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Johann Crüger

1598 - 1662 Person Name: John. Crüger Hymnal Number: 32 Composer of "[Herzliebster Jesus, was hast du verbrochen]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Johann Crüger (b. Grossbriesen, near Guben, Prussia, Germany, 1598; d. Berlin, Germany, 1662) Crüger attended the Jesuit College at Olmutz and the Poets' School in Regensburg, and later studied theology at the University of Wittenberg. He moved to Berlin in 1615, where he published music for the rest of his life. In 1622 he became the Lutheran cantor at the St. Nicholas Church and a teacher for the Gray Cloister. He wrote music instruction manuals, the best known of which is Synopsis musica (1630), and tirelessly promoted congregational singing. With his tunes he often included elaborate accompaniment for various instruments. Crüger's hymn collection, Neues vollkomliches Gesangbuch (1640), was one of the first hymnals to include figured bass accompaniment (musical shorthand) with the chorale melody rather than full harmonization written out. It included eighteen of Crüger's tunes. His next publication, Praxis Pietatis Melica (1644), is considered one of the most important collections of German hymnody in the seventeenth century. It was reprinted forty-four times in the following hundred years. Another of his publications, Geistliche Kirchen Melodien (1649), is a collection arranged for four voices, two descanting instruments, and keyboard and bass accompaniment. Crüger also published a complete psalter, Psalmodia sacra (1657), which included the Lobwasser translation set to all the Genevan tunes. Bert Polman =============================== Crüger, Johann, was born April 9, 1598, at Gross-Breese, near Guben, Brandenburg. After passing through the schools at Guben, Sorau and Breslau, the Jesuit College at Olmütz, and the Poets' school at Regensburg, he made a tour in Austria, and, in 1615, settled at Berlin. There, save for a short residence at the University of Wittenberg, in 1620, he employed himself as a private tutor till 1622. In 1622 he was appointed Cantor of St. Nicholas's Church at Berlin, and also one of the masters of the Greyfriars Gymnasium. He died at Berlin Feb. 23, 1662. Crüger wrote no hymns, although in some American hymnals he appears as "Johann Krüger, 1610,” as the author of the supposed original of C. Wesley's "Hearts of stone relent, relent" (q.v.). He was one of the most distinguished musicians of his time. Of his hymn tunes, which are generally noble and simple in style, some 20 are still in use, the best known probably being that to "Nun danket alle Gott" (q.v.), which is set to No. 379 in Hymns Ancient & Modern, ed. 1875. His claim to notice in this work is as editor and contributor to several of the most important German hymnological works of the 16th century, and these are most conveniently treated of under his name. (The principal authorities on his works are Dr. J. F. Bachmann's Zur Geschichte der Berliner Gesangbücher 1857; his Vortrag on P. Gerhard, 1863; and his edition of Gerhardt's Geistliche Lieder, 1866. Besides these there are the notices in Bode, and in R. Eitner's Monatshefte für Musik-Geschichte, 1873 and 1880). These works are:— 1. Newes vollkömmliches Gesangbuch, Augspur-gischer Confession, &c, Berlin, 1640 [Library of St. Nicholas's Church, Berlin], with 248 hymns, very few being published for the first time. 2. Praxis pietatis melica. Das ist: Ubung der Gottseligkeit in Christlichen und trostreichen Gesängen. The history of this, the most important work of the century, is still obscure. The 1st edition has been variously dated 1640 and 1644, while Crüger, in the preface to No. 3, says that the 3rd edition appeared in 1648. A considerable correspondence with German collectors and librarians has failed to bring to light any of the editions which Koch, iv. 102, 103, quotes as 1644, 1647, 1649, 1650, 1651, 1652, 1653. The imperfect edition noted below as probably that of 1648 is the earliest Berlin edition we have been able to find. The imperfect edition, probably ix. of 1659, formerly in the hands of Dr. Schneider of Schleswig [see Mützell, 1858, No. 264] was inaccessible. The earliest perfect Berlin edition we have found is 1653. The edition printed at Frankfurt in 1656 by Caspar Röteln was probably a reprint of a Berlin edition, c. 1656. The editions printed at Frankfurt-am-Main by B. C. Wust (of which the 1666 is in the preface described as the 3rd) are in considerable measure independent works. In the forty-five Berlin and over a dozen Frankfurt editions of this work many of the hymns of P. Gerhardt, J. Franck, P. J. Spener, and others, appear for the first time, and therein also appear many of the best melodies of the period. 3. Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien, &c, Leipzig, 1649 [Library of St. Katherine's Church, Brandenburg]. This contains the first stanzas only of 161 hymns, with music in four vocal and two instrumental parts. It is the earliest source of the first stanzas of various hymns by Gerhardt, Franck, &c. 4. D. M. Luther's und anderer vornehmen geisU reichen und gelehrten Manner Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen, &c, Berlin, 1653 [Hamburg Town Library], with 375 hymns. This was edited by C. Runge, the publisher, and to it Crüger contributed some 37 melodies. It was prepared at the request of Luise Henriette (q.v.), as a book for the joint use of the Lutherans and the Re¬formed, and is the earliest source of the hymns ascribed to her, and of the complete versions of many hymns by Gerhardt and Franck. 5. Psalmodia Sacra, &c, Berlin, 1658 [Royal Library, Berlin]. The first section of this work is in an ed. of A. Lobwasser's German Psalter; the second, with a similar title to No. 4, and the date 1657, is practically a recast of No. 4,146 of those in 1653 being omitted, and the rest of the 319 hymns principally taken from the Praxis of 1656 and the hymn-books of the Bohemian Brethren. New eds. appeared in 1676, 1700, 1704, 1711, and 1736. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] -- Excerpt from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ======================= Crüger, Johann, p. 271, ii. Dr. J. Zahn, now of Neuendettelsau, in Bavaria, has recently acquired a copy of the 5th ed., Berlin, 1653, of the Praxis. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Joachim Neander

