Adolf (or Adolph). b. Tecklenburg, Westphalia, 13 July 1767; d. Bremen, 4 April 1845. The son of the Burgomaster of Tecklenburg, he was the father of Friedrich Wilhelm Krummacher*, and grandfather of Cornelius Friedrich Adolf Krummacher*. He was educated at Lingen and at the University of Halle (1787-89). He was a private tutor in Bremen, and then con-rector of the Gymnasium at Hamm (1790-93). He was rector of the Gymnasium at Mörs (1793-1800), where his son Friedrich...
LAMPE, Friedrich Adolph. b. Detmold, 18 February 1683; d. Bremen, 8 December 1729. He was the son of a priest. He studied theology under Campegius Vitringa in Franeker (Friesland), becoming a priest at Weeze am Niederrhein (1703-6), Duisburg (1706-9), and Bremen (1709-20). From 1720 to 1727 he taught as a professor of reformed theology at Utrecht, where he edited several student text-books and published a three-volume commentary on St John's Gospel. In 1727 he returned to Bremen as a priest....
FILITZ, Friedrich. b. Arnstadt, Thuringia, 16 March 1804; d. Bonn, 8 December 1876. Filitz graduated in philosophy and worked as a music critic and historian in Berlin (1843-47) before moving to Munich where he wrote Über einige Interessen der älteren Kirchenmusik (1853).
The hymn tunes associated with Filitz were originally published in two books. Together with Ludwig Erk, he published Vierstimmige Choralsätze der vornehmsten Meister des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts (Essen, 1845). He also compiled...
KLOPSTOCK, Friedrich Gottlieb. b. Quedlinburg, 2 July 1724; d. Ottensen, near Hamburg, 14 March 1803. He was educated at Quedlinburg until winning a scholarship to the Prince's School at Schulpforta, near Naumburg, followed by studies in philosophy and theology at the Universities of Jena (1745-46) and Leipzig (1746-48). He became a private tutor until 1750, when he accepted an invitation from the Swiss poet Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698-1783) to visit Zürich. Bodmer had translated Milton*'s...
RÜCKERT, Friedrich. b. Schweinfurt, Bavaria, 16 May 1788; d. Neuses, near Coburg, 31 January 1866. The son of a lawyer, his university education was interrupted by the Napoleonic wars and by his own ill-health. Instead of the University of Jena, which he had hoped to enter, he studied at Würzburg (1805-08) and Heidelberg (1808-09), returning to Jena to do a doctorate in philology and intending to pursue an academic career: he lectured there for a short time, then became a journalist on the...
SILCHER, (Philipp) Friedrich. b. Schnait, near Stuttgart, 27 June 1789; d. Tübingen, 26 August 1860. Silcher studied music under his father, and later under N.F. Auberlen at Fellbach. He became a private tutor at Schondorf (1806-09), and then taught at a girls' school at Ludwigsburg (1809-15). He then became a private music teacher again at Stuttgart before being appointed director of music at the University of Tübingen in 1817. There he founded a male voice choir, the Akademische Liedertafel,...
SPITTA, Friedrich Adolf Wilhelm. b. Wittingen, near Lüneburg, 10 January 1852; d. Göttingen, 7 June 1924. He was the son of Karl Johann Philipp Spitta*, born at Wittingen when his father was pastor there, and educated at Hildesheim when the family moved to Peine nearby. He followed his father and two elder brothers to the University of Göttingen, with a period at Erlangen, followed by a post at a seminary in Halle (1877), as an assistant pastor at Bonn (1879) and as pastor at Oberkassel (1881)....
Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676).
First published in Johann Crüger* and Christoph Runge*, D.M. Luthers und andere vornehmen geistreichen und gelehrten Männer geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (Berlin, 1653) (the 'Crüger-Runge Gesangbuch'). It had fifteen 6-line stanzas. As the second line ('in dieser lieben Sommerzeit') makes clear, it is a hymn celebrating the joys of spring/ summer and the gifts of God in flowers (daffodils and tulips), birds (larks, pigeons,...
NEUMARK, Georg. b. Langensalza,Thuringia,16 Mar 1621; d. Weimar, 8 July 1681. His father Michael worked as a clothmaker. His mother Martha was a daughter of the well-known princely official Salomon Plathner. In 1624 the family moved to the free imperial city of Mühlhausen (Thuringia), where Neumark received his early education. From 1632 to 1636 he attended the Hennebergisches Gymnasium in Schleusingen, presumably followed by the Latin School in Osterode (Harz) from 1636 to 1640. In 1641 he...
RHAU (RHAW), Georg. b. Franconia, 1488, d. 1548. He was born in Franconia in the town of Eisfeld on the Werra River. He attended the University of Erfurt for a brief time, and the University at Wittenberg (BA, 1514). For four years he was employed in the Wittenberg printing establishment of Rhau-Grunenberg, presumably owned by his uncle. From 1518 to 1520 Rhau was cantor at the Thomasschule and Thomaskirche in Leipzig. He was also associated with the University at Leipzig where he lectured on...
THURMAIR, Georg. b. München/Munich, 7 February 1909; d. München, 20 January 1984.
After education at Business School in München/Munich, Thurmair moved in 1926 to Düsseldorf to be assistant to Ludwig Wolker, then in charge of the Catholic youth movement which became Sturmschar in 1929. He edited a weekend magazine, Jungen Front, which was critical of the up-and-coming National Socialist movement. It was compelled to change its name to Michael, and in 1936 it was forbidden. At this time Thurmair...
TERSTEEGEN (Ter Steegen) Gerhard. b. Moers, North Rhine-Westphalia (then part of Prussia), 25 November 1697; d. Mühlheim-an-der-Ruhr, 3 April 1769. He was educated at school in Mörs. His father's death in 1703, and the family's poverty meant that he was unable to go to the university, and he was apprenticed to a merchant at Mühlheim-an-der-Ruhr. He subsequently became a weaver, specializing in silk ribbons. From 1729 to 1724 he went through a period of depression, refusing to attend church or...
This account is in two parts: German Hymnody to the end of the 19th century, by J.R. Watson ; German Hymnody in the 20th century, by Cornelia Kück. The Appendix is by J.R. Watson.
Introduction
'German hymnody surpasses all others in wealth.' This is the opening sentence of the article on the topic in JJ (p. 412), and there is no reason to question it, certainly with regard to the modern period (Latin hymnody has an equal claim if all ages of Christian hymnody are under consideration). The...
Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern
The Reformation and its Impact (1517-1618)
Of the pre-Reformation writers, the one whose work is still used is John Tauler*, one of whose hymns was paraphrased with a first line 'As the bridegroom to his chosen'*. This version by Emma Frances Bevan* was published in her Hymns of Tersteegen, Suso and Others (1894). It was printed in School Worship (1926), but was little known until it was selected for 100HfT (1969) with a new tune (BRIDEGROOM, by Peter Cutts*). It...
glauben hoffen singen
This is a hymnal (believe; hope; sing) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany, published at Lüneburg in 2015. It contains 694 hymns, with Appendixes containing services, prayers, creeds, and songs for special occasions. Contemporary German hymn-writers are well represented: Hartmut Handt (1940- ) has six hymns, and Jürgen Hartmann (1961- ) has twenty-four songs. Contemporary British writers are represented by Fred Pratt Green* (three hymns), Timothy Dudley-Smith*...
Gott ist gegenwärtig. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769).
This hymn was published in Tersteegen's Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein (1729), and then in the Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Hernnhut (1735), in eight 10-line stanzas, with the title 'Erinnerung der herrlichen und lieblichen Gegenwart Gottes' ('Remembrance of the glorious and delightful presence of God'). The eight stanzas are still in use in EG in the 'Eingang und Ausgang' section for Sunday worship (EG 165).
It has been translated into English...
Gott rufet noch. Sollt ich nicht endlich hören. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769).
First published in Tersteegen's Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein, Drittes Büchlein (Book III) (1735), in eight 4-line stanzas, with the first phrase spelt 'Gott rüffet noch'. It was entitled 'Heute, weil ihr seine Stimme höret!' ('Today if ye will hear his voice').
It is found in EG in the 'Umkehr und Nachfolge', ('turning and following') section, at EG 392, with all eight stanzas, the first four beginning 'Gott rufet...
ARNOLD, Gottfried. b. Annaberg, Saxony, 5 Sept 1666; d. Perleberg, Brandenburg, 30 May 1714. He was educated at the Gymnasium at Gera followed by the University of Wittenberg (1685-89). He became a private tutor to a family at Dresden, where he was much influenced by the sermons of Philipp Jakob Spener*, then Senior Court Preacher (until 1690). On Spener's recommendation Arnold obtained another tutor's post at Quedlinburg (1693-97); while at Quedlinburg he published Die erste Liebe, das ist,...
Hannoversches Gesangbuch (1646 onwards). The 'Hannoversches Gesangbuch' is the name given to the book published in various editions at Hannover and other north German cities, with its first title as New Ordentlich Gesang-Buch Sampt Einer nothwendingen Vorrede und Erinnerung Von dessen nützlichem Gebrauch (Hannover, 1646). Further editions appeared in Braunschweig (1648, 1652, 1653), Lüneburg (1657, 1659, 1660, 1662) and Göttingen (1676). The two major editions after 1646 were:
Das...
KÖBLER, Hanns. b. Hof, Oberfranken, Bavaria, 10 August 1930; d. Friesing, 1 August 1987. Köbler studied at the Melanchthongymnasium at Nürnberg, followed by theological studies at Neuendettelsau, Heidelberg, and Erlangen. He was pastor at Selb, near his birthplace (1955-57), and then Stadtvikar at St Anna, Augsburg (1957-60) before becoming a teacher of religious studies at Friesing, Bavaria. As is befitting for the work of a local figure, Köbler's hymn, with his own tune, 'Du schenkst uns...
HASSLER, Hans (Johann) Leo. b. Nürnberg, 1564 (baptized 26 October); d. Frankfurt-am-Main, 8 June 1612. He was born into a family that was both musical (his father and two brothers were musicians) and prosperous. Like his younger contemporary Heinrich Schütz* he completed his musical education with a visit to Italy. In 1584 he went to Venice, where he came into contact with the Gabrielis, Zarlino, and Merulo. This visit was important in the development of his musical idiom, which combined...
SCHÜTZ, Heinrich. b. Gera, Saxony, 1585 (baptized 9 October); d. 6 November 1672. Schütz was the most important German composer of the 17th century, with an unprecedented contemporary international reputation. Born at Gera, he grew up in Weissenfels where his musical gifts were noticed in 1598 by Landgrave Moritz of Hessen-Kassel, who stayed overnight in the inn run by Schütz's father Christoph. The Landgrave subsequently arranged for the young Schütz to become a choirboy in his court capelle...
SUSO (or Seusse), Heinrich. b. Constance, Swabia, 21 March ca. 1295-1300; d. Ulm, 25 January 1366. Born of a noble family (von Berg) he took his name from his devout mother (Sus or Süs). At the age of 13 he entered a Dominican convent at Constance, and then studied theology under Meister Eckhart, and perhaps John Tauler*, at Cologne (1324-27). From 1329 to 1334 he was a lektor at Constance; in 1343 he was made a prior, probably at Diessenhofen. He was then a prior at Ulm, where he lived until...
SCHENK (or SCHENCK), Heinrich Theobald. b. Heidelbach, Hesse, April 1656; d. Giessen, April 1727 (buried 15 April). He was educated at the University of Giessen. He taught at his old school, the Pädagogium at Giessen (1677-89) and was appointed town preacher at the Stadtkirche (town church) in 1689.
Heinrich Schenk is known as the author of 'Wer sind die vor Gottes Throne?', a hymn based on Revelation 7: 13-17. It is Schenk's only known hymn. It had twenty stanzas, and was first published in a...
VOGEL, Heinrich. b. Pröttlin, Kreis Prignitz, 9 April 1902; d. Berlin, 26 December 1989. He was educated at the Gymnasium of the Grey Cloister in Berlin, and then at the Universities of Berlin and Jena. He became a priest at Oderburg and then at Dobbrikow, near Potsdam. During the 1930s he was a courageous member of the 'Bekennenden Kirche', the confessing church, in opposition to the 'Deutschen Christen' and their accommodation with National Socialism. He taught in an underground school run by...
LAUFENBURG, Heinrich von. b. Laufenburg, Aargau, Switzerland, ca. 1390; d. Strasbourg, ca. 1460. He is named after his birthplace, a town on the Rhine, now on the border with Germany: in JJ he is listed as 'Heinrich of Laufenburg' (p. 507; Catherine Winkworth* uses 'Henry of Loufenburg', and Wackernagel 'Heinrich von Loufenberg'). In JJ James Mearns* noted that he was first heard of as Dean of the Collegiate Church of St Maurice at Zofingen, Aargau. He later became a Dean at Freiburg, Baden,...
