Hymnological Studies

From St. Bernard of Clairvaux we have such great hymns as “Light of the anxious heart,” “Wide open are Thy hands,” “O Jesus, King most wonderful,” “Jesus, the very thought of Thee,” “Jesus, Thou Joy of loving hearts,” and “O Sacred Head, now wounded.” St. Bernard was born in Fountaines, Burgundy, 1091. History speaks of him as highly imaginative, great champion of the faith, great orator, great teacher, founder and abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux, and leader in mediaeval mysticism. He died in 1153. Luther called him “the best monk that ever lived.” Hymns from the two Bernards can be found in any standard modern hymn book and they are worth careful study.

Adam of St. Victor (twelfth century) is another important Latin hymnist. He was choirmaster at the great St. Victor monastery at Paris. Trench speaks of him as “the foremost among the sacred Latin poets of the Middle Ages.”

Thomas of Celano, whose birthplace is unknown, was one of the first members of the Franciscan order. In 1221 he went to Germany and remained there for nine years; then he returned to Italy, where he died in 1255. Thomas of Celano wrote the greatest hymn of the Latin Church—Dies Irae. There are nineteen verses to this great Sequence, of which we quote the first two. The translation is by Wm. J. Irons.

Thomas Aquinas was born in a Neapolitan castle, Italy, about 1225. He was a Dominican and the strongest of the scholastics, theological professor at several universities, Doctor of Theology from Paris, also called Doctor Angelicus. He was a prolific writer; his Summa Theologiae is a great dogmatic work. He died in a prominent monastery at Naples in 1274. Thomas Aquinas produced a number of excellent hymns. His “Lauda, Sion, salvatorem” is generally regarded as one of the greatest hymns of Latin hymnody. It can be found in almost any standard hymnal, beginning “Sion, to thy Saviour singing.”

Jacoponus (died 1306) wrote one of the greatest hymns of the Roman Church, namely, Stabat Mater Dolorosa. This hymn is found in many Protestant hymnals, beginning “At the Cross her station keeping.” Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) of Holland and John Huss (1369-1415) of Bohemia, made valuable contributions to mediaeval hymnody.

These Latin hymn writers have produced hymns which are characterized by deep ardor, great love of Christ, and soul-stirring earnestness. The Latin church hymnody is very wealthy indeed; more than 20,000 Latin church hymns have been discovered. Of these Latin hymns we have appropriated a large number of beautiful festival church hymns. Their form is very plain. Without any comment the festival subject is presented in a very plain and simple statement of the event in question. The singer loses himself in his subject; there is nothing here of self-assertion. Note such hymns as “A great and mighty wonder,” “All praise to Thee, Eternal Lord,” “The strife is o’er, the battle done,” “Christ, the Lord, is ris’n today,” “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia,” etc.

Mightily through the ages sound the hymns of penance and judgment; perhaps too strong at times. Note that mighty and most powerful hymn, Dies irae, dies illa. But the mediaeval hymnody is not without the evangelical spirit; this is clearly seen in our hymn books, especially in the Communion hymns. In spite of magic and abuse, it was nevertheless in the Holy Communion that the true Christian of the Middle Ages came closest to Christ. Note two mediaeval Communion hymns:

This hymn comes from John Huss and was translated by Martin Luther. The other Communion hymn is “Jesu dulcis memoria,” probably by St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

It is a very difficult task to translate these old Latin hymns; much is lost by the translation. It is not an easy matter to construct a bridge between the great glow of St. Bernard’s mysticism and the powerful, yet cold faith of the seventeenth century. If “Jesu dulcis memoria” was not written by St. Bernard, it must have been written by one of his devout pupils. We are here at the very fountain-head of Christian poetry, so closely related to the Song of Solomon, i. e., it presents the relation of the faithful to Christ—the love of the bride to the bridegroom. From this circle came the great hymn “O Sacred Head, now wounded,” translated and perfected by Paul Gerhardt.

No wonder that the schools and cathedrals clung so tenaciously to the old Latin hymnody. It exerted great influence. Too bad, indeed, that we have permitted this Latin song to become extinct. Perhaps our taste in things religious would not have declined so low, and religious song would not have come to be despised so generally, had our good leaders realized that there are better things than American jazz.

