Martin Rinkart was a Lutheran minister who came to Eilenburg, Saxonyat the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. The walled city of Eilenburg became the refuge for political and military fugitives, but the result was overcrowding, and deadly pestilence and famine. Armies overran it three times. The Rinkart home was a refuge for the victims, even though he was often hard-pressed to provide for his own family. During the height of a severe plague in 1637, Rinkart was the only surviving pastor in Eilenburg, conducting as many as 50 funerals in a day. He performed more than 4000 funerals in that year, including that of his wife. Rinkart was a prolific hymn writer. In Rinkart's "Jesu Hertz-Buchlein", the hymn appears under the title "Tisch-Gebetlein", or a short prayer before meals. The exact date of "Nun danket alle Gott" is debated, but it is known that it was widely sung by the time the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648. Johann Crüger published it in the 1647 edition of his Praxis pietatis melica.
Text
Below is the text in a modern version from the German hymnalEvangelisches Gesangbuch, and a 19th-century translation by Catherine Winkworth:
Melody
\new Staff << \clef treble \new Voice = "Soprano"
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The melody is sometimes attributed to Rinckart, but it is usually considered to be by Johann Crüger, who first published it.
Musical settings
It is used in J.S. Bach's cantatas, such as BWV 79, 192, harmonized for four voices in BWV 252 and 386, and set in a choral prelude, BWV 657, as part of the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes. The now-standard harmonisation was devised by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840 when he adopted the hymn, sung in the now-standard key of F major and with its original German lyrics, as the chorale to his Lobgesang or Hymn of Praise. Max Reger composed a chorale prelude as No. 27 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902. The late-Romantic German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert used it in his Marche Triomphale. In 1969 Mr. Jo Mama also used Martin Rinckart's hymn to write a song entitledWe Must Rejoice.. John Rutter composed Now thank we all our God for choir and brass in 1974. In 1977 Czech-American composer Václav Nelhýbel arranged a contemporary setting entitled Now Thank We All Our God:Concertato for 2 trumpets, 2 trombones & Organ with Tuba and Timpani which incorporated Nun Danket Alle Gott for congregational singing. Hermann Chr. Bühler made an elaborate setting of Johann Crüger's version. It is often used in Christian weddings and other joyous religious ceremonies, and in Germany it is sung on occasions of national thanksgiving.
Leuthen Chorale
It is claimed that after the Battle of Leuthen in 1757, the hymn was taken up by the entire assembled Prussian army. This narrative is however questioned by historians and musicologists, who identify the story as a later invention of Prussian propaganda. Because of this story the melody is sometimes known as the Leuthen Chorale.