1650 - 1680 Hymnal Number: 44 Composer of "[Komm, o komm, du Geist des Lebens]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Neander, Joachim, was born at Bremen, in 1650, as the eldest child of the marriage of Johann Joachim Neander and Catharina Knipping, which took place on Sept. 18, 1649, the father being then master of the Third Form in the Paedagogium at Bremen. The family name was originally Neumann (Newman) or Niemann, but the grandfather of the poet had assumed the Greek form of the name, i.e. Neander. After passing through the Paedagogium he entered himself as a student at the Gymnasium illustre (Academic Gymnasium) of Bremen in Oct. 1666. German student life in the 17th century was anything but refined, and Neander seems to have been as riotous and as fond of questionable pleasures as most of his fellows. In July 1670, Theodore Under-Eyck came to Bremen as pastor of St. Martin's Church, with the reputation of a Pietist and holder of conventicles. Not long after Neander, with two like-minded comrades, went to service there one Sunday, in order to criticise and find matter of amusement. But the earnest words of Under-Eyck touched his heart; and this, with his subsequent conversations with Under-Eyck, proved the turning-point of his spiritual life. In the spring of 1671 he became tutor to five young men, mostly, if not all, sons of wealthy merchants at Frankfurt-am-Main, and accompanied them to the University of Heidelberg, where they seem to have remained till the autumn of 1673, and where Neander learned to know and love the beauties of Nature. The winter of 1673-74 he spent at Frankfurt with the friends of his pupils, and here he became acquainted with P. J. Spener (q.v.) and J. J. Schütz (q.v.) In the spring of 1674 he was appointed Rector of the Latin school at Düsseldorf (see further below). Finally, in 1679, he was invited to Bremen as unordained assistant to Under-Eyck at St. Martin's Church, and began his duties about the middle of July. The post was not inviting, and was regarded merely as a stepping stone to further preferment, the remuneration being a free house and 40 thalers a year, and the Sunday duty being a service with sermon at the extraordinary hour of 5 a.m. Had he lived, Under-Eyck would doubtless have done his best to get him appointed to St. Stephen's Church, the pastorate of which became vacant in Sept., 1680. But meantime Neander himself fell into a decline, and died at Bremen May 31, 1680 (Joachim Neander, sein Leben und seine Lieder. With a Portrait. By J. F. Iken, Bremen, 1880; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, xxiii. 327, &c.) Neander was the first important hymn-writer of the German Reformed Church since the times of Blaurer and Zwick. His hymns appear to have been written mostly at Düsseldorf, after his lips had been sealed to any but official work. The true history of his unfortunate conflict has now been established from the original documents, and may be summarized thus. The school at Düsseldorf was entirely under the control of the minister and elders of the Reformed Church there. The minister from about July, 1673, to about May, 1677, was Sylvester Lürsen (a native of Bremen, and only a few years older than Neander), a man of ability and earnestness, but jealous, and, in later times at least, quarrelsome. With him Neander at first worked harmoniously, frequently preaching in the church, assisting in the visitation of the sick, &c. But he soon introduced practices which inevitably brought on a conflict. He began to hold prayer meetings of his own, without informing or consulting minister or elders; he began to absent himself from Holy Communion, on the ground that he could not conscientiously communicate along with the unconverted, and also persuaded others to follow this example; and became less regular in his attendance at the ordinary services of the Church. Besides these causes of offence he drew out a new timetable for the school, made alterations on the school buildings, held examinations and appointed holidays without consulting any one. The result of all this was a Visitation of the school on Nov. 29, 1676, and then his suspension from school and pulpit on Feb. 3, 1677. On Feb. 17 he signed a full and definite declaration by which "without mental reservations" he bound himself not to repeat any of the acts complained of; and thereupon was permitted to resume his duties as rector but not as assistant minister. The suspension thus lasted only 14 days, and his salary was never actually stopped. The statements that he was banished from Düsseldorf, and that he lived for months in a cave in the Neanderthal near Mettmann are therefore without foundation. Still his having had to sign such a document was a humiliation which he must have felt keenly, and when, after Lürsen's departure, the second master of the Latin school was appointed permanent assistant pastor, this feeling would be renewed. Neander thus thrown back on himself, found consolation in communion with God and Nature, and in the composition of his hymns. Many were without doubt inspired by the scenery of the Neanderthal (a lovely valley with high rocky sides, between which flows the little river Düssel); and the tradition is probable enough that some of them were composed in a cave there. A number were circulated among his friends at Düsseldorf in MS., but they were first collected and published after his removal to Bremen, and appeared as:— A und Ώ, Joachimi Neandri Glaub-und Liebesübung: — auffgemuntert durch ein fällige Bundes Lieder und Danck-Psalmen, Bremen, Hermann Brauer, 1680; 2nd ed. Bremen, 1683 ; 3rd ed. Bremen, 1687; 4th ed. Frankfurt, 1689. These editions contain 57 hymns. In the 5th ed., Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1691, edited by G. C. Strattner, eight hymns were added as being also by Neander. [The whole of these eds. are in the Royal Library, Berlin. The so-called 3rd. ed. at Wesel, 1686, also found in Berlin, was evidently pirated.] Other editions rapidly followed till we find the complete set (i.e. 57 or 58) formally incorporated as part of a hymnbook, e.g. in the Marburg Reformed Gesang-Buch, 1722, where the first part consists of Lobwasser's Psalter, the second of Neander's Bundeslieder, and the third of other hymns. Neander's Bundeslieder also form a division of the Lemgo Reformed Gesang-Buch, 1722; and of a favourite book used in the meetings conducted by G. Tersteegen, which in the 5th ed., Solingen, 1760, has the title Gott-geheiligtes Harfen-Spiel der Kinder Zion; bestehend in Joachimi Neandri sämtlichen Bundes-Liedern, &c. In this way, especially in the district near Düsseldorf and on the Ruhr, Neander's name was honoured and beloved long after it had passed out of memory at Bremen. Many of Neander's hymns were speedily received into the Lutheran hymnbooks, and are still in universal use. The finest are the jubilant hymns of Praise and Thanksgiving, such as his "Lobe den Herren”, and those setting forth the Majesty of God in His works of beauty and wonder in Nature, such as his "Himmel, Erde", and "Unbegreiflich Gut"; while some of his hymns of Penitence, such as his "Sieh hier bin ich, Ehrenkönig" (q.v.), are also very beautiful. Many are of a decidedly subjective cast, but for this the circumstances of their origin, and the fact that the author did not expect them to be used in public worship, will sufficiently account. Here and there there are doubtless harshnesses, and occasionally imagery which is rather jarring; and naturally enough the characteristic expressions and points of view of German 17th cent. Pietism and of the "Covenant Theology" are easily enough detected. But the glow and sweetness of his better hymns, their firm faith, originality, Scripturalness, variety and mastery of rhythmical forms, and genuine lyric character fully entitled them to the high place they hold. Of the melodies in the original edition of 1680 there are 19 by Neander himself, the best known being those to Nos. viii. and xi. below. The hymns by Neander which have passed into English, and have not already been referred to, are:— Hymns in English common use: i. Meine Hoffnung stehet feste. Thanksgiving. Founded on 1 Tim. vi. 17. 1680 as above, p. 115, in 5 stanzas of 7 lines, entitled "Grace after meat." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 712. Translated as:— All my hope is grounded surely. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth, as No. 8 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Another translation is: "All my Hope is fix'd and grounded." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 17, repeated in his ed., 1732, p. 64, altered and beginning, "All my Hope is firmly grounded." ii. Unbegreiflich Gut, wahrer Gott alleine. Summer. According to tradition this was written in the summer of 1677, in a cave in the Neanderthal near Düsseldorf, while Neander was in enforced absence from his school duties (Koch, vi. 20). It is founded on Ps. civ. 24. 1680, p. 165, in 12 stanzas of 6 lines, and entitled, "The Joys of Summer and Autumn in Field and Forest." The following note shows that the "Feeling for Nature" is not entirely modern. “It is also a travelling hymn in summer or autumn for those who, on their way to Frankfurt on the Main, go up and down the river Rhine, where between Cologne and Mainz, mountains, cliffs, brooks and rocks are to be beheld with particular wonder; also in the district of Berg in the rocky region [the ‘Gestein' now called the Neanderthal], not far from Düsseldorf." The hymn is in Knapp's Evangelischer Lieder-Schatz 1850, No. 2163 (1865, No. 2231), omitting st. x. Translated as:-— 0 Thou true God alone. A very good translation, omitting st. x., by Miss Winkworth, in her Christian Singers, 1869, p. 286. Her translation of st. i., iii.-v. altered in metre, and beginning "Thou true God alone," are No. 53 in M. W. Stryker's Christian Chorals, 1885. Hymns not in English common use:—— iii. Auf, auf, mein Geist, erhebe dich zum Himmel. Holy Communion. Founded on Ps. xxiii. 6. 1860, as above, p. 27, in 5 stanzas, entitled, "The soul strengthened and refreshed. After the reception of the Holy Communion." In Porst's Gesang-Buch, ed. 1855, No. 218. In the Moravian London Gesang-Buch, 1753, No. 697, it begins, "Den Himmels-Vorschmack hab' ich auf der Erde," and in the Brüder Gesang-Buch, 1778, No. 1178, it was further recast (by C. Gregor?) and altered to "hab'ich schon hinieden." Translated as "Heav'n's foretaste I may here already have." By F W. Foster & J. Miller, as No. 596, in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789. In the 1801 ed. (1849, No. 1003) it begins, “Since Jesus dy'd, my guilty soul to save." iv. Der Tag ist hin, mein Jesu, bei mir bleibe. Evening. Founded on St. Luke xxiv. 29. 1680, p. 15, in 6 stanzas entitled, "The Christian returning thanks at eventide." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 512. The translations are: (1) "The Day is gone, come Jesu my Protector." In the Supplement to German Psalmody, ed. 1765, p. 72. (2) "The day is past, Thou Saviour dear, still dwell my breast within." By H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 82. (3) "The day is gone, abide with me tonight." By E. Massie, 1867, p. 192. (4) "The day is gone, abide with me, 0 Jesus." By R. Massie, in the Day of Rest, 1877. v. Grosser Prophete, mein Herze begehret. Love to Christ. Founded on 1 Cor. xvi. 22. 1680, p. 191, in 4 stanzas. Translated as “Heavenly Prophet, my Heart is desiring." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 40. vi. Jehovah ist mein Licht und Gnadensonne. God's Perfections. Founded on 1 John i. 7. 1680, p. 19 in 4 stanzas, entitled, "Walking in the Light." Translated as, "Jehovah is my light, salvation showing." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 6). vii. 0 allerhöchster Menschenhüter. Morning. A hymn of praise to our Almighty Preserver. 1680, p. 11, in 6 stanzas, founded on Ps. lix. 16; and entitled, "The Christian singing at Morning." Translated as, "O Thou Most Highest! Guardian of mankind." By Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 72. viii. Unser Herrscher, unser König. Thanksgiving. Founded on Acts viii. 2. 1680, p. 147, in 6 stanzas, entitled, "The glorious Jehovah." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen 1851, No. 344. The well-known melody (in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns called Munich) is also by Neander, and appeared along with the hymn. Translated as, "Sovereign Ruler, King victorious," in the British Herald, Dec, 1865, p. 185, and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. ix. Wie fleucht dahin der Menschenzeit. For the Dying. A powerful hymn on the vanity of the earthly, founded on Ps. xc. 12. 1680, p. 174, in 7 stanzas, entitled, "He that counts his days." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 845. The translations are: (1) "This life is like a flying dream" (beginning with st. ii. "Das Leben ist gleich wie ein Traum"). By Mrs. Findlater, in Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1858, p. 24 (1884, p. 146). (2) "Though hastening onward to the grave." By E. Massie, 1867, p. 36. x. Wo soil ich hin? wer helfet mir? Lent. Founded on Romans vii. 24. 1680, p. 51, in 5 st. entitled “The distressed one longing for Redemption." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 393. The translations are: (1) "For help, O whither shall I flee." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 146). (2) "How shall I get there? who will aid?" By Miss Warner, 1858, p. 52. xi. Wunderbarer König. Thanksgiving. Founded on Ps. cl. 6. 1680, p. 159, in 4 stanzas, entitled, "Inciting oneself to the Praise of God." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 787. The melody, a very fine one (called by Mr. Mercer Groningen), is also by Neander, and appeared along with the hymn. The translations are: (1) "Wonderful Creator." By J. C. Jacobi, 1722, p. 88. (2) "Wonderful and blessed." By J. D. Burns in his Memoir and Remains, 1869, p. 230. (3) "Wondrous King Almighty." By N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 266. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Georg Neumark

