| "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" | |
|---|---|
| Hymn by Martin Luther | |
 Portrait of Luther, 1525 | |
| English | "We now implore the Holy Ghost" |
| Catalogue | Zahn 2029a |
| Language | German |
| Based on | Chant |
| Meter | 9.9.11.10.4 |
| Published | 1524 (1524) |
"Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" ("We now implore the Holy Ghost")[1] is the title of severalhymns in German. The first is one of the oldest hymns in the German language: a 13th-centuryleise. Subsequent versions expanded upon the leise; the original hymn became the new version's firststanza, and it now used melodies derived from its medieval tune. TheProtestant reformerMartin Luther expanded the leise in 1524, and different Catholic versions were published between 1537 and 1975.
The text of the original 13th-century leise alludes to the Latinsequence forPentecost,Veni Sancte Spiritus (translated as "Come,Holy Spirit"). The leise was widely known and performed, especially as a song sung when someone was dying, during aprocession, and in sacred plays.
The leise contained an appeal for the right faith which especially suited Luther's theology; he wrote three additional stanzas, first published inWittenberg in 1547 as part ofJohann Walter's choral songbookEyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn. His version'sthemes offaith, love and hope made the hymn appropriate for general occasions and funerals.
Alternate versions of the hymn have appeared inCatholic hymnals, countering theReformation, first in 1537 in a collection published byMichael Vehe. Over the following centuries, Protestant versions remained in use, adapted to changes in religion and philosophy, but restored to Luther's version by the 19th century's restoration of chorales. Catholic use was discontinued after the Baroque period, but the hymn reappeared in a modified version inHeinrich Bone'sCantate! hymnal in 1847. It became used more after the 1938 collectionKirchenlied included it in a version based on Vehe's.Maria Luise Thurmair wrote three stanzas for the 1975Gotteslob which appeared combined with one stanza from the Vehe version.
Luther'schorale is sung by several Christian denominations in different languages, having received various English translations. It has inspired vocal and organ music from theRenaissance tocontemporary by composers such asJohann Crüger,Johann Sebastian Bach,Hugo Distler andErnst Pepping.
Initially, "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" was a medievalleise.[2] During Latin Catholicmasses, congregations typically alternated leises in their native languages with a priest'sKyrie in the Latin mass.[3]
"Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" is documented in the 13th century, quoted by theFranciscanBerthold von Regensburg in a sermon.[4][5][6] Its text read:
| Medieval German | English |
|---|---|
Nû biten wir den heiligen geist | Now do we pray unto the Holy Ghost |
| —Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary Handbook,[5] Fischer[7] | —The Free Lutheran Chorale-Book[8] |
This leise is a prayer in German addressing theHoly Spirit, reminiscent of the LatinsequenceVeni Sancte Spiritus.[9][4][10] It was first aSterbelied, a song for someone dying.[11] As in the conclusion ofVeni Sancte Spiritus (da salutis exitum), the focus is the assistance of the Holy Spirit at the time of death.[4] The concern is "most of all" (allermeist) the "right faith" (rechten glouben), considering to return "home" (heim) after the "exile" (ellende) of life. In theold German, "ellende" meant exile and was stressed on the second syllable, rhyming with "ende", whereas the modern "Elend" is stressed on the first syllable and translates to "misery".[12] The person praying is aware that human life is transient and believes that the true home is Heaven, following a line from aletter of Paul the Apostle,Philippians 3:20.[11]
The leise was widely known.[4] A tune derived from the sequence's chant first appeared inJistebnitz, modern-day Czech Republic, around 1420.[13] The leise was used as aprocession song[11][14] and in sacred plays.[14] It is one of the oldest hymns in German.[11] "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" and "Christ ist erstanden" (Christ is risen) are the only medieval songs still in use.[15]
Protestant Reformers tried to continue medieval tradition.[11]Martin Luther issueda 1523 liturgy for services; one aspect was the inclusion of hymns in German. He recommended, for lack of alternatives, three medieval songs to be sung regularly: "Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet", "Ein Kindelein so lobelich" and, probably as thegradual, "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist".[4][10] The leise had a long tradition. Its topics of the right faith (rechter Glaube,veram fide) and the thought of the time of death must have appealed to Luther. He had mentionedveram fide in an early sermon about the leise (1509 or 1510), and promoted salvation by faith alone (sola fide). Anxiety in the hour of death was a topic that Luther reflected for all of his life.[14] In 1524, possibly for Pentecost,[14] Luther expanded the leise "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" by threestanzas, addressing the Holy Spirit three more times.[13]
