Christian Keymann (also ''Christian Keimann''; 27 February 1607 – 13 January 1662) was a German hymnwriter. He is known for writing the chorale "

Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht "" ("I shall not leave my Jesus") is a German Lutheran hymn, with lyrics by Christian Keimann written in 1658. The theme of the hymn is trust in Jesus, based on memorial sermons for John George I, Elector of Saxony recalling conversations of the e ...

" in 1658, which served as the base for Bach's chorale cantata '' Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht, BWV 124'', and other compositions.

Career

Keymann was born in Pankratz, Habsburg Bohemia, in 1607, the son of Zacharias Keimann, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

pastor. From 1627 to 1634, he studied at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

. After graduation he worked at the gymnasium of

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "'' rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ge ...

, first as associate director, then as rector in 1638. He died of a stroke in 1662.

Hymns

Two of his most popular hymns were translated into English; "O rejoice, ye Christians, loudly" ("Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle") found in Chorale Book, No. 33, and "Jesus will I never leave" ("Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht") found in United Brethren's Hymn Book, No. 464. Donald G. Bloesch in his book ''The struggle of prayer'' (1980) describes it as a "moving hymn". His hymns in general have been described as "being of genuine poetic ring, fresh, strong, full of faith under manifold and heavy trials, and deeply spiritual".

Music

Keymann collaborated with composer

Andreas Hammerschmidt Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611 or 1612 – 29 October 1675), the "Orpheus of Zittau," was a German Bohemian composer and organist of the early to middle Baroque era. He was one of the most significant and popular composers of sacred music in Ge ...

who created tunes for Keymann's hymns. In 1646, a collection of hymns ''Mnemosyne sacra'' was published by Keymann in Leipzig, including five tunes by Hammerschmidt. In 1658, the collection ''Fest-, Buß- und Danklieder'' (Songs for feast, repentance and thanks) was printed in Zittau, containing the hymn "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht" (I will not let go of my Jesus). In 1725,

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 ...

based his chorale cantata for the first Sunday after Epiphany on this entire hymn, but he also used single stanzas in other cantatas, from the same chorale in '' Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70'', ''

Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 98 Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata (What God does is well done), 98, in Leipzig for the 21st Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 10 November 1726. History and words In his fourth year in Leipzig, Bach wrote the cantat ...

'' and '' Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren, BWV 154''. In the first (1727/1729) version of his '' St Matthew Passion'', Part I was concluded with the final stanza of the chorale, "Jesum laß ich nicht von mir" (Jesus I'll not let leave me). He used a stanza from "Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle" (Be joyful, all ye Christians, 1646), also on a melody by Hammerschmidt, in '' Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40''. Max Reger based three compositions on "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht", a chorale prelude (Op. 67 No.26, 1902), a composition for soprano, mixed choir, violin, viola and Organ (1905), and again a chorale prelude (Op. 135a No. 17, 1914). Sigfrid Karg-Elert wrote a chorale improvisation for organ (Fughetta), Op. 65 No 49.

References

Sources

Christian Weise Christian Weise (30 April 1642 – 21 October 1708), also known under the pseudonyms Siegmund Gleichviel, Orontes, Catharinus Civilis and Tarquinius Eatullus, was a German writer, dramatist, poet, pedagogue and librarian of the Baroque era. He prod ...

: Memoria Christiani Keimani. Zittau 1689 *Heinrich Julius Kämmel: Christian Keimann Programm Zittau 1856 *Theodor Gärtner (ed.): Quellenbuch zur Geschichte des Gymnasiums in Zittau. vol. 1, Leipzig 1905, p. 88-90 *

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Göttinge ...

(ed.): Literaturlexikon. Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache (15 volumes). Gütersloh, Munich: Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verlag, 1988–1991 (CD-ROM: Berlin 1998, )

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keymann, Christian German Protestant hymnwriters 1607 births 1662 deaths 17th-century hymnwriters