ISAAC [Ysaak, Ysac, Yzac], Henricus [Heinrich, Arrigo]. b. Flanders or Brabant, ca. 1450-55; d. Florence, 26 Mar 1517. He was born in Flanders or Brabant, but nothing else is known of his life before 1484, when a payment for his services as a composer appears in the Tyrolean court records, at Innsbruck. From 1485 to 1493 he was a singer at the baptistery of S. Giovanni in Florence. In 1496 he became court composer to Emperor Maximilian I. As one of the first internationally renowned musicians...
HAYN, Henriette Luise von. b. 22 May 1724; d. 27 August 1782. Born at Idstein, Nassau, she became a member of the Moravian community at Herrnhaag. She taught in the girls' school there, and at Grosshennersdorf. From 1751 to 1766 she taught at Herrnhut; from 1766 until her death she cared for the invalid sisters of the community. JJ described her as 'a gifted hymn-writer' (p. 499), and noted that over 40 of her hymns were in the Moravian Brüder Gesang Buch (1778), but annotated one hymn only....
DANIEL, Hermann Adalbert. b. Köthen, south of Magdeburg, 18 November 1812; d. Leipzig, 13 September 1871. He was educated at the University of Halle (PhD 1835). He became a master at the Paedagogium in Halle, then an assistant inspector, and finally Professor (1854). He retired to Dresden (1870), and died at Leipzig. He was the compiler of an Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch (Halle, 1842), described in JJ as 'a very indifferent hymn-book' (p. 279), but he is chiefly known as the compiler of the...
Hermannus Contractus (Hermann the Lame). b. Swabia, 18 July 1013; d. Reichenau, 24 September 1054. He was a Benedictine monk of the monastery on the Reichenau*, the island in Lake Constance.
Hermann, born of a noble Swabian family, was crippled from birth. He was given as an oblate to the monastery on the Reichenau on 15 September 1020 and remained there all his life. His biography can be reconstructed from his own writings and from an account written by his disciple Berthold. This was composed...
Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn. Elisabeth Cruciger (Creutziger)* (ca. 1500-1535).
This hymn is from Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524), and Johann Walter*'s Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn (Wittenberg, 1524), entitled 'Eyn Lobsangk von Christo'. In some later books it is 'Ein geistlich liedt von Christo, Elisabet Creutzigerin'. Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. pp. 46-7, gives four texts of this hymn. It had five 7-line stanzas, beginning:
Herr Christ, der einig Gotts...
Herr, du wollest uns bereiten. Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock* (1724-1803), altered by Albert Knapp* (1798-1864).
The first line, as given here, is that of Knapp's version used in EG, where it is found in the section for Holy Communion. Klopstock's text began 'Herr, du wollst sie vollbereiten'. Knapp's text is simpler ('Lord, you wish us to be ready') than Klopstock's ('Lord, do thou make us fully prepared').
Klopstock's original hymn is a long hymn to be sung during Holy Communion ('Beim...
Herr, mach uns stark im Mut, der dich bekennt. Anna Martina Gottschick* (1914-1995). Written at the suggestion of the composer Heinz Werner Zimmermann to fit the tune SINE NOMINE by Ralph Vaughan Williams*. It appeared in a CD of hymns for the period from Advent to Epiphany, Freude, die überflieβt. In EG, where it is dated 1972, it appeared in five stanzas in the 'Ende des Kirchenjahres' section, with an additional stanza by Jürgen Henkys* for the commemoration of believers, based on 'For all...
Herr, stärke mich, dein Leiden zu bedenken. Christian Fürchtegott Gellert* (1715-1769).
Published in Gellert's Geistliche Oden und Lieder (Leipzig, 1757) in 22 stanzas of four lines, with the title, 'Passionslied'. As the first line indicates, is a prayer at Passion-tide to be strengthened to think about the sufferings of Christ. It is found in EG in a shortened form of ten stanzas (EG 91), moving Gellert's stanza 20 ('Seh ich dein Kreuz den Klugen dieser Erden') to make stanza 5, and omitting...
Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn. Kaspar Stolzhagen* (1550-1594).
This joyful Easter hymn, filled with double 'Halleluja's, comes from Stolzhagen's Kinderspiegel, oder Hauszucht und Tischbüchlein. Wie die Eltern mit den Kindern vor und nach Essens Abendes und Morgens singen und beten sollen (Eisleben, 1591), a hymnbook for children and adults to use daily. In JJ, p. 1648, James Mearns* thought the hymn 'may possibly be' by Stolzhagen, but he is given as the author in EG (109).
It was entitled...
HRABANUS MAURUS (Rabanus/Rhabanus). b. Mainz, ca. 780; d. Winkel, 4 Feb 856. Educated at Fulda, and subsequently at St Martin's, Tours (under Alcuin of York*), Hrabanus became a prominent Frankish churchman. He was ordained deacon in 801 and priest in 814. He became abbot at Fulda (822-42) and archbishop of Mainz (847-56); died at Winkel on the Rhine. Hrabanus wrote several biblical commentaries as well as homilies and treatises on a wide range of subjects. He was involved in the controversy...
DISTLER, Hugo. b. Nürnberg, 24 Jun 1908; d. Berlin, 1 Nov 1942. Distler was educated in Nürnberg, where he also trained as a musician. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatoire (1927-30), quickly replacing conducting and piano studies with organ and composition, the two areas in which he later made his name. He was taught composition by Hermann Grabner and organ by Friedrich Högner, a member of the Orgelbewegung, who taught him the sound and style of the German protestant tradition of the...
I would I were at last at home. Heinrich von Laufenburg* (ca. 1390- ca. 1460), translated by Catherine Winkworth* (1827-1878).
The German text, beginning 'Ich wollte, dass ich daheime wär', is found in the copy of the Strasbourg manuscript used by Wackernagel, dated 1429 (modern books date it 1430) and printed in Das Deutsche Kirchenlied, II. pp. 540. James Mearns* adds a typically learned reference to manuscript sources and to 19th-century printings of the German text (JJ, p. 507). ...
Ich gruße dich am Kreuzesstamm. Valentin Ernst Löscher* (1673-1749).
This was written in 1722, and published during Löscher's time as a Lutheran pastor in the High Church at Dresden, in an Appendix of 1728 to Das Privilegirte Ordentliche und Vermehrte Dreßnische Gesang-Buch (1722). It was headed 'Übung der Andacht, der Liebe, des Glaubens, der Hoffnung, und des Gehorsams unter dem Creutze Christi' ('The practice of devotion, love, belief, hope, and obedience at the foot of the Cross') . It...
