Heaven, light and blue
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Himmelsau, light and blue is a spiritual folk and children's song. It was first documented as a Catholic song for the veneration of the sacrament in 1767, but the character of the text suggests that it was written as early as the 17th century. Of the current church hymn books, it only contains the Evangelical Hymnbook (No. 507, marked as an ecumenical song), here without reference to the sacraments in the subject area "Nature and Seasons".
First receipt and reception
The hymn and prayer book Heil- und Helfs-Mittel zum active Christianity appeared in 1767 in Brüx in Bohemia and was intended for the students of the Josephine Monastery in Dresden , which was founded by the Queen-Electress Maria Josepha . According to the title page, it contained “new and old” chants, and the sacrament song should belong to the older ones, originating from the spirit of counter-Reformation popular mission . The connection between contemplation of creation and the veneration of the sacrament corresponds to the situation of the Corpus Christi procession .
The song already has seven stanzas in the first copy, and the text largely corresponds to what is in use today. Only the first line reads “Himmel-blau dich beschau”, and the penultimate stanza is about the “ hell- glow” and its “Schmertzen-rut”. The final line of each stanza reads "... so much honor this Sacrament". In the German Catholic chants from earlier times (Frankfurt am Main 1833) the “sky blue” became the “heaven au ” and the “hell glow” became the “sunshine”; the final request is "... so much be praised the sacrament!"
The reference to the adoration of the Eucharistic bread figure precluded a Protestant reception of the song. The change to "... so much praise our God" appears for the first time in the Catholic devotional book for virgins' associations, Fifty Easy Two-Part Songs, religious, sociable and exhilarating , which was printed in 1853 in the Lutheran Nuremberg . In 1860 the song can be found in harp sounds. A collection of sacred songs for mixed choir ( Basel / Biel ).
In folk song collections of the following decades, the song appears both with and without reference to the sacraments - with him in 1926 in Was singet und klinget. Songs of the youth ( Wülfingerode -Sollstedt). However, it hardly made it into official church hymn books. Exceptions include a. the diocesan chant books for Trier (1847) and Augsburg (1859).
Otto Riethmüller took the song in 1932 in the sacramentless version in his "Songbook for the German Protestant Youth" A new song . But it is not to be found in the Evangelical Church Hymn book (1950), which is otherwise strongly linked to Riethmüller. It was not until the Evangelical Hymn book of 1993, with its greater appreciation of the ecclesiastical people, that it had a place. It is missing in the praise of God editions of 1975 and 2013.
text
In a naive tone, the song looks at the innumerable “stars, dusts, grasses, twigs, droplets, sparkles, hours” and calls for this immeasurability of creation to be the measure of praise for the infinite Creator (or Jesus Christ present in the sacrament ) to take.
1. Heaven, light and blue, how many stars do you count?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
2. God's world, well ordered, how much do you count Stäublein?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
3. Sommerfeld, report to us too, how many do you count little grasses?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
4. Dark forest, green shape, how many twigs do you count?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
5. Deep sea, far around, how many do you count droplets?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
6. Sunshine, clear and pure, how much do you count sparkles?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
7. Eternity, long time, how many hours do you count?
Without number, my God should be praised so many times.
Melodies
The print from 1767 is a simple two-part added. The generally received today, loosened up with dots and melisms is provided in the Evangelical Hymn book with the indication "Luxemburg 1847". However, it can already be found in the festival calendar in 1835 in pictures and songs spiritual and secular by FG v. Pocci, G. Görres and their friends .
Trivia
Axel Hacke mentions in his book The White Negro Wumbaba (2004) the first line of the song as an example of childish text misunderstandings: " Himmelssau , light and blue, how many stars do you count ...?"
literature
- Wolfgang Herbst : 507 - Himmelsau, light and blue . In: Liederkunde zum Evangelisches Gesangbuch . No. 25 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-525-50348-5 , pp. 92–95 , doi : 10.13109 / 9783666503481.92 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
Web links
- Michael Fischer : Himmelsau light and blue (2007). In: Popular and Traditional Songs. Historical-critical song lexicon of the German Folk Song Archive