The chorales at first did not have the regular rhythms that they later took on. The steady progression of even notes, invariable in Bach’s day, had come only gradually into use. Some of the recent hymnbooks, in the interest of greater variety of rhythm, are returning to the original “rhythmic chorales.”

Though unison singing has been widely practiced and is advocated today by some good authorities in church music, Luther encouraged part singing. In his first Preface to the Geystliches Gesangbücklin, 1525, he wrote:

These songs have been set in four parts, for no other reason than because I wished to provide our young people (who both will and ought to be instructed in music and other sciences) with something whereby they might rid themselves of amorous and carnal songs, and in their stead learn something wholesome, and so apply themselves to what is good with pleasure, as becometh the young.

The period of the German chorales may be said to have begun with Luther, 1483-1546, and ended two centuries later with J. S. Bach, 1685-1750. Bach brought the chorale tunes to their highest perfection, using many of them in his larger choral works. He composed about 30 original chorale melodies, wrote reharmonizations for approximately 400, and composed many chorale preludes for the organ which are in wide use today.

The German hymns and chorale tunes, used constantly in the home and school, as well as in the church, have been of great importance in our Mennonite worship in the past. They constitute the main body of material in all our German collections of hymns. In an effort to preserve and emphasize this rich heritage, there was incorporated into the Hymnary, a special section, Book III, made up exclusively of chorales.

German Chorales in the Hymnary

16th Century Martin Luther, 1483-1546, “A mighty fortress is our God” (549) “From heaven above to earth I come” (527) “Out of the depths I cry to Thee” (531-2) Nicolaus Selnecker, 1532-92, “Now cheer our hearts” (557) Philipp Nicolai, 1556-1608, “Wake, awake, for night is flying” (522) “How brightly shines the Morning Star” (529) 17th Century (1)—Period of The Thirty Years War—1618-48 Johann Heerman, 1585-1647, “Ah, dearest Jesus” (534) Josua Stegman, 1588-1632, “Abide with us, our Savior” (559) Matthaus von Löwenstern, 1594-1648, “Lord of our life” (278) Georg Weissel, 1590-1635, “Lift up your heads” (523) Heinrich Albert, 1604-51, “God who madest earth” (573) Ernst Homburg, 1605-81, “Christ, the life of all the living” (535) Michael Schirmer, 1606-73, “O Holy Spirit, enter in” (546) Paul Gerhardt, 1607-76, “O sacred Head, now wounded” (539) and others Gerhard Tersteegen, 1697-1769, “God reveals His presence” (506) “O power of love, all else transcending” (517) (2)—Later 17th Century Johann Franck, 1618-77, “Deck thyself, my soul,” (552) Tobias Clausnitzer, 1619-84, “Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier” (553a) Georg Neumark, 1621-81, “He who would be in God” (571) Johann Scheffler, 1624-77, “I am the Lord, O hear my voice” (565) Joachim Neander, 1650-80, “Heaven and earth, the sea” (510) 18th Century Johann Mentzer, 1658-1734, “O that I had a thousand voices” (509) Erdmann Neumeister, 1671-1756, “Sinners Jesus will receive” (466) Benjamin Schmolck, 1672-1737, “My Jesus, as Thou wilt” (250) Philipp F. Hiller, 1699-1769, “O Son of God, we wait for” (524) “What mercy and divine compassion” (562) Christian F. Gellert, 1715-69, “How great, almighty is Thy” (516) Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750. The life of the great musician marks the close of the German Chorale period and for that reason his name is placed here. None of Bach’s original chorale melodies are found in the Hymnary but use is made of a number of his harmonizations. See 539, 545, 556, 557, 564, 566.

