Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren

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"Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren"
Christian hymn
Written1951 (1951)
Textby Peter Enderlin
LanguageGerman
Based on Psalm 118 in the Genevan Psalter, translated by Ambrosius Lobwasser
Meter9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8
Melodyby Guillaume Franc and Loys Bourgeois
Composed1543 (1543)
Published2013 (2013)

"Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren" (Now say thanks and praise the Lord) is a Christian hymn in German, paraphrasing Psalm 118. The German text was originally written by Ambrosius Lobwasser in the 16th century as a translation, meant to match the music from the French Genevan Psalter. It was rewritten and shortened in the 20th century by Peter Enderlin to be used in a hymnal of the Swiss Reformed Church. The song is included in German hymnals of various denominations.

Contents

History

The text is a paraphrase of Psalm 118 ("O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good"). [1] The psalm, a favourite of the reformer Martin Luther, [1] includes elements of thanks and praise, gates opening (a motif of Advent), hope beyond death, praise of someone coming in God's name (a motif of the Benedictus), and a lasting covenant. [2]

In the Genevan Psalter, commissioned by Calvin, all psalms were included in French-language metric paraphrase, and associated with melodies. [1] Ambrosius Lobwasser, a professor of law from the University of Leipzig who converted to Lutheranism in 1539, together with all professors of the faculty, got to know this Psalter on study trips to France: he was so impressed that he translated the psalms to German, to go with the same melodies as in French. [1] His version of psalm 118 has 14 stanzas of eight lines each. [1]

In the 20th century, Fritz Enderlin (1883–1971), a Swiss German scholar, teacher and school politician, was instrumental in the publication of a new hymnal for the Swiss Reformed Church, leading the hymnal commission from 1942 to 1952, the year of publication. He retained the first stanza of Lobwasser's hymn and the end of the last stanza, and rewrote the three and a half inner stanzas in 1951. [1] He expressed the psalm's themes more succinctly, using ideas from both Lobwasser and modern Bible translations. [1]

The German text matches the original tune from the Genevan Psalter, attributed to Guillaume Franc (1543) and Loys Bourgeois (1551), [3] which was originally associated with Psalm 98. The melody is also used for other hymns, such as " Nun singt ein neues Lied dem Herren ". [2]

The hymn is widely used, being present in both Protestant and Catholic hymnals, [2] [3] [1] as well as in various non-denominational and ecumenical collections. [2]

Musical settings

Wilfried Fischer included the hymn in his collection Singt dem Herrn ein neues Lied of three-part settings of hymns based on texts from the Old Testament through the liturgical year, published by Schott. [4]

Related Research Articles

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Metrical psalter

A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or even harmonisations. The composition of metrical psalters was a large enterprise of the Protestant Reformation, especially in its Calvinist manifestation.

<i>Genevan Psalter</i>

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Psalm 98

Psalm 98 is the 98th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things". The Book of Psalms starts the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and, as such, is a book of the Christian Old Testament. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 97. In Latin, it is known as "Cantate Domino". The psalm is a hymn psalm, one of the Royal Psalms, praising God as the King of His people.

Hymn tune

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"Singt dem Herrn ein neues Lied" is a Christian hymn in German. It was written by Georg Alfred Kempf, a Protestant pastor in Alsace, in 1941. With a 1956 melody by Adolf Lohmann, it is part of the common German Catholic hymnal Gotteslob (2013).

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Brüske, Gunda. "Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren – eine Nachdichtung von Psalm 118". bibelwerk.ch (in German). Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren". evangeliums.net. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren (L) / Leben in Gott - Lob, Dank und Anbetung". mein-gotteslob.de (in German). Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  4. Fischer, Wilfried. "Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren" (in German). Schott Music . Retrieved 9 August 2021.