Johann Fran(c)k (1 June 1618 – 18 June 1677) was a German politician (serving as mayor of Guben and a member of theLandtag ofLower Lusatia) and a lyricpoet andhymnist.
Franck was born inGuben,Margraviate of Lower Lusatia.[1] After visiting theLatin school in Guben, he attended schools inCottbus andStettin, as well as thegymnasium inThorn (Toruń).[2] After studying law at theUniversity of Königsberg, he became a councilor in his native town, later becoming its mayor and a member of theLandtag ofLower Lusatia.[3] He died in Guben.[3]
Under the influence of the Silesian School and ofSimon Dach ofKönigsberg, he produced a series of poems and hymns, collected and edited by himself in two volumes (Guben, 1674), entitled:Teutsche Gedichte, enthaltend geistliches Zion samt Vaterunserharfe nebst irdischem Helicon oder Lob-, Lieb-, Leidgedichte, etc.. His secular poems are forgotten; about forty of his religious songs, hymns, and psalms have been kept in the hymals of the German Protestant Church. Some of these are the hymn for Communion "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele" ("Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness"), theAdvent hymnKomm, Heidenheiland, Lösegeld (Come, Ransom of our captive race, a translation into German ofVeni redemptor gentium), and a hymn to Jesus, "Jesu, meine Freude"[3] ('Jesus, My Joy'), which is best known as being the basis ofBach's funeralmotetJesu, meine Freude, BWV 227. His hymn "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude"[4] (You, o beautiful building of the world), with a melody by Crüger is no longer in practical use, but onestanza, "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder" (Come, O death, to sleep a brother), was prominently used in Bach's solo cantataIch will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56.[5][6]
The music for his hymns by the Guben organist Christoph Peter appeared first in the Andachtscymbeln, the oldest Guben hymn book, in 1648. In honor of Franck, a simple monument has been erected at the south wall of the Guben parish church.
This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Johann Franck (Frank)".New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