MEDIAEVAL GERMAN HYMNS

Along with this Latin-clerical church song there existed in the Germanic mediaeval Church a religious popular poetry or congregational song. Under the hierarchic autocracy of the Gregorian song it had gone so far that the active participation of the congregation in public worship was reduced to a joining only in the response Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy upon us), repeated one hundred or more times at any one church service. But in the sad tones of this Kyrie Eleison, this cry for compassion from a people spiritually oppressed and enslaved, there emerged in the Germanic mediaeval Church the first attempts at congregational song in the vernacular. At the close of the ninth century they began to supply the tune of the mechanically repeated Kyrie Eleison with religious verses in the language of the people. Every verse of these songs ended with the refrain Kyrie Eleison. Thus arose the first German church hymns called Kirleison or Leisen, as they had grown out of and ended with the Kyrie Eleison.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when significant religious awakenings and the Crusades (1096-1273) stirred up great enthusiasm among the people, these German hymns took on new life and gained great favor among the people. These religious songs of the people were used more and more freely both in public worship and at other religious and secular festive occasions. Some of these mediaeval German hymns or Leisen are: Also heilig ist der Tag; Mitten wir im Leben sind; Christ ist erstanden; Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist. One of the best of these Leisen is,

But even though the people sang these hymns in the church services, such singing was merely tolerated and had no set place. These German hymns of the people were different from the Latin hymns of the cloisters. They possess a more simple, popular and hearty key-note, though their form may be poor and their style rugged. But these hymns, with their singable tunes, were greatly loved by the people, and so they lived and thrived in the hearts of the common people during the deplorable times and conditions of the mediaeval Church. The secular Minnesingers (thirteenth century) and the Meistersingers (fourteenth century) exerted considerable influence upon German hymnody, especially with respect to poetic form and music. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the “Brethren of the Common Life” (Netherlands) and the significant religious movements associated with John Wycliffe and John Huss gave to hymnody in the vernacular a powerful revival and a purer evangelical content. Desirable Latin hymns were translated and new hymns in the vernacular were written. The Germans and the Bohemians possessed, before 1500, about five hundred church hymns in the vernacular. In the fifteenth century the Bohemians sang these hymns in the regular church services.

MEDIAEVAL SCANDINAVIAN HYMNODY

Because of the close connection which existed in mediaeval times between Germanic countries and peoples,—a natural outcome of their racial affinity,—it was quite natural that the movements of mediaeval hymnody in Germany would become known among the people of the North. The Swedish mediaeval Church possessed a hymnody both in Latin and in Swedish. Only a very few of the Swedish mediaeval religious songs remain to-day. These popular religious songs, like secular folk songs and ballads, were transmitted not in writing but as a living tradition on the lips of the people from generation to generation. Thus only very few of these old Swedish religious songs have survived the century of the Reformation. By way of example we may note the old mediaeval song, “The blessed day which we behold”—this is found in all Swedish Lutheran hymn books. It existed in the fourteenth century. In its present form it has been greatly improved by the greatest of Swedish hymnologists, J. O. Wallin. Ericus Olai is the only known Swedish hymn writer of mediaeval times. One of his hymns, “The Rich Man,” a metrical paraphrase of the Gospel lesson which deals with the rich man and Lazarus, Olaus Petri, the great Swedish reformer, included in the first Swedish Lutheran hymn book. It was also included in the Swedish Lutheran hymn book of 1695. An interesting and valuable testimony concerning the fact that also in the Swedish mediaeval Church the people were allowed to sing in public worship, is found in the answer that King Gustavus I gave to the complaint of the Dalecarlians, in 1527. Among other things, the king says that “it is an old custom in our country, in our churches, to sing in Swedish and praise God, and it is well that this is done in our own language, which we understand, and not in Latin, which we do not understand.”

THE SEQUENCES

The Sequences were religious liturgical songs, which developed from the florid vocalizations upon the last syllable of the Hallelujah. At first only a melody or tune with words, but later on it became an art form both in music and in sacred poetry. Musically often of finer quality than the hymn. The Sequences usually consisted of two verses, three lines to each verse, with the same melody for each of the two verses. The form seems to have originated at the convent of St. Gall in Switzerland, about 875 A. D. During the later part of the mediaeval era the Sequences became very popular, and the number of Sequences that were sung in the Catholic Church reached nearly one thousand. The church music decisions of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) operated very strongly against the Sequences, and so they practically disappeared about 1570. Only five Sequences were retained, namely, Victime paschali laudes, Veni Sancte Spiritus, Lauda Sion salvatorem, Stabat Mater dolorosa, and Dies Irae.