FRANZ, Ignaz. b. Protzan, Silesia, 12 October 1719; d. Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland), 19 August 1790. Franz studied at Glatz Gymnasium and then studied Philosophy and Theology at Breslau University. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest at Olmütz in 1742 and in the same year became chaplain at Grossglogau. In 1753, he became archpriest at Schlawa, then Leiter des Priesteralumnats (head of a seminary) in Breslau in 1766.
He edited hymnbooks, including Die christ-katholische Lehre in Liedern...
In dulci iubilo. German/Latin, ca. 14th century.
There are many versions of this carol, which is an early example of a text in Latin and German. Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied II. 483-6, lists eight texts, ranging in date from the end of the 14th century (Leipzig, see below) to 1635. Most have four stanzas, but there are texts with five, six, or seven (the last from Munich).
Modern research on the hand-written texts by Gisela Kornrumpf (2000) found examples in parts of southern Germany...
In Gottes Namen fahren wir. German, 13th century and after.
This is the German pilgrims' hymn, probably dating from the time when pilgrimages became an important part of the religious life of the Middle Ages. For those who could travel, there were journeys to be made from all parts of Europe to Jerusalem, Rome, or Santiago de Compostella, and in England to Canterbury or Durham. 'The five hundred years from the early 11th to the early 16th century were the golden age of pilgrimage in Europe. It...
Ja, fürwahr! uns führt mit sanfter Hand. Friedrich Adolf Krummacher* (1767-1845).
According to James Mearns* in JJ, p. 634, this was first published in Krummacher's Festbüchlein, in the Third Edition, 1813, of the part entitled Der Sonntag (first published 1808). There were three Festbüchleinen: Der Sonntag (1808, 1810, 1813, 1819); Das Christfest (1810, 1814, 1821); and Das Neujahrsfest (1819). They consisted of conversations, historical observations, and stories: this hymn is sung by children...
KERLE, Jacobus de. b. Ypres, the Netherlands, 1531 or 1532; d. Prague, 7 January 1591. Kerle was a singer at Cambrai Cathedral from 1548 to ca.1550. From ca.1550 to 1562 he was in Italy as director of the boys' choir and organist at Orvieto cathedral. In 1562 he went to Rome as director of the private chapel of Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg, Bishop of Augsburg, whom he served until May 1565 when the Cardinal was forced to disband his chapel. By the end of that year Kerle was back in...
HINTZE, Jakob. b. Bernau, near Berlin, 4 September 1622; d. Berlin, 5 May 1702. He was the son of the town musician of Bernau, later town musician of Spandau. He was a pupil of the Berlin town musician Paul Nieressen, after which he studied in various towns near the Baltic, Stettin, Elbing, Königsberg, and Danzig. He also spent some time in Denmark. He was town musician ('Stadtmusiker') at Stettin (1651-59), and became Court Musician to the Elector of Brandenburg in 1666.
The Berlin publisher,...
BENDER, Jan Oskar. b. in Haarlem, Holland, 3 February 1909; d. Hanerau, Germany, 29 December 1994. Jan Bender was a distinguished church musician, organist, educator, and composer, for whom hymnody was very important. His mother, Margarette Schindler (1874-1951), was German. His Dutch father, Hermann Bender (1870-1908), a piano dealer, died the year in which Jan was born. In 1922 his mother moved back to her native town, Lübeck, Germany, where Jan studied organ, and began to compose at the...
Je Te salue, mon certain Rédempteur. French Psalter, Strasbourg, 1545, possibly by Jean Calvin*.
Found in an edition of the French Psalter published in Strasbourg in 1545, this was printed in Corpus Reformatorum volume 34, Calvini opera vol. 6 (Braunschweig, 1867). It was placed at the end of a set of nine French metrical psalms by Calvin, but regarded by the editors as of doubtful authorship.
In the year following the publication of Corpus Reformatorum the text was translated by Elizabeth Lee...
KLEPPER, Jochen. b. Beuthen-an-der-Oder (in Silesia, now Bytom Odrzański in Poland), 22 March 1903; d. Berlin, 11 December 1942. He was christened Joachim Georg Wilhelm Klepper (he later called himself Jochen). His father was a Lutheran pastor. Beginning in 1922, he studied theology at Erlangen and Breslau, but cut short his doctoral work in church history in 1926 to help support his family, taking a position with the Evangelischer Presseverband für Schlesien [Silesia], where he produced daily...
FREYLINGHAUSEN, Johann Anastasius. b. Gandersheim, near Braunschweig, 2 December 1670; d. Halle, 12 February 1739. He was educated at the University of Jena, which he found unsatisfactory (1689-91), so that he moved to Erfurt, where he was influenced by Joachim Justus Breithaupt and August Hermann Francke*: he became assistant to Francke in 1694, and moved with him to Glaucha, a part of Halle. Freylinghausen married Francke's daughter Johanna in 1715, and became his colleague at St Ulrich's at...
ROTHE, Johann Andreas. b. Lissa, near Görlitz, 12 May 1688; d. Thommendorf, near Bunzlau, 6 July 1758. He was the son of a Protestant priest. He studied theology in Leipzig, and in 1711 he was admitted to the preachers' college of the Church of the Holy Trinity at Görlitz. From 1719 to 1722 he was private tutor to Count von Schweinitz at Leuba near Görlitz, before Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf* called him to be priest at Bethelsdorf (in which parish 'Herrnhut' was situated). As a rousing...
CRÜGER (Krüger), Johann. b. Gross Breesen near Guben, Niederlausitz, 9 April 1598; d. Berlin, 23 February 1662. German Cantor, composer and music theorist. Crüger stands as the most significant melodist since the Reformation. 80 melodies and 19 reworkings of melodies have been attributed to him (Fischer-Krückeberg, 1933). His melodies point stylistically to the transition from 'Kirchenchoral zur Andachtsarie' ('church chorale to devotional song', Moser, p. 84).
Crüger was above all one of the...
AHLE, Johann Georg. b. Mühlhausen, 1651 (baptized 12 June); d. Mühlhausen, 1706 (buried 5 May). He was the son of Johann Rudolf Ahle*, whom he followed as organist of St Blasius (his successor was Johann Sebastian Bach*). Like his father he became a member of the town council, and was a popular local composer of songs for weddings and of sacred music. As a poet and musician he was awarded the 'Dichterkrone' ('poetic crown') by the Emperor Leopold I in 1680. He also wrote a series of...
EBELING, Johann Georg. b. Lüneberg, 8 July 1637; d. Stettin, 4 December 1676. He was the son of a bookseller. He studied at the Johanneum. He also received a sound musical education at the Johanniskirche from the Cantor, Michael Jacobi. While studying at the Helmstadt University (1658-60), his musical talents were sponsored by Christian Ludwig. After spending time at the Collegium Musicum in Hamburg (1660-2), he took himself to Berlin in 1662 where he took on the post of Cantor at St Nicholas...
