"" (Jesus Christ, our Savior, who turned God's wrath away from us) is a

Lutheran hymn Martin Luther was a great enthusiast for music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away from the '' ...

in ten stanzas by

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 ...

for communion, first published in 1524 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 ...

''. It is one of Luther's hymns which he wrote to strengthen his concepts of

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 ...

. The models for the text and the melody of Luther's hymn existed in early 15th-century Bohemia. The text of the earlier hymn, " Jesus Christus nostra salus", goes back to the late 14th century. That hymn was embedded in a

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 ...

tradition.

History

The model for "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns den Gotteszorn wandt" is a late 14th-century hymn relating to the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

Jan of Jenštejn Jan z Jenštejna, german: Johann II. von Jenstein, Johannes VI. von Jenstein. Johann von Jenzenstein, Johann von Genzenstein (1348 in Prague, Bohemia, Crown of Bohemia – 17 June 1400 in Rome) was the Archbishop of Prague from 1379 to 1396. He st ...

, archbishop of Prague. The 14th-century hymn, in content comparable to the 13th century ''

Lauda Sion Salvatorem "Lauda Sion" is a sequence prescribed for the Roman Catholic Mass for the feast of Corpus Christi. It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas around 1264, at the request of Pope Urban IV for the new Mass of this feast, along with Pange lingua, Sacris ...

'', exists in two versions with ten stanzas: the first eight verses of the Latin version (" Jesus Christus, nostra salus", Jesus Christ, our salvation) form an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

on JOHANNES, while another version, in Czech, was also spread by the

Unity of the Brethren Unity of the Brethren (Latin ''Unitas Fratrum'') may refer to: *Unity of the Brethren (Czech Republic), the province of the Moravian Church in the Czech Republic *Unity of the Brethren (Texas), a Protestant church formed in the 1800s by Czech immig ...

Luther wrote hymns to have the congregation actively participate in church services and to strengthen his theological concepts. In

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

of 1524 Luther was explaining his views on Eucharist in a series of sermons. "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns den Gotteszorn wandt", probably written around the same time, contained many ideas he had been developing in these sermons, taking the older Eucharistic hymn as a model: he kept the meter, the number of stanzas and the first line of "Jesus Christus nostra salus", but shaped the content to reflect his own theology. In Luther's time "Jesus Christus nostra salus" was attributed to the church reformer

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspir ...

(a "Johannes" like Jenštejn). Luther saw Hus as a precursor and martyr. Early prints of "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns den Gotteszorn wandt" came under the header "Das Lied S. Johannes Hus gebessert" (The song of St. Johannes Hus improved). Luther presented the hymn with several variants of the melody that had been associated with "Jesus Christus nostra salus" for over a century. The earliest extant copy of "Jesus Christus nostra salus" (text and melody) is found in southern Bohemia, 1410. The earliest extant prints of Luther's hymn (both editions of the ''

'' and

Johann Walter Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period. Life Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...

's choral hymnal ''

Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn ' ("A spiritual song booklet"), sometimes called First Wittenberg Hymnal and ' (Choir hymnal), was the first German hymnal for choir, published in Wittenberg in 1524 by Johann Walter who collaborated with Martin Luther. It contains 32 sacred songs ...

'') originated in 1524. Later versions approved by Luther (since he wrote the foreword to these editions) are contained in the ''Klug'sche Gesangbuch'' (1529/1533) and the ''Babstsches Gesangbuch'' (1545).

Text

While "Jesus Christus nostra salus" is focused on the presence of Christ in both bread and wine, Luther added that the Eucharist means the "surety of God's grace in forgiveness". He deals with the Passion (in stanzas 1–2, 4,6), with the faith necessary to properly receive (3, 5), the invitation, based on scripture (7, 8), and the love of Christ (9, 10) as the "fruit of faith, to be extended to others". The 1524

presented the melody and the ten stanzas of Luther's hymn on two pages: Below is the full text of Luther's hymn with the English translation by

Charles Sanford Terry Charles Sanford Terry may refer to: * Charles Sanford Terry (historian) (1864-1936), English historian and authority on Johann Sebastian Bach * Charles Sanford Terry (translator) (1926–1982), American translator of Japanese literature

Melody

Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns - 2nd quarter 16th century

