"" (literally: O world, see here your life) is a Lutheran

Passion hymn Passion hymns are hymns dedicated to the Passion of Jesus. They are often sung during Passiontide, namely for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Many of them were used as chorales in Passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera t ...

in German by

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

. In 16 stanzas of 6 lines, it was first published in 1647 in

Johann Crüger Johann Crüger (9 April 1598 – 23 February 1662) was a German composer of well-known hymns. He was also the editor of the most widely used Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century, '' Praxis pietatis melica''. Early life and education Crüger was b ...

's ''

Praxis pietatis melica ''Praxis pietatis melica'' (''Practice of Piety in Song'') is a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger. The hymnal, which appeared under this title from 1647 to 1737 in 45 editions, has been described as "the most ...

''. The hymn is known as the source for

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the th ...

s in Bach's Passions. It was translated to English in several versions, for example "O, World! behold upon the tree" 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 Luth ...

in 1858.

Text and tune

Gerhardt wrote the hymn for Passiontide in 16 stanzas of 6 lines each to the melody of "O Welt, ich muß dich lassen", which is taken from the earlier secular "

Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen "" ("Innsbruck, I must leave thee") is a German Renaissance song. It was first published as a choral movement by the Franco-Flemish composer Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450–1517); the melody was probably written by him. The lyricist is unknown; an autho ...

" attributed to

Heinrich Isaac Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450 – 26 March 1517) was a Netherlandish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs (in French, German and Italian), and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des ...

. The tune requires the poetic form AABCCB. Gerhardt also wrote the evening song "Nun ruhen alle Wälder" to the same melody, Zahn No. 2293. Gerhardt based his work on a meditation on the Passion by Martin Moller, part of his 1587 ''Soliloquia de passione''. The theme is a reflection what the suffering of Jesus means for the Christian. Starting with the image of Jesus on the cross, life and death are juxtaposed, "Leben" (life) at the end of the first line, "Tod" (death) at the end of the third line. Another contrast is that of "Der große Fürst der Ehren" (the great duke of honours) and his humiliation: "mit Schlägen, Hohn und großem Spott" (with beatings, scorn and great mockery). The third stanza raises the question of responsibility, "Wer hat dich so geschlagen ...?" (Who beat you like this ...?), while the fourth stanza answers that it is the one who asks: "Ich, ich und meine Sünden" (I and my sins). The fifth stanza draws the consequence: "Ich bin's, ich sollte büßen" (It's me, I should atone). The following stanzas develop the resolution to follow the example of loving the enemies ("ich die soll lieben, die mich doch sehr betrüben", 13), forgive ("Dem Nächsten seine Schulden verzeihen", 14), deny worldly pleasures ("dem absagen, was meinem Fleisch gelüst", 15) and finally hope for help to eternal rest ("begleiten zu der ew'gen Ruh", 16). The hymn was first published in 1647 in Johann Crüger's ''Praxis pietatis melica''., in Berlin. It was translated to English in several versions, for example "O, World! behold upon the tree" by

in 1858. A slightly more modern rendering, shortened and paraphrased, is "The duteous day now closeth" by

Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was an English poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...

, in which version the hymn appears in the

English Hymnal ''The English Hymnal'' is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and wa ...

and

Hymns Ancient and Modern ''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' is a hymnal in common use within the Church of England, a result of the efforts of the Oxford Movement. The hymnal was first published in 1861. The organization publishing it has now been formed into a charitabl ...

. In the current German hymnal (EG) it is number 84.

Music

Christoph Graupner composed a church cantata for Good Friday (GWV 1127/19) for four voices

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 ...

, strings and basso continuo. Felix Mendelssohn used the hymn to conclude a Passion section in his unfinished oratorio ''

Christus Christus may refer to: * Christ (title) People * Petrus Christus (c. 1410s – c. 1475), Dutch painter * Sir Christus (1978–2017), Finnish musician Music * ''Christus'' (Liszt), an oratorio * ''Christus'' (Mendelssohn), an unfinished oratorio ...

''.

Bach Passions

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 wo ...

used several stanzas of the hymn as reflecting chorales in his '' St John Passion'' (1724) and '' St Matthew Passion'' (1727). In the earlier work, Bach inserted two stanzas, 3 and 4 in the same harmonization, as movement 11 (in the

Neue Bach-Ausgabe The New Bach Edition (NBE) (german: Neue Bach-Ausgabe; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete W ...

), after Jesus asks the one who beat him for justification. Stanza 3 asks, "" (Who hath thee now so stricken), and stanza 4 answers, "" (I, I and my transgressions), highlighting the personal responsibility of the speaking sinner for the suffering of Jesus. In the ''St Matthew Passion'', two stanzas appear in different harmonization in different situations of the drama, as movements 10 and 37 (in the NBA). A question is part of Gospel, the disciples, being told that one of them will betray Jesus, ask "Herr, bin ich's?" (Lord, is it me?). Before the answer from the Gospel, stanza 5 of the hymn picks the wording up in an answer, "" (I should atone), which asks the listener to identify with that penitent position. Stanza 3, "", appears here after the beating of Jesus during the court hearing.

References

External links

O Welt, sieh hier dein Leben
sermon,

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

{{Hymns and songs for Lent and Passiontide 17th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns 1647 works Passion hymns Hymns by Paul Gerhardt