1621 - 1681 Person Name: Gg. Neumark Hymnal Number: 110 Composer of "[Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Georg Neumark (b. Langensalza, Thuringia, Germany, 1621; d. Weimar, Germany, 1681) lived during the time of the Thirty Years' War, when social and economic conditions were deplorable. He had personal trials as well. On his way to Königsberg to study at the university, traveling in the comparative safety of a group of merchants, he was robbed of nearly all his possessions. During the next two years he spent much of his time looking for employment. He finally secured a tutoring position in Kiel. When he had saved enough money, he returned to the University of Königsberg and studied there for five years. In Königsberg he again lost all his belongings, this time in a fire. Despite his personal suffering Neumark wrote many hymns in which he expressed his absolute trust in God. In 1651 he settled in Weimar, Thuringia, where he became court poet and archivist to Duke Johann Ernst and librarian and registrar of the city. Neumark wrote thirty-four hymns, of which "If You But Trust in God to Guide You" has become a classic. Bert Polman ============== Neumark, Georg, son of Michael Neumark, clothier at Langensalza, in Thuringia (after 1623 at Miihlhausen in Thuringia), was born at Langensalza, March 16, 1621; and educated at the Gymnasium at Schleueingen, and at the Gymnasium at Gotha. He received his certificate of dimission from the latter in Sept. 1641 (not 1640). He left Gotha in the autumn of 1641 along with a number of merchants who were going to the Michaelmas Fair at Leipzig. He then joined a similar party who were going from Leipzig to Lübeck; his intention being to proceed to Königsberg and matriculate at the University there. After passing through Magdeburg they were plundered by a band of highwaymen on the Gardelegen Heath, who robbed Neumark of all he had with him, save his prayer-book and a little money sewed up in the clothes he was wearing. He returned to Magdeburg, but could obtain no employment there, nor in Lüneburg, nor in Winsen, nor in Hamburg, to which in succession the friends he made passed him on. In the beginning of December he went to Kiel, where he found a friend in the person of Nicolaus Becker, a native of Thuringia, and then chief pastor at Kiel. Day after day passed by without an opening, till about the end of the month the tutor in the family of the Judge Stephan Henning fell into disgrace and took sudden flight from Kiel. By Becker's recommendation Neumark received the vacant position, and this sudden end of his anxieties was the occasion of the writing of his hymn as noted below. In Henning's house the time passed happily till he had saved enough to proceed to Königsberg, where he matriculated June 21, 1643, as a student of law. He remained five years, studying also poetry under Dach, and maintaining himself as a family tutor. During this time (in 1046) he again lost all his property, and this time by fire. In 1648 he left Königsberg, was for a short time at Warsaw, and spent 1649-50 at Thorn. He was then in Danzig, and in Sept. 1651 we find him in Hamburg. In the end of 1651 he returned to Thuringia, and bronght himself under the notice of Duke Wilhelm II. of Sachse-Weimar, the chief or president of the Fruit-bearing Society, the principal German literary union of the 17th century. The Duke, apparently in 1652, appointed him court poet, librarian and registrar of the administration at Weimar; and finally secretary of the Ducal Archives. In Sept. 1653 he was admitted as a member of the Fruit-bearing Society, of which he became secretary in 1656, and of which he wrote a history (Der Neu-Sprossende Teutsche Palmbaum, Nürnberg and Weimar, 1668); and, in 1679, became also a member of the Pegnitz Order. In 1681 he became blind, but was permitted to retain his emoluments till his death, at Weimar, July 18, 1681. [K. Goedeke's Grundriss, vol. iii., 1887, p. 74; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. xxiii. 539; Weimarisches Jahrbuch, vol. iii., 1855, p. 176, &c. The dates given by the different authorities vary exceedingly, and are quite irreconcilable. In the registers at Schleusingen Neumark is last mentioned in 1636, and then as in the Third Form. Dr. von Bamberg, director of the Gymnasium at Gotha, informs me that Neumark's name appears in the matriculation book there under January 31, 1641; and as one of the "newly entered" scholars.] A long list of Neumark's poetical works is given by Goedeke. A large proportion of his secular poems are pastorals, or else occasional poems written to order at Weimar; and in all there is little freshness, or happiness in expression, or glow of feeling. As a musician, and as a hymn-writer, he is of more importance. His hymns appeared in his (1) Poetisch-und Musikalisches Lustwäldchen, Hamburg, 1652; the enlarged edition, entitled (2) Fortgepfiantzter Musikalizch-Poetischer Lustwald, Jena, 1657; and (3) Unterschiedliche, so wol gottseliger Andacht; als auch zu christlichen Tugenden aufmuntemde Lieder, Weimar, 1675. Of the 34 hymns in these three works a few are found in the German hymn-books of the 17th century, and three or four still survive. The best of Neumark's hymns are those of Trust in God, and patient waiting for His help under trial and suffering; and one of these may be fairly called classical and imperishable. It is:— Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten. Trust in God. First published in his Fortgepflantzter musikalisch-poetischer Lustwald, Jena, 1657, p. 26, in 7 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled “A hymn of consolation. That God will care for and preserve His own in His own time. After the saying 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee'“(Ps. lv. 22). This, his finest hymn, was written in 1641, at Kiel, when after unsuccessful attempts to procure employment he became a tutor in the family of the judge Stephan Henning. Of this appointment Neumark, in his Thrünendes Haus-Kreuiz, Weimar, 1681, speaks thus:-— "Which good fortune coming suddenly, and as if fallen from heaven, greatly rejoiced me, and on that very day I composed to the honour of my beloved Lord the here and there well-known hymn 'Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten'; and had certainly cause enough to thank the Divine compassion for such unlooked for grace shown to me," &c. As the date of its composition is thus December, 1641, or at latest Jan. 1642, it is certainly strange that it was not published in his Lustwäldchen, Hamburg, 1652. In that volume he does give, at p. 32, a piece entitled, "a hymn of consolation, when, in 1646, through a dreadful fire I came to my last farthing." The apocryphal story, according to which the hymn was written at Hamburg, about 1653 (see Miller's Singers and Songs, 1869, p. 91), has not been traced earlier than 1744. The hymn speedily became popular, and passed into hymn-books all over Germany (Leipzig Vorrath, 1673, No. 1169), and still holds its place as in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863, No. 73. Lauxmann, in Koch, viii. 386-390, relates that it was the favourite hymn of Magdalena Sibylla (d. 1687), wife of the Elector Johann Georg II. of Saxony; was sung, by his command, at the funeral, in 1740, of King Friedrich Wilhelm I. of Prussia; was sung, or rather played, by the first band of missionaries from Herrmannsburg as they set sail from Brunshausen on the Elbe (near Stade) on Oct. 28, 1853, &c. The beautiful melody by Neumark was probably composed in 1641 along with the hymn, and was published with it in 1657. On it J. S. Bach composed a cantata. It is well known in England through its use by Mendelssohn in his St. Paul ("To Thee, 0 Lord, I yield my spirit"), and from its introduction into Hymns Ancient & Modern (as Bremen), and many other collections. Translations in common use:-- 1. Who leaves th' Almighty God to reign. A full but free translation by Sir John Bowring in his Hymns, 1825, No. 58. His translations of stanzas ii., iv.-vi. beginning "How vain are sighs! how vain regret," are included in Curtis's Union Collection, 1827. 2. Who all his will to God resigneth. A good and full translation by A. T. Kussell, as No. 236 in his Psalms & Hymns, 1851. His translations of st. v.-vii. beginning "Say not, I am of God forsaken," are in Dr. Pagenstecher's Collection, 1864. 3. Leave God to order all thy ways. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser. 1855, p. 152. This is given in full in M. W. Stryker's Christian Chorals, 1885, and, omitting st. vi., in W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church and Home, 1873, and the Baptist Hymnal, 1879. Further abridged forms are in the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858; Harrow School Hymn Book, l866; Holy Song, 1869, and others. In the Pennsylvania Lutheran Church Book, 1868; and the American Presbyterian Hymnal, 1874, st. v., vi. are omitted, and the rest altered to 6 stanzas, beginning "My God, I leave to Thee my ways." 4. Him who the blessed God trusts ever. A good and full translation by Dr.John Ker in the Juvenile Missionary Magazine, of the United Presbyterian Church, 1857. It was revised, and st. iii., v., vi. omitted, for the Ibrox Hymnal, 1871, where it begins: "He who,” &c. 5. If thou but suffer God to guide thee. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth (based on her Lyra Germanica version and set to the original melody), as No. 134 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Repeated in full in the Baptist Psalmist, 1878, and in America in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. It is found, in various abridged forms, in J. Robinson's Collection, 1869; Horder's Congregational Hymns , 1884; the Evangelical Hymnal, N. Y., 1880, and others. 6. He, who the living God hath chosen. A translation of st. i., ii., vii. by Miss Borthwick, as No. 237 in Dr. Pagenstecher's Collection, 1864. 7. He who doth glad submission render. A good translation omitting st. vi., by J. M. Sloan, as No. 284 in J. H. Wilson's Service of Praise, 1865, repeated, omitting the translations of st. ii., vii., in Flett's Collection, Paisley, 1871. Other translations are:— (1) "He that confides in his Creator." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 13 (1722, p. 36; 1732, p. 61). Repeated in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754, and later eds. (1886, No. 183). (2) "0 Christian! let the Lord direct." By Miss Knight in her Trs. from the German in Prose and Verse, 1812, p. 85. (3) "To let God rule who's but contented." By H. W. Dulcken in his Book of German Song, 1856, p. 274. (4) "He who the rule to God hath yielded." By J. D. Burns in the Family Treasury, 1859, p. 309, and his Memoir & Remains, 1869, p. 240. (5) "Who trusts in God's all-wise direction." By R. Massie, in the British Herald, Aug. 1865, p. 120, and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. (6) "Who yields his will to God's good pleasure. In the British Herald, April, 1866, p. 244, and in Reid's Praise Book, 1872. (7) "He who commits his way to God." In the Family Treasury, 1878, p. 49. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Hans Leo Hassler

