Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist

Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist. Martin Luther* (1483-1546). This is Luther’s version of the ‘Veni creator spiritus’*, possibly by Hrabanus Maurus*. It was first published in Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbuchlein (Erfurt, 1524). The seven stanzas follow the Latin carefully, though changing the order of stanzas 3 and 4. The image of the Holy Ghost as the finger of God’s right hand (‘Dextrae Dei tu digitus’, Latin verse 3) is now ‘der fynger an Gotts rechter hand’ (German stanza 4); and Luther’s stanza 3 (‘Zund uns eyn liecht an ym verstand’) is the equivalent of the Latin stanza 4, ‘Accende lumen sensibus’. Jenny, Luthers geistliche Lieder, no.17, pp. 214-5, prints the melody, which is also...