"" (Become cheerful, my mind) is a Lutheran evening

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'' ...

Johann Rist Johann Rist (8 March 1607 – 31 August 1667) was a German poet and dramatist best known for his hymns, which inspired musical settings and have remained in hymnals. Life Rist was born at Ottensen in Holstein-Pinneberg (today Hamburg) on 8 Marc ...

in twelve

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s of eight lines each, printed in 1642. The hymn was translated to English and appeared in 67 hymnals.

History

The hymn was first published as "Dritte Zehen" (third ten) of Rist's ''Himlische Lieder'' (Heavenly songs) in Lüneburg in 1642. It was subtitled "A Christian evening hymn, with which to commit oneself to the protection of the Most High".

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 ...

included it in the 1656 edition of his

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 ...

Melody and musical settings

The

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. 6551, is by

Johann Schop Johann Schop (ca. 1590 – 1644) was a German violinist and composer, much admired as a musician and a technician, who was a virtuoso and whose compositions for the violin set impressive technical demands for that area at that time. In 1756 ...

, who often collaborated with Rist.

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...

composed 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 ...

''Werde munter, mein Gemüte'', TWV 1:1576, for choir, strings and continuo before 1760.

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's sixth stanza, "Bin ich gleich von dir gewichen", in his cantata ''Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht'', BWV 55, and in his ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

''.

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

composed a

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 ...

as No. 48 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902.

Sigfrid Karg-Elert Sigfrid Karg-Elert (November 21, 1877April 9, 1933) was a German composer in the early twentieth century, best known for his compositions for pipe organ and reed organ. Biography Karg-Elert was born Siegfried Theodor Karg in Oberndorf am Neckar, ...

wrote an improvisation as part of his 66 Chorale improvisations for organ, Op. 65. The same hymn melody was assigned to the song " Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne" written by

Martin Janus Martin Janus (also Martin Jahn, ''Jähn'' and ''Jan''; c. 1620 – c. 1682) was a German Protestant minister, church musician, hymnwriter, teacher and editor. He wrote the lyrics of the hymn "Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne", which became popular in the ...

(or Jahn). Bach used it in the Leipzig version of his cantata ''Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'', BWV 147. It became famous as the arrangement ''

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (or simply "Joy"; German: ''Jesus bleibet meine Freude'') is the most common English title of a piece of music derived from a chorale setting from the cantata ''Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'', BWV 147 ("Heart and ...

''. The tune for "Werde munter" was also paired with "Like the Golden Sun Ascending," which was translated from selected stanzas of

Thomas Kingo Thomas Hansen Kingo (15 December 1634 – 14 October 1703 Odense) was a Danish bishop, poet and hymn-writer born at Slangerup, near Copenhagen. His work marked the high point of Danish baroque poetry. His father was a weaver of modest means ...

's 1689 "Som den gyldne Sol frembryder."See
Like the Golden Sun Ascending

Translations

Translations to English were made by J. C. Jacobi, who published "Rouse thy self my Soul and gather" in his ''Psalmodia Germanica'' in 1722, and by Catherine Winkworth, who published "Sink not yet, my soul, to slumber" in 1858 in her ''Lyra Germanica''. The song appeared in 67 hymnals.

References

External links

{{authority control 17th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns 1649 works