1564 - 1612 Person Name: H. L. Haßler Hymnal Number: 127 Composer of "[Herzlich tut mich verlangen]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Hans Leo Hassler Germany 1564-1612. Born at Nuremberg, Germany, he came from a family of famous musicians and received early education from his father. He then studied in Venice, Italy, with Andrea Gabrieli, uncle of Giovanni Gabrieli, his friend, with whom he composed a wedding motet. The uncle taught him to play the organ. He learned the polychoral style and took it back to Germany after Andrea Gabrieli's death. He served as organist and composer for Octavian Fugger, the princely art patron of Augsburg (1585-1601). He was a prolific composer but found his influence limited, as he was Protestant in a still heavily Catholic region. In 1602 he became director of town music and organist in the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg until 1608. He married Cordula Claus in 1604. He was finally court musician for the Elector of Saxony in Dresden, Germany, evenually becoming Kapellmeister (1608-1612). A Lutheran, he composed both for Roman Catholic liturgy and for Lutheran churches. He produced two volumns of motets, a famous collection of court songs, and a volume of simpler hymn settings. He published both secular and religious music, managing to compose much for the Catholic church that was also usable in Lutheran settings. He was also a consultant to organ builders. In 1596 he, with 53 other organists, had the opportunity to examine a new instrument with 59 stops at the Schlosskirche, Groningen. He was recognized for his expertise in organ design and often was called on to examine new instruments. He entered the world of mechanical instrument construction, developing a clockwork organ that was later sold to Emperor Rudolf II. He died of tuberculosis in Frankfurt, Germany. John Perry