For their hymns, Luther and the circle around him chose either to compose a new melody, or to borrow an older melody from Latin religious chant, or to adopt a melody from folk-song tradition. "Jesus Christus unser Heiland, der von uns," Zahn No. 1576, falls in the second of these categories. Characteristically for such melodies it did not fit easily in the then prevailing

mensural notation Mensural notation is the musical notation system used for European vocal polyphonic music from the later part of the 13th century until about 1600. The term "mensural" refers to the ability of this system to describe precisely measured rhythm ...

system, leading to several rhythmic variants in the successive publications of the melody. Also for the pitch of the notes there are some variants. What all publications share is two opening notes with the same duration, the second a fifth higher than the first. Fifth and sixth note usually have half the time value of the opening notes (except when using no long non-melismatic notes like in Scheidt's 1650 versions). In Luther's time the earliest variants would have been sung at a quicker pace than the later variants: in Walter's 1524 publication ( tempo in mensural notation) the seventh and eighth note have the same duration as the first two notes, with the seventh note a

major second In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more deta ...

above the first, while in the later ''Klug'sche'' and the ''Babstsches'' hymnals the tempo has slowed to 2, with the seventh and eighth note, both a minor third above the opening note, having half the time value of the opening notes. In modern notatio
''Die Lieder Martin Luthers'' (kirche-bremen.de) p. 25
follows the first editions, whil
Wackernagel 1848 p. 12
follows the later variant. Some modern presentations of the melody go further back to the 1410 nostra salus version, e.g
the version of the Luther Gesellschaft
or wander from the original melodic line of the tenor, e.g
the 1993 version of ''Christian Worship: a Lutheran hymnal''
Fitting the hymn's melody in a

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

according to modern music notation with

bar line In musical notation, a bar (or measure) is a segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beat (music), beats in which each beat is represented by a particular note value and the boundaries of the bar are indicated by vertical bar lines ...

s leads to additional variants. To name only a few: Scheidt 1650 has eleven measures , with a whole measure for the first two notes; has twelve measures , with the first two notes taking half a measure; Bacon 1883 (p. 30) has fifteen measures , with in the third and fourth measure; Distler 1938 (p. 17) has the same number of measures, , with in the third and fourth measure.

Musical settings

In 1524

's choral setting of the hymn appeared in ''

''. Around a decade later Luther's hymn was included in the ''Klug'sche Gesangbuch''.

Michael Vehe Michael Vehe (c. 1480–1539) was a German monk and theologian. Life Vehe was born in Biberach (now part of Heilbronn, near Bad Wimpfen). He joined the Dominicans in Wimpfen and was sent to Heidelberg in 1506, where he taught in 1512 and recei ...

, publisher of an early

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 ...

hymnal, ''Ein new Gesangbüchlin geystlicher Lieder'' (Leipzig 1537), provided a version in 22 stanzas intended for the

feast of Corpus Christi The Feast of Corpus Christi (), also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is a Christian liturgical solemnity celebrating the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of ...

. That version has strong

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

overtones.

Georg Rhau Georg Rhau (Rhaw) (1488 – 6 August 1548) was a German publisher and composer. He was one of the most significant music printers in Germany in the first half of the 16th century, during the early period of the Protestant Reformation. He was prin ...

published Balthasar Resinarius' four-part setting of Luther's hymn in ''Newe deudsche geistliche Gesenge für die gemeinen Schulen'' (1544). Also the ''Babstsches Gesangbuch'' (1545) contained Luther's version. included a version in eight stanzas (derived from Vehe's version but less militant) as a communion hymn in ''Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen'' (1567). In the 1568 edition of the '' Gude and Godlie Ballates'' the hymn was translated as "Our Saviour Christ, King of grace". Choral settings of the German original came from Joachim Decker (choral setting in ''Melodeyen Gesangbuch'', 1604),

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

(

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

-SATB setting in ''Musae Sioniae'', Part III, 1607),

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 ...

(ATBB setting in ''Psalmen und Christliche Gesäng'', 1607),

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 ...

(four-part setting, 1609) and

Johannes Eccard Johannes Eccard (1553–1611) was a German composer and kapellmeister. He was an early principal conductor at the Berlin court chapel. Biography Eccard was born at Mühlhausen, in present-day Thuringia, Germany. At the age of eighteen he went to ...