7. Hymns of the Reformation: The Metrical Psalms.

While the German people, under the leadership of Luther, were singing chorales set to original religious poems, a large section of Protestantism, under the influence of John Calvin, confined itself to the singing of Psalms. To the French reformer, now preaching at Geneva, hymns were “man-made,” whereas the psalms were the inspired word of God and the only proper vehicle for the praise of God. Calvin, unlike Luther, was not a musician, and at first permitted only unison singing, unaccompanied. Part singing and instrumental accompaniment seemed to savor of the frivolous and worldly, an opinion which Calvin, however, was soon to modify. For two hundred years the Calvinistic churches on the Continent and in Britain were influenced in their worship song by the strict views of Calvin, limiting themselves to the metrical psalms and scriptural paraphrases. The German people in the meantime produced a rich treasury of original religious lyrics, contributed by some of their best poets.

Psalter Tunes and Metrical Psalms in the Hymnary

Genevan Psalter Tunes, 1551. O Seigneur (19) Old 134th (128, 132, 616) Rendez à Dieu (306) Old 124th (354) Old 100th (594) Scottish Psalter, 1650. Book Five (575 to 600) with a few exceptions New Version, 1696, Tate and Brady. “Through all the changing scenes of life” (583) “As pants the hart for cooling streams” (586) “O come, loud anthems let us sing” (18) “While shepherds watched their flocks by night” (73-4)

8. Psalm Versions.

The use of the psalms in singing, first on the Continent, then in England and Scotland, and later in America, brought forth many metrical versions of the psalter, the principal ones being the following:

a. The Genevan Psalter, begun 1539, published complete in 1562. It was made at the request of John Calvin by Clément Marot, court poet of France, and Theodore Beza, a French scholar. It became the psalm book for the Reformation churches on the continent, and is spoken of as the most famous book of praise the Christian Church ever produced. It was issued in at least one thousand editions and translated into a number of tongues. Some of the original tunes are still in use, e.g., “Old Hundredth.”

b. The Anglo-Genevan Psalter, Geneva, 1556. This was used by John Knox, the Scottish reformer, and his followers who fled the persecutions of “Bloody Mary,” and formed a congregation at Geneva. The book incorporated some of the Sternhold and Hopkins versions which were in use in England, and added others.

c. The Old Version, Sternhold and Hopkins, completed in 1562. Used in England for 134 years. It is entitled, The Whole Booke of Psalmes, but came to be known as the “Old Version.”

d. The Bay Psalm Book, Boston, 1640. This was the first book printed in English-speaking America. It was made to obtain greater literalness to the Hebrew original than was found in the versions then in use. The book reigned supreme among the English churches in New England for over a century. Seventy editions of it were printed in America, the last in 1773. Eighteen editions appeared in England, and twenty-two in Scotland. There were no tunes given it until 1698, then only 13, with the air in the bass.

e. The Scottish Psalter, completed 1650. Special mention is made of this version of the Psalms because it is the source of nearly all the selections of metrical psalms which constitute Book Five of the Hymnary. The number of versions and editions of psalms which appeared on the Continent and in England were numerous and confusing, each claiming its own special merits. Finally, in the interests of better literary diction and greater unity in singing in the Scottish Presbyterian churches, the General Assembly authorized a new version. The result, after many years’ work, was the famous Scottish Psalter of 1650 which remains the standard work in Scotland today.

There is a certain “dignified crudeness” in some of the literary expressions but the psalms have long been learned in this version and have become an important part of the religious training and experience of millions of English speaking people, especially in Scotland.

The Scottish Psalter first appeared with words only. There were no notes and no suggestions for melodies. The succeeding one hundred years were a time of confusion. The tunes used were few in number, such as the leaders had learned from various sources, and passed on to succeeding generations by rote. The time came when better singing and better tunes were demanded and gradually the psalter appeared with tunes. Early tune versions put the melody invariably in the tenor. The latest edition, printed in 1929, by the Oxford Press, contains the best Psalm tunes which had gradually come into use, many of them arranged with “Faux-bourdon” (wherein the congregation sings one or more verses to the melody while the choir supplies the harmony), and “Descant” (a second melody over that of the tune).

f. The New Version, Tate and Brady, London, 1696. This version gradually supplanted the Old Version of Sternhold and Hopkins, and held its place in the worship of the church for 150 years. It was adopted, in 1789, by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and bound with the prayer book of that Communion.