ST. GALL

We close our study of mediaeval hymnody with a story about St. Gall. St. Gall is a very remarkable old monastery. Men of quite different minds and dispositions got along very amicably under the Benedictine rule at St. Gall. Among its one hundred monks there were in the ninth century four monks whose names were well known throughout the Western Church, namely, the learned Ratpert, the enthusiastic Notker, the highly gifted and greatly admired artist Tutilo, and the unrivalled hand-printer of books, Sintram, whose very beautiful handwriting was greatly admired throughout Europe. Ratpert, a stern educator, never sparing the rod, and not deeply interested in his devotional exercises—a great scholar. Notker Balbulus (stammerer), the saint-like, ascetic tune-writer and plant specialist, who had strange visions and lived in another world—a dreamer. Then there was also the ingenious, humorous Tutilo. These three monks were as different as three highly gifted persons could be, and yet they were always as one soul. Ratpert respected Tutilo’s fine scholarship; at night they were often found with Notker Balbulus in the writing-room, comparing and improving the works that Sintram was about to copy. Notker who wrote many fine hymn tunes, wanted them sung by Tutilo who was a good singer and clever performer upon several musical instruments. Tutilo wrote several excellent hymn tunes, and he also produced several noble hymns of which the most popular are Hodie cantandus, Viri Galilei, and Gaudete et cantate.

Notker’s genuine affection for Tutilo was not disturbed by Tutilo’s good-natured submission to unreasonable monastic regulations, which Notker regarded as symbolically significant. The Benedictine regulations were meant for the monasteries of southern Italy, and did not suit the convent of St. Gall very well. A midday nap was one of the Benedictine regulations, and so the monks of St. Gall had to retire and sleep two or three hours at midday every day. The Benedictine rule prescribed a diet of fish, fruit and vegetables—the usual diet of southern Italy. But fish and fruit were difficult to secure at St. Gall; meat, which was plentiful, was forbidden. And so the diet of St. Gall consisted mainly of pulse and pap. Notker who was the guardian of the discipline of the monastery, never had an occasion to bring up any reproach against Tutilo. Tutilo observed the midday nap, and flavoured with merriment the monotonous diet which maintained his splendid mortal clay.

SECTION V
LUTHERAN HYMNOLOGY
1520—

The Reformation of the sixteenth century put life into congregational hymn singing. Before this time it had been heard only in strains, broken, timid, and vague. The Reformation endowed congregational hymn singing with a sonorousness and power, as never before in the history of the Church. One of the main principles of the Reformation was that all Christians, as a spiritual priesthood (Rev. 1:6 and 1 Pet. 2:5), are privileged and obliged to approach God and bring Him their offering, without human mediators and deputies, only because of the merits of Christ, the one true mediator; and this not only individually in private life but also in public worship. The Reformation brought into play all serviceable forces and means to promote and make possible the realization of this principle in the cultus. The reformers sought to make the liturgy intelligible and accessible to the common people—for the Latin they substituted the language of the people, and the congregation was given an opportunity to take an active part in public worship. It was perfectly natural that church song could not remain in its mediaeval form, an exclusive privilege of the clergy, but be transferred to the people. And so popular church hymns were produced. Luther became the leader also in this great work. What kind of hymns he wanted, is quite clearly seen in one of his letters to the electoral court chaplain, Spalatin, whom he called upon to assist in this hymnological work: “I am willing to make German psalms for the people, after the example of the prophets and the ancient fathers; that is, spiritual hymns whereby the Word of God, through singing, may conserve itself among the people.” Later on in the same letter, he makes the following suggestion: “I desire, however, that new-fangled words, and courtly expressions, be omitted, in order that the language may be the simplest and most familiar to the people, and yet, at the same time, pure, and well suited to the clear sense of the psalm.” Such church hymns, thoroughly Biblical and at the same time popular, the great reformer wanted for the people. And Luther produced several church hymns, which have never been surpassed and rarely equaled. He translated and versified Davidic Psalms; he translated and revised old Latin hymns; he revised several old religious folk songs; and he wrote several original hymns. He was not alone in this hymnological work; many able assistants came forward. Thus the great Lutheran hymnody began.[1]

The outstanding merit of these church hymns is that they proclaim and extol God’s great works of love, in words and strains that burst forth from the very soul of the people—immediately they became the property of the people. As silent and yet as most eloquent witnesses of evangelical truth, these hymns made their way even to distant lands and awakened the languishing hearts of the people to new life, to joy and praise. The annals of the Reformation are rich in the most remarkable testimonies concerning these things, how the Lutheran hymns powerfully conquered the love of the people and how the people heartily sang them in the churches and in the homes, in weal and woe. And this great legacy from the Reformation era, the Lutheran Church has preserved, used well, and richly increased. The church hymn is the special glory of the Lutheran Church. No church communion can be compared to the Lutheran Church in this respect. Not without reason has the Lutheran Church been called the singing church.