SCHICHT, Johann Gottfried. b. Reichenau, 29 September 1753; d. Leipzig, 16 February 1823. Schicht attended the Gymnasium in Zittau, near Reichenau, where he also studied music. He was a keyboardist, violinist and singer. Schicht began to study law at Leipzig University from 1776, but his musical interests, such as participating in the Grosses Concert under J.A. Hiller, led him to abandon his university studies. Schicht played in the Musikübende Gesellschaft and began playing in Gewandhaus...
HEERMANN, Johann. b. Raudten, Silesia (now Rudna, Poland), 1585; d. Lissa (Leszno, Poland), 17 February 1647. He was educated at Raudten and at Wohlau. He then attended the Gymnasium at Breslau (Wroclaw) and then at Brieg (Brzeg), later matriculating as a student at the University of Strasbourg (1609). His studies were cut short by a serious eye infection, and he returned to Silesia, where he was ordained deacon in 1611, becoming assistant to the elderly pastor at Köben (now Chobienia, Poland)....
SCHEIN, Johann Hermann. b. Grünheim, near Annaberg, Saxony, 20 January 1586; d. Leipzig, 19 November 1630. At an early age, after the death of his pastor father, Schein's family moved to Dresden. At the age of 13 he was singing soprano in the court chapel of the Elector of Saxony and receiving instruction in theoretical and practical music from the Capellmeister Rogier Michael. After studies in Schulpforta he matriculated at the University of Leipzig, where he studied law and liberal arts and...
HORN, Johann. b. Domaschitz, Bohemia ca. 1490; d. 11 February 1547. His original name was Johann Roh, but he styled himself Cornu in Latin and Horn in German. He was ordained priest in 1518 and became a senior cleric in the Moravian church. He is known for two books: his Písnĕ chval božských (Prague, 1541), and his edition of the Bohemian hymnbook Ein Gesangbuch der Brüder in Behemen und Merherrn published in Nuremberg in 1544; he may have been the author or at least the translator of many of...
DOBER, Johann Leonhard. b. 7 March 1706; d. 1 April 1766. Like his father, he was a potter by trade, a descendant of Bohemian brethren who had emigrated to Mönksroth, Northern Bavaria. According to accounts of his life, in 1723 he was 'immediat vom Heyland ergriffen' ('suddenly moved by the Saviour'), and in 1725 he followed his elder brother Martin to Herrnhut, where he worked as a potter. In 1732 he went with David Nitschmann as the first missionary to St Thomas in the West Indies, from which...
ALTENBURG, Johann Michael. b. Alach, near Erfurt, 27 May 1584; d. Erfurt, 12 February 1640. He was educated at school at Erfurt and at the University (BA 1599, MA 1603). He was a schoolmaster at Erfurt, first as a teacher at the Reglerschule and then as Rektor of the school connected with St Andreas' Church (1600-09). He was also Kantor at St Andreas' from 1601. In 1609 he left teaching to become a pastor, and was assistant at two parishes near Erfurt before becoming pastor at Tröchtelborn...
OLEARIUS, Johann. b. Halle, 17 September 1611; d. Weissenfels, 14 May 1684. Born the son of a well-known Lutheran superintendent, he was educated at the Latin school and at the University of Wittenberg (MA 1627, adjunct of the Faculty of Philosophy, 1635). In 1637 he became Licentiate and Superintendent at Querfurt (south-west of Halle); in 1643 he became 'Hofprediger' (court preacher) and 'Beichtvater' (private chaplain) to the Duke August von Sachsen-Weissenfels at Halle. In the same year he...
LANGE, Johann Peter. b. Sonnborn, near Elberfeld, 10 April 1802; d. Bonn, 8 July 1884. He was the son of a farmer and haulage contractor. He studied Protestant theology at Bonn, 1822-25, and became a pastor of the Reformed Church. He was appointed Professor of Dogmatics and Church History at Zürich, Switzerland, in 1841, and Professor of Systematic Theology at Bonn, 1854, where he remained until his death.
Lange published in all disciplines of theology, notably a critique of D.F. Strauss, Das...
ROSENMÜLLER, Johann. b. in or near Oelsnitz (Vogtland), 24 August 1617 (?); d. Wolfenbüttel, 1684 (buried 12 September). He received his early musical training at the Lateinschule at Oelsnitz. In 1640 Rosenmüller matriculated as a student of the theological faculty at Leipzig University and in 1642 he became Collaborator (auxiliary teacher) at the Thomaskirche, where he was promoted to Baccalaureus funerum (first assistant) in 1650. From 1651 Rosenmüller also held the post of organist at St...
AHLE, Johann Rudolf. b. Mühlhausen, Thuringia, 24 December 1625, d. Mühlhausen, 9 July 1673. Ahle began his education at the Gymnasium at Mühlhausen, moved ca. 1643 to Göttingen, and started to study theology at Erfurt University in 1645. Nothing is known of his musical training in these years, but during his university years he took up the office of Kantor at the school and church of St. Andreas in Erfurt (1646). Ahle returned to Mühlhausen in 1650, where he became organist at St. Blasius in...
SCHOP, Johann. b. Hamburg, ca. 1590; d. Hamburg, summer 1667. No documents survive pertaining to his youth and school years. In 1614, Schop gained probationary employment as a musician at the court chapel of Duke Friedrich Ulrich in Wolfenbüttel. His varied instrumental expertise on the lute, cornet and trombone, and his excellent violin playing, led to a permanent post there in 1615. Nevertheless, in the same year Schop moved to the court chapel of King Christian IV of Denmark in Copenhagen,...
BACH, Johann Sebastian. b. Eisenach, 21 March 1685; d. Leipzig, 28 July 1750. He was the most important member of a Thuringian family of musicians, whose technical accomplishment as a performer was revered by his contemporaries, and whose genius as a composer was not only recognized during his own time but has significantly influenced the development of Western music.
He was born in Eisenach and attended the local Latin school, the same one that Martin Luther* had attended two hundred years...
WALTER, Johann. b. Kahla ( ?), 1496 ; d. Torgau, 25 March 1570. He was possibly born in Kahla (Thüringen). After studying at the Latin schools in Kahla and Rochlitz (Saxony), Walter matriculated at the University of Leipzig in 1517, where he may have had personal contact with Georg Rhau*, cantor at the Thomaskirche at the time. By 1521 he was a bass in the court chapel of Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony, although this was disbanded in 1525 following the Elector's death. In 1525, Walter...
