"" (''May God be gracious to us'', or more literally: ''May God want to be merciful 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 '' ...

, with words written by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

based on the

Psalm 67 Psalm 67 is the 67th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us". In Latin, it is known as "Deus misereatur". In the slightly different ...

. The hymn in three

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 nine lines each was first published in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

in 1524. Its best known hymn tune, Zahn No. 7247, was published in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

in 1524.

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 ...

and

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 ...

wrote settings of the hymn. It was translated to English and has appeared in dozens of hymnals.

History

Luther wrote in a letter to Georg Spalatin, around the end of 1523, about the importance of writing "Deutsche Psalmen" (German psalms). Trying to win Spalatin for collaboration, he specifies: Luther wrote "" as a paraphrase of in three

s of nine lines each. It was first printed in

in 1524, first in a leaflet together with "

Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir "" (From deep affliction I cry out to you), originally "", later also "", is a Lutheran hymn of 1524, with words written by Martin Luther as a paraphrase of Psalm 130. It was first published in 1524 as one of eight songs in the first Lutheran hy ...

”, a paraphrase of

Psalm 130 Psalm 130 is the 130th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of the penitential psalms and one of 15 psalms that begin with the words "A song of ascents" (Shir Hama'alot). The first verse is a call to God in deep sorrow, from "out of the depths" or " ...

. It appeared then in Luther's ''Ein weyse Christliche Messe zu halten und zum Tisch Gottis zu gehen'' (A way to hold a Christian mass and to go to the table of God). It was published the same year in the ''

Erfurt Enchiridion The ''Erfurt Enchiridion'' (enchiridion, from grc, ἐγχειρίδιον, hand book) is the second Lutheran hymnal. It appeared in 1524 in Erfurt in two competing editions. One of them contains 26 songs, the other 25, 18 of them by Martin Lut ...

''.

Lyrics

Melody and settings

Johann Walter Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period. Life Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...

's "Es woll uns Gott genädig sein" hymn tune, Zahn No. 7246, originally composed for another hymn, was published in 1524. That hymn tune, however, was from 1543 associated with the "

Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam "" ("Christ our Lord came to the Jordan") is a Lutheran hymn about baptism by Martin Luther, written in 1541 and published in 1543. It has been set in many musical compositions, including cantatas and chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

" hymn. Another tune for the "Es woll uns Gott genädig sein" hymn, Zahn No. 7247, was published in 1524 in

set it as part of his

Becker Psalter The ''Becker Psalter'' is a German metrical psalter authored by the Leipzig theologian Cornelius Becker and first published by Jakob Apel in Leipzig in 1602 under the title ''Der Psalter Davids Gesangweis''. Several composers set the psalms contai ...

of all psalms in German. Johann Sebastian Bach used it as the basis for chorale preludes, and in cantatas such as his second cantata as ''

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...

'' in Leipzig, ''Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes'', BWV 76, when he closed part I with the first stanza and part II with the last.

Translation

The hymn was translated to English and has appeared in over 25 hymnals. A. T. Russell translated it as "May God unto us gracious be" and included it in his ''Psalms & Hymns'', printed in 1851. Richard Massie translated it in 1851 to "May God bestow on us His grace".

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

*
BWV 76.7=76.14
bach-chorales.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Es Woll Uns Gott Genadig Sein 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns based on Psalms Hymns by Martin Luther 1524 works