Well praise, my soul, gentlemen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Now praise, my soul, the gentlemen with melody and figured bass in Johann Crüger's practice Pietatis Melica (1653)
Kugelmann's melody and its presumed model

Now praise, my soul, the gentlemen is a Lutheran hymn . Johann Gramann wrote the text before 1540 as a copy of Psalm 103 . The melody ? / i was published by Hans Kugelmann in 1540 . Audio file / audio sample

Origin and reception

After Martin Luther had written the first Reformation psalm songs, various authors soon followed his example. According to a tradition traced back to Martin Chemnitz , it was Albrecht , the first Lutheran Duke of Prussia , who asked Gramann as early as 1525, i.e. at the same time as he was called to Königsberg , for a copy of Psalm 103; Albrecht also sang the song on his deathbed. Gustav Adolf of Sweden had it sung on April 24, 1632 at the first Lutheran service after the conquest of Augsburg . And on October 25, 1648, the people spontaneously voted on the market square of Osnabrück, Now praise, my dear, gentlemen , when the Peace of Westphalia was proclaimed. For centuries it was one of the most popular evangelical hymns and was often arranged musically. In addition to several chorale harmonizations (including for the cantata We thank you, God, we thank you , BWV 29), Johann Sebastian Bach created two contrapuntal motet movements ( BWV  28.2 and BWV 225.2) and a concertante solo movement ( BWV 51 .4).

content

In his four twelve-line stanzas, Gramann closely follows the biblical model. Like them, the song is an invitation to praise the Lord for all his benefits to his mortal creatures and to his people , first and foremost for the forgiveness of sins . The fifth stanza by an unknown author was added in 1555; it paraphrases the Gloria Patri with which every psalm ends in the Christian liturgies .

Text synopsis

Psalm 103 (Luther 1984)

Lyrics ( EG 289)

Praise the Lord, my soul,
and what is in me, his holy name!
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and do not forget what good he has done you:
who forgives you all your sins
and heals all your ailments,
who redeems your life from ruin,
who crowns you with grace and mercy,
who makes your mouth happy
and you'll grow young again like an eagle.
The Lord creates justice and justice for
all who suffer injustice.

1. Now praise, my soul, gentlemen,
what is in me, be the name.
He does more of his work,
do not forget it, my heart.
Has forgiven you your sin
and heals your weakness greatly,
save your poor life,
take you into his lap,
showered with rich comfort,
rejuvenated, like an eagle;
the Lord creates justice, protects,
those who suffer in his kingdom.

He let Moses know his ways,
the children of Israel his work.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
patient and of great kindness.
He will not quarrel
forever, nor remain angry forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins
and does not repay us for our iniquities.
For as high as heaven is above earth, he
lets his grace rule over those who fear him.
As far as morning is from evening, he
lets our transgressions be from us.

2. He has let us know
his glorious justice and his judgment,
in addition his goodness without measure,
there is no lack of mercy;
He lets his anger go,
does not punish according to our guilt,
he does not spare grace, he is kind to
the weak;
his goodness is exalted above those
who fear him;
so far from the east from evening,
our sin is gone.

As a father has pity on children,
so the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
Because he knows what kind of structure we are;
he remembers that we are dust.
A person is like grass in his life,
he blooms like a flower in the field;
when the wind blows over it, it is never there,
and it no longer knows its place.




3. As a man has pity on
his young children,
so the Lord cleanses us poor
if we fear him like children.
He knows what is poor
and knows that we are only dust,
a family that will soon wither,
a
flower and falling leaves: the wind only blows over it,
so it is never there,
so man passes away,
his end, that is near to him.

But the grace of the Lord
endures for ever and ever
over those who fear him,
and his righteousness on children’s children
with those who keep his covenant
and remember his commandments that they do it accordingly.
The Lord has established His throne in heaven
and His kingdom rules over everything.
Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty heroes, who give you his command,
that people should listen to the voice of his word!
Praise the Lord, all his hosts,
his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his rule!
Praise the Lord, my soul!

4. God's grace alone
is fixed and remains in eternity
with his dear G'meine,
who is ready in his fear,
who keep his covenant.
He rules in the kingdom of heaven.


You strong angels, do his praises
and at
the same time serve the great Lord in honor
and do his holy word!
My soul should also increase
its praise in every place.



Glory to the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit,
as in the beginning, so now and always
and forever.
Amen.







5. Be praised and praised with honor to
God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
He wants to increase in us
what he by grace promises us,
that we trust him firmly, base
ourselves entirely on him,
build on him from
our hearts, that our courage and mind
cling to him at all times. Then we
sing at the hour:
Amen, we will get it,
we believe from the bottom of our hearts.

melody

The melody, in an unclouded major and in a swinging 6/4 time, is underlaid to the psalm song for the first time in 1540 in Hans Kugelmann's Concentus novi trium vocum and is considered his creation. In doing so, Kugelmann probably assumed a shorter and simpler folk tune , which is only documented in the Strasbourg collection of Christian Reuterlieder in 1582 - there with the text Whoever God Will Right Trust  -, but is considered to be significantly older. This was combined in 1893 by Franz Magnus Böhme with the secular song text Weiß mir ein Blümleinblau, also from the 16th century , which is why this beginning of the song is mentioned in today's hymn books as a template for Kugelmann's melody.

literature

Web links

Commons : Well praise, gentlemen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ hymnary.org (English)
  2. ↑ digitized version
  3. ↑ Frauke Schmitz-Gropengiesser: Weiß mir ein Blümleinblaue (2013). In: Popular and Traditional Songs. Historical-critical song lexicon of the German Folk Song Archive
  4. ↑ Ludwig Erk , Franz Magnus Böhme (Ed.): Deutscher Liederhort . Second volume. Breitkopf and Härtel, Leipzig 1893, p. 198 f. ( Digitized version ).
  5. ↑ so on EG 289