HERBST, Johannes. b. Kempten, Swabia, 23 July 1735; d. Salem, North Carolina, USA, 15 January 1812. Herbst was educated at the Moravian Church school in Herrnhut, Saxony. He served the church in various non-ministerial capacities in the Moravian communities of Gnadenfrey, Gnadenberg, and Kleinwelke (in Germany) and Fulneck (in England). After his ordination as a minister in the Moravian Church in 1774, he was superintendent of the communities of Neudietendorf and Gnadenfrey. In 1786 Herbst and...
TAULER, John (Johannes). b. Strasbourg, ca. 1300; d. Strasbourg or Cologne, 15 June 1361. Tauler became a Dominican monk. He studied under the great teacher Meister Eckhart, and became renowned as a teacher and preacher, first at Strasbourg and then at Basle. His place of death is uncertain. He is normally thought of as one of the 'Friends of God', a name for some 14th-century mystics: Catherine Winkworth* described him as one of those who 'spoke often of a mystical or hidden life of God in the...
ZUNDEL, John. b. Hochdorf (south of Ulm), Germany, 10 December 1815; d. Cannstadt, Germany, July 1882. He was educated in Germany. His first major appointment was in Russia, as organist of St Anne's Lutheran Church, St Petersburg. He emigrated to the USA in 1847, and became organist of First Unitarian Church, Brooklyn, St George's Church, New York, and finally of the celebrated Plymouth Congregational Church, New York. The minister of Plymouth Church was Henry Ward Beecher*, brother of the...
HENKYS, Jürgen. b. Heiligenkreutz, East Prussia (now Russian Krastnotorovka) 6 November 1929; d. 22 October 2015. He was educated at Heiligenkreutz and at Königsberg (Russian Kaliningrad), Wyk auf Föhr, and Leverkusen. He studied theology at Wuppertal, followed by further study at Göttingen, Heidelberg and Bonn. He was ordained in 1956, and worked until re-unification in the German Democratic Republic, first at Brandenburg/Havel, west of Berlin (1956-65) as a lecturer and an instructor in...
FALCKNER, Justus. b. Langenreinsdorf, near Zwickau, Saxony, 22 Nov 1672; d. probably in America, ca. 1723. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he studied at Halle under August Hermann Francke (I)*. The intense and demanding Pietism of Halle made him feel inadequate to be a minister, and he became a lawyer in Rotterdam; but he responded to a call from a Swedish pastor, Andrew Rudmann, for help for the Lutherans in America, where he agreed to be ordained (1703). He ministered to a Dutch congregation...
SPITTA, Karl Johann Philipp. b. Hannover, 1 August 1801; d. Burgdorf, 28 September 1859. He was born into a Huguenot family; his father was a teacher of French. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker, but left the craft in 1818 to study at the Gymnasium at Hannover and then at the University of Göttingen (1821-24). He became a private tutor to the family of a judge at Lüne (1824-28), before being ordained as a Lutheran pastor at Südwald in the Grafschaft (County) of Hoya (1828-30). He became a...
Komm, Herr, segne uns. Dieter Trautwein* (1928-2002). Trautwein was actively involved in the 'Kirchentag' movement in Germany, and the words and music of this hymn were written in 1978 and used at a Kirchentag festival at Nürnberg in 1979 (published the same year in Lieder zum Kirchentag. Liederheft zum 18. Deutschen Evangelischen Kirchentag). It was included in a 1984 supplement to the Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch of 1950. It is found in EG in the 'Eingang und Ausgang' section (EG 170)....
IHLENFELD, Kurt. b. Colmar, Alsace, 26 May 1901; d. Berlin, 25 August 1972. His family moved to Silesia at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and he was at school at the Gymnasium at Bromberg (now Bydgoszcz, Poland). He then studied theology and art history at Halle and Greifswald. In 1923 he was awarded the Dr.phil. degree for a thesis on the medieval gravestones of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He became a pastor in various parts of Silesia. During his time as pastor in Breslau (Wroclaw),...
ROMMEL, Kurt. b. Kirchheim unter Teck, 20 December 1926: d. Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, 5 March 2011. On taking the abitur and leaving school, the young Rommel was conscripted into the army. Taken prisoner, he spent time in a French prisoner-of-war camp near Montpellier, taking the opportunity to study at the University on day release. Returning to Germany, he studied at Tübingen and Heidelberg. In 1954 he became a priest at Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), followed by Bad...
'Leise' is the name of a devotional song type, supposedly so-called in reference to the words 'Kyrie eleison', which appear as a refrain. The majority are in German, although some can also be found in other languages. Through their use of the vernacular, Leisen reflect a pre-reformation tendency observable in many European countries to create religious lyrics with broader accessibility than the standard Latin. Leisen associated with major church feasts were very popular throughout the Middle...
Senfl, Ludwig. b. ca. 1489/91; d. 1542/3. Of Swiss origin, Senfl became a choirboy in the Imperial court chapel of Maximilian I in 1496. He was a pupil of Henricus Isaac*, and remained attached to the Imperial court choir, both as an alto and as a composer, until its dissolution on Maximilian's death in 1519. By 1523 he was in Munich, serving Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. Although Senfl was sympathetic to the reformation whilst his employer remained a committed Catholic, he kept this post until...
THURMAIR, Maria Luise (née Mumelter). b. Bozen, Süd Tirol, Austria (now Bolzano, Alto Adige, Italy), 27 September 1912; d. Germering, München, 24 October 2005.
Her father was District 'Hauptmann', or District Superintendent, the last under Austrian rule. When Süd Tirol was ceded to Italy at the end of World War I, the family moved to Innsbruck, where the child Maria Luise went to school at the Ursuline Gymnasium. At the University she studied philosophy, German, history and liturgy, with a...
BUCER, Martin (BUTZER). b. Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, 11 November 1491; d. Cambridge, England, 28 February 1551. He was first educated in the Dominican Convent of his native town (1506 onwards); then he enrolled in the University of Heidelberg (31 January 1517) where he met Martin Luther*; he became an instant admirer of Luther and embraced his new doctrine and ideas. In 1521 he left the Order of St Dominic with which he had become totally incompatible. With the authorization of Rome, he...
LUTHER, Martin. b. Eisleben, Thuringia, probably 10 November 1483; d. Eisleben, 18 February 1546. Born the son of a miner who later became a mine-owner, he was educated at schools at Mansfeld, Magdeburg and Eisenach, before entering the University of Erfurt in 1501 (BA 1501, MA 1505). After a very brief period studying law, he decided to become an Augustinian friar, entering the cloister at Erfurt in July 1505. He entered the Order formally in 1506, becoming a priest in 1507 and saying his...
