"Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" (originally: "Es ist das heyl vns kommen her", English: "Salvation now has come for all" or more literally: It is our salvation come here to 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 ''a ...

in 14 stanzas by Paul Speratus. It was first published as one of eight songs in 1524 in the

first Lutheran hymnal The First Lutheran hymnal, published in 1524 as ''Etlich Cristlich lider / Lobgesang und Psalm'' (Some Christian songs / canticle, and psalm), often also often referred to as the Achtliederbuch (Book with eight songs, literally Eightsongsbook), was ...

, the Achtliederbuch, which contained four songs by Luther, three by Speratus, and one by

Justus Jonas Justus Jonas, the Elder (5 June 1493 – 9 October 1555), or simply Justus Jonas, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a Jurist, Professor and Hymn writer. He is best known for his translations of the writings of Martin Luther ...

. The same year it appeared in Erfurt in '' Eyn Enchiridion''. Its hymn tune, Zahn No. 4430, was already known in the 15th century.

History

According to tradition, Speratus wrote this hymn while he was in prison in

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

, condemned for his evangelical beliefs to death by fire. Only by the intercession of friends was he released, on condition that he leave Moravia.nur durch die Fürbitte angesehener Magnaten vor dem Feuertode, zu dem er verurtheilt war, gerettet...er in dieser Haft das evangelische Glaubenslied "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her“ gedichtet hat The text by Speratus is based on Paul's Epistle to the Romans, . and expresses Luther's teaching about

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

. According to Scott Hendrix, "It not only emphasizes justification by faith alone but it also underlines the vitality of that faith manifested in service to others. A modern English version of the hymn's first stanza, which appears on the back cover of Hendrix's book ''Early Protestant Spirituality'', is as follows: ::Salvation unto us has come :::by God's free grace and favor; ::Good works cannot avert our doom, :::they help and save us never. ::Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, ::who did for all the world atone, :::He is our mediator. Speratus set his words to the tune of an Easter chorale from the 15th century, " Freu dich, du werte Christenheit".

Influence

The story of Luther's being moved to tears when he first heard this hymn, from a beggar outside his window in Wittenberg, has been retold by many authors. The

11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

, lists "Salvation now has come for all" as one of the Lutheran hymns "which at the time produced the greatest effect, and are still best remembered." It has been translated into English by many authors, including

Miles Coverdale Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles (1488 – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first c ...

("Now is our health come from above," 1539), Henry Mills ("Our whole salvation doth depend On God's free grace and Spirit," 1845), and

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 ...

("Salvation hath come down to us," 1869).

Musical settings

The hymn, focused on essential Lutheran teaching, was frequently set for organ and for voices.

Organ settings

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard compo ...

composed ''Prelude and Chorale Variations'' (two variations).

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 Sw ...

composed four parts as No. 46 of ''Das Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch'' (1650).

Matthias Weckmann Matthias Weckmann (''Weckman'') (''c''.1616 24 February 1674) was a German musician and composer of the Baroque period. He was born in Niederdorla (Thuringia) and died in Hamburg. Life His musical training took place in Dresden (as a chorister ...

wrote ''Chorale Variations''.

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 a ...

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 ...

, BuxWV 186, in C major. Chorale Preludes were further composed by

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 ...

and

Johann Gottfried Walther Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that ...

(LV 84). Between 1708 and 1714, while

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 ...

was court organist at the ducal court in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, he compiled chorale preludes for the liturgical year 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 ...

and included it as a catechism hymn,

BWV 638 The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

Georg Friedrich Kauffmann Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (14 February 1679 – 24 March 1735) was a Baroque composer and organist from northern-central Germany who composed primarily sacred works for the organ and voice. Biography Early life and career Georg Friedrich Kauffm ...

published a Chorale Prelude in Leipzig in 1733.

Johann Ludwig Krebs Johann Ludwig Krebs (baptized 12 October 1713 – 1 January 1780) was a German Baroque musician and composer for the pipe organ, harpsichord, other instruments and orchestras. His output also included chamber music, choral works and concertos ...

also wrote a Chorale Prelude. Max Reger composed a chorale prelude as No. 10 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902, another in 1914 in his Op. 135a.

Choral settings

Arnold von Bruck Arnold von Bruck (also Arnold de Pruck, Arnoldus de Bruck, Arnoldus Brugensis, indicating his origin) (c. 1500 – 6 February 1554) was a Franco-Flemish composer of Renaissance music, active in several Habsburg courts. He was one of the most famou ...

composed a setting for four voices, published in 1544.

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 Nür ...

wrote a four-part setting,

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 ...

set it twice with basso continuo, once for two sopranos (1618), once for four parts (1627).

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 Hild ...

composed in 1719 a sacred cantata on a text by

Erdmann Neumeister Erdmann Neumeister (12 May 1671 – 18 August 1756) was a German Lutheran pastor and hymnologist. He was born in Uichteritz near Weißenfels in the province Saxonia of Germany. As a fifteen-year-old boy he started his studies in Schulpforta ...

''Es ist das Heil uns kommen her''. Bach used the stanzas 11 and 12 in several of his cantatas in 1716, 1723 and 1724. Between 1732 and 1735, he used twelve stanzas as the base for his

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the German Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chorale cantata includes m ...

of the same name, BWV 9. Johannes Brahms composed it in 1860 as one of two motets for a five-part mixed chorus a cappella, Op. 29, a four-part chorale followed by an "elaborate fugal variation on the chorale melody".

References

External links

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her / Text and Translation of Chorale
bach-cantatas.com 2005 {{authority control 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns Hymn tunes