Philipp Nicolai

1556 - 1608 Person Name: Phil Nicolai Hymnal Number: 132 Composer of "[Wachet auf! ruft uns die Stimme]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Philipp Nicolai (b. Mengeringhausen, Waldeck, Germany, 1556; d. Hamburg, Germany, 1608) lived an eventful life–he fled from the Spanish army, sparred with Roman Catholic and Calvinist opponents, and ministered to plague-stricken congregations. Educated at Wittenberg University, he was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1583 in the city of Herdecke. However, he was soon at odds with the Roman Catholic town council, and when Spanish troops arrived to reestablish Roman dominance, Nicolai fled. In 1588 he became chief pastor at Altwildungen and court preacher to Countess Argaretha of Waldeck. During that time Nicolai battled with Calvinists, who disagreed with him about the theology of the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper. These doctrinal controversies were renewed when he served the church in Unna, Westphalia. During his time as a pastor there, the plague struck twice, and Nicolai wrote both "How Bright Appears the Morning Star" and "Wake, Awake." Nicolai's last years were spent as Pastor of St. Katherine's Church in Hamburg. Bert Polman ===================== Nicolai, Philipp, D.D., son of Dieterich Nicolai, sometime Lutheran pastor at Herdecke, in Westphalia, and after 1552, at Mengeringhausen in Waldeck, was born at Mengeringhausen, August 10, 1556. (The father was son of Nicolaus Rafflenbol, of Rafflenbol, near Hagen, in Westphalia, and in later life had adopted the Latinised form Nicolai of his father's Christian name as his own surname.) In 1575 Nicolai entered the University of Erfurt, and in 1576 he went to Wittenberg. After completing his University course in 1579 (D.D. at Wittenberg July 4, 1594), he lived for some time at Volkliardinghausen, near Mengeringhausen, and frequently preached for his father. In August, 1583, he was appointed Lutheran preacher at Herdecke, but found many difficulties there, the members of the Town Council being Roman Catholics. After the invasion by the Spanish troops in April, 1586, his colleague re-introduced the Mass, and Nicolai resigned his post. In the end of 15S6 he was appointed diaconus at Niederwildungen, near Waldeck, and in 1587 he became pastor there. He then became, in Nov. 1588, chief pastor at Altwildungen, and also court preacher to the widowed Countess Margafetha of Waldeck, and tutor to her son, Count Wilhelm Ernst. Here he took an active part on the Lutheran side in the Sacramentarian controversy, and was, in Sept. 1592, inhibited from preaching by Count Franz of Waldeck, but the prohibition was soon removed, and in the Synod of 1593 held at Mengeringhausen, he found all the clergy of the principality of Waldeck willing to agree to the Formula of Concord. In October, 1596, he became pastor at Unna, in Westphalia, where he again became engaged in heated controversy with the Calvinists; passed through a frightful pestilence (see below); and then on Dec. 27, 1598, had to flee before the invasion of the Spaniards, and did not return till the end of April, 1599. Finally, in April 1601, he was elected chief pastor of St. Katherine's Church, at Hamburg, where he entered on his duties Aug. 6, 1601. On Oct. 22, 1608, he took part in the ordination of a colleague in the St. Katherine's Church, the diaconus Penshora, and returned home feeling unwell. A violent fever developed itself, under which he sank, and died Oct. 26, 1608 (D. Philipp Nicolai’s Leben und Lieder, by L. Curtze, 1859; Koch, ii. 324; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie xxiii. 607, &c). In Hamburg Nicolai was universally esteemed, was a most popular and influential preacher, and was regarded as a "pillar" of the Lutheran church. In his private life he seems to have been most lovable and estimable. Besides his fame as a preacher, his reputation rests mainly on his hymns. His printed works are mostly polemical, often very violent and acrid in tone, and such as the undoubted sincerity of his zeal to preserve pure and unadulterated Lutheranism may explain, but cannot be said to justify. Of his hymns only four seem to have been printed. Three of Nicolai's hymns were first published in his devotional work entitled Frewden-Spiegel dess ewigen Lebens, published at Frankfurt-am-Main, 1599 (see further below). The two noted here ("Wachet auf” and “Wie schon") rank as classical and epoch-making. The former is the last of the long series of Watchmen's Songs. The latter marks the transition from the objective churchly period to the more subjective and experimental period of German hymn writing; and begins the long series of Hymns of Love to Christ as the Bridegroom of the Soul, to which Franck and Scheffler contributed such beautiful examples. Both are also worthy of note for their unusual and perfect rhythms, and for their splendid melodies. They are:— i. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. Eternal Life. This beautiful hymn, one of the first rank, is founded on St. Matt. xxv. 1-13; Rev. xix. 6-9, and xxi. 21; 1 Cor. ii. 9; Ezek. iii. 17; and Is. lii. 8. It first appeared in the Appendix to his Frewden-Spiegel, 1599, in 3 st. of 10 1., entitled "Of the Voice at Midnight, and the Wise Virgins who meet their Heavenly Bridegroom. Matt. 25." Thence in Wackernagel v. p. 259, the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 690, and most German collections. It is a reversed acrostic, W. Z. G. for the Graf zu Waldeck, viz. his former pupil Count Wilhelm Ernst, who died at Tübingen Sept. 16, 1598, in his fifteenth year. It seems to have been written in 1597 at Unna, in Wesphalia, where Nicolai was then pastor; and during the terrible pestilence which raged there from July, 1597, to January, 1598, to which in July 300, in one week in August 170, and in all over 1300 fell victims. Nicolai's parsonage overlooked the churchyard, and there daily interments took place, often to the number of thirty. In these days of distress, when every household was in mourning, Nicolai's thoughts turned to Death, and thence to God in Heaven, and to the Eternal Fatherland. Jn the preface (dated Aug. 10, 1598) to his Frewden-Spiegel he says: "There seemed to me nothing more sweet, delightful and agreeable, than the contemplation of the noble, sublime doctrine of Eternal Life obtained through the Blood of Christ. This I allowed to dwell in my heart day and night, and searched the Scriptures as to what they revealed on this matter, read also the sweet treatise of the ancient doctor Saint Augustine [De Civitate Dei]. ..... Then day by day I wrote out my meditations, found myself, thank God! wonderfully well, comforted in heart, joyful in spirit, and truly content; gave to my manuscript the name and title of a Mirror of Joy, and took this so composed Frewden-Spiegel to leave behind me (if God should call me from this world) as the token of my peaceful, joyful, Christian departure, or (if God should spare me in health) to comfort other sufferers whom He should also visit with the pestilence .... Now has the gracious, holy God most mercifully preserved me amid the dying from the dreadful pestilence, and wonderfully spared me beyond all my thoughts and hopes, so that with the Prophet David I can say to Him "0 how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee," &c. The hymn composed under these circumstances (it may be stated that Curtze thinks both hymns were written in 1596, while Nicolai was still at Alt-Wildungen) soon became popular, and still retains its place, though often altered in the 3rd stanza. Probably the opening lines; "Wachet auf! ruft uns die Stimme Der Wachter sehr hoch auf der Zinne" are borrowed from one of the Wächter-Lieder, a form of lyric popular in the Middle Ages, introduced by Wolfram von Eschenbach. (See K. Goedeke's Deutsche Dichtung im Mittelalter, 1871, p. 918.) But while in the Songs the voice of the Watchman from his turret summons the workers of darkness to flee from discovery, with "Nicolai it is a summons to the children of light to awaken to their promised reward and full felicity. The melody appeared first along with the hymn, and is also apparently by Nicolai, though portions of it (e.g. 1. 1 by the Gregorian Fifth Tone) may have been suggested by earlier tunes. It has been called the King of Chorales, and by its majestic simplicity and dignity it well deserves the title. Since its use by Mendelssohn in his St. Paul it has become well known in England, and, in its original form, is given in Miss Winkworth's Chorale Book for England, 1863 (see below). Translations in common use:— 1. Sleepers wake, a voice is calling. This is an unrhymed translation of st. i. by W. Ball in his book of words to Mendelssohn's oratorio of St. Paul, 1836. This form is in Horder's Congregational Hymns, 1884, and others. In the South Place [London] Collection, 1873, it is a recast by A. J. Ellis, but opens with the same first line. In the Parish Hymn Book, 1875, a translation of st. ii., also unrhymed, is added. 2. "Wake ye holy maidens, wake ye. A good translation contributed by Philip Pusey to A. R. Reinagle's Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Oxford, 1840, p. 134. It was considerably altered, beginning "Wake, ye holy maidens, fearing" in the Salisbury Hymn Book, 1857, and this is repeated, with further alterations, in Kennedy, 1863, and the Sarum Hymnal, 1868. 