The Story of Our Hymns Part 6

Selnecker early in life revealed an artistic temperament. Born in 1532 at Hersbruck, Germany, we find him at the age of twelve years organist at the chapel in the Kaiserburg, at Nurnberg, where he attended school.

Later he entered Wittenberg University to study law. Here he came under the influence of Philip Melanchthon, and was induced to prepare himself for the ministry. It is said that Selnecker was Melanchthon's favorite pupil.

Following his graduation from Wittenberg, he lectured for a while at the university and then received the appointment as second court preacher at Dresden and private tutor to Prince Alexander of Saxony. Many of the Saxon theologians at this time were leaning strongly toward the Calvinistic teaching regarding the Lord's Supper, and when Selnecker came out boldly for the Lutheran doctrine he incurred the hostility of those in authority. Later, when he supported a Lutheran pastor who had dared to preach against Elector August's pa.s.sion for hunting, he was compelled to leave Dresden.

For three years he held the office of professor of theology at the University of Jena, but in 1568 he again found favor with the Elector August and was appointed to the chair of theology in the University of Leipzig. It was here that Selnecker again became involved in bitter doctrinal disputes regarding the Lord's Supper, and in 1576 and 1577 he joined a group of theologians, including Jacob Andreae and Martin Chemnitz, in working out the Formula of Concord.

Upon the death of Elector August the Calvinists again secured ecclesiastical control, and Selnecker once more was compelled to leave Leipzig. After many trials and vicissitudes, he finally returned, May 19, 1592, a worn and weary man, only to die in Leipzig five days later.

During the stormy days of his life, Selnecker often sought solace in musical and poetical pursuits. Many of his hymns reflect his own personal troubles and conflicts. "Let me be thine forever" is believed to have been written during one of the more grievous experiences of his life. It was a prayer of one stanza originally, but two additional stanzas were added by an unknown author almost a hundred years after Selnecker's death. In its present form it has become a favorite confirmation hymn in the Lutheran Church.

Selnecker's zeal for his Church is revealed in many of his hymns, among them the famous "Abide with us, O Saviour dear." The second stanza of this hymn clearly reflects the distressing controversies in which he was engaged at the time:

This is a dark and evil day, Forsake us not, O Lord, we pray; And let us in our grief and pain Thy Word and sacraments retain.

In connection with his work as professor in the University of Leipzig, he also served as pastor of the famous St. Thomas church in that city. It was through his efforts that the renowned Motett choir of that church was built up, a choir that was afterward conducted by John Sebastian Bach.

About 150 hymns in all were written by Selnecker. In addition to these he also was author of some 175 theological and controversial works.

One of the contemporaries of Selnecker was Bartholomaus Ringwalt, pastor of Langfeld, near Sonnenburg, Brandenburg. This man also was a staunch Lutheran and a poet of considerable ability. His judgment hymn, "The day is surely drawing near," seems to reflect the feeling held by many in those distressing times that the Last Day was near at hand. It was used to a large extent during the Thirty Years' War, and is still found in many hymn-books.

Another hymnist who lived and wrought during these turbulent times was Martin Behm, to whom we are indebted for three beautiful lyrics, "O Jesus, King of glory," "Lord Jesus Christ, my Life, my Light," and "O holy, blessed Trinity." Behm, who was born in Lauban, Silesia, Sept. 16, 1557, served for thirty-six years as Lutheran pastor in his native city.

He was a noted preacher and a gifted poet. His hymn on the Trinity is one of the finest ever written on this theme. It concludes with a splendid paraphrase of the Aaronic benediction. Two of its stanzas are:

O holy, blessed Trinity, Divine, eternal Unity, G.o.d, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Be Thou this day my guide and host.

Lord, bless and keep Thou me as Thine; Lord, make Thy face upon me shine; Lord, lift Thy countenance on me, And give me peace, sweet peace from Thee.