Luther's text in modernised German, with a free rhymed translation into English, reads as follows:
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| German | English |
|---|---|
Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist
| Now do we pray unto the Holy Ghost
|
| —Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary Handbook[5] | —The Free Lutheran Chorale-Book[8] |
In the added stanzas, the Holy Spirit is addressed three more times, as "Du wertes Licht" (You esteemed light), "Du süße Lieb" (You sweet love) and "Du höchster Tröster" (You highest comforter).[13][16] In the tradition of songs about the Holy Spirit, which mention itsmanifold gifts, the focus is on the aspects: light, love and comforter.[14] His three stanzas can be seen as related to "Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung", thetheological virtues of faith, love and hope, which Paul the Apostle expressed inhis letter,1 Corinthians 13:13.[11] Luther interpreted faith as belief inJesus Christ, love to people and living in peace and unity, and hope in assistance of the Holy Spirit in remaining unafraid in the hour of death.[11] He followed the medieval irregularmetre,[17] and ended each stanza with "Kyrieleis", as in the original.[18][19]
Luther's text appeared in print first in 1524, in a collectionTeutsch Kirchen ampt (German church office) inStrasbourg,[11] and inWittenberg, set to music byJohann Walter (Zahn No. 2029a), as part of Walter's choral hymnalEyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, sometimes called the First Wittenberg Hymnal.[13][18][20][21] Luther prescribed the song for regular use between epistle reading and gospel reading in hisDeutsche Messe, a 1526 liturgy for services in German, and included it among his funeral songs (Begräbnisgesänge) in 1542.[14]Johann Crüger included the song, among many otherhymn by Luther, in his hymnalPraxis pietatis melica, first published in 1647.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, several attempts were made to adapt the hymn to changing views of religion and aesthetic aspects.[11] A Leipzig hymnal of 1796,Sammlung christlicher Gesänge (Collection of Christian songs) for use in public worship in the town's city churches, contains a version that is focused not on the right faith but (negatively) on protection against false doctrine and conversion of the erring. Faith becomes a topic only in its second stanza, combined with a prayer for a virtuous life.[22]
Luther's version was restored in the 19th century with the movement to restore chorales (Choralrestauration).[11] It is part of many hymnals and songbooks; in the current Protestant hymnal,Evangelisches Gesangbuch, the hymn appears as EG 124,[9][23] opening the section of Pentecost songs.[9]
The oldest translation of Luther's hymn, into Danish, appeared in 1528.[5] Translations into English include "We now implore God the Holy Ghost" inThe Lutheran Hymnal,St. Louis, 1941.[24]Arthur Tozer Russell wrote a translation, rendered in the 1884 bookMartin Luther, The Hymns of Martin Luther, "Now pray we all God, the Comforter".[25] It was also translated as "To God the Holy Spirit let us pray".[26] Like other hymns by Luther, it is part of several hymnals in English, recommended as anintroit and a song for Pentecost.[27]
Johann Walter, who collaborated with Luther on the music, modified the medieval chant tune slightly giving it distinctrhythmic shape. In later versions over the centuries, the rhythmic features disappeared, but his version was restored in the 19th century with the movement to restore chorales.[11]
Walter set the hymn for four parts in hisEyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn.[16] He set it for five parts (SATBB) for the 1537 edition of the hymnal.[28] He also wrote a six-part version (SSAATB).[29]
Michael Praetorius composed sevena cappella settings for two to six voices.[30]Dieterich Buxtehude composed twochorale preludes, BuxWV 208 and BuxWV 209.[31]Johann Crüger set the hymn (transcribed below) as one of 161 hymns in his 1649 collectionGeistliche Kirchen-Melodien (Sacred church melodies).[32]
Johann Sebastian Bach used the third stanza to conclude hiscantataGott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169.[33][34] It was composed in Leipzig for the 18th Sunday afterTrinity, dealing with the topic of theGreat Commandment and first performed on 20 October 1726.[35] Bach also set the same stanza for a wedding cantata in the 1730s,Gott ist unsre Zuversicht, BWV 197, where it concluded Part I, the fifth of ten movements.[36][37] His third setting is an untexted four-part version, BWV 385.[38]
Organ preludes were composed byGeorg Böhm,Helmut Eder,Paul Hamburger,Arnold Mendelssohn,Ernst Pepping,Heinrich Scheidemann,Johann Gottfried Vierling,Helmut Walcha andJohann Gottfried Walther, among others.[39]
In 1936,Johann Nepomuk David wrote a choralemotet for four-part choir a cappella,Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist.[40]Hugo Distler composed a setting for three high voices (SSA) with instrumental interludes for a trio of flute, oboe and violin, or two violins and viola.[41] The song is the first movement of Pepping's 1951Deutsche Choralmesse (Chorale Mass in German) for six voices a cappella (SSATBB),[42] in the position of theKyrie call of theLatin mass.
