Open the door

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Melody by Georg Weissel (1642)
Open the door in Freylinghausen's hymn book, 17th edition, 1734
Open the door ; five-part movement by Max Reger

Makes up the door, the door makes far is in East Prussia Resulting hymn from the 17th century. It belongs both in the Protestant Church ( Evangelical Hymn Book No. 1), in the Roman Catholic Church ( Praise of God No. 218; Praise of God old No. 107), in the New Apostolic Church , as well as in many Protestant Free Churches ( FL No. 179 , MG No. 233) is one of the best-known and most popular Advent songs and has also been translated into other languages, for example in 1853 byCatherine Winkworth into English under the title Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates . The text comes from Georg Weissel (1590–1635) and was written in 1623 on the occasion of the inauguration of the Altroßgärter Church in Königsberg . The melody associated with the text today was first found in Freylinghausen's hymn book (1704).

text

1. Open the door, the gate opens wide;
the Lord of glory comes,
a King of all kingdoms,
a Savior of all the world at the same time,
who brings salvation and life with him;
therefore cheer, sing with joy:
Praise be to my God,
my Creator rich in advice.

2. He is righteous, worth a helper;
Meekness is his companion,
his royal crown is holiness,
his scepter is mercy;
He brings all our distress to an end,
therefore rejoicing, singing with joy:
Praise be to my God,
my Savior, great with deed.

3. Oh well the country, oh well the city,
if this king has with him.
Well all hearts in common,
since this King is moving in.
He is the real
sun of joy, brings with him a lot of joy and joy.
Praise be to my God,
my comforter early and late.

4.
Open the door, the gate opens wide, your heart ready for the temple.
The twig of godliness
is put on with devotion, lust and joy;
so the king also comes to you,
yes, salvation and life with you at the same time.
Praise my God,
full of advice, full of action, full of grace.

5. Come, O my Savior Jesus Christ, the
door of my heart is open to you.
Oh, come in with your grace;
Your friendliness also appears to us.
Your Holy Spirit guides us and guides
the way to eternal bliss.
To your name, O Lord,
be eternal praise and honor.

Origin of the text

The - no longer preserved - Altroßgärter Church in Königsberg, for the inauguration of which in 1623 Georg Weissel wrote the song text Power up the door

The Königsberg pastor Georg Weissel wrote the lyrics based on Psalm 24 in 1623 for the solemn inauguration of the newly built Altroßgärter Church in Pregelstadt. It took place on the 2nd Sunday in Advent . One Sunday later, Weissel was introduced here as the first clergyman, and for the occasion he wrote the song Such, who wants there, another goal (EG 346).

A widespread story brings the song together with a Mr. Sturgis, who is said to have blocked a path to the church that led from the poor house over his property and who is said to have been persuaded by Weissel to reopen the locked gate by singing this song.

Text, form and content

Depiction of the entry of the ark into the temple

The song begins with a quote from Psalm 24 based on Martin Luther's translation : “Open the gates and open the doors of the world so that the King of Honor may enter!” Originally the biblical text belongs to an Israelite liturgy at the celebration the entry of the ark into the temple, i.e. the entry of God into his people. The church picked up the text early on and in Advent awaited the “King of Honor” with the cry “Power up the door, the gate opens wide”.

At the time of their creation, the verses Psalm 24,7-10, LUT  EU as well as the story about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem ( Mt 21,1-9  LUT ) with the quotation Zech 9,9  LUT incorporated in them were in the consciousness of the evangelical church long associated with the 1st Sunday of Advent ; To this day, the biblical texts are intended as psalm or as the Sunday gospel of that day.

In terms of form and content, the first four stanzas belong closely together. In verses 1 and 2, the focus is on the image of the king moving in; in verses 3 and 4 it is the places where he moves in. These are becoming more and more personal: from the “world” to “country” and “city” to the “heart” of the individual. The king himself is described in verse 1 in terms such as “glory”, a universal king (“king of all kingdoms”) who brings “salvation” and “life”. The terms "meekness," "holiness," and "mercy" (verse 2) describe the king in more detail. Its arrival is cause for joy.

This king moves into “country” and “city” - that is, into public life (stanza 3), but also into the private, personal area: into the “heart”, which reacts with “joy” and “bliss”. It is about “your heart” and the entry “to you” (stanza 4), and the opening of man to the king is expected.

The four stanzas are connected by the refrain : “Praise be to my God”; it is the hymn of praise from a single person who joins the singing of many people. These last two lines each form a trinitarian invocation: In the first three stanzas God is praised as "Creator" (= Father), "Savior" (= Son) and "Comforter" (= Holy Spirit); in the fourth stanza all three attributes come together: "full of advice, full of action, full of grace."

