"" ("Christ our Lord came to the Jordan") is a

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 ...

about

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

, written in 1541 and published in 1543. It has been set in many musical compositions, including cantatas and chorale preludes by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

History of the hymn text

Luther wrote the hymn focused on baptism as part of his teaching about Lutheran concepts, possibly as the last hymn he wrote. Luther held sermons about baptism in the Easter week of 1540; it seems likely that he wrote the hymn in that context. It is closely connected to Luther's teaching about baptism in his

Small Catechism ''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pra ...

, reflecting the structure of his questions and answers. Several later publications refer to the year 1541 as a first publication as a broadsheet, which did not survive. The hymn appeared in 1543, summarized "A Spiritual Song of our Holy Baptism, which is a fine summary of What it is? Who established it? What are its benefits?" (""). In the Lutheran liturgy, the hymn was related to the feast day of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. In the current Protestant hymnal, , it appears as EG 202.

Melody

The hymn tune, Zahn No. 7246, in the

Dorian mode Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the medieval musical modes; or—mo ...

, is older than the text and appeared already in 1524 in

Johann Walter Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period. Life Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...

's choral hymnal with the hymn "" (a paraphrase of

Psalm 67 Psalm 67 is the 67th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us". In Latin, it is known as "Deus misereatur". In the slightly different ...

). When Luther looked for a melody for the new baptism hymn, "" was already assigned a different melody. It made sense to use a tune for a hymn about God's grace for a specific expression of that grace in baptism. Walter revised the four-part setting from 1524 with the melody in the tenor, adapting it to the different text. It was published in 1550. Below is the melody first published in 1524:

Text

Below is the text of Luther's hymn with the English translation by

George Macdonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational church, Congregational Minister (Christianity), minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature a ...

Use in musical compositions

The hymn has been set in many choral and organ compositions. A four-part setting by Wolf Heintz was used to introduce the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in Halle in 1541. Choral settings include works by

Hans Leo Hassler Hans Leo Hassler (in German, Hans Leo Haßler) (baptized 26 October 1564 – 8 June 1612) was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of less known composer Jakob Hassler. He was born in Nür ...

Johann Hermann Schein Johann Hermann Schein (20 January 1586 – 19 November 1630) was a German composer of the early Baroque era. He was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1615 to 1630. He was one of the first to import the early Italian stylistic innovations into Germa ...

and

Samuel Scheidt Samuel Scheidt (baptised 3 November 1587 – 24 March 1654) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Life and career Scheidt was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with Sw ...

; while organ settings include a

Ricercar A ricercar ( , ) or ricercare ( , ) is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term ''ricercar'' derives from the Italian verb which means 'to search out; to seek'; many ricercars serve a preludial funct ...

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

and chorale preludes by Hieronymus Praetorius,

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; ; born Diderik Hansen Buxtehude; c. 1637 – 9 May 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal a ...

(BuxWV 180) and Johann Pachelbel.

composed the

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the German Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chorale cantata includes m ...

, for , the feast day of John the Baptist. The last verse of the hymn is the closing chorale of cantata . The melody was also used as the

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tre ...

of two

chorale prelude In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 ...

s for organ in his

Clavier-Übung III The ''Clavier-Übung III'', sometimes referred to as the ''German Organ Mass'', is a collection of compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36 and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most significant and extensiv ...

: BWV 684, a four-part setting for two manuals and pedal; and BWV 685 for single manual.

References

External links