Markus Jenny

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Markus Jenny (born June 1, 1924 in Stein SG , Canton St. Gallen , Switzerland ; † January 22, 2001 in Zurich ) was a Swiss Protestant theologian , church musician , eminent liturgist , hymnologist and hymn poet.

Life

The pastor's son Markus Jenny spent his school days in Chur, the capital of the canton of Graubünden, and studied theology at the Universities of Basel and Zurich from 1944 to 1950 . At the same time he took part in musicology courses. In 1955 he was awarded a Dr. theol. and in 1968 he completed his habilitation at the University of Zurich with a thesis on "The Unity of the Communion Service among the Alsatian and Swiss Reformers".

From 1950 to 1956 Jenny worked as a parish priest in Saas im Prättigau ( Canton of Graubünden ) and from 1956 to 1963 in Weinfelden ( Canton of Thurgau ). From 1963 to 1973 he was pastor at the institute for epileptics in Zurich, then until 1989 parish pastor in Ligerz ( Canton of Bern ). In addition to this pastoral office, as the representative of the German-speaking Swiss Church Conference for liturgy and hymnology, he took on various tasks in theological and church music training, in research and publication, and in hymnbook and liturgy work. From 1996 he lived in Effretikon ( Canton of Zurich ).

Act

In addition to his work as a pastor, Markus Jenny initially devoted himself to hymn book and liturgical research in the century of the Reformation . In 1962 he received his doctorate with a thesis on the German-speaking Swiss hymn books from the 16th century and wrote his habilitation thesis on the Last Supper liturgy in the Upper German and Swiss Reformation. He also worked on critical editions of the songs by Martin Luther (1985) and Ulrich Zwingli (1991). In 1963 he initiated the publication of Das deutsche Kirchenlied (DKL) with Konrad Ameln and Walther Lipphardt . As early as 1959 he was involved with Konrad Ameln in founding the International Working Group on Hymnology (IAH) and was its president from 1967 to 1985.

Markus Jenny worked for the renewal and improvement of liturgy and church music in Switzerland. In the 1950s he worked in the working group for church music, was a board member of the Swiss Church Choir from 1966 to 1993 and from 1975 to 1989 he was president of the liturgy commission of the Evangelical Reformed Churches in German-speaking Switzerland.

From 1965 to 1974 Jenny edited the magazine Der Evangelische Kirchenchor and until 1983 music and worship . As a lecturer in liturgy and hymnology, he worked at the University of Zurich and the Zurich School of Cantors, at the conservatories in Bern and Biel, and in the choral conducting courses of the church choir. In 1971, together with Edwin Nievergelt and Robert Tobler, he founded the New Singing Group in the Church , which published the youth hymn book Kumbaya in 1980 .

The hymnbook work had a prominent role in Jenny's life's work. For the hymn book of the Evangelical Reformed Churches in German-speaking Switzerland from 1952, for example, he brought the indications of origin for texts and melodies up to date in his subsequent editions. In the working group for ecumenical songs he worked since 1969 on the basis for future church hymn books. Through his work in the commissions for the Catholic hymn book Gotteslob (1975) and the Swiss Roman Catholic hymn book (1998), he was able to realize his special concern of joint Christian-ecumenical church chant. The preparation and development of the Swiss Reformed hymn book (1998) shaped his hymnological work for years.

By 1996 Jenny put together an extensive collection of hymn books, especially from Switzerland, which was then transferred to a foundation and made available to the public.

Hymn book songs

Songs edited by him can be found today in several church hymn books. The song Gott hat the first word , which is based on the Dutch model by Jan Wit, is represented in the main part of the German Evangelical Hymnbook (EG 199) as well as in the Mennonite Hymnal (MG 407). He also contributed the third verse to the song Help, Lord of My Life by Gustav Lohmann (EG 419, MG 102, also in the GL 440, GL old 622). In many national church editions of the Evangelical Hymn book, the texts of the songs, based on Swedish models, are included in the songs Far like the sea is God's great love (other text: Lord, your love is like grass and banks ) and you cannot see wind (also MG 323) been.

In the Catholic praise of God (GL old ) from 1975 there were four transmissions of songs by Markus Jenny from 1971, three of them still in the new praise of God (GL) from 2013:

For Thurmair's epiphany song from 1971 See, your light will come , Jenny created the melody in the same year (GL old 147). Also included in the praise of God is Jenny's canon Open up and be light (GL 219).

Fonts

  • History of the German-Swiss Protestant hymn book in the 16th century. Bärenreiter, Basel 1962. (Dissertation)
  • Zwingli's position on music in church services. Zwingli Verlag, Zurich 1966. ( Series of publications by the Working Group for Protestant Church Music, Volume 3).
  • The unity of the sacrament service among the Alsatian and Swiss reformers. Zwingli Verlag, Zurich / Stuttgart 1968. ( Studies on the history of dogmas and systematic theology, Volume 23).
  • The future of evangelical church chant. Theological Verlag, Zurich 1970. ( Series of publications by the Working Group for Protestant Church Music, Volume 4).
  • A Heidelberg choir book from 1766. Stauda, ​​Kassel 1970. ( Yearbook for Liturgy and Hymnology, 1970, Volume 15, pp. 159–169).
  • New singing in church. Theological Publishing House, Zurich 1971.
  • Paul Gerhardt: Way and Effect. Gotthelf, Zurich 1976. (Music and worship. 1976, issue 3 & 4).
  • The German hymn. Volume 1, Part 2. - Register. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1980, ISBN 3-7618-0590-X . ( Répertoire International des Sources Musicales ).
  • Luther, Zwingli, Calvin in their songs. Theological Publishing House, Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-290-11530-5 .
  • Martin Luther: Spiritual songs and church chants. Complete new edition in addition to volume 35 of the Weimar edition . Böhlau, Cologne [a. a.] 1985, ISBN 3-412-02284-5 . ( Archive for the Weimar edition of the works of Martin Luther, Volume 4).

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Jenny, Markus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Protestant theologian, church musician, important liturgist, hymnologist and hymn poet
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Stein SG , Canton of St. Gallen , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 2001
Place of death Zurich