MARTIN LUTHER

When we think of the Lutheran hymnody from the historical point of view, we must dwell, if but briefly, on its classical formation in the motherland of the Lutheran Church, Germany. Something permanent and peculiarly typical is present in the hymnody of the Reformation days.

With respect to Luther himself, his best hymns are our most precious possession. “Ein’ feste Burg” is known the world over. Christians everywhere are familiar with it.

At first Luther did not seem to be aware of his poetical gifts. It was not until in July, 1523, when two Belgian martyrs of the Lutheran Church had been burnt at the stake, that Luther’s first poetical product came into existence—in the folk song style. This song, “Ein neues Lied wir heben an,” spread very rapidly throughout Germany. Soon thereafter came two hymns, one about penance, and one about faith: “Out of the depths I cry to Thee” and “Dear Christians one and all rejoice.” They were supplied with tunes and spread very rapidly throughout the land.

1524 was the hymn-year of the Reformation. 24 of Luther’s 37 hymns appeared in various publications. “Ein’ feste Burg” seems to belong to the year 1527. Luther’s musical assistants were Conrad Rupf and Johann Walther. It is said that while these two musicians sat at the table, busy with the writing of the music, Luther walked about the large room and tried the tunes, singing them, or playing them on his flute. When we stop to consider what was then formed and created, we see clearly that this is a historical situation of epoch-making significance. Luther at the church door in Wittenberg, Luther at Worms, at Wartburg, in his home; so also Luther with his musical friends, creating or remodelling poetry and music for the new Church—a central figure in the history of the Church.

To characterize Luther’s hymns is no easy task, because of their richness. Luther’s soul possessed an enormous span of faith and spiritual life. It experienced the mediaeval thunder-tones of judgment as well as the brightness of the Gospel. Compare, for example, the two hymns, “Though in midst of life we be” and “Dear Christians one and all rejoice.” Compare the following stanza from “Ein feste Burg,”

with one of the stanzas from “Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her”,

It is obvious that in “Dear Christians one and all rejoice”—Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein—we have the outline of Luther’s entire experience of faith, from the moment he felt himself condemned by God till he could triumph in songs of praise. This hymn forms a very clear parallel to his exposition of the Second Article.

Most of Luther’s hymns ought to be found in our English Lutheran hymn books. They are noble church hymns—all Lutherans should know them. The Church Militant is one of Luther’s chief subjects. Note his great heroic hymn “Ein feste Burg.” Note also one of his last hymns:

Powerful and courageous Lutheran hymns! Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein—Look down, O Lord, from heaven behold—seems to be as valid against the disintegrating subjectivism and super-culture of our time as against the age in which it was born, which dissolved God’s kingdom and divine will at pleasure and put uncontrolled human will in their place. Whether this refers to clericalism and papism or modern culture and mass dominion, makes little or no difference; the result in both cases is destruction.

Nearly all of Luther’s hymns close with words of praise—note this consciousness of communion with Christ. Take for example the last stanza of “Christ lag in Todesbanden”:

We recommend a careful study of “Luther’s Hymns” by James F. Lambert.

GERMAN HYMNODY

The history of German hymnody after 1500 may be divided into five periods: 1) the foundation period, including the time of the Reformation and down to the close of the sixteenth century; 2) the period of prosperity, from about 1600 to about 1700; 3) the period of subjectivism, embracing the time from 1700 to 1750; 4) the period of decline, from 1750 to about 1820; 5) a time of renovation and general development, from about 1820 to about 1900.

To present a clear, yet reasonably complete, survey of the history of the church hymn in Germany during the century of the Reformation, is not an easy task. The period is rich in victories and reverses. It embraces not only the first victories of the new Church but also the Counter-Reformation with its regaining of lost ground. It includes the sad story of the internal struggles of the early Lutheran Church, which resulted in dissension and weakness, bitterness and discouragement. All this is reflected in the hymnody of the Church. The sixteenth century produced many great hymnists, to whom we are greatly indebted. Luther’s hymns alone would form a valuable little hymn book. But it would be still more valuable, if we included in it the best Lutheran church hymns of the entire century. A hymn book containing all the great Lutheran church hymns of the sixteenth century—a remarkable Lutheran hymn book.

