"" ("Praise be to You, Jesus Christ") is a

Lutheran hymn Martin Luther was a great enthusiast for music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheranism, Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away ...

, written by

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

in 1524. It was first published in 1524 in the . For centuries the chorale has been the prominent hymn (Hauptlied) for Christmas Day in German speaking

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, but has also been used in different translations internationally. It has appeared in

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

s of various denominations including the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Text

Luther expanded a pre-

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

stanza which is attested in Northern Germany in the 15th century, mainly in prayerbooks from the convent of Medingen, based on Grates nunc omnes, the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...

of the midnight mass for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, by six stanzas. Each stanza ends on the acclamation

Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

leis. The hymn was published in '' Eyn Enchiridion'' in Erfurt in 1524.

Tune

''Melody as it appears in the final movement of the cantata by Bach (BWV 91)'' 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 refrain ...

( Zahn No. 1947) was first printed in , a ''booklet of spiritual song'', collected by Johann Walter but is attested also in the prayerbooks from the convent of Medingen and even appears on an antependium made by the nuns in the late 15th century. It seems likely that both Luther and Walter collaborated to modify an older melody. In the first verse, the highest notes accentuate important words such as Jesu, (man), (virgin), (angels).

Musical settings

Balthasar Resinarius's chorale motet based on "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" was printed in 1544. A setting of the hymn by Walter is dated 1551, Antonio Scandello's 1575. Lucas Osiander wrote a four-part setting in 1586, Erhard Bodenschatz in 1608, Samuel Scheidt wrote two settings in 1650. A five-part motet of

Johannes Eccard Johannes Eccard (1553–1611) was a German composer and kapellmeister. He was an early principal conductor at the Berlin court chapel. Biography Eccard was born at Mühlhausen, in present-day Thuringia, Germany. At the age of eighteen he went t ...

was printed in 1597, one of

Adam Gumpelzhaimer Adam Gumpelzhaimer, also Adam Gumpeltzhaimer (1559 – 3 November 1625) was a Bavarian composer and music theorist. Born in Trostberg, he studied music with the monk Jodocus Enzmüller. In 1581 he became cantor at the Augsburg Cathedral; a post ...

in Augsburg in 1618, Andreas Raselius wrote a five-part setting in 1610. Melchior Schärer (1570–1602) set the hymn as a motet

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

for three parts, and

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and Music theory, music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of ...

composed various settings.

Johann Hermann Schein Johann Hermann Schein (20 January 1586 – 19 November 1630) was a German composer of the early Baroque era. He was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1615 to 1630. He was one of the first to import the early Italian stylistic innovations into German ...

wrote a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

for three parts in 1618, Johann Crüger set it for four voices, two obbligato instruments (violins) and continuo. The hymn appears in several of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

's Christmas cantatas. He inserted its seventh stanza in one of his church cantatas, ''Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget'', BWV 64, written for the Third Day of Christmas 1723. He used the complete chorale as the base for one of his chorale cantatas, ''Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ'', BWV 91, composed in Leipzig for Christmas Day of 1724, setting the final stanza four voices with horns and timpani: \header \layout global = \score \score Bach included the sixth and seventh stanzas of the hymn respectively in the first and third cantatas of his ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance in a churc ...

'' (1734). BWV 314, one of his four-part chorale settings of the hymn tune, in D major, and appearing in the Dietel manuscript, was likely also written as part of a Christmas cantata. Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel used the hymn's fifth stanza in the centre of his Christmas cantata '' Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis''. Cantatas based on the hymn were also composed by

Gottfried August Homilius Gottfried August Homilius (2 February 1714 – 2 June 1785) was a German composer, cantor and organist. He is considered one of the most important church composers of the generation following Bach's, and was the main representative of the '' ...

, , and Kurt Hessenberg, whose Op. 9 is 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 Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chor ...

based on the hymn, written in 1935 for mixed chorus, two solo voices, organ and orchestra. The hymn inspired organ settings by Protestant Baroque composers such as

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; born Diderich Hansen Buxtehude, ; – 9 May 1707) was a Danish composer and organist of the Baroque music, Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (also Bachelbel; baptised – buried 9 March 1706) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and ...

, Georg Böhm, Bach, Homilius, Johann Christoph Altnikol and

Johann Philipp Kirnberger Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also ''Kernberg''; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues) and music theorist. He studied the organ with Johann Peter Kellner and Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber, and ...

. It is used prominently in

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

's Piano Trio No. 2 as the culminating melody of the finale. Robert Schumann used the chorale for the theme and variations in the third movement of his Violin Sonata No.2 in D minor, Op. 121, changing the meter to triple time.

References

External links

*
O Jesus Christ, All Praise to Thee

bach-chorales.com * {{Authority control 16th-century hymns in German Hymn tunes Hymns by Martin Luther Christmas carols in German

Text

Tune

Musical settings

See also

References

External links