3. Wake, arise! the call obeying. A good translation by A. T. Russell, as No. 110 in the Dalston Hospital Hymn Book 1848. 4. Wake, oh wake; around are flying. This is a recast, by A. T. Russell, not for the better, from his 1848 translation, as No. 268 in his Psalms & Hymns. 1851, st. iii. being omitted. Thence, unaltered, in the New Zealand Hymnal, 1872. 5. Wake, awake, for night is flying. A very good translation by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 225, repeated in her Chorale Book for England, 1863, No. 200, with st. ii., 11. 7, 8, rewritten. Included in the English Presbyterian Psalms & Hymns, 1867; Scottish Presbyterian Hymnal, 1876, &c.; and in America, in Laudes Domini, 1884, and others. In the Cantate Domino, Boston, U. S., 1859, it begins "Awake, awake, for night is flying." 6. Wake! the startling watch-cry pealeth. By Miss Cox, in Lyra Messianica, 1864, p. 4, and her Hymns from the German, 1864, p. 27; repeated in W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church and Home, 1873. The version in J. L. Porter's Collection, 1876, takes st. i., 11. 1-4 from Miss Cox. The rest is mainly from R. C. Singleton's translation in the Anglican Hymn Book, but borrows lines also from Miss Winkworth, and from the Hymnary text. 7. Wake! the watchman's voice is sounding. By R. C.Singleton. This is No. 259 in the Anglican Hymn Book, 1868, where it is marked as a "versification by R. C. Singleton, 1867." 8. Wake, awake, for night is flying. This is by Canon W. Cooke, in the Hymnary, 1871, and signed A. C. C. In the edition of 1872, 11. 7, 8 of st. ii. are recast, and the whole is marked as " based on E. A. Dayman." It is really a cento, four lines of the 1872 text (i., 1. 5; ii., 11. 7, 8; iii., 1. 9) being by Canon Cooke; and the rest being adapted from the versions of P. Pusey as altered in the Sarum Hymnal, of Miss Winkworth, of Miss Cox, and of R. C. Singleton. It may be regarded as a success, and as passed into the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871; the 1874 Appendix to the New Congregational Hymn Book; Horder's Congregational Hymns, 1884, and others. 9. Wake, arise! the voice is calling. This is an anonymous translation in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. 10. Slumberers, wake, the Bridegroom cometh. A spirited version, based on Miss Winkworth (and with an original st. as iv.), by J. H. Hopkins in his Carols, Hymns & Songs, 3rd ed., 1882. p. 88, and dated 1866. Repeated in the Hymnal Companion (Reformed Episcopal) Philadelphia, U.S., 1885. Other translations are:— (1) “Awake, the voice is crying." In Lyra Davidica, 1108, p. 73. (2) "Awake! awake! the watchman calls." By Miss Fry, 1845, p. 33. (3) "Hark! the trump of God is sounding." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 269. This is from the altered form by F. G. Klopstock, in his Geistliche Lieder, 1758, p. 246, as further altered in Zollikofer's Gesang-Buch, 1766, No. 303, where it begins "Wachet auf! so ruft." (4) "Awake, arise, the voice gives warning." In the United Presbyterian Juvenile Missionary Magazine, 1857, p. 193; repeated in 1859, p. 171, beginning, “Awake, arise, it is the warning." (5) “Waken! From the tower it soundeth." By Mrs. Bevan, 1858, p. 1. (6) Up! awake! his summons hurried." By J. D.Burns, in the Family Treasury, 1860, p. 84, and his Memoir & Remains, 1869, p. 234. 11. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, Voll Gnad und Wahrheit von dem Herrn. Love to Christ. First published in theAppendix to his Frewden-Spiegel, 1599, in 7 stanzas of 10 lines entitled "A spiritual bridal song of the believing soul concerning Jesus Christ, her heavenly Bridegroom, founded on the 45th Psalm of the prophet David." Lauxmann, in Koch, viii. 271, thus gives an account of it as written during the Pestilence of 1597. He says Nicola was "One morning in great distress and tribulation in his quiet study. He rose in spirit from the distress and death which surrounded him to his Redeemer and Saviour, and while he clasped Him in ardent love there welled forth from the inmost depths of his heart this precious hymn of the Saviour's love and of the joys of Heaven. He was so entirely absorbed in this holy exaltation that he forgot all around him, even his midday meal, and allowed nothing to disturb him in his poetical labours till the hymn was completed "—-three hours after midday. As Nicolai was closely connected with Waldeck he formed with the initial letters of his stanzas the acrostic W. E. G. U. H. Z. W., viz. Wilhelm Ernst Graf Und Herr Zn Waldeck— his former pupil. The hymn has reminiscences of Eph. v., of Canticles, and of the Mediaeval Hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It became at once a favourite in Germany, was reckoned indispensable at weddings, was often sung around death beds, &c. The original form is in Wackernagel v. p. 258, and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 437; but this (as will be seen by comparing Miss Winkworth's version of 1869) is hardly suited for present day congregational use. In Bunsen's Versuch, 1833, No. 554, it is slightly altered. The form in Knapp's Evangelischer Lieder-Schatz, 1837, No. 2074 (1865, No. 1810) is a recast by Knapp made on Jan. 14, 1832, and published in his Christoterpe, 1833, p. 285, preceded by a recast of "Wachet auf!"; both being marked as “rewritten according to the requirements of our times." The popularity of the hymn was greatly aided by its beautiful chorale (named by Mr. Mercer, Frankfort), which has been called "The Queen of Chorales," and to which many city chimes in Germany were soon set. It was published with the hymn, and is probably an original tune by Nicolai, though portions may have been suggested by earlier melodies, especially by the "Resonet in laudibus," which is probably of the 14th cent. (Bäumker i., No. 48, cites it from the Obsequiale, Ingolstadt, 1570. In Alton's Congregational Psalmist named Arimathea). Translations in common use:— 1. How bright appears the Morning Star! This is a full and fairly close version by J. C. Jacobi, in his Psalter Germanica, 1722, p. 90 (1732, p. 162); repeated, with alterations, in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754, pt. i., No. 317 (1886, No. 360). The versions of st. v., vii. beginning, "The Father from eternity," are included in Aids to the Service of Song, Edinburgh N.D., but since 1860. In 1855 Mercer gave in his The Church Psalter & Hymn Book., as No. 15, a hymn in 4 stanzas of 10 lines, of which five lines are exactly from Jacobi. St. i., l1. 1-3; ii., .11. 8, 9 ; iii., 11. 2, 3, 6 ; iv., 1. 10, are exactly; and i., 1. 9; ii., 11. 2, 3, 6, 10; iii., II. 1, 4, 5; iv., 11. 7, 9 are nearly from the Moravian Hymn Book, 1801. The interjected lines are by Mercer, but bear very slight resemblance either to Nicolai's original text, or to any version of the German that we have seen. In his 1859 edition he further recast it, leaving only the first line unaltered from Jacobi; and this form is in his Oxford edition, 1864, No. 121, in the Irish Church Hymnal, 1869 and 1873, and in the Hymnal Companion 1870 and 1876. In Kennedy, 1863, the text of 1859 is given with alterations, and begins "How brightly dawns the Morning Star;" and this form is in the People's Hymnal, 1867; Dale's English Hymn Book 1874, &c. 2. How graciously doth shine afar. By A. T. Russell, as No. 8 in the Dalston Hospital Hymn Book, 1848, and repeated in the Cheltenham College Hymn Book, No. 37. It is a free translation of st. i., vi., v. 3. How lovely shines the Morning Star! A good and full translation by Dr. H. Harbaugh (from the text in Dr. Schaff’s Deutsches Gesang-Buch, 1860), in the German Reformed Guardian, May, 1860, p. 157. Repeated in full in Schaff's Christ in Song, 1869, and abridged in Adams's Church Pastorals, Boston, U.S.A., 1864. 4. 0 Morning Star! how fair and bright. A somewhat free translation of st. i., iii., iv., vii., by Miss Winkworth, as No.149 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Repeated in the Pennsylvania Lutheran Church Book, 1868; Ohio Lutheran Hymnal,1880, &c. 5. How brightly shines the Morning Star, In truth and mercy from afar. A translation of st. i., iii., iv., vii., by Miss Borthwick, as No. 239 in Dr. Pagenstecher's Collection, 1864. 6. How brightly glows the Morning Star. In full, from Knapp's German recast, by M. W. Stryker, in his Hymns & Verses, 1883, p. 52; repeated, omitting st. ii., iv., in his Christian Chorals, 1885, No. 145. Other translations are:— (1) "How fairly shines the Morning Star." In Lyra Davidica, 1708, p. 40. (2) "As bright the star of morning gleams" (st. i.) By W. Bartholomew, in his book of words to Mendelssohn's oratorio of Christus, 1852, p. 11. (3) "How lovely now the Morning Star." By Miss Cox, 1864, p. 229. (4) "How beauteous shines the Morning Star." By Miss Burlingham, in the British Herald, Oct. 1865, p. 152, and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. (5) "0 Morning Star, how fair and bright." By MissWinkworth, 1869, p. 160. (6) "How bright appears our Morning Star." By J. H. Hopkins, in his Carols, Hymns and Songs, 3rd ed., 1882, p. 168, and dated 1866. There are also three hymns in common use, which have generally been regarded as translations from Nicolai. They are noted as follows:—i. "Behold how glorious is yon sky" (see p. 127, ii.). ii. "How beautiful the Morning Star". iii. "How brightly shines the Morning Star! What eye descries it from afar". [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Conrad Kocher