The Reformation hymnody possesses a preponderatingly objective character. Definite and true evangelical faith is its keynote. Christ’s redemption and the sinner’s justification by faith are the outstanding expressions in this hymnody. The human and the individual, the subjective, receives a secondary place. In fact there is hardly any indication in this hymnody of a proper coalescence of the subjective and the objective. A great many of the hymns are translations of old Greek and Latin hymns. But the thoughts are hearty, vigorous, powerful, and serious. The outward form is simple, even faulty at times. Yet it is the song of earnest and sincere Christians.

The foremost hymnist of this period is, of course, Martin Luther. Other great hymnists of this period are Justus Jonas, Paul Eber, Paul Speratus, Nikolaus Decius, Lazarus Spengler, Nikolaus Hermann, Barthol. Ringwaldt, and Nikolaus Selnecker. Michael Weiss of Bohemia belongs to this period, because he produced a number of excellent German translations of church hymns which had been in use among the followers of John Huss.

The second period of German hymnody, the seventeenth century, may be regarded as one of great prosperity. In it the objective and the subjective seem to attain a fine balance. The church hymn now comes more directly from the soul of the communion of the faithful. In form and expression there is healthy progress. A very fine type of lyrical poetry develops. During the first years of this period we note such excellent hymnists as L. Helmbold, Martin Schalling, Valerius Herberger, and Philipp Nicolai. Among hymn writers during the hard times of the Thirty Years War, who produced excellent hymns of consolation, powerful hymns, we note especially John Heermann, Paul Fleming, J. M. Meyfart, Martin Rinkart, John Rist, and Simon Dach. The objective-subjective hymnody of the seventeenth century, in its purest and noblest form, is to be found in the hymns of Paul Gerhardt, writer of more than one hundred hymns, in which the ardor and fervor of Christian subjectivity attained a most happy union with the firm evangelical faith and the noble popular elements of the Reformation period. He is one of the greatest German hymn writers, if not the greatest. With him we note Georg Neumark, J. Franck, and M. Schirmer.

The third period, from the end of the seventeenth century to about 1750, may be called the age of subjective hymnody. To this period belong such great hymn writers as Johann Scheffler (Angelus Silesius) and Countess Ludemilia Elisabeth of Schwartzburg-Rudolstadt. Both of these hymn writers are quite strongly inclined towards sound Mysticism. At the opening of the eighteenth century, Pietism brought about a great awakening in hymn writing. Several of the followers of Spener and Francke produced a large number of devotional hymns which are full of sound and sincere piety in simple and noble form. To this group of hymn writers belong Samuel Rodigast, Gottfried Arnold, Johann Freylinghausen, Herrnschmidt, Richter, Countess Emilie Juliane of Schwartzburg, J. J. Rambach, and Woltersdorf. In this connection we must also mention Gerhard Tersteegen, a preacher without a church, and a leader among “awakened souls.” The followers of J. A. Bengel, or the so-called Bible Theologians, produced a number of fine devotional hymns. Leading hymn writers in this group are Johann Mentzer and Phillip Friedrich Hiller. Count Zinzendorf, the great leader among the Herrnhuters, or Moravian Brethren, wrote a number of excellent hymns. Besides these hymnological fruits of Pietism, the orthodox tendency did not remain unproductive. Pietism exerted considerable influence upon the orthodox hymnody. To this group of orthodox hymn writers belong Erdmann Neumeister, Benjamin Schmolck, and Salomo Franck. Towards the middle of the eighteenth century a dull and degraded Pietism began to react upon sacred poetry. A sound and vigorous tone was superseded by the subjective and lyrical effusions of the individual. The hymns began to treat more and more of personal feelings and soul experiences, of events and situations in private life. A number of poor hymn books appeared. Public taste for the right kind of church song was spoiled. This paved the way for a hymnological revolution, brought about mainly by Rationalism, during the last half of the eighteenth century.