Valerius Herberger was another heroic representative of this period of doctrinal strife, war, famine, and pestilence. While pastor of St. Mary's Lutheran Church at Fraustadt, Posen, he and his flock were expelled from their church in 1604 by King Sigismund III, of Poland, and the property turned over to the Roman Catholics. Nothing daunted, however, Herberger and his people immediately constructed a chapel out of two houses near the gates of the city. They gave the structure the name of "Kripplein Christi," since the first service was held in it on Christmas Eve.

During the great pestilence which raged in 1613, the victims in Fraustadt numbered 2,135. Herberger, however, stuck to his post, comforting the sick and burying the dead. It was during these days that he wrote his famous hymn, "Valet will ich dir geben," one of the finest hymns for the dying in the German language. The hymn was published with the t.i.tle, "The farewell (Valet) of Valerius Herberger that he gave to the world in the autumn of the year 1613, when he every hour saw death before his eyes, but mercifully and also as wonderfully as the three men in the furnace at Babylon was nevertheless spared."

The famous chorale tune for the hymn was written in 1613 by Melchior Teschner, who was Herberger's precentor.

Other Lutheran hymn-writers of this period were Joachim Magdeburg, Martin Rutilius, Martin Schalling and Philipp Nicolai. The last name in this group is by far the most important and will be given more extensive notice in the following chapter. To Magdeburg, a pastor who saw service in various parts of Germany and Hungary during a stormy career, we owe a single hymn, "Who trusts in G.o.d a strong abode." Rutilius has been credited with the authorship of the gripping penitential hymn, "Alas, my G.o.d! my sins are great," although the claim is sometimes disputed. He was a pastor at Weimar, where he died in 1618.

Schalling likewise has bequeathed but a single hymn to the Church, but it may be regarded as one of the cla.s.sic hymns of Germany. Its opening line, "O Lord, devoutly love I Thee," reflects the ardent love of the author himself for the Saviour. It was ent.i.tled, "A prayer to Christ, the Consolation of the soul in life and death," and surely its message of confiding trust in G.o.d has been a source of comfort and a.s.surance to thousands of pious souls in the many vicissitudes of life as well as in the valley of the shadow.

Although Schalling was a warm friend of Selnecker, he hesitated to subscribe to the Formula of Concord, claiming that it dealt too harshly with the followers of Melanchthon. For this reason he was deposed as General Superintendent of Oberpfalz and court preacher at Heidelberg.

Five years later, however, he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's church in Nurnberg, where he remained until blindness compelled him to retire.

He died in 1608.

A Masterpiece of Hymnody

Wake, awake, for night is flying: The watchmen on the heights are crying, Awake, Jerusalem, arise!

Midnight's solemn hour is tolling, His chariot wheels are nearer rolling, He comes; prepare, ye virgins wise.

Rise up with willing feet, Go forth, the Bridegroom meet: Alleluia!

Bear through the night your well trimmed light, Speed forth to join the marriage rite.

Zion hears the watchmen singing, And all her heart with joy is springing, She wakes, she rises from her gloom; Forth her Bridegroom comes, all-glorious, The strong in grace, in truth victorious; Her Star is risen, her Light is come!

All hail, Thou precious One!

Lord Jesus, G.o.d's dear Son!

Alleluia!

The joyful call we answer all, And follow to the nuptial hall.

Lamb of G.o.d, the heavens adore Thee, And men and angels sing before Thee, With harp and cymbal's clearest tone.

By the pearly gates in wonder We stand, and swell the voice of thunder, That echoes round Thy dazzling throne.

To mortal eyes and ears What glory now appears!

Alleluia!

We raise the song, we swell the throng, To praise Thee ages all along.

Philipp Nicolai, 1599.

THE KING AND QUEEN OF CHORALES

At rare intervals in the history of Christian hymnody, we meet with a genius who not only possesses the gift of writing sublime poetry but also reveals talent as a composer of music. During the stirring days of the Reformation such geniuses were revealed in the persons of Martin Luther and Nicolaus Decius. We now encounter another, Philipp Nicolai, the writer of the glorious hymn, "Wachet auf."

