"Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand" ( en, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who conquered death) 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 ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

. The text originated in 1524.

Johannes Zahn Johannes Christoph Andreas Zahn (1 August 1817 in Eschenbach/ Pegnitz – 17 February 1895 in Neuendettelsau) was a German theologian and musicologist best known for his opus ''Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder'', a critical ...

listed three

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

s for it. Two of these, Zahn Nos. 1976 and 1977, were published in 1724. A third, Zahn No. 1978, is attributed to Luther and was first published in 1529. Variants of this melody originated up to the early 17th century.

Text

Below is the original German version of the text :Jesus Christus unser Heiland, :der den Tod überwand, :ist auferstanden, :die Sünd hat er gefangen. ::Kyrie eleison. :Der ohn Sünden war geboren, :trug für uns Gottes Zorn, :hat uns versöhnet, :dass Gott uns sein Huld gönnet. ::Kyrie eleison. :Tod, Sünd, Leben und auch Gnad, :alls in Händen er hat; :er kann erretten :alle, die zu ihm treten. ::Kyrie eleison. An English translation of the first stanza by

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. I ...

: :Jesus Christ, our Saviour true, :He who Death overthrew, :Is up arisen, :And sin hath put in prison. ::Kyrieleison.

Settings

One of the early melodies for "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand" appeared in the ''

Erfurt Enchiridion The ''Erfurt Enchiridion'' (enchiridion, from grc, ἐγχειρίδιον, hand book) is the second Lutheran hymnal. It appeared in 1524 in Erfurt in two competing editions. One of them contains 26 songs, the other 25, 18 of them by Martin Lut ...

''. The later hymn tune, Zahn No. 1978, was adopted, for instance, in compositions by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. BWV^2a (1998), p. 476

''Erfurt Enchiridion'' (1524)

The 1524 ''Erfurt Enchiridion'' contained the hymn with the Zahn No. 1977 melody: Enchiridion geistlicher Gesänge 34

Zahn No. 1978

Two four-part settings of the 1529 melody of the hymn were included in

Samuel Scheidt Samuel Scheidt (baptised 3 November 1587 – 24 March 1654) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Life and career Scheidt was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with ...

's 1650 ''Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch'' (SSWV 441-540). Further

chorale prelude In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 ...

s for organ were composed by

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow or Zachau (14 November 1663, Leipzig – 7 August 1712, Halle) was a German musician and composer of vocal and keyboard music. Life Zachow probably received his training from his father, the piper Heinrich Zachow, o ...

( LV 36), by

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (baptised – buried 9 March 1706; also Bachelbel) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and h ...

( PC 60) and by

(

BWV 626 The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

in the ''

Orgelbüchlein The ''Orgelbüchlein'' (''Little Organ Book'') BWV 599−644 is a set of 46 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as org ...

''). Johann Sebastian Bach also wrote a

chorale harmonization A Lutheran chorale is a musical setting of a Lutheran hymn, intended to be sung by a Church (congregation), congregation in a German Protestant Church service. The typical four-part harmony, four-part setting of a chorale, in which the sopranos ...

(

BWV 364 Johann Sebastian Bach's chorale harmonisations, alternatively named four-part chorales, are Lutheran hymn settings that characteristically conform to the following: * four-part harmony * SATB vocal forces * pre-existing hymn tune allotted to the ...

):BWV 364
at Luke Dahn's bach–chorales.com (2018)

References

Sources

"Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand," pp. 160–161
in ''D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe Volume 35'' by Wilhelm Lucke (ed.) Weimar 1923.
"102 – Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand," pp. 56–60
in ''Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch Nr. 3'' by Gerhard Hahn and

Jürgen Henkys Jürgen Henkys (6 November 1929 – 22 October 2015) was a German Protestant minister and theologian. Henkys was born in , Ostpreußen, Germany. He became a lecturer at the Sprachenkonvikt in East Berlin and the Professor for Practical Theology at ...

(eds.) Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2001. *

External links

"Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand"
at * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod uberwand Lutheran hymns 16th-century hymns in German Hymns by Martin Luther Easter hymns Songs about Jesus