In stanza 5 the image of the king is left and the other title is chosen, which is already mentioned in stanzas 1 and 2: "My Savior Jesus Christ". A personal relationship is established with him, it is about “my heart” and the language changes to a prayer: “Come, O my Savior Jesus Christ”. The words "your Holy Spirit lead and guide us " show that such a request means all people . This verse ends with the praise of God.

melody

The text found its catchy melody, which is also popular beyond the German-speaking world, late. The original setting of Macht hoch die Tür is a choral setting by Johann Stobäus (1580–1646), who also ran the new edition of the Preussische Fest-Lieder published in 1598 for the whole year for 5–8 voices by Johannes Eccard (1553–1611) , in the first part of which it is printed in 1642. However, this melody could not prevail.

The hymn book written by Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (1670–1739) in 1704 contained another melody that quickly replaced the previous one, as it seemed to be tailored to the text. She owes the song its popular popularity, which makes people like it and often sing it during Advent, and not only in Germany.

Further use

Straighten the lyrics of the song of Power up the door from stanzas 2, 3 and 5 - in that order - Paul Ernst Ruppel (1913-2006) took over in 1955 and composed it as a three-stanza canon for three voices He is the right Freudensonn (EG 2).

Parts of the song are also in the songs Henkersbraut by Subway to Sally and Celebrate the Cross by Oomph! to find.

Translations

Translated into Danish, "Gør døren høj, gør porten vid ...", rewritten and expanded to 7 stanzas by Niels Johannes Holm in 1829 and since 1845 in Danish church hymn books with a melody "Genève [Geneva] 1551"; edited by Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig in Kirke-Aaret i Salme-Sang (Salmer og aandelige Sange III.) (the church year in hymns, hymns and sacred songs Volume 3; texts without melodies), Copenhagen 1873, No. 27 (“Gjør Døren høj, gjør Porten vid… “). Recorded according to an independent tradition in Sønderjylland in the Danish church hymn book , Den Danske Salmebog , Copenhagen 1953, No. 71, and in the current hymn book, Den Danske Salmebog , Copenhagen 2002, No. 84. Also in the hymn book of the Danish folk high school movement, Højskolesangbogen , 18 Edition, Copenhagen 2006, No. 215 (references to Weissel 1642, Holm 1829 and melody “Genève 1551”; no reference to the German song).

literature

  • Werner Krause: The Lord of Glory is coming. How the Advent song "Power up the door" came about . 4th edition. Johannis, Lahr 2004, ISBN 3-501-18304-6 .
  • Martin Gotthard Schneider , Gerhard Vicktor (ed.): Old chorales - re-experienced. Creative use of hymns in schools and congregations . Kaufmann, Lahr 1993, ISBN 3-7806-2277-7 , p. 144 ff.
  • Christa Reich : 1 - Open the door . In: Gerhard Hahn , Jürgen Henkys (Hrsg.): Liederkunde zum Evangelisches Gesangbuch . No. 1 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-50319-9 , pp. 52–57 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  • Karl Christian Thust: The songs of the Evangelical Hymn book , Volume I: Church year and service (EG 1–269). Commentary on genesis, text and music . Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-7618-2245-6 , pp. 10-12.

Web links

Commons : Open the door  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikibooks: Songbook / Open the door  - sheet music for the song

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Evangelical hymn book . Edition for the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Bavaria and Thuringia. 2nd Edition. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria V., Munich 1995, ISBN 3-583-12100-7 , p. 31 f.
  2. ↑ Praise to God . Catholic prayer and hymn book. Edition for the Diocese of Limburg. Lahn, Kevelaer 2013, ISBN 978-3-7840-0204-0 .
  3. ↑ Praise to God . Catholic prayer and hymn book. Edition for the Diocese of Limburg. Josef Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1975, ISBN 3-7820-0537-6 , p. 188 f.
  4. ↑ Hymnal of the New Apostolic Church - Song No. 1 on nak-gesangbuch.de
  5. ^ Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates
  6. ↑ a b Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen : Spirit-rich song book . 3. Edition. Orphanage, Hall 1706, p. 7 f. ( Digitized in the Google book search).
  7. ↑ This is said to have happened in 1624 [1] or 1642 [[[Category: Wikipedia: Weblink offline]]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )], or even the first time the song was sung predigt-eichendorf.de .@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.ev-kirche-plieningen-hohenheim.de
  8. ↑ Johannes Eccard : First Part of the Prussian Festival Songs , Elbing 1642. Reprint, ed. by Gustav Wilhelm Teschner . Breitkopf & Härtel 1858, pp. 4–5 ( digitized version ).
  9. ↑ Konrad Klek: 2 - He is the right sun of joy . In: Gerhard Hahn , Jürgen Henkys (Hrsg.): Liederkunde zum Evangelisches Gesangbuch . No. 5 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2002, ISBN 3-525-50326-1 , pp. 3 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  10. ↑ Cf. Otto Holzapfel : Lied index: The older German-language popular song tradition ( online version on the Volksmusikarchiv homepage of the Upper Bavaria district ; in PDF format; ongoing updates) with further information.