Cornelius Becker Der Psalter Davids Gesangweis (1602)

Cornelius-Becker-Heinrich-Schütz,-Psalmen-Davids-1628

The ''Becker Psalter'' is a German metrical psalter authored by the Leipzig theologian Cornelius Becker and first published by Jakob Apel in Leipzig in 1602 under the title ''Der Psalter Davids Gesangweis''. Several composers set the psalms contained in the volume, notably

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

, whose four-part chorales were published in 1628 and revised and expanded in 1661.

Content

Becker included in his Psalter earlier Lutheran

paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

s of

psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, such as "

Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir "" (From deep affliction I cry out to you), originally "", later also "", is a Lutheran hymn of 1524, with words written by Martin Luther as a paraphrase of Psalm 130. It was first published in 1524 as one of eight songs in the first Lutheran ...

", " Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein", " Erbarm dich mein", "

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in the German language with the title ) is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune between ...

" and " An Wasserflüssen Babylon". The 1602 publication, titled ''Der Psalter Dauids Gesangweis'', was without melodies and meant to be sung to the tunes of other well-known

Lutheran hymn Martin Luther was a great enthusiast for music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away from the ''a ...

Schütz

welcomed the theological intentions of Becker's metrical versions of the psalms, and wrote four-part settings which he published in 1628 as '' Psalmen Davids: Hiebevorn in Teutzsche Reimen gebracht durch D. Cornelium Beckern''. The collection was reprinted in 1640, and appeared in a revised and enlarged version in 1661. In number of prints and editions it was Schütz's most successful work from the 17th to the early 18th century.

References

Sources

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External links

Facsimile of the 1602 publication of the Becker Psalter
at

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the big ...

website * {{Heinrich Schütz Psalm settings Compositions by Heinrich Schütz 1628 compositions 1640 compositions Lutheran hymns based on Psalms