1786 - 1872 Person Name: Konrad Kocher 1786-1872 Hymnal Number: 5 Composer of "[Treuer Heiland, wir sind hier]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Trained as a teacher, Conrad Kocher (b. Ditzingen, Wurttemberg, Germany, 1786; d. Stuttgart, Germany, 1872) moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a tutor at the age of seventeen. But his love for the music of Haydn and Mozart impelled him to a career in music. He moved back to Germany in 1811, settled in Stuttgart, and remained there for most of his life. The prestigious Cotta music firm published some of his early compositions and sent him to study music in Italy, where he came under the influence of Palestrina's music. In 1821 Kocher founded the School for Sacred Song in Stuttgart, which popularized four-part singing in the churches of that region. He was organist and choir director at the Stiftskirche in Stuttgart from 1827 to 1865. Kocher wrote a treatise on church music, Die Tonkunst in der Kirche (1823), collected a large number of chorales in Zions Harfe (1855), and composed an oratorio, two operas, and some sonatas. William H. Monk created the current form of DIX by revising and shortening Conrad Kocher's chorale melody for “Treuer Heiland, wir sind hier,” found in Kocher's Stimmen aus dem Reiche Gottes (1838). Bert Polman

William Croft

1678 - 1727 Hymnal Number: 156 Composer of "[Zieht fröhlich hinaus zum heiligen Krieg]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch William Croft, Mus. Doc. was born in the year 1677 and received his musical education in the Chapel Royal, under Dr. Blow. In 1700 he was admitted a Gentleman Extraordinary of the Chapel Boyd; and in 1707, upon the decease of Jeremiah Clarke, he was appointed joint organist with his mentor, Dr. Blow. In 1709 he was elected organist of Westminster Abbey. This amiable man and excellent musician died in 1727, in the fiftieth year of his age. A very large number of Dr. Croft's compositions remain still in manuscript. Cathedral chants of the XVI, XVII & XVIII centuries, ed. by Edward F. Rimbault, London: D. Almaine & Co., 1844

