"There is a longing" is a 1973 Christian hymn with text and music by Anne Quigley. It has appeared from 1992 in hymnals in English, and also in German from 1999, translated by

Eugen Eckert Eugen Eckert (born 1954) is a German social worker, minister, singer-songwriter and academic teacher. He is known for his lyrics for new spiritual songs (Neues Geistliches Lied), and his oratorios and musical plays. Career Born in Frankfurt am ...

to "Da wohnt ein Sehnen tief in uns".

History

The English composer and hymn writer Anne Quigley wrote the lyrics and the melody in 1973. It was published by Oregon Press Publications in 1992, and in several hymnals.

Translations

In 1999

translated the song into German under the title "Da wohnt ein Sehnen tief in uns". It became part of several hymnals and songbooks, including the regional addition ''EG Plus'' to the common 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 ...

'' as EG+102 and regional sections of the common Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speak ...

''.

Text, theme and music

The text is in four

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

s; the refrain about a longing in the group of singers opens the song, while the stanzas express prayers for specific desired situations such as peace and freedom. The longing for God's presence comes from sorrow and hurt, helplessness and anxiety regarding the future in a presence full of wars and dangers. The melody has been described as soft and tender, the opposite of battle songs.

References

English Christian hymns 20th-century hymns in German 1973 songs Neues Geistliches Lied {{RC-music-stub