Guldbergs_salmebok_-_schiørrings_utgave_fra_1783

Guldberg's hymnal (published as ''Psalme-Bog eller En Samling af gamle og nye Psalmer'' 'Hymnal or A Collection of Old and New Hymns') is a hymnal that was created by Bishop

Ludvig Harboe Ludvig Harboe (16 August 1709 – 15 June 1783) was a Danish theologian and bishop of the Diocese of Zealand from 1757 until his death. Harboe was born at Broager Peninsula in Sønderborg, Denmark. He was mostly educated in Germany. He att ...

and

Ove Høegh-Guldberg Ove Høegh-Guldberg (born ''Guldberg''; 1 September 1731 – 7 February 1808) was a Danish statesman, historian, and ''de facto'' prime minister of Denmark during the reign of the mentally unstable King Christian VII. Biography Guldber ...

and was authorized for use in 1778.

Background

On behalf of King

Christian VII of Denmark Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae'' ...

, Denmark's de facto prime minister,

, appointed a two-person committee, consisting of himself and the bishop of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

, Ludvig Harboe, to prepare a new hymnal. They sought to modernize Kingo's hymnal, primarily by removing the hymns that lacked the requisite "correctness, dignity, and strength" or whose poetic quality was too weak. To replace the hymns that would be removed from the authorized hymnal, Birgitte Cathrine Boye received royal funding to write and translate hymns.''Store norske leksikon'': Birgitte Cathrine Boye.
/ref>''Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon'': Birgitte Boye (1742–1824).
/ref>

Content

The hymnal contains 438 hymns taken from various sources: *32 from

Thomissøn's hymnal Thomissøn's hymnal (titled ''Den danske Psalmebog'' 'The Danish Hymnal') was a hymnal published in Denmark that received royal authorization in 1569.Valkner, Kristen. 1951. ''Norges kirkehistorie ca. 1500-1800. Sammendrag av forelesninger våren ...

*101 from Kingo's hymnal *144 from

Erik Pontoppidan Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan (24 August 1698 – 20 December 1764) was a Danish author, a Lutheran bishop of the Church of Norway, an historian, and an antiquarian. His Catechism of the Church of Denmark heavily influenced Danish and Norwegian reli ...

's hymnal *161 new hymns, of which 24 were from Germany, 133 from Denmark, and two from Norway. Birgitte Cathrine Boye wrote 124 of the 133 new Danish hymns in the volume. The two Norwegian hymns were written by

Johan Vibe Johan Vibe (also Wibe) (16 April 1637 – 20 February 1710) was a Danish military officer and engineer, who was appointed Governor-General of Norway from 10 April 1708 until his death. Biography Johan Vibe was born on as one of two illegitim ...

.Liestøl, Knut, & Edvard Stang. 1938. ''Norges litteraturhistorie''. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, p. 129.Bull, Francis. 1958. ''Norsk litteratur historie: Norges litteratur, fra reformasjonen til 1814''. Oslo: Aschehoug. Boye also translated some hymns, so overall 146 hymns, or one-third of those in the volume, can be credited to her.

Editions and authorization

The book is arranged following the

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and wh ...

, with hymns designated for each Sunday and hymns for other church events. The book also contains some morning and evening hymns, and at the end 38 hymns with the

Passion of Jesus In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

as their theme. Guldberg's hymnal introduced some

Pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...

hymns from Pontoppidan's hymnal into use in Norwegian churches. When Niels Schiørring's book of melodies was added to Guldberg's hymnal, some new hymn melodies came into use. The hymnal was issued for the first time in 1778 and was printed in new editions in the following years. It was authorized for use and adopted in Copenhagen in 1781 and in other towns in 1783; however, the powerful prime minister Guldberg was then forced to resign, and the introduction of the hymnal in rural areas was postponed. The book later came into more widespread use in Norway than in Denmark and, when Norway received its own assembly in 1814, the book was one of the three authorized hymnals in Norway, alongside Kingo's hymnal and the '' Lutheran-Christian Hymnal''.

Background

Content

Editions and authorization

References

Further reading