Lowell Mason

1792 - 1872 Person Name: L. Mason 1792-1872 Hymnal Number: 159 Composer of "[Näher, mein Gott, zu dir]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Dr. Lowell Mason (the degree was conferred by the University of New York) is justly called the father of American church music; and by his labors were founded the germinating principles of national musical intelligence and knowledge, which afforded a soil upon which all higher musical culture has been founded. To him we owe some of our best ideas in religious church music, elementary musical education, music in the schools, the popularization of classical chorus singing, and the art of teaching music upon the Inductive or Pestalozzian plan. More than that, we owe him no small share of the respect which the profession of music enjoys at the present time as contrasted with the contempt in which it was held a century or more ago. In fact, the entire art of music, as now understood and practiced in America, has derived advantage from the work of this great man. Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Mass., January 8, 1792. From childhood he had manifested an intense love for music, and had devoted all his spare time and effort to improving himself according to such opportunities as were available to him. At the age of twenty he found himself filling a clerkship in a banking house in Savannah, Ga. Here he lost no opportunity of gratifying his passion for musical advancement, and was fortunate to meet for the first time a thoroughly qualified instructor, in the person of F. L. Abel. Applying his spare hours assiduously to the cultivation of the pursuit to which his passion inclined him, he soon acquired a proficiency that enabled him to enter the field of original composition, and his first work of this kind was embodied in the compilation of a collection of church music, which contained many of his own compositions. The manuscript was offered unavailingly to publishers in Philadelphia and in Boston. Fortunately for our musical advancement it finally secured the attention of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, and by its committee was submitted to Dr. G. K. Jackson, the severest critic in Boston. Dr. Jackson approved most heartily of the work, and added a few of his own compositions to it. Thus enlarged, it was finally published in 1822 as The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason's name was omitted from the publication at his own request, which he thus explains, "I was then a bank officer in Savannah, and did not wish to be known as a musical man, as I had not the least thought of ever making music a profession." President Winchester, of the Handel and Haydn Society, sold the copyright for the young man. Mr. Mason went back to Savannah with probably $500 in his pocket as the preliminary result of his Boston visit. The book soon sprang into universal popularity, being at once adopted by the singing schools of New England, and through this means entering into the church choirs, to whom it opened up a higher field of harmonic beauty. Its career of success ran through some seventeen editions. On realizing this success, Mason determined to accept an invitation to come to Boston and enter upon a musical career. This was in 1826. He was made an honorary member of the Handel and Haydn Society, but declined to accept this, and entered the ranks as an active member. He had been invited to come to Boston by President Winchester and other musical friends and was guaranteed an income of $2,000 a year. He was also appointed, by the influence of these friends, director of music at the Hanover, Green, and Park Street churches, to alternate six months with each congregation. Finally he made a permanent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, and gave up the guarantee, but again friendly influence stepped in and procured for him the position of teller at the American Bank. In 1827 Lowell Mason became president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. It was the beginning of a career that was to win for him as has been already stated the title of "The Father of American Church Music." Although this may seem rather a bold claim it is not too much under the circumstances. Mr. Mason might have been in the average ranks of musicianship had he lived in Europe; in America he was well in advance of his surroundings. It was not too high praise (in spite of Mason's very simple style) when Dr. Jackson wrote of his song collection: "It is much the best book I have seen published in this country, and I do not hesitate to give it my most decided approbation," or that the great contrapuntist, Hauptmann, should say the harmonies of the tunes were dignified and churchlike and that the counterpoint was good, plain, singable and melodious. Charles C. Perkins gives a few of the reasons why Lowell Mason was the very man to lead American music as it then existed. He says, "First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their shortcomings. Second, he was a born teacher, who, by hard work, had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of themselves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them." The personality of Dr. Mason was of great use to the art and appreciation of music in this country. He was of strong mind, dignified manners, sensitive, yet sweet and engaging. Prof. Horace Mann, one of the great educators of that day, said he would walk fifty miles to see and hear Mr. Mason teach if he could not otherwise have that advantage. Dr. Mason visited a number of the music schools in Europe, studied their methods, and incorporated the best things in his own work. He founded the Boston Academy of Music. The aim of this institution was to reach the masses and introduce music into the public schools. Dr. Mason resided in Boston from 1826 to 1851, when he removed to New York. Not only Boston benefited directly by this enthusiastic teacher's instruction, but he was constantly traveling to other societies in distant cities and helping their work. He had a notable class at North Reading, Mass., and he went in his later years as far as Rochester, where he trained a chorus of five hundred voices, many of them teachers, and some of them coming long distances to study under him. Before 1810 he had developed his idea of "Teachers' Conventions," and, as in these he had representatives from different states, he made musical missionaries for almost the entire country. He left behind him no less than fifty volumes of musical collections, instruction books, and manuals. As a composer of solid, enduring church music. Dr. Mason was one of the most successful this country has introduced. He was a deeply pious man, and was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Mason in 1817 married Miss Abigail Gregory, of Leesborough, Mass. The family consisted of four sons, Daniel Gregory, Lowell, William and Henry. The two former founded the publishing house of Mason Bros., dissolved by the death of the former in 1869. Lowell and Henry were the founders of the great organ manufacturer of Mason & Hamlin. Dr. William Mason was one of the most eminent musicians that America has yet produced. Dr. Lowell Mason died at "Silverspring," a beautiful residence on the side of Orange Mountain, New Jersey, August 11, 1872, bequeathing his great musical library, much of which had been collected abroad, to Yale College. --Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.

Melchior Vulpius

1570 - 1615 Hymnal Number: 126 Composer of "[Christus, der ist mein leben]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Born into a poor family named Fuchs, Melchior Vulpius (b. Wasungen, Henneberg, Germany, c. 1570; d. Weimar, Germany, 1615) had only limited educational opportunities and did not attend the university. He taught Latin in the school in Schleusingen, where he Latinized his surname, and from 1596 until his death served as a Lutheran cantor and teacher in Weimar. A distinguished composer, Vulpius wrote a St. Matthew Passion (1613), nearly two hundred motets in German and Latin, and over four hundred hymn tunes, many of which became popular in Lutheran churches, and some of which introduced the lively Italian balletto rhythms into the German hymn tunes. His music was published in Cantiones Sacrae (1602, 1604), Kirchengesangund Geistliche Lieder (1604, enlarged as Ein schon geistlich Gesanglmch, 1609), and posthumously in Cantionale Sacrum (1646). Bert Polman

Dmitri Stepanovich Bortnianski

1751 - 1825 Person Name: Demetrius Bortniansky Hymnal Number: 69 Composer of "[Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe]" in Vierstimmige Melodien für das Gesangbuch Dimitri Stepanovitch Bortniansky (1751-1825) Ukraine 1751-1825 Born in Glukhov, Ukraine, he joined the imperial choir at age 8 and studied with Galuppi, who later took the lad with him to Italy, where he studied for 10 years, becoming a composer, harpsichordist, and conductor. While in Italy he composed several operas and other instrumental music, composing more operas and music later in Russia. In 1779 he returned to Russia, where he was appointed Director to the Imperial Chapel Choir, the first as a native citizen. In 1796 he was appointed music director. With such a great instrument at his disposal, he produced many compositions, 100+ religious works, sacred concertos, cantatas, and hymns. He influenced Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovshy, the latter editing Bortniansky's sacred work, amassing 10 volumnes. He died in St. Petersburg. He was so popular in Russia that a bronze statue was erected in his honor in the Novgorod Kremlin. He composed in different musical styles, including choral works in French, Italian, Latin, German, and Church Slavonic. John Perry