"" (Now praise, my soul, the Lord) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by the theologian and reformer Johann Gramann in 1525. It was published in 1540 and appears in 47 hymnals. A translation by Catherine Winkworth, "My Soul, now Praise thy Maker!", was published in 1863.

History and text

The hymn is a general song of praise, paraphrasing

Psalm 103 Psalm 103 is the 103rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Bless the , O my soul". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christianity, Christian ...

in four stanzas of 12 lines each. It is supposed to have been written in 1525 "at the request of the Margrave Albrecht, as a version of his favourite Psalm". The hymn was published in Nürnberg as a

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

around 1540, and in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

in the

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 ...

''Concentus novi'' by Hans Kugelmann in 1540, with a

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. 8244, derived from the secular song "Weiß mir ein Blümlein blaue". A fifth stanza was added in a reprint in Nürnberg in 1555, "Sey Lob und Preis mit Ehren". The hymn appears in 47 hymnals.

Music

The text has been set by composers.

Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf near Kirchberg i ...

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 ...

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 ...

composed a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

, Michael Praetorius a motet for eight voices.

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

set the hymn as part of Book I of his '' Psalmen Davids'' in 1619 (SWV 41). and Johann Pachelbel used the melody in a chorale prelude in about 1693.

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 ...

used the hymn in several

cantatas 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 ...

. He composed four-part settings to close cantatas ''Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe'', BWV 167 (1723), ''Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich'', BWV 17 (1726), ''Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen'', BWV 51 (1730) and ''Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir'', BWV 29 (1731). He set the hymn as a complex motet as movement 2 of his cantata for the Sunday after Christmas, ''Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende'', BWV 28, reflecting thanks for a year coming to a close. Bach also used the third stanza of the hymn for the second of three movements of the

''Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied'', BWV 225.BWV^2a:

Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...

, Yoshitake Kobayashi (eds.), Kirsten Beißwenger. ''Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe, nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. Ausgabe''. Preface in English and German. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998. - , p. 228 Bach's four-part chorale settings are BWV 389 and 390.

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 ...

composed a

chorale fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for Pipe organ, organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Chorale cantata (Bach), Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a can ...

, BuxWV 212, in C major, and three organ preludes, BuxWV 213–215. An organ prelude was also written by

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 ...

English

It was translated in several languages, including "My Soul, now Praise thy Maker!" by Catherine Winkworth, published in her ''Chorale Book for England'' in 1863. J. C. Jacobi translated it in 1722 as "My soul! exalt the Lord thy God", H. Mills as “Now to the Lord sing praises", published in 1845.

References

External links

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Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren II (Johann Kugelmann)
ChoralWiki * {{Hymns and songs based on Psalms 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns based on Psalms Hymn tunes 1525 compositions