The fourth period, the era of decline, includes the last half of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth. This is the time of the destructive influences of Neologism or Rationalism in Germany. German hymnody suffered. Rationalism is a denial of positive Christian life, and lacks sympathy for the primitive, the simple, and the popular. It cannot attend to the needs of the common people. It possesses a character of superficial and heartless intellectualism. Reason was made the highest authority in all religious matters. Genuine hymn writing could not grow up in a soil which was destitute both of poetry and of true Christianity. The dominion of rationalism in German hymnody began about the middle of the eighteenth century with a revision of the old church hymns in accordance with the new ideas of the age, an age of enlightenment and illumination. To begin with this hymnological revision was mainly in the interest of form. Severity, irregularity and archaism in expression and style, in rhyme and meter, etc., had to be eliminated from the church hymns. Up-to-date language had to be used. The revision of form was soon followed by a revision of content. Old ideas in the hymns had to be removed. The church hymns had to be in harmony with the new ethical ideas of the age. A great work in hymnological vandalism was in progress. It was not sufficient to merely improve the old hymns. Most of the grand old church hymns were dropped and new ones produced—new hymns which were in perfect harmony with the new ideas of the age. The new hymn book was to be a kind of textbook in moral philosophy. The new hymn book should instruct the people in many useful things. Hymns were written on such subjects as profitable economy, extravagance, superstition, scepticism, quiet and peaceful life, contentedness, integrity, the right use of pleasure, commerce, agriculture, vaccination, sleep, etc. The direction was not heavenward so much as worldward.

The leading hymnological revisor or editor was Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803). He also wrote a few original hymns. One of the best hymn writers of this hymnological era was Christian Fuerchtegott Gellert (1715-1769). He wrote a number of excellent hymns. Johann Casper Lavater (1741-1801) was perhaps the greatest hymn writer of this period.

The fifth period of German hymnody, an era of renovation, from about 1825 to about 1910, is known not so much for original hymn writing as for its general return to the best of old German hymnody. The neological hymn books of the preceding period were condemned and rejected. New hymn books were published, which contained the best church hymns of all times. Outstanding hymnological compilers and editors are Dr. Hermann Adalbert Daniel, Dr. Carl Eduard Philipp Wackernagel, and Stip. Albert Knapp and Dr. Carl Johann Spitta are important German hymnists of this period. Important English translators are Miss Catherine Winkworth, Miss Frances Elizabeth Cox, Miss Jane Borthwick and her sister—Mrs. Findlater, Rev. Richard Massie, and Rev. A. Tozar Russell.

SCANDINAVIAN LUTHERAN HYMNODY

The Reformation era, the sixteenth century.—The hymnody of the Scandinavian Church during this period was, for the most part, an echo of that of the German mother Church. Among important hymnists of this period we note Hans Taussen, Hans Tomissön, Cl. Töndebinder and Nils Jespersen of the Danish Church. In the Swedish Church we note especially the two brothers, Olaus and Laurentius Petri, the two great Swedish reformers, students under Dr. Martin Luther at the University of Wittenberg. The first Swedish Lutheran hymn book was issued by Olaus Petri, 1526, called “Swedish Songs” (about ten hymns). Revised and enlarged editions of this hymn book appeared in 1530 and 1536. In this first Swedish Lutheran hymn book we find hymns by the Swedish poet Olaf Swensson, who distinguished himself as a zealous polemic against the Roman Catholic Church and “Antichrist” (the pope). In 1567 appeared another Swedish Lutheran hymn book, containing 99 hymns, which has been called “the hymn book of Laurentius Petri,” because it contained many translations and several original hymns by him. A revised and enlarged edition of this hymn book appeared in 1572. In this hymnal appeared the popular and beautiful Swedish Lutheran hymn, “A sinful man, who lay in trance of sin, he heard a voice from heaven: Awake, awake, list to the Word that comfort gives.” It has been claimed by several authorities that this hymn is the foremost hymn in the Swedish literature of the sixteenth century, and also one of the greatest of Swedish Lutheran hymns. It is probably the work of Laurentius Petri Gothus.

Scandinavian Lutheran hymnody may be divided into five hymnological periods, similar to the five periods of German Lutheran hymnody. The hymnological periods of German and Scandinavian hymnody are parallel.

The second period, the seventeenth century.—The seventeenth century is said to be the days of glory in the history of Scandinavian Lutheran hymnody—its foremost period. While the Danish hymnists Hans Sthen, A. Arreboe, and especially T. Kingo wrote their hymns, the hymnody of the Swedish Church developed somewhat independently, with Swedish fervor and virility in connection with Biblical and practical simplicity in the best sense. The advance of this period on the Reformation era was much greater in the Swedish Church than in the German Church. It is also to be noted that the highest point in Swedish Lutheran hymn writing was reached in the later part of the seventeenth century, somewhat later than in Germany. Important Swedish hymnists of this period are Samuel Columbus, Erik Lindsköld, Petrus Brask, Gustaf Ollon, Israel Kolmodin, Jacob Boethius, Jakob Arrhenius, and especially the two bishops, Haquin Spegel and Jesper Swedberg. The Swedish Lutheran hymnal of 1695 was a masterwork.