Nicolai's name would have been gratefully remembered by posterity had he merely written the words of this hymn; but, when we learn that he also composed the magnificent chorale to which it is sung, we are led to marvel. It has been called the "King of Chorales," and well does it deserve the t.i.tle.

But Nicolai was also the composer of the "Queen of Chorales." That is the name often given to the tune of his other famous hymn, "Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern." Both of Nicolai's great tunes have been frequently appropriated for other hymns. The "King of Chorales" has lent inspiration to "Holy Majesty, before Thee," while the "Queen of Chorales"

has helped to glorify such hymns as "All hail to thee, O blessed morn,"

"Now Israel's hope in triumph ends," and "O Holy Spirit, enter in."

Some of the world's greatest composers have recognized the beauty and majesty of Nicolai's inspiring themes and have seized upon his chorales to weave them into a number of famous musical masterpieces. The strains of the seventh and eighth lines of "Wachet auf" may be heard in the pa.s.sage, "The kingdoms of this world," of Handel's "Hallelujah chorus."

Mendelssohn introduces the air in his overture to "St. Paul," and the entire chorale occurs in his "Hymn of Praise." The latter composer has also made use of the "Wie schon" theme in the first chorus of his unpublished oratorio, "Christus."

The circ.u.mstances that called forth Nicolai's two great hymns and the cla.s.sic chorales to which he wedded them are tragic in nature. A dreadful pestilence was raging in Westphalia. At Unna, where Nicolai was pastor, 1,300 villagers died of the plague between July, 1597, and January, 1598.

During a single week in the month of August no less than 170 victims were claimed by the messenger of death.

From the parsonage which overlooked the churchyard, Nicolai was a sad witness of the burials. On one day thirty graves were dug. In the midst of these days of distress the gifted Lutheran pastor wrote a series of meditations to which he gave the t.i.tle, "Freuden Spiegel," or "Mirror of Joy." His purpose, as he explains in his preface, dated August 10, 1598, was "to leave it behind me (if G.o.d should call me from this world) as the token of my peaceful, joyful, Christian departure, or (if G.o.d should spare me in health) to comfort other sufferers whom He should also visit with the pestilence."

"There seemed to me," he writes in the same preface, "nothing more sweet, delightful and agreeable, than the contemplation of the n.o.ble, sublime doctrine of Eternal Life obtained through the Blood of Christ. This I allowed to dwell in my heart day and night, and searched the Scriptures as to what they revealed on this matter, read also the sweet treatise of the ancient doctor Saint Augustine ("The City of G.o.d") ... Then day by day I wrote out my meditations, found myself, thank G.o.d! wonderfully well, comforted in heart, joyful in spirit, and truly content."

Both of Nicolai's cla.s.sic hymns appeared for the first time in his "Mirror of Joy." As a t.i.tle to "Wachet auf" Nicolai wrote, "Of the voice at Midnight, and the Wise Virgins who meet their Heavenly Bridegroom. Mt.

25." The t.i.tle to "Wie schon" reads, "A spiritual bridal song of the believing soul concerning Jesus Christ, her Heavenly Bridegroom, founded on the 45th Psalm of the prophet David."

It is said that the melody to "Wie schon" became so popular that numerous church chimes were set to it.

Nicolai's life was filled with stirring events. He was born at Mengerinhausen, August 10, 1556. His father was a Lutheran pastor. After completing studies at the Universities of Erfurt and Wittenberg, he too was ordained to the ministry in 1583. His first charge was at Herdecke, but since the town council was composed of Roman Catholic members, he soon was compelled to leave that place. Later he served at Niederwildungen and Altwildungen, and in 1596 he became pastor at Unna.

After the dreadful pestilence of 1597 there came an invasion of Spaniards in 1598, and Nicolai was forced to flee.