"" (Christ rose to Heaven) is a German Ascension

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

. The church song is based the medieval melody of the Easter hymn "". It was an ecumenical song from the beginning, with the first stanza published in 1480, then included in a Lutheran hymnal in 1545, and expanded by the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Johannes Leisentritt Johannes Leisentritt, also Johann Leisentrit (May 1527 – 24 November 1586) was a Catholic priest, dean of St. Peter in Bautzen and administrator of the Diocese of Meißen, responsible for Lusatia. He is known for publishing a 1567 hymnal. Care ...

in 1567. It appears in modern German Catholic and Protestant hymnals, and has inspired musical settings by composers from the 16th to the 21st century.

History

Most 15th century church

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

were sung in Latin. A few chants on high holidays sung in German became the first to introduce vernacular language into the liturgy. They began as inserts into

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

s in Latin

sequences In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called t ...

. "" is a

Leise __NOTOC__ The Leise or Leis (plural ''Leisen''; from the Greek ''kyrie eleison'') is a genre of vernacular medieval church song. They appear to have originated in the German-speaking regions, but are also found in Scandinavia, and are a precursor ...

, an early church song in German, each verse ending with the word "Kyrieleis" (from the Greek "

kyrie eleison Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives fro ...

", for "Lord have mercy". It is modeled after the Easter Leise "". The hymn, one stanza and

Alleluia Alleluia (derived from the Hebrew ''Hallelujah'', meaning "Praise Yahweh") is a Latin phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of ...

, appeared first in

Crailsheim Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, a ...

in 1480, in a ''Schulordnung'', where it was inserted in the Latin "Summi triumphum Regis". The 1545 hymnal ''Babstsches Gesangbuch'' had the same text, but with a slightly different melody. The second stanza appeared first in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

in 1567, in

's collection ''Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen ..' (Spiritual songs and psalms). The hymn was part of the 1938 hymnal '' Kirchenlied'', a Catholic hymnal published by

Georg Thurmair Georg Thurmair (7 February 1909 – 20 January 1984) was a German poet who wrote around 300 hymns, a writer, journalist and author of documentary films. Career Born in Munich, he took commercial training and worked from 1926 as a secretary at the ...

containing also Protestant songs. It has been printed in German Protestant hymnals up to '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (EG 120). It is also part of the German Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

'', as GL 319, written below the music for "" as GL 318). The contemporary theologian wrote a paraphrase titled "Der ersetzte Himmel" ("The replaced Heaven"), beginning each of five stanzas with the first line of the traditional hymn, then reflecting aspects of its meaning.

Text

The text (with additional line-break after each comma) is: The text is in modern German:

Musical settings

Johannes Werlin composed a setting for three voices in 1648.

Hugo Distler August Hugo Distler (24 June 1908 – 1 November 1942)Slonimsky & Kuhn, ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', v. 2, p. 889 was a German organist, choral conductor, teacher and composer. Life and career Born in Nuremberg, Distler at ...

wrote a setting as part of his cycle ''Der Jahrkreis'', Op. 5, for three high voices a cappella, replacing Kyrieleis by Halleluja. wrote a three-part setting in 1962. Dominik Gerhard composed an organ improvisation on the song in 2009. Christopher Tambling wrote a setting for three or four voices and brass on his own melody, published in 2015. Hermann Pallhuber composed an orchestral piece "Momentum Profectionis" which is based on the hymn and was premiered in Crailsheim in 2016, for the 500th anniversary of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

References

External links

Christ fuhr gen Himmel (Hugo Distler)
ChoralWiki *
Auflistung von Reformationsliedern im EG / als Vorschlag einer sonntäglichen Predigtreihe 201
kk-rm.de * Johann Paul Zehetbauer
Christ fuhr gen Himmel
* Ekaterina Porizko
Andacht zum Monatslied Mai 2017 / Christ fuhr gen Himmel (EG 120)
Protestant Church Stuttgart 2017 {{authority control 1480 works German Christian hymns 15th-century hymns Easter hymns Ascension of Jesus