"" (Now praise, my soul, the Lord) 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 '' ...

written in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

by the theologian and reformer

Johann Gramann Johann Gramann or Graumann (5 July 1487 – 29 April 1541), also known by his pen name Johannes Poliander, was a German pastor, theologian, teacher, humanist, reformer, and Lutheran leader. Life Gramann was born in Neustadt an der Aisch, M ...

in 1525. It was published in 1540 and appears in 47 hymnals. A translation by

Catherine Winkworth Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Lut ...

, "My Soul, now Praise thy Maker!", was published in 1863.

History and text

The hymn is a general song of praise, paraphrasing

Psalm 103 Psalm 103 is the 103rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Bless the , O my soul". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In La ...

in four stanzas of 12 lines each. It is supposed to have been written in 1525 "at the request of the Margrave Albrecht, as a version of his favourite Psalm". The hymn was published in Nürnberg as a

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

around 1540, and in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

in the

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

''Concentus novi'' by in 1540, with a

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 ...

, Zahn No. 8244, derived from the secular song "Weiß mir ein Blümlein blaue". A fifth stanza was added in a reprint in Nürnberg in 1555, "Sey Lob und Preis mit Ehren". The hymn appears in 47 hymnals.

Music

The text has been set by composers.

Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...

wrote a

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 ...

Johann Hermann Schein Johann Hermann Schein (20 January 1586 – 19 November 1630) was a German composer of the early Baroque era. He was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1615 to 1630. He was one of the first to import the early Italian stylistic innovations into Germa ...

composed a

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 ...

, Michael Praetorius a motet for eight voices.

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

set the hymn as part of Book I of his ''

Psalmen Davids Psalmen Davids (Psalms of David) is a collection of sacred choral music, settings mostly of psalms in German by Heinrich Schütz, who had studied the Venetian polychoral style with Giovanni Gabrieli. Book 1 was printed in Dresden in 1619 as his O ...

'' in 1619 (SWV 41). and Johann Pachelbel used the melody in a chorale prelude in about 1693.

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 ...

used the hymn in several

cantatas 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 t ...

. He composed four-part settings to close cantatas ''Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe'', BWV 167 (1723), ''Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich'', BWV 17 (1726), ''Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen'', BWV 51 (1730) and ''Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir'', BWV 29 (1731). He set the hymn as a complex motet as movement 2 of his cantata for the Sunday after Christmas, ''Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende'', BWV 28, reflecting thanks for a year coming to a close. Bach also used the third stanza of the hymn for the second of three movements of the

''Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied'', BWV 225.BWV^2a:

Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...

, Yoshitake Kobayashi (eds.), Kirsten Beißwenger. ''Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe, nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. Ausgabe''. Preface in English and German. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998. - , p. 228 Bach's four-part chorale settings are BWV 389 and 390.

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; ; born Diderik Hansen Buxtehude; c. 1637 – 9 May 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

composed a

chorale fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a cantus firmus. History Chorale fantas ...

, BuxWV 212, in C major, and three organ preludes, BuxWV 213–215. An organ prelude was also written 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 ...

English

It was translated in several languages, including "My Soul, now Praise thy Maker!" by

, published in her ''Chorale Book for England'' in 1863. J. C. Jacobi translated it in 1722 as "My soul! exalt the Lord thy God", H. Mills as “Now to the Lord sing praises", published in 1845.

References

External links

* * * * *
Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren II (Johann Kugelmann)
ChoralWiki * {{Hymns and songs based on Psalms 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns based on Psalms Hymn tunes 1525 compositions