"" (You Christians, sing in great joy) is a Christian
Easter hymn
Easter hymns are hymns dedicated to Eastertide, related to the resurrection of Jesus.
List of Easter hymns
{{Hymns and songs for Easter
Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχ ...
. The German text was adapted by
Christoph Moufang
Franz Christoph Ignaz Moufang (17 February 1817 – 27 February 1890) was a German Catholic theologian and diocesan administrator.
Life Education
Moufang was born at Mainz, where he also received his primary education. In 1834 he entered the ...
in 1865 from the 15th-century Latin hymn "". It is sung to the same melody. Beginning and ending with a three-fold Halleluja, it is also known as "Halleluja – Ihr Christen, singet hocherfreut". The Latin "O filii" was translated into English by
John Mason Neale
John Mason Neale (24 January 1818 – 6 August 1866) was an English Anglican priest, scholar, and hymnwriter. He worked on and wrote a wide range of holy Christian texts, including obscure medieval hymns, both Western and Eastern. Among his mo ...
Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
" O filii et filiae" that created before 1494. The melody appeared in Paris in 1623. It begins with a Halleluja, which is then used as a
refrain
A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...
. The song became popular in France.
The song was adapted by
Christoph Moufang
Franz Christoph Ignaz Moufang (17 February 1817 – 27 February 1890) was a German Catholic theologian and diocesan administrator.
Life Education
Moufang was born at Mainz, where he also received his primary education. In 1834 he entered the ...
in 1865. The song became part of 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-speak ...
'' in 1975 as GL 221, and was retained in the 2013 edition as GL 322.
Theme and text
The hymn begins with a repeated Halleluja, which serves as refrain for the following twelve stanzas, each in three rhyming lines and again closed by Halleluja. They tell events from the Easter narrations. For example in the second stanza, that the women want to anoint the body of
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, but do not know how to remove the rock closing the grave. The third and fourth stanzas refer to disciples
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
and
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
running to the grave. The fifth stanza is a narrative of an angel addressing the women. The sixths stanza quotes the angel saying "Bleibt nicht beim leeren Grabe stehn, ihr sollt nach Galiläa gehn, dort werdet ihr den Meister sehn." (Don't remain standing at the empty tomb, you shall go to
Galilee
Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ).
''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...
, there you will see the Master.)
The following stanzas, seven to eleven, refer to appearances of Jesus to the disciples hiding in a locked room in Jerusalem, first without
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, than also to him. The final stanza is a call to praise God on the day he has made.
Melody and music
The melody is in a
triple metre
Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , a ...
. The three-fold Halleluja of the refrain begins and ends on the tonic, moving mostly in even-quarter notes. The first and second lines have the same melody, and the third line takes its melody from the refrain.
Edited by Mailänder, Carus-Verlag published in 2014 a collection of chorale preludes for ''Gotteslob'' hymns for Lent and Easter, ''Choralvorspiele für Orgel zum Gotteslob / Band 2 · Österliche Bußzeit und Ostern'', with two preludes for the Halleluja, one by Richard Lloyd and one by
Colin Mawby
Colin Mawby KSG (9 May 1936 – 24 November 2019) was an English organist, choral conductor and composer. From 1961 he was Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, then from 1981 he was the choral director at Radio Telefís Éireann. He comp ...
. In 2016, W. Merkes composed a three-part choral arrangement for use in the
Diocese of Trier
The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.soprano, alto and men's voices.