"" ("Lord Jesus Christ, be present now!", literally: Lord Jesus Christ, turn 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 ...

from the 17th century. Its

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 refrai ...

, Zahn No. 624, was adopted in several compositions. It was translated into English and is part of modern hymnals, both Protestant and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

History

The text of the hymn has been attributed to

Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (Altenburg, 11 April 1598 – Weimar, 17 May 1662), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar. Wilhelm was the fifth (but third surviving) son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt. He was brother to Bern ...

, but this authorship is doubted, as the attribution appears only in prints from the late 17th century. In

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

, the hymn was sung on Sundays after the minister had entered the pulpit to deliver the sermon. In a 1668 print, the 6th edition of ''Lutherisch Hand-Büchlein'' (Lutheran handbooklet) it is assigned to

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: th ...

(''Am Fest der heiligen Dreyfaltigkeit'').

Text and translations

The hymn was translated into Swedish in 1695 by Johannes Gezelius, with the title "O Jesus Krist, dig till oss vänd". The hymn was translated in the 1722 ''Psalmodica Germanica'' of Johann Christian Jacobi as "Lord Christ, reveal thy holy Face".

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 ...

translated the hymn in 1863 as a communion song with the title "Lord Jesus Christ, be present now!" The English translations below are those of Jacobi. Lord Christ, reveal thy holy Face, And send the Spirit of thy Grace, To fill our Hearts with fervent Zeal To learn thy Truth, and do thy Will. Lord, lead us in thy holy Ways, And teach our Lips to tell thy Praise, Increase our Faith, and raise the same To taste the Sweetness of thy Name. Till we with Angels join to sing Th'eternal Praise of Thee, our King; Till we shall see Thee Face to Face, And all the Glories of thy Grace. To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One, Be Honour, Praise, and Glory giv'n, By all on Earth, and all in Heav'n.

Musical settings

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 ...

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 ...

and his cousin Johann Gottfried Walther, who were the organists at the Schlosskirche and the Stadtkirche, both composed several settings of the hymn. Georg Böhm, Walther and

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. ...

all wrote chorale partitas and variations on the hymn: Krebs wrote a chorale fantasia Krebs-WV 524. Among the most notable settings by Bach are the

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 ...

BWV 632 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 BWV ...

, from the '' Orgelbüchlein'', and

BWV 655 The Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668, are a set of chorale preludes for organ prepared by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig in his final decade (1740–1750), from earlier works composed in Weimar, where he was court organist. The ...

, from the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes. There are further chorale preludes BWV 709, 726 and 749, with questions over the third's authenticity.

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 Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...

composed a chorale prelude as No. 9 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902. He also set it in 1914 as No. 11 of his 30 little chorale preludes for organ, Op. 135a.

Hymnals

In the Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' it is EG 155, the first hymn in the section ''Gottesdienst – Eingang und Ausgang'' (Service – beginning and end). In the Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

'' it is GL 147, in the section ''Messgesänge – Gesänge zur Eröffnung'' (Songs for mass – songs for the opening).

References

External links

* {{authority control 17th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns Catholic hymns in German