225. Give Thanks to God, the Father

Text Information
First Line: Give thanks to God, the Father
Title: Give Thanks to God, the Father
Versifier: James Quinn, S.J. (1980, alt.)
Meter: 76 76 D
Language: English
Publication Date: 1987
Scripture: ;
Topic: Election; Church; Grace (2 more...)
Source: Resource Collection of Hymns and Service Music for the Liturgy, from
Copyright: © 1981, International Commision on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved
Tune Information
Name: DU MEINE SEELE SINGE
Composer: Johann G. Ebeling (1666)
Harmonizer: Jacobus J. Kloppers (1987)
Meter: 76 76 D
Key: B♭ Major
Copyright: Harmonization © 1987, CRC Publications


Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Eph. 1:3-4
st. 2 = Eph. 1:5-7a
st. 3 = Eph. 1:7b-l0
st. 4 = Eph. 1:1l-13a
st. 5 = Eph. 1:13b-14

The Scottish Jesuit priest James Quinn (PHH 220) wrote this paraphrase of Ephesians 1:3-14 "sometime before 1978." In the original Greek this Scripture passage is an extended doxology in one very long sentence. Quinn set the doxology in five stanzas of praise to God for blessings the Father has given us in Christ the Son through the Holy Spirit. The text is filled with profound theological confessions about each member of the Trinity. Like much of Quinn's work, the song text is unrhymed in order to preserve many well-known biblical phrases. The text was first published in Resource Collection of Hymns and Service Music for the Liturgy (1981).

Liturgical Use:
As a doxology, also suitable as a hymn of praise at the beginning of worship, especially when focusing on the Trinity.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Johann G. Ebeling (b. Lüneburg, Germany, 1637; d. Stettin, Pomerania, Germany, 1676) originally composed DU MEINE SEELE SINGE for the text "Merkt auf, merkt Himmel, Erde" by Paul Gerhardt (PHH 331). A promising student of both music and theology, Ebeling succeeded the famous Johann Cruger (PHH 42) as cantor at St. Nicholas Church in Berlin at the age of twenty-five. In 1667 he moved to Stettin, where he taught music as well as Greek and poetry in the Caroline Gymnasium (high school). Providing most of the lively melodies and all the harmonizations, Ebeling published two collections of the hymn texts of Paul Gerhardt: Pauli Gerhardi geistliche Andachten (1667) and Evangelischer Lustgarten Herrn Pauli Gerhardts (1669).

This tune was published in the 1667 collection for another Gerhardt text, "Du meine Seele, singe," based on Psalm 146, and from that text the tune got its name. A majestic German chorale in bar form (AABC), DU MEINE SEELE SINGE has an attractive "rocket" motif in the first two lines and a solid climax in the final line. It is well suited to part singing, and antiphonal performance may help the singing of the entire text. Jacobus J. Kloppers (PHH 87) initially wrote the 1987 harmonization for use by The King's College Choir, Edmonton, Alberta, and subsequently included it in a hymn concertato.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook


Media
MIDI file: MIDI
MIDI file: MIDI Preview
(Faith Alive Christian Resources)
More media are available on the tune authority page.

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