"" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling 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 ...

written in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Philipp Nicolai Philipp Nicolai (10 August 1556 – 26 October 1608) was a German Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer. He is most widely recognized as a hymnodist. Biography Philipp Nicolai was born at Mengeringhausen in Waldeck, Hesse, Germany where his ...

, first published in 1599 together with "". It appears in German

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

s and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying" (

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 ...

, 1858), "Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling" ( Francis Crawford Burkitt, 1906), and "Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple" (

George Ratcliffe Woodward George Ratcliffe Woodward (27 December 1848 – 3 March 1934) was an English Anglican priest who wrote mostly religious verse, both original and translated from ancient authors. The best-known of these were written to fit traditional melodies, ...

, 1908).

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 ...

based a

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 mult ...

on the hymn, , one of its many musical settings.

Nicolai

Philipp Nicolai wrote the hymn in 1598, a time when the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

had hit Unna where he lived for six months as a preacher after studies in theology at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

. The text is based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins (). Nicolai refers to other biblical ideas, such as from Revelations the mentioning of marriage () and the twelve gates, every one of pearl (), and from the

First Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-au ...

the phrase "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard" (). In 1599 Nicolai published both the

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. 8405a, and the words to the hymn. Portions of the melody are similar to the older hymn tune " In dulci jubilo" ("In sweet rejoicing") and to "" ("Silver Air") by Hans Sachs. In the first publication in ("Mirror of Joy of the Life Everlasting"), the text was introduced: The author wrote in his preface, dated 10 August 1598: Nicolai's former student, , had died of the plague at the age of fourteen, and Nicolai used the initials of "Graf zu Waldeck" in reverse order as an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the F ...

to begin the three stanzas: "Wachet auf", "Zion hört die Wächter singen", "Gloria sei dir gesungen".

Musical settings

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 two

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning o ...

s based on the hymn, BuxWV 100 and BuxWV 101.

based his

, on the hymn and derived one of the Schübler Chorales, BWV 645, from the cantata's central movement. His son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach wrote a cantata for a four-part choir, . In

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

's ''St. Paul'' oratorio, ''Wachet auf'' features prominently as a chorale and also as the main theme of the overture. In 1900,

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

fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcor ...

for organ on "" as the second of Three chorale fantasias, Op. 52. He 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 ...

as No. 41 of his 52 chorale preludes, Op. 67 in 1902.

Herbert Blendinger Herbert Blendinger (3 January 1936 - 15 May 2020) was an Austrian composer and viola player of German origin. Career Born in Ansbach, Blendinger studied viola and composition with Willy Horwath and Max Gebhard at the conservatory in Nuremberg, ...

also wrote a chorale fantasia on the hymn, Op. 49. Hugo Distler composed an organ partita based on the hymn in 1935 (Op. 8/2). The following example is the final movement of Bach's cantata, a four-part setting of the final stanza: : << << \new Staff \with \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Staff \with >> >> \layout \midi :

In English

Hymnologist John Julian, in his 1907 '' Dictionary of Hymnology'', listed sixteen English translations of this hymn, ten of which were then in common use. The following year, Duncan Campbell reported that "the favourite rendering" was either that of

or the one compiled by William Cooke. Both of these translations are titled "Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying"; Cooke's translation is based on Winkworth's and other translations, with additions by Cooke himself.

References

E. Power Biggs Edward George Power Biggs (March 29, 1906 – March 10, 1977) was a British-born American concert organist and recording artist. Biography Biggs was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England; a year later, the family moved to the Isle of ...

in 1968 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wachet Auf Ruft Uns Die Stimme 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns Hymn tunes Advent songs 1597 works

Nicolai

Musical settings

In English

References

Further reading

External links