"" (Lord Jesus Christ, true man and God) 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 ...

Paul Eber Paul Eber (8 November 1511 – 10 December 1569) was a German Lutheran theologian, reformer and hymnwriter, known for the hymn for the dying, " Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott". Life He was born at Kitzingen in Franconia, and was educated ...

. It is a hymn for the dying. One of the hymn's tunes, Zahn No. 423, is also used for .

History

The hymn appeared in both

High German The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called ''High German'', comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and ...

, such as a Frankfurt print of 1563, and in Low German spoken mainly in northern Germany, such as the 1565 hymnal ''Enchiridion geistliker leder und Psalmen'' from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, titled "Ein gebedt tho Christo umme ein salich affscheidt uth dissem bedröneden leuende" (A prayer to Christ for a blessed departure from this troubled life). The hymn has been printed in eight stanzas of six lines, but also in twelve stanzas of four lines each. The tune of "

Vater unser im Himmelreich "" (Our Father in Heaven) is a Lutheran hymn in German by Martin Luther. He wrote the paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer in 1538, corresponding to his explanation of the prayer in his (''Small Catechism''). He dedicated one stanza to each of the sev ...

" matched the six-line format, the melody of "Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht" was appropriate for the four-line format. The hymn was also included early in

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 ...

hymnals, first in a hymnal by Leisentrit, ''Geistliche Lieder vnd Psalmen'', in 1567, and copied to several others as "Ein gar uraltes katholisches Gebet um ein christliches Ende in Todes-Nöthen, auch Morgens und Abends zu beten aus dem Leisentrit" (A very old prayer for a Christian end in death's pain, also to be prayed in the morning and evening from the Leisentrit).

Lyrics

The text is given in the six-line format.

Musical settings

Johannes Eccard set the first two four-line stanzas as a five-part motet.

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 ...

used the hymn as the basis for his chorale cantata ''Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott'', BWV 127 in 1725. The hymn was translated to English and has appeared in 33 hymnals.

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 it as "Lord Jesus Christ, true man and God" in 1855.

References

External links

Johann Heinrich Bodecker, Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott
partitura.org 2015
Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott Emans 100 / Chorale setting
bach-digital.de {{authority control 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns