Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn


Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, sometimes called First Wittenberg Hymnal and Chorgesangbuch, was the first German hymnal 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.

History

used hymns in German to affirm his ideas of reformation and to have the congregation actively take part in church services. Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn was the third German hymnal, after the "First Lutheran hymnal", published in Nürnberg by Jobst Gutnecht, and the "Erfurt Enchiridion", published in Erfurt, both also dating from 1524. Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn was published in Wittenberg and is often referred to as the first Wittenberg hymnal. It came with a foreword by Martin Luther:
The collection was the first German collection of hymns for choir and was published in Wittenberg in 1524 by Johann Walter, who collaborated with Luther. The hymnal comprised originally 32 songs, 24 of which were written by Luther, including "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" and "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin". The settings are for three, four, and five parts, with the melody in the tenor. Nine of the songs are psalms paraphrased in metric stanzas, such as "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir", a paraphrase of Psalm 130. The order of the songs does not seem to follow a plan, but groupings are apparent, such as Latin songs being placed at the end, preceded by five songs about the topics of the creed and the Trinity:
  1. Gott, der Vater, wohn uns bei
  2. Wir glauben all an einen Gott
  3. Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
  4. Hilf Gott, wie ist der Menschen Not
  5. In Gott gelaub ich, das er hat
Four of the songs had been part of the Achtliederbuch, the first Lutheran hymnal.
Luther continued to revise and enlarge the 1524 "Wittenberg hymnal", adding more songs, and it was reprinted in 1529, 1531, 1533, 1535, and 1543. This culminated in an edition titled Geystliche Lieder, prefaced by Luther and published by Valentin Babst in Leipzig in 1545 shortly before Luther's death.
Contemporaneous editions of hymnals for lay people followed the organization of Luther's choral "Wittenberg hymnal" rather closely. For example, the Wittenberg Enchiridion of 1526. contained ten more songs, with seven of them placed at the end and two others following a song with the same melody. This edition was copied in hymnals in Zurich in 1528 and in Leipzig in 1530. Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn has been called the root of all Protestant song music.

Editions