In 1984,Herbert Blendinger wrote a composition for cello and organ titledMeditation über den Choral "Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist", Op. 36.[43]Jacques Wildberger composed Pentecostal music for viola solo in 1986,Diaphanie: Fantasia super "Veni creator spiritus" et Canones diversi super "Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist", combining the hymn with another Latin sequence,Veni creator spiritus. It was published in Zürich in 1989.[44]
In response to the Reformation's movement for singing hymns in German, the Catholics countered with different hymns and hymnals, also in German.[11] In 1537Michael Vehe, aDominican friar and theologian, published a hymnal in Leipzig,Ein New Gesangbuechlin Geystlicher Lieder (A new little songbook of sacred songs) with the descriptionvor alle gutthe Christen nach ordenung Christlicher kirchen. Ordenung vnd Gebrauch der Geystlichen Lieder (for all good Christians after the order of Christian churches. Order and use of sacred songs.) It contained a song that also used the medieval stanza as a starting point for three additional stanzas, independent from Luther's. This hymn was placed in a section for Pentecost.[11] It reads:[11] The three stanzas read as follows:[45]
Erleuchte uns, o ewiges Licht;
hilf, daß alles, was durch uns geschieht,
Gott sei wohlgefällig durch Jesum Christum,
der uns macht heilig durch sein Priestertum.
Kyrieleis.
O höchster Tröster und wahrer Gott,
steh uns treulich bei in aller Not;
mach rein unser Leben, schein uns dein Gnade,
laß uns nicht weichem von dem rechten Pfade.
Kyrieleis.
Dein heilge Lieb und Allgütigkeit
mache gnädig unser Herz bereit,
daß wir unsern Nächsten recht christlich lieben,
und stets bleiben in deinem heilgen Frieden.
Kyrieleis.
Like in Luther's version, the Holy Spirit is addressed three times, as eternal light, comforter and finally love and goodness. The prayer is firstly for actions pleasing God, secondly for a pure life, not deviating from the right path, and finally to love one's neighbour and remain in peace. For Catholics, the "right path" meant the Catholic church, and deviating meant to follow the Reformation.[11]
With few exceptions, the hymn disappeared from Catholic hymnals after the Baroque period.[11]Heinrich Bone, a Catholic educator and hymnwriter, revived it when he published his hymnalCantate! inMainz in 1847;[11] it contained the hymn in a version not imploring the Holy Spiritfor the right faith, butin the right faith,[46] taking for granted that the singer had the right faith, and finding to doubt that offensive.[11]
The hymn received wider distribution only in the second half of the 20th century, after the collectionKirchenlied, a 1938 attempt at a common Christian hymnal in German published byJosef Diewald [de],Adolf Lohmann andGeorg Thurmair,[47] included it. Its version was based on Vehe's,[11] while other hymns by Luther were included although without credit to his name.[47]
The hymn-writerMaria Luise Thurmair was active in the preparation of the first common German Catholic hymnalGotteslob, published in 1975. She wrote three new stanzas, which were taken as stanzas 2 to 4 of a hymn beginning with the medieval first stanza and ending with the second stanza from the Vehe version.[48][49] In the three inner stanzas, the Holy Spirit is addressed, now as "Du heller Schein" (You radiant light), "Du stille Macht" (You silent power), and "Du mächtger Hauch" (You mighty breath).[48] She alluded to Luther's version in some aspects, but completely ignored the aspect of transience when dying.[11] The melody of her song is a transcription of the chant in fixed rhythm.[11][48]
The first edition ofGotteslob also contained Vehe's version in regional sections, such as for theDiocese of Limburg as GL 870 with the same transcription of the chant.[50] Thurmair's version was retained in the second edition of theGotteslob in 2013, as GL 348.[49]
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