"" (Sing merrily in Advent) is an

Advent song Advent songs () are songs and hymns intended for Advent, the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Topics of the time of expectation are the hope for a Messiah, prophecies, and the symbolism of light, among others. Several of the songs are part o ...

with German text and melody by Gottfried Neubert written in 1977. The song is part of the German Protestant hymnal ''

Evangelisches Gesangbuch ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (''EG''; , "Protestantism, Protestant song book") is the current hymnal of German-language congregations in Germany, Alsace and Lorraine, Austria, and Luxembourg, which was introduced from 1993 and 1996, succeeding ...

''.

History

wrote the text and melody of "" in 1977. It was first published by Strube Verlag in 1977. In the Protestant hymnal ''

'', it is EG 536. It is part of several songbooks.

Theme and music

The song is based on the call of the prophet Isaiah to prepare the way for the Lord (

Isaiah 40 Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and the first chapter of the section known as "Deutero-Isaiah" (Isaiah 40- 55), dating from the time of the Israelites' ex ...

:3), which is quoted in the Gospel of Luke,

Luke 3 Luke 3 is the third Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journ ...

:4, referring to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. The song is in five stanzas of four lines each. The first stanza calls to sing merrily in Advent and let go of mourning. Stanzas two to four call more precisely to sing of hope, peace and love. The final stanza repeats the first call, adding thanks.

References

{{authority control 20th-century hymns in German 1977 songs Advent songs