The third period, from 1700 to 1750.—The Scandinavian Church was not subject to the hymnological fluctuations that the German Church experienced in this period, because the excellent Swedish hymnal of 1695 remained throughout the 18th century as the only official and popular hymn book. Efforts were made to produce new hymnals. About 1765 appeared an orthodox hymnal, “sound in doctrine and unpoetical”—called the Celsic hymnal, because O. Celsius had a great deal to do with its compilation. Pietistic and Moravianistic hymnals appeared. As an example of the Pietistic hymnals we note “The Songs of Moses and the Lamb,” by Lybecker, 1717. “The Songs of Zion” was a Moravianistic product, published about 1745. The Danes and the Norwegians were fortunate in having as their foremost hymnist the great H. A. Brorson, a most noble Pietistic hymn writer.

The fourth period.—This period includes the last half of the eighteenth century and the first fifteen years of the nineteenth. The neological spirit did not get into the church life of Sweden as thoroughly as in Germany. This fortunate condition is plainly seen in the hymnody of the Swedish Church. The hymnal that was published in 1793, the year of the 200th anniversary of the important Church Council at Upsala (1593), contained very few new hymns, and the old hymns retained were only slightly revised. But this hymnal was not accepted by the Swedish Church. About twenty years later, in 1814, appeared a new project in the matter of a revised and improved hymnal, the result of neological efforts to produce new church hymns. Many very able hymnists united in this great hymnological project, to show what genius and good taste can accomplish. It was a great work, but, on the whole, unsuccessful—too fine, perhaps.

The fifth period, the nineteenth century.—The hymnological situation in Sweden in the nineteenth century was somewhat similar to that in Germany. But it is hardly a question of returning to the old, because neological activities were not able to deprive the Swedish Church of her old hymnody. Efforts to give to the Church a large number of the best of the old church hymns (Greek, Latin, German and Scandinavian), carefully edited, and some new Swedish church hymns, resulted in the important Swedish Hymnal of 1819. It has remained to this day (1925) the official and popular Hymnal of the Swedish Church. It is the Swedish hymn book of the Augustana Synod. With respect to the old church hymns in the hymnal, it may be said that much was gained by this work of revision. Most of the new hymns are excellent. A few of the hymns betray neological influences. On the whole, however, the Hymnal of 1819 is a very fine Lutheran hymn book. It contains 500 hymns. Revision is undoubtedly needed, and such work has been going on for some time.

Among Swedish hymn writers who contributed to the Hymnal of 1819 we note especially Bishop J. O. Wallin (died 1839) and Bishop F. M. Franzen (died 1847). Wallin produced 128 original hymns and revised or translated very many old and new hymns. The Hymnal of 1819 has often been called Wallin’s Hymnal. Most of his hymns are immortal masterpieces. Franzen produced 22 original hymns. As a hymnist Franzen possessed less rhetorical elevation and force than Wallin, but he is fully equal to Wallin not only in the Biblical-evangelical quality of the content but also in the lyrical heartiness of the tone as well as in the transparency and simplicity of the language. Other important Swedish hymn writers of this period are Samuel J. Hedborn (died 1849) and Erik Gustaf Geijer (died 1847). Johan Henrik Thomander and Per Wieselgren are the editors of the Swedish Hymnal (1819) that is used in the Swedish Lutheran Augustana Synod, U. S. A.

In the Danish Church the well known N. F. S. Grundtvig (died 1872) has rendered great service as a reviser of old church hymns and writer of several excellent original hymns. The Norwegian Lutheran hymn book by Rev. M. B. Landstad (died 1881) is a very important hymnological work. It is a popular hymnal in the Norwegian Church. An important Swedish hymn book was published in Finland in 1880, which contained many excellent old church hymns from Swedish and German sources, but also several new hymns by such well known Finnish scholars as Johan Ludvig Runeberg (died 1877), Zacharias Topelius (died 1898), and others.

Bishop J. O. Wallin brought about a very high hymnic standard in the Swedish Church—perhaps the highest hymnic standard in the entire Lutheran world. When we examine what Grundtvig and Landstad gave the Danish and Norwegian churches, we find a great deal of the folk song element in that hymnody—not an unwholesome attribute. Wallin’s work belongs rather to the sphere of the solemn and sublime church hymn. The hymnody of the Swedish Lutheran Church is among the finest in the whole field of Lutheran hymnology, a church hymnody born in the days of the Reformation, four hundred years ago.