OPITZ, Martin. b. Bunzlau, Silesia (Boleslawiec, Poland), 23 December 1597; d. Danzig (Gdansk, Poland), 20 August 1639. The son of a master butcher, he was educated at Bunzlau, the Magdalene-Gymnasium at Breslau, and the University at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. He studied at Heidelberg for a year (1619-20) before travelling as a tutor to a young Danish nobleman in Holland and Jutland. He was briefly professor of poetry at the Gymnasium at Weissenberg, Transylvania (1622-23), before being employed...
Mechthild of Magdeburg. b. near Magdeburg ca. 1207; d. ca. 1282. Mechthild became a Beguine (a lay sister) ca. 1230 and entered the convent of St Mary at Helfta, Saxony, ca. 1270. Various dates have been proposed for her death; Hans Neumann's estimate of ca. 1282 has the widest currency.
Mechthild wrote the mystical Das Fliessende Licht der Gottheit ('The flowing light of the Godhead') between ca. 1250 and ca.1282. One text, written in Low German, is in the library of the monastery of...
Media vita in morte sumus.
Latin antiphon, perhaps 8th century. This antiphon was credited to Notker Balbulus* by the St Gall historian J. Metzler in 1613, with a story about workmen building a bridge and placing themselves in danger; but this attribution is insecure. It was found in Germany in the Middle Ages as 'En mitten in des lebens zeyt' and as 'Mytten wir ym leben synd/ mit den todt umbfangen' (Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied II. 749-50). Martin Luther* altered and expanded this...
Mensch, wiltu leben seliglich. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).
This hymn is a short hymn on the Ten Commandments ('Die zehen gebot auffs kürßte', Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied, III. 17). It was first printed in Johann Walter*'s Geystliche gesangk Buchlein (Wittenberg, 1524). Jenny (p. 329) notes it as 'Die Zehen gepot kurtz' at number 12 in Das Wittenberger Gemeindegesangbuch (1533). It had five stanzas, with 'Kyrioleis' after each stanza. In the title 'kürßte' was used to distinguish it...
SCHIRMER, Michael. b. Leipzig, 1606 (baptised 18 July); d. Berlin, 4 May 1673. He was educated at the Thomasschule at Leipzig, and studied theology at the University there. He was a youthful prodigy, who began his undergraduate study at the age of 13. He became Rektor at Freiberg (Saxony) in 1630, combining it with the post of pastor at Striegnitz. He was crowned as a 'King's Poet' in 1637.
In 1636 he was appointed Sub-Rektor at the Gymnasium at the Greyfriars Cloister in Berlin, where he...
Monarche aller Ding. Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen* (1670-1739).
First published in Freylinghausen's Neues Geist-reiches Gesang-Buch (Halle, 1714). It had eleven 6-line stanzas. It was described by James Mearns* in JJ as 'a fine hymn of Praise, on the majesty and love of God' (p. 396). Its stanzas began as follows (with John Wesley*'s translation in parenthesis. He omitted stanzas 3, 4, and 8):
Monarche aller Ding ('Monarch of all, with lowly fear')
Du bist die Majestät ('Before thy Face,...
DECIUS, Nikolaus. b. Upper Franconia, Bavaria, ca. 1490?; d. Stettin, 21 March 1541. He was also known as Nikolaus a Curia, Nikolaus von Hofe, and Nikolaus Hovesch. He became 'Probst' ('Provost') of a monastery at Steterburg, near Wolfenbüttel in 1519. Convinced by the Reformers, he left the monastery in 1522, and became a schoolmaster at Braunschweig. He matriculated at the University of Wittenberg in 1523, and became a Lutheran preacher at Stettin in 1526, before being appointed preacher at...
ZINZENDORF, Nikolaus Ludwig von. b. Dresden, 26 May 1700; d. Herrnhut, 9 May 1760. He was raised in the home of his Pietist maternal grandmother, Henriette von Gersdorf and educated at the Pietist School (Paedagogium) at Halle and the University of Wittenberg. Although forced to study law, his true vocation was theology, and his association with the Bohemian Brethren beginning in 1722 led him to ordination in the Lutheran Church and consecration as a Moravian bishop in 1737. He was of noble...
Medieval Hymns in Germany; The Medingen Manuscripts. German hymns are only rarely noted down in full before the Lutheran reformation. Then, a major need for spreading the gospel in German led to the wide distribution of hymns via pamphlets, single-leaf prints and hymnbooks. Many of these reformation hymns were based, at least partly, on earlier material as titles such as 'Christ ist erstanden, gebessert' ('Christ is risen, in a better version') demonstrate (see 'Christ lag in Todesbanden'*)....
Nun jauchzet, all ihr Frommen. Michael Schirmer* (1606-1673).
Published by Johann Crüger*, Schirmer's colleague at the Greyfriars Cloister and Gymnasium, Berlin, in his Newes vollkömliches Gesangbuch/ Augspurgischer Confession (Berlin, 1640). It was in the Advent section, where it was entitled 'Ein ander schön Adventliedlein. M. Michael Schirmers'. The 'ander' refers to 'Macht hoch die Tür, die Tor macht weit'*, with which it is presumably to be compared and contrasted.
It is found in the...
O esca viatorum. Latin, 17th century or earlier.
In Gotteslob this hymn is described as having been translated at Würzburg in 1649 ('O wunderbare Speise/ auf dieser Pilgerreise'). It was printed in a Maintzisch Gesangbuch (1661), where it is given in Latin and German. The German text is headed 'Gesang von dem waren Himmelbrodt' ('hymn on the true heavenly bread'). The Latin text is earlier (see Maurice Frost, Historical Companion to A&M, 1962, p. 346). It had three stanzas:
O esca...
O Heilger Geist, kehr bei uns ein. Michael Schirmer* (1606-1673).
Published by Johann Crüger*, Schirmer's colleague at the Greyfriars Cloister and Gymnasium at Berlin, in Newes vollkömliches Gesangbuch/ Augspurgischer Confession (Berlin, 1640). It was in the Whitsun-tide section, where it was entitled 'Ein ander PfingstLiedlein M. Mich. Schirmers' ('another short Whitsun-tide hymn by Michael Schirmer'). It is found in EG in seven 7-line stanzas, with line 4 as an effective pause with (in most...
RUPPEL, Paul Ernst. b. Esslingen am Neckar, 18 July 1913; d. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 27 November 2006. He came from a Baptist family, which moved to Kassel in 1924, where his father, an office manager, obtained a post with the Christian free-church publisher J.G. Oncken (with whom Ruppel junior later published Morgensternlieder in 1961). He studied music at the Württembergische Hochschule für Musik at Stuttgart, where he was taught choral singing by Richard Gölz, and orchestral work by Helmut...
