Mein Seel, o Herr, muß loben dich

Mein Seel, o Herr, muß loben dich. Erasmus Alber* (ca. 1500-1553). This version of the Magnificat*, attributed to Alber in EG, is found in Fünff außerlesene Geystliche lieder (Marburg, 1555). It is not attributed to Alber by Wackernagel: it is found in Das Deutsche Kirchenlied III. 1113-4, without an author’s name, in five 8-line verses, and with significant differences in verse 5b (verse 10 in EG). The EG text dates the hymn as follows: verse 1, 1534/1536; verses 2-11 (written before Alber’s death, 1553, printed 1555, presumably a reference to the Marburg book). EG prints the five verses as ten 4-line verses, and adds a doxology to the text in DDK: ‘Gott, Vater und dem ein’gen Sohn,/ dem...