Jesu, meines Glaubens Zier is a German

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

Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer (11 July 1635 – 8 September 1699) was a German jurist, poet, satirist and Protestant hymn writer. He worked as an advocate at the court of Wolfenbüttel. Johann Sebastian Bach used a stanza from his hymn "" to conclude his ...

, first published in 1661. Its

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

, Zahn No. 6453, was first published in 1714, in

Freylinghausen Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (2 December 1670 in Bad Gandersheim — 12 February 1739 in Halle) was a theologian of the pietist Halle School and a scholar and follower of August Hermann Francke. He was the second director of the Franckeschen ...

's hymnal. In 1736 the hymn was adopted in , with a

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidental (music), accidentals) indicate interval (music), intervals, chord (music), chords, and non- ...

accompaniment which may have been contributed by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

(

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

472). The tune is also known in English due to its presence in the 1906

English Hymnal ''The English Hymnal'' is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and wa ...

and its 1986

successor Successor may refer to: * An entity that comes after another (see Succession (disambiguation)) Film and TV * ''The Successor'' (1996 film), a film including Laura Girling * The Successor (2023 film), a French drama film * ''The Successor'' ( ...

, where it appears to "It is finished! Christ hath known", a

Passion Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emotio ...

text by Gabriel Gillett written for the 1906 publication and based on Jesus' dying words, per the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

, "" ("It is finished!"), which inspired many other hymns.

Text

The original German text is a

Passion hymn Passion hymns are hymns dedicated to the Passion of Jesus. They are often sung during Passiontide, namely for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Many of them were used as chorales in Passion (music), Passions, such as Bach's St John Passion structu ...

in five stanzas of eight lines each. An English-language version of the hymn, not a translation of the original but sharing its rhyme scheme and Passion theme, has three stanzas. The author of that version, who exemplifies the conservative tradition of the beginning of the 20th-century, pleads, in a "very sensitive and beautiful text", for Christ, as maker of human joys and sorrows, to lead his flock upon the same path of self-sacrifice. The poet's tone and theology are medieval in nature, the text as a whole expanding on medieval analogies between Nature and Christian mythology.

Tune

The hymn tune of "Jesu, meines Glaubens Zier" was first published in

's hymnal in 1714. The setting which appears in only consists of a vocal line (melody) and a figured bass. A realisation of this was published in the English Hymnal, and this setting is transcribed below. << << \new Staff \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Staff >> >> \layout \midi

References

Sources

* * * * *
Volume IV

External links

*

at
It is finished! Christ hath known, (Jesu Meines Glaubens Zier)
in various print and audio formats at * (recordings) * {{Authority control Lutheran hymns 17th-century hymns in German Passion hymns