The hymnody of the Reformation is a great treasure.
What makes these hymns so special is that they are sermons,
proclaiming salvation by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ;
which are sung to yourself and to the world.
Three great resources catalog the bulk of this great hymnic treasure
Albert Fischer - Wilhem Tümpel
Das deutschen evangelische Kirchenlied des 17. Jahrhunderts
6 volumes of hymn texts covering from 1570-1750
Johannes Zahn
Die Melodien
der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder aus den Quellen
collects over 8,000 hymn tunes from the earliest sources in 6 volumes
Philip Wackernagel
Das Deutsche Kirchenlied
von der altesten Zeit bis zu anfang des XVII Jahrhunderts
collects over 5,000 pages of hymns lyrics from the earliest sources in 5 volumes
and there is also a 4th work we also hope to make use of
Joachim Stalmann
Das Deutsche Kirchenlied - DKL
which is a current work designed to replace and supercede Zahn,
however we will need a benefactor to enable us to have access to this
Our aim
is to combine these resources in 1 online resource,
for a Gesangbuch, or hymnal, has both lyrics and tunes,
and to provide theologically correct, singable poetic translations
of German hymns that have not previously been translated,
so that these great hymns might find new life in English speaking churches.
We begin with an index of German hymns
found in current American Lutheran Hymnals to which we will be adding midi
arrangements of the melodies in Zahn, This will show us what we
do have in translation.
Hymns were not born with The German Reformation,
they have a long history in the church,
but in no other period of history have they been so intensively cultivated.
No other language posses such a wealth of hymnody,
for estimates are that this period produced over 100,000 hymns.
In England the early 1800's there was a great revival of interest in singing hymns (rather than Psalms).
In the mid 1800's efforts at translating Latin hymns by people such as JM Neale would inspire
others to begin translations of many of the great German hymns of the Reformation,
people like Catherine Winkworth, Frances Cox, Jane Borthwick, Sarah Findlater.
It is important to realize at this time, Lutherans, even in America,
were not commonly singing in English, and so were not much involved in the work of translation.
Gesangbuch.org has been formed for the purpose of carrying forward
the work of translation, and teaching the English speaking church
of the great hymns of the Lutheran Reformation, we would like you
to join us.
is our primary index, alphabetically arranged by titles, with lyrics and midi
mail us
copyright ©2003 Gesangbuch.org
