"" (literally: Praised be God on highest throne) is a

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'' ...

for

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

in 20 stanzas in German by

Michael Weiße Michael Weiße or Weisse ( – 19 March 1534) was a German theologian, Protestant reformer and hymn writer. First a Franciscan, he joined the Bohemian Brethren. He published the most extensive early Protestant hymnal in 1531, supplying most hymn ...

, widely known with a later melody by

Melchior Vulpius Melchior Vulpius (c. 1570 in Wasungen – 7 August 1615 in Weimar) was a German singer and composer of church music. Vulpius came from a poor craftsman's family. He studied at the local school in Wasungen (in Thuringia) with Johannes Steuerl ...

. Shortened, it is part of current

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

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 ...

German hymnals.

History

Weiße published his text in 1531 in his hymnal for the

Bohemian Brethren , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Prot ...

, with a melody known from the beginning of the 15th century and used in Czech congregations in Bohemian

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

hymnals. Weiße structured the text in three parts, two stanzas of praise, fifteen stanzas of narration, and three stanzas of prayer to Jesus. Each stanza consists of three rhyming lines in similar meter, and a "Halleluja" refrain. In 1609, the hymn appeared in the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

hymnal by

from

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, who composed a different tune and two harmonisations, one for four parts, one for five parts. With this melody, the hymn became widely known in the 19th century by publication in the hymnals of Johann Gottlieb Tucher and

Philipp Wackernagel Carl Eduard Philipp Wackernagel (28 June 1800, in Berlin – 20 June 1877, in Dresden) was a German schoolteacher and hymnologist. He was an older brother of philologist Wilhelm Wackernagel. He was educated in mineralogy and crystallography at Br ...

. The number of stanzas was reduced considerably, because of less interest in a long narration and a focus on the Passion. The hymn was translated to English in several versions, for example "Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing" by Cyril A. Alington in 1931. Other hymns sung to the tune "Gelobt sei Gott" include "O Lord of Life, Where'er They Be". In the current German Protestant hymnal (EG), the hymn is number 103. It has one stanza of praise, three stanzas of narration and two of prayer. Praise and narration correspond to stanzas 1, 4, 9 and 10 of the first version, the two stanzas of praise are derived from the three stanzas in the long version. The first melody still appears in the EG, as number 105, with the text "" (Risen is the holy Christ), based on the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. "", the same six stanzas as in the EG, is part of the 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 ...

(GL), number 218 in the old version, number 328 in the current version.

Music

The first melody is in

triple meter Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

. A version by Valentin Triller (1555) adds syncopes to accent the ends of the first and third line, as elements of folk music. The tune was well known, probably also by Vulpius (whose setting is transcribed below) who used the same features. The strongest influence on his composition are Italian , such as by

Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (c. 1554 – 4 January 1609) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He is known for his 1591 publication of ''balletti'' for five voices. Career Gastoldi was born at Caravaggio, Lo ...

and

Hans Leo Hassler Hans Leo Hassler (in German, Hans Leo Haßler) (baptized 26 October 1564 – 8 June 1612) was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of less known composer Jakob Hassler. He was born in Nü ...

. The repeated "Halleluja" is similar to the "fa-la-la" refrain of some , adding a dancing swing. << << \new Staff \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Staff >> >> \layout \midi Several composers have used Vulpius's melody, some also the text of "Gelobt sei Gott". In 1925, an arrangement of the tune by the English composer

Henry George Ley Henry George Ley (30 December 188724 August 1962) was an English organist, composer and music teacher.Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

'' as a setting for the hymn "

The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done "The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done" is a Christian hymn that is traditionally sung at Easter to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. It was originally a 17th-century Latin hymn, ''"Finita iam sunt proelia"''; the popular English-language vers ...

" by Francis Pott. The melody is also part of

Ernst Pepping Ernst Pepping (12 September 1901 – 1 February 1981) was a German composer of classical music and academic teacher. He is regarded as an important composer of Protestant sacred music in the 20th century. Pepping taught at the and the . His musi ...

's (Great Organ Book), which contains preludes and chorale fantasias, in volume 3 for Easter, Ascension and Pentecost.

Karl Ludwig Gerok Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Gerok (27 January 1906 – 28 June 1975) was a German organist, composer and organ teacher. Career Karl Ludwig Gerok was born in Obersontheim, Oberfischach, the grandson of , a Stuttgart prelate and preacher (''Oberhofpre ...

wrote a chorale prelude, which was included in the collection , together with 14 other preludes.

Petr Eben Petr Eben (22 January 1929 – 24 October 2007) was a Czech composer of modern and contemporary classical music, and an organist and choirmaster. His life Born in Žamberk in northeastern Bohemia, Eben spent most of his childhood and early ad ...

's (''Ten Preludes on Chorales of the Bohemian Brethren''), composed between 1971 and 1973 and published in 2002 by

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...

, contain Vulpius's original melody. In 1975,

Egil Hovland Egil Hovland (October 18, 1924 – February 5, 2013) was a Norwegian composer. Hovland was born in Råde. He studied at the Oslo conservatory with Arild Sandvold and Bjarne Brustad, in Copenhagen with Vagn Holmboe, at Tanglewood with Aaron ...

also composed a ''Chorale Partita No. 6 – ""'', Op. 90.

References

External links

*
Gelobt sei Gott im höchsten Thron
Information, text and audio ( Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelobt Sei Gott Im Hochsten Thron 16th-century hymns in German Catholic hymns in German Easter hymns Hymn tunes