SCHAFF, Philip. b. Chur, Switzerland, 1 January 1819; d. New York, 20 October 1893. He was an illegitimate child from a poor family. His father died before Philip was one year old, and he had a disturbed and unhappy childhood in an orphanage from which he was rescued by a local minister, who arranged for the clever child to be educated at a Lutheran school at Kornthal, Württemberg, and then at the Gymnasium at Stuttgart, and at the Universities of Tübingen, Halle, and Berlin. After working as a...
Puer nobis nascitur. Latin, 14th century.
This is described in NOBC (1992) as 'one of the most charming of all medieval cantiones' (p. 67). It is found in a Gradual from the Augustinian College at Moosburg, Germany, dated 1355-60; a German text, 'Uns ist geborn ein Kindelein', also exists. In Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied I. 204-6, where it is dated '14th century' there are five versions of the text.
The Latin text is no 11 in Piae Cantiones (Greifswald, 1582), in the section 'Cantiones...
Quem pastores laudavere. Latin, 15th century. This carol is found in a German MS from Hohenfurth Abbey dated 1410. The tune has become better known than the words, although the Latin text was in the Oxford Book of Carols (1928) and is retained in NOBC. According to NOBC it was originally in three verses, beginning 'Quem pastores laudavere', 'Ad quem magi ambulabant' and 'Christo Regi, Deo nato': this refers to the shepherds ('pastores') in verse 1 and the Wise Men ('magi ambulabant', verse 2),...
Reichenau
The Benedictine monastery on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance, close to the city of Constance, was founded according to tradition by St Pirmin in 724, the island being a gift from Charles Martel. The monastery quickly became a centre of learning, strongly supported by the Carolingians, and influential in ecclesiastical affairs at the imperial level. It gained its immunity from episcopal control in 815. From the 10th century only oblates of noble birth were admitted. After...
Resonet in laudibus. Latin, probably 14th century.
This pre-Reformation text is one of the traditional medieval Christmas songs in the German-speaking tradition (cf. 'In dulci iubilo'*). It may have originated in Bohemia, or in southern Germany/Austria (see 'Austrian hymnody'*). It exists in a manuscript of the 14th century, the Moosburg (or Mosburg) Gradual (University Library, Munich), and (as 'Resonemus laudibus') in a manuscript from Aosta, northern Italy. In its German text (see below) it...
Surrexit Christus hodie. Latin, 14th century.
This is found in Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus I. 341 in the section 'Carmina Sacra, quae in Breviarum Ordinarium non redacta, private consilio ad sacra obeunda adhibita sunt'.
Daniel's text, entitled 'De Resurrectione Domine', was as follows:
Surrexit Christus hodie Humano pro solamine. Alleluia
Mortem qui passus pridie Miserrimo pro homine. All.
Mulieres ad tumulum Dona ferunt aromatum. All.
Quaerentes Iesum dominum Qui est salvator hominum....
THOMAS of Celano. b. Celano, ca. 1190; d. 4 October 1260. Because his biographies offered the world the first accounts of the life of St Francis of Assisi, the works of Thomas of Celano are considered vital tools for the interpretation of Franciscan Spirituality (see Franciscan hymns and hymnals*). Born into the noble family of the Conti di Marsi, Thomas of Celano would have had access to the best sort of education available in central Italy. His brilliant literary skills bear witness to a...
LÖSCHER, Valentin Ernst. b. Sonderhausen, Thuringia, 29 December 1673; d. Dresden, 12 February 1749. He was educated at schools in Zwickau and Wittenberg, where his father had become General Superintendent and Professor of Theology at the University. He studied History at Wittenberg University, graduating in 1692, after which he taught for a year in the Philosophy Department. In 1694 he moved to the University of Jena, followed by a year of travel, returning to Wittenberg in 1698 at the...
Veni creator spiritus. Latin, possibly by Hrabanus Maurus* (ca. 780-856).
This hymn is a rich tapestry of allusion to other hymn texts, liturgical prose texts, biblical texts, and texts relating to the 'filioque' controversy (see below). Modern attributions to Charlemagne, St Ambrose* and Gregory the Great* seem to have little foundation.
'Veni creator spiritus' may have been composed for the 809 Aachen synod, at which the Carolingians concluded that the belief that the Holy Spirit proceeds...
Was mein Gott will, gescheh allzeit. Albrecht*, Count (Markgraf) of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of Prussia (1490-1568). ('Whatever God wills, let that happen always').
It is found in EG in the 'Angst und Vertrauen' section (EG 364). It was written in 1547 after the death of his first wife, Princess Dorothea of Denmark. It is found in Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 1070-1, unattributed: Wackernagel prints two texts, one from Fünff Schöne Geistliche Lieder (Dresden, 1556), the other...
Wir glauben all' an einen Gott. Tobias Clausnitzer* (1619-1684).
According to James Mearns*, this hymn for Trinity Sunday first appeared in a Gesang-Buch published at Culmbach-Bayreuth in 1668, where it had the initials 'C.A.D.' (JJ, p. 238). It appeared with Clausnitzer's name in a Nürnberg Gesang-Buch (1676) in three stanzas, corresponding to the three persons of the Holy Trinity:
Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, We all believe in One true God, Vater, Sohn, heiligen...
Wir sagen euch an den lieben Advent. Maria Ferschl* (1895-1982).
This children's hymn is based on the four Sundays in Advent. Each stanza has a description of the candle-lighting ceremony in Advent worship: 'Sehet die erste…zweite…dritte…vierte Kerze brennt!' Each stanza has an allusion to a text: St. 1 to Matthew 3: 3, 'Machet dem Herrn den Weg bereit'; St 2 to Romans 15: 7, 'So nehmet euch eins um das andere an,/ wie auch der Herr an uns getan'; St 3 to John 1: 5, 'Nun tragt eurer Güte hellen...
KÉLER, Yves. b. Metz, 25 April 1939; d. Haguenau, 12 June 2018. Kéler was a conservative Lutheran Pastor in Alsace, and a hymn writer who translated Martin Luther*'s hymns, and chorales by Paul Gerhardt* and Johann Heermann*. He was the author of Le Culte Protestante (2006).
The son of Pierre Kéler and Lucie Lischer, he was catechised and confirmed in Metz by a Lutheran pastor, Alfred Griesbeck. Griesbeck encouraged Yves to teach in Sunday School and to study theology after his schooling in...