"" (Appeared is the splendid day) is a German Easter

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'' ...

, with text and tune ( Zahn No. 1743) written by

Nikolaus Herman Nikolaus Herman (first name also ''Nicolaus'' or ''Niklas''; 1500 – 3 May 1561) was a German Lutheran cantor and teacher, creating numerous Protestant hymns. Some of them are contained in hymnals in several languages. Career Herman was born ...

and published in 1561. It has inspired musical settings by composers from the 17th to the 20th century. It appears in several hymnals, including the German Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch''. Other hymns, especially Easter hymns, in both German and English, are sung to the same melody.

History

"" was written in 1560. Since then, it has been printed in German-language Protestant hymnals up to '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch''. Listed as EG 106, it is shortened to five stanzas from the original 14. The hymn has appeared in 20 hymnals. It was part of Catholic hymnal ''Gotteslob'' of 1975, as GL 225, but only in regional sections of the 2013 version, such as GL 786 in Fulda.

Text and theme

Herman's hymn is in 14 stanzas, each has four lines of equal length, and is closed by an additional "Halleluja!". The first stanza reads, with a translation by

Pamela Dellal Pamela Dellal (born 1960) is an American mezzo-soprano in opera and concert, a musicologist and academic teacher. She has performed classical music from the medieval Hildegard von Bingen to contemporary. She is on the faculty of the Boston Conserva ...

: In the middle stanzas, events around Easter are narrated, such as the women at the grave, and appearances to the disciples, but also earlier related stories such as of Samson who smashed his prison, and of Jonah who was inside the great fish for three days. Further narrating stanzas see a parallel between the

exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

and the

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

. The song then turns to a comparison of spring, as revived creation, and the resurrection, and the resulting joy of all creatures. In the version in the Protestant hymnal, the narrating stanzas are eliminated, to focus on the theological thoughts.

Melody and musical settings

\new Staff << \set Staff.midiInstrument = "trumpet" \override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t \time 3/2 \key f \major \relative c'' >> \layout \midi The melody in the first publication appears with the Easter song "" (Early on Sabbath three Marys. The author notes: "", indicating that it was suitable to all hymns for the (Joyful Easter time) including the hymn for Ascension "". The melody is in Dorian mode, a triple metre, and shows

dotted rhythm In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. In modern practice, the first dot increases the duration of the basic note by half (the original note with an extra beam) of its original value. This means ...

s. Its character is dance-like. Musicologists have suggested an origin in

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

, and Easter plays that may have contained "liturgical dance". An 1845 choral hymnal of four-part settings from the 16th and 17th centuries, ''Vierstimmige Choralsätze der vornehmsten Meister des XVI. und XVII. Jahrhunderts'', lists three settings of the hymn, one by Johann Crüger, one by Gotthard Erythräus, and one by

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 German ...

. Bach used the first stanza in the center of his cantata for the first Sunday after

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 ...

, in 1724. In his ''

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 ...

'', he composed a chorale prelude on the hymn ( BWV 629) in which he uses the melody as a in soprano and bass in canon, with joyful motifs in the middle voices.

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 as part of his 52 chorale preludes, Op. 67 of 1902/03.

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 a chorale improvisations on the hymn for

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, as part of his 66 Chorale improvisations, Op, 65 between 1906 and 1908. Hugo Distler wrote a setting for three high voices ( SSA) as part of his collection ''Der Jahrkreis'', Op. 5 in 1932/33.

Ernst Pepping Ernst Pepping (12 September 1901 – 1 February 1981) was a German composer of classical music and academic teacher. He is regarded as an important composer of Protestant sacred music in the 20th century. Pepping taught at the and the . His musi ...

composed a chorale prelude as part of his ''Großes Orgelbuch'', published in 1939. Settings from the 20th century also include Gustav Gunsenheimer's for a low voice and organ, and a for clarinhorn (or flugelhorn or trumpet in B) and string orchestra by Widmar Hader, published in 1980. Another Easter hymn is sung to the same melody, "", listed as EG 107. It combines a stanza by Herman, originally the ending of "", with two stanzas by Thomas Hartmann, published in 1673. The hymn "", a praise of the Sunday by Johann Olearius, printed in 1671 in his hymnal (Spiritual art of singing), is also sung to the same melody. English hymns sung to the tune include "We Sing, Immanuel, Thy Praise", "We Thank Thee, Jesus, Dearest Friend", and "Come, See The Place Where Jesus Lay".

References

External links

* *
The Day Hath Dawned, the Day of Days
on lutheranchoralebook.com {{authority control 16th-century hymns in German Hymn tunes Easter hymns Lutheran hymns