Melody
| "Wenn alle untreu werden" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Language | German |
| Written | 1814 |
| Composer(s) | based on a French hunting song |
| Lyricist(s) | Max von Schenkendorf |
"Wenn alle untreu werden, so bleiben wir doch treu" (If all become unfaithful, we remain loyal) is the opening line of a famous patriotic German popular song written by Max von Schenkendorf in 1814. Schenkendorf dedicated the song to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn for the Holy Roman Empire.
The melody was a slightly modified form of "Pour aller à la chasse faut être matineux", a French hunting song dating from 1724.
The title also refers to a German hymn of the same name, written by the German poet Novalis in 1799. The first two lines of this hymn are the same as in Schenkendorf's song. [1]
Gerhard Roßbach included the song in the activities of his German Youth Movement in which "its emphasis on loyalty in adversity and faith in Germany precisely fit Roßbach's desire to unify conservative forces behind a project of political and cultural renewal." [2] During the Third Reich the song was used extensively by the Nazi SS, and became known as Treuelied (song of faithfulness). It sparked controversy in 2024, when it was sung at a funeral by members of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria. [3]
Wenn alle untreu werden, so bleiben wir doch treu, | If all become unfaithful, we remain loyal |
A Lutheran chorale is a musical setting of a Lutheran hymn, intended to be sung by a congregation in a German Protestant Church service. The typical four-part setting of a chorale, in which the sopranos sing the melody along with three lower voices, is known as a chorale harmonization.
The first Wartburg Festival was a convention of about 500 Protestant German students, held on 18 October 1817 at the Wartburg castle near Eisenach in Thuringia. The former refuge of reformer Martin Luther was considered a national symbol and the assembly a protest against reactionary politics and Kleinstaaterei.
"Ode to Joy" is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the German magazine Thalia. In 1808, a slightly revised version changed two lines of the first stanza and omitted last stanza.
"Herr Gott, dich loben wir" is a Lutheran hymn, which Martin Luther wrote in 1529 as a translation and partial paraphrase of the Latin Te Deum. It is sometimes called the German Te Deum. The hymn was first published in 1529. Its hymn tune, Zahn No. 8652, is a simplification of the melody of the traditional Te Deum. It has appeared in 24 hymnals.
Louise Reichardt or Luise Reichardt was a German composer and choral conductor. Her German songs, or Lieder, were written in an accessible style akin to folk music and were popular. Louise Reichard was known for composing in the style of “romantic songs,” which are based on poetic settings. Additionally, she was influential in the musical life of Hamburg, Germany, where she lived from 1809.
Volkslied is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also included in this classification.
Friedrich Ludwig Weidig was a German Protestant theologian, pastor, activist, teacher and journalist. Initially working as a teacher in Butzbach, he then spent a short time as a pastor in Ober-Gleen, a district of Giessen. In what is now Hesse and the Middle Rhine, he was one of the main figures of the Vormärz and a pioneer of the 1848 Revolution.
"Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" is the title of several hymns in German. The first is one of the oldest hymns in the German language: a 13th-century leise. Subsequent versions expanded upon the leise; the original hymn became the new version's first stanza, and it now used melodies derived from its medieval tune. The Protestant reformer Martin Luther expanded the leise in 1524, and different Catholic versions were published between 1537 and 1975.
"Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" is a hymn text relating to the Nativity of Jesus, written by Martin Luther in 1534. The hymn is most often sung to the melody, Zahn No. 346, which first appeared in a 1539 songbook and was probably also composed by Luther. This classic Christmas carol remains popular and has inspired many choral and organ works by other composers.
Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, was the first German hymnal harmonised for choir, published in Wittenberg in 1524 by Johann Walter who collaborated with Martin Luther. It contains 32 sacred songs, including 24 by Luther, in settings by Walter for three to five parts with the melody in the tenor. Luther wrote a preface for the part books. The collection has been called the root of all Protestant song music.
Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer was a German jurist, poet, satirist and Protestant hymn writer. He worked as an advocate at the court of Wolfenbüttel. Johann Sebastian Bach used a stanza from his hymn "Gott fähret auf gen Himmel" to conclude his Ascension Oratorio. Another hymn, Jesu, meines Glaubens Zier, appears in the 1736 Schemelli Gesangbuch in a setting attributed to Bach.
"Herzlich tut mich verlangen" is a German hymn, with lyrics written in 1599 by Christoph Knoll, with a melody adapted from a secular song by Hans Leo Hassler. It is a prayer for a blessed death, beginning "Herzlich tut mich verlangen nach einem sel'gen End". Its hymn tune, Zahn No. 5385a, was later also used for Paul Gerhardt's "Befiehl du deine Wege" and "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden".
"Christ fuhr gen Himmel" is a German Ascension hymn. The church song is based the medieval melody of the Easter hymn "Christ ist erstanden". It was an ecumenical song from the beginning, with the first stanza published in 1480, then included in a Lutheran hymnal in 1545, and expanded by the Catholic Johannes Leisentritt in 1567. It appears in modern German Catholic and Protestant hymnals, and has inspired musical settings by composers from the 16th to the 21st century.
Johannes Leisentritt, also Johann Leisentrit was a Catholic priest, dean of St. Peter in Bautzen and administrator of the Diocese of Meißen, responsible for Lusatia. He is known for publishing a 1567 hymnal.
"Süßer die Glocken nie klingen" is a popular German Christmas carol with text by Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger to a traditional Volkslied melody, first printed in 1860. It has remained popular and is part of many song books and Christmas recordings, evoking the sound of bells as a symbol of peace and joy.
"Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust" is the first line of a poem by Wilhelm Müller, written in 1821 with the title "Wanderschaft" as part of a collection, Die schöne Müllerin. While wandern is defined as "hiking" today, it referred to the required journeyman years of craftsmen when written, in this case of a miller.
Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger was a German Protestant theologian, pedagogue, poet and hymnwriter. He was for 38 years the director of a newly founded educational institution for women teachers in Droyßig. His Christmas carol "Süßer die Glocken nie klingen", written to the melody of a popular Volkslied, has remained a favourite.
The Infantry Division Friedrich Ludwig Jahn was an infantry division of the German army during World War II. It was formed in the final weeks of the war, and existed between late March and early May 1945.
"Bunt sind schon die Wälder" is a popular Volkslied in German dealing with autumn. It is also known as "Herbstlied". The text was written in 1782 by the Swiss poet Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis, first published in 1786. The music was composed in 1799 by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, while Franz Schubert wrote a different setting in 1816. The song has remained popular, frequently sung, printed and recorded.