(SATTB setting). For organ, there are two four-part settings 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), and

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 by

Franz Tunder Franz Tunder (1614 – November 5, 1667) was a German composer and organist of the early to middle Baroque era. He was an important link between the early German Baroque style which was based on Venetian models, and the later Baroque style ...

('' Jesus Christus under Heiland, der von uns den Gotteszorn wand''),

Johann Christoph Bach Johann Christoph Bach (baptised – 31 March 1703) was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period. He was born at Arnstadt, the son of Heinrich Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's first cousin once removed and the first cousin of J.S. ...

(No. 38 in '' 44 Choräle zum Präambulieren''),

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 ...

( No. 7 in ''Erster Theil etlicher Choräle'', 1693) and

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 7, LV 19).

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 ...

composed a four-part setting ( BWV 363) and four chorale preludes, two as part of his

Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes The Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668, are a set of chorale preludes for organ prepared by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig in his final decade (1740–1750), from earlier works composed in Weimar, where he was court organist. The wo ...

, BWV 665 and 666, and two more as part of his ''

Clavier-Übung III The ''Clavier-Übung III'', sometimes referred to as the ''German Organ Mass'', is a collection of compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36 and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most significant and extensiv ...

'', BWV 688 and 689. The ''Moravian Hymn Book'' includes translations under "Our Saviour Christ by His own death" (1754) and "To avert from men God's wrath" (translation by

Christian Ignatius Latrobe Christian Ignatius Latrobe (12 February 1758 – 6 May 1836) was an English clergyman of the Moravian Church, as well as an artist, musician and composer. He created a large number of works for, and most famously edited, a ''Selection of Sacred ...

first published in 1789 – a century and several editions later the first stanza of this translation was omitted from this publication). The German original is included in 19th-century publications such as

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 ...

's ''Martin Luthers geistliche Lieder'' (1848) and Wilhelm Schircks' edition of Luther's ''Geistliche Lieder'' (1854), although adoption in hymnals was declining. New English translations were published in the 19th century: "Jesus Christ, our Saviour" (1846), "Christ our Lord and Saviour" (1847), "Lord Jesus Christ! to Thee we pray, From us" (1849, 1880), "Jesus the Christ—the Lamb of God" (1853), "Christ who freed our souls from danger" (1854, 1884), and "Christ Jesus, our Redeemer born" (1867, 1876). In the 20th century

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 SAB setting. He also published a Partita (organ) and setting (voice and organ), Op. 8/3 No. 3 in 1938. In 1964, Kurt Fiebig produced a setting for three parts: soprano, alto and men. No. 313 of ''Christian Worship: a Lutheran hymnal'' (1993) is a four-part setting derived from the ''Klug'sche Gesangbuch'', with a translation of eight stanzas of the hymn as "Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior". The Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' includes the hymn as No. 215, omitting verses three and six of the original. A 2012 performance of the hymn in Bremen reverted to the melody version of the very first publication of 1524. A new harmonization for four-part chorus and organ by Yves Kéler and Danielle Guerrier Koegler was published in 2013, on a French translation of the hymn.Yves Kéler
''Les 43 chants de Martin Luther: Textes originaux et Paraphrases françaises strophiques rimées et chantables; Sources et commentaires suivis de Chants harmonisés à quatre voix pour orgue et choeur par Yves Kéler et Danielle Guerrier Koegler''.
Guides musicologiques, No. 7 (Édith Weber, editor). Beauchesne, 2013.

References

Literature

* Wilhelm Lucke
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns den Gotteszorn wandt
in: ''D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe'', vol 35, Weimar 1923, pp 142–146

External links

"Jesus Christus, unser Heiland"
at
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, Der von uns
at *

at
Jesus Christus unser Heiland / Choralbearbeitungen / BWV 665 und 666

St. Lamberti, Hildesheim St. Lamberti is a parish and church in Hildesheim, Germany, the parish of the town's (new town). It is named after Lambert of Maastricht, the patron saint of Hildesheim. The church is a late Gothic architecture, Gothic building, the only hall chu ...

{{German Lutheran hymns 16th-century hymns in German Hymn tunes Hymns by Martin Luther Songs about Jesus