AMERICAN LUTHERAN HYMNODY

The early Lutherans in America came from lands where church song had attained high position and where a large number of noble church hymns had been produced. The early German Lutherans sang from a great variety of hymn books which they had brought with them from the homeland. Dr. Henry Eyster Jacobs makes the following statement in “A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States”: “Muhlenberg had complained greatly of the variety of hymn books in use in the congregations, and generally within the same congregation. Of these, the Marburg hymn book gained precedence, and an American edition was published by Christopher Saur, Germantown, in 1762.” This hymn book contained over six hundred hymns.

About the same thing may be said of the earlier Lutheran immigrants, the Dutch and the Swedes. About 1675 the Swedes appealed to the King of Sweden for 12 Bibles, 100 hymn books, etc. In 1696 a ship carrying missionaries and a large supply of books left Sweden for America.

The work of organizing the early Lutheran Church in America fell to Rev. Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, often called the Patriarch of the American Lutheran Church. He came to Philadelphia in 1742. The first Evangelical Lutheran Synod in America was organized by Muhlenberg at Philadelphia in 1748. This body is known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States. In 1782 this synod resolved to have a new hymn book printed for the united congregations. A hymn book committee was appointed and given the following instructions: “As far as possible to follow the arrangement of the Halle hymn book, and not to omit any of the old standard hymns, especially of Luther and Paul Gerhardt.” This German hymn book appeared in 1786, having been prepared by Muhlenberg, Kunze, and Helmuth. Poor health prevented Muhlenberg from taking a more active part in the compilation of this hymn book. While it was used extensively, it seems that the book did not fully meet the wishes of the synod. Apparently the active editors, especially Dr. Helmuth, had not been successful in the selection and revision of the hymns. The inter-denominational (Lutheran and Reformed) hymn book of 1817, the “Gemeinschaftliches Gesangbuch,” was an inferior hymnological work. It was meant to take the place of the Pennsylvania hymn book of 1786. In 1849 the Ministerium of Pennsylvania published a new hymn book, prepared chiefly by Dr. C. R. Demme. The Synods of New York and West Pennsylvania co-operated in this issue. Although popular, this Pennsylvania hymn book did not measure up to that of 1786. About the middle of the nineteenth century, several German Lutheran hymn books were published by different synods. The Kirchenbuch of the General Council, published in 1877, is a hymnological work of high merit.

The first English Lutheran hymn book used in America was the “Psalmodia Germanica” of 1725, 1732, and 1756. It came to America from London, England. It contained 122 hymns, several by Luther and Paul Gerhardt. In 1795 Dr. John C. Kunze of New York published “A Hymn and Prayer Book, for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the English language.” Its 240 hymns were gathered from German Lutheran, Moravian, English and American sources. In 1797 Rev. George Strebeck issued “A Collection of Evangelical Hymns, made from Different Authors and Collections, for the English Lutheran Church in New York.” This was a rather un-Lutheran hymn book. Rev. Strebeck and his New York congregation went over to the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1806 Rev. Ralph Williston published “A Choice Selection of Evangelical Hymns from Various Authors, for the Use of the English Lutheran Church in New York.” While this hymn book met with popularity within the New York Ministerium, it was not a Lutheran hymn book. Most of its hymns were taken from Watts and Charles Wesley. Rev. Williston and his New York congregation also went over to the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1815 appeared “A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.” Published by order of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the State of New York. The editors were Drs. Quitman and Wackerhagen. This book contained 520 carefully selected hymns.

A number of English hymn books were published before 1850, but they were found more or less unsatisfactory. Some of them were quite un-Lutheran. In 1863 the Ministerium of Pennsylvania decided to issue a new English hymn book. A hymn book committee was appointed, which did very thorough work. This resulted in the publication of the Church Book by the General Council in 1868. This is undoubtedly one of the best English Lutheran hymn books of the American Lutheran Church. It has been highly praised by prominent hymnologists of Europe, and it has remained a very popular English hymn book throughout the American Lutheran Church for over fifty years. It has passed through several editions.

Rev. Justus Falckner (1672-1723) wrote what may be called the first American Lutheran hymn. He is said to be the first German Lutheran pastor in America and was ordained by the Swedish Lutheran pastors in Gloria Dei Church at Wicaco in 1703. This was the first Lutheran ordination in America. We quote here the first two stanzas of Rev. Justus Falckner’s beautiful hymn. The hymn was originally written in German—“Auf, ihr Christen, Christi Glieder.”