"Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" (originally: "Es ist das heyl vns kommen her", English: "Salvation now has come for all" or more literally: It is our salvation come here to us) is a Lutheran hymn in 14 stanzas by Paul Speratus. It was first published as one of eight songs in 1524 in the first Lutheran hymnal, the Achtliederbuch, which contained four songs by Luther, three by Speratus, and one by Justus Jonas. The same year it appeared in Erfurt in '' Eyn Enchiridion''. Its hymn tune, Zahn No. 4430, was already known in the 15th century.

History

According to tradition, Speratus wrote this hymn while he was in prison in Olomouc, condemned for his evangelical beliefs to death by fire. Only by the intercession of friends was he released, on condition that he leave Moravia.nur durch die Fürbitte angesehener Magnaten vor dem Feuertode, zu dem er verurtheilt war, gerettet...er in dieser Haft das evangelische Glaubenslied "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her“ gedichtet hat The text by Speratus is based on Paul's

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of J ...

, . and expresses Luther's teaching about salvation. According to Scott Hendrix, "It not only emphasizes justification by faith alone but it also underlines the vitality of that faith manifested in service to others. A modern English version of the hymn's first stanza, which appears on the back cover of Hendrix's book ''Early Protestant Spirituality'', is as follows: ::Salvation unto us has come :::by God's free grace and favor; ::Good works cannot avert our doom, :::they help and save us never. ::Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, ::who did for all the world atone, :::He is our mediator. Speratus set his words to the tune of an Easter chorale from the 15th century, " Freu dich, du werte Christenheit".

Influence

The story of Luther's being moved to tears when he first heard this hymn, from a beggar outside his window in Wittenberg, has been retold by many authors. The

11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

, lists "Salvation now has come for all" as one of the Lutheran hymns "which at the time produced the greatest effect, and are still best remembered." It has been translated into English by many authors, including Miles Coverdale ("Now is our health come from above," 1539), Henry Mills ("Our whole salvation doth depend On God's free grace and Spirit," 1845), and Catherine Winkworth ("Salvation hath come down to us," 1869).

Musical settings

The hymn, focused on essential Lutheran teaching, was frequently set for organ and for voices.

Organ settings

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck composed ''Prelude and Chorale Variations'' (two variations). Samuel Scheidt composed four parts as No. 46 of ''Das Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch'' (1650). Matthias Weckmann wrote ''Chorale Variations''. Dieterich Buxtehude composed a chorale prelude, BuxWV 186, in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

. Chorale Preludes were further composed by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow and Johann Gottfried Walther (LV 84). Between 1708 and 1714, while Johann Sebastian Bach was court organist at the ducal court in Weimar, he compiled chorale preludes for the liturgical year in his Orgelbüchlein and included it as a

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

hymn, BWV 638. Georg Friedrich Kauffmann published a Chorale Prelude in Leipzig in 1733. Johann Ludwig Krebs also wrote a Chorale Prelude.

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

composed a chorale prelude as No. 10 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902, another in 1914 in his Op. 135a.

Choral settings

Arnold von Bruck composed a setting for four voices, published in 1544. Hans Leo Hassler wrote a four-part setting, Johann Hermann Schein set it twice with basso continuo, once for two sopranos (1618), once for four parts (1627). Georg Philipp Telemann composed in 1719 a sacred

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

on a text by Erdmann Neumeister ''Es ist das Heil uns kommen her''. Bach used the stanzas 11 and 12 in several of his

s in 1716, 1723 and 1724. Between 1732 and 1735, he used twelve stanzas as the base for his chorale cantata of the same name, BWV 9.

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

composed it in 1860 as one of two

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s for a five-part mixed chorus

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

, Op. 29, a four-part chorale followed by an "elaborate fugal variation on the chorale melody".

References

External links

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her / Text and Translation of Chorale
bach-cantatas.com 2005 {{authority control 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns Hymn tunes