"Danke" is a German Christian hymn written by

Martin Gotthard Schneider Martin Gotthard Schneider (26 April 1930 – 3 February 2017) was a German theologian, church musician, ''Landeskantor'' (state cantor), songwriter, and academic teacher. He is known for prize-winning songs of the genre '' Neues Geistliches Li ...

in 1961. It was one of the first songs in the genre later called

Neues Geistliches Lied ''Neues Geistliches Lied'' (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers. History The idea to reach youn ...

(new spiritual song). The song title was disambiguated to its first line, "Danke für diesen guten Morgen" (Thanks for this good morning). The song has been included in the hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch''. It has been called the best-known German sacred song.

History

Lyrics and music of the song were written by Martin Gotthard Schneider for a competition of the

Evangelische Akademie Tutzing The ' (Protestant Academy of Tutzing) is an education and conference center in Tutzing, Bavaria, run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. It was founded in 1947. The main building is Schloss Tutzing on Lake Starnberg. The academy awards ...

for new sacred songs, requesting melodies in the style of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

or pop. The song won the first prize. It was first produced in an arrangement by Werner Last with a single female singer of the

Botho-Lucas-Chor The Botho-Lucas-Chor was one of the most famous German vocal ensembles of the 1960s and 1970s. The choir In 1958, (1923–2012) founded the Lucas Quartet (Botho Lucas, Bernd Golonsky, , ), from which the Botho-Lucas-Chor emerged in 1961 with cha ...

in playback, but labelled the choir on the cover.

Ralf Bendix Karl Heinz Schwab (16 August 1924 – 1 September 2014), known professionally as Ralf Bendix, was a German Schlager singer, music producer, composer and songwriter. Biography Early on, Ralf Bendix played the modern music of his time in bands ...

performed the song in 1963 on the

Kirchentag The German Evangelical Church Assembly (German ''Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag'', DEKT) is an assembly of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany, that organises biennial events of faith, culture and political discussion. History ...

in Dortmund for an audience of 16,000. The song then made it to the charts and stayed for six weeks. ''Danke'' was published by the in 1962 who reprinted it along with nine other chorale works as ''Bosses Beste'' (''Bosse's Best'') to celebrate its centenary in 2012.

Theme

Danke is in six stanzas of four lines each, three of them beginning with "Danke", continued by specific things for which to be grateful. Towards the end is the addressee of the thanks named as "mein Herr" ("my Lord"), thanked then for the ability to say thanks. The listing of the varied items for which to be grateful is rhetorically an "“, showing at the same time a catalogue of things, and the virtuosity of the author to assemble the catalogue.

Reception

When first released, the song was met with protest, with some protesters calling it "Negermusik" (negro music) and "Gotteslästerung" (blasphemy); a critic in the weekly '' Die Zeit'' wrote of two sins, "eine gegen die Musik und eine gegen die Religion!" (one against music and one against religion). Sales for the single rose to 700,000 by the late 1960s. The song has been translated into more than 25 languages. It has even been performed by groups and singers who are not affiliated with churches, such as

Die Ärzte Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. The band has released 14 studio albums. The group consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. History Ea ...

, Normahl and Mickie Krause. "Danke für diesen guten Morgen" has been included in the hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' as EG 334. "Danke" has been called the best-known German sacred song, according to who analyzed its rhetoric.

References

Literature

* : ''"Danke für diesen guten Morgen" Zur Rhetorik von Katalog und " enumeratio" im neuen geistlichen Lied.'' In: Natalie Binczek, , Till Dembeck, Alexander Zons (ed.): ''Dank sagen. Politik, Semantik und Poetik der Verbindlichkeit.'' Fink, Munich 2013, , pp 141–155.

External links