Immanuel, We Sing Thy Praise

Representative Text

1 Immanuel, we sing Thy praise,
Thou Prince of Life, Thou Fount of Grace,
With all Thy saints, Thee, Lord, we sing;
Praise, honor, thanks, to Thee we bring

2 E’er since the world began to be,
How many a heart hath longed for Thee!
And Thou, O long expected Guest,
Hast come at last to make us blest!

3 Now art Thou here: we know Thee now:
In lowly manger liest Thou:
A Child, yet makest all things great;
Poor, yet the earth Thy robe of state.

4 Now fearlessly I come to Thee:
From sin and grief O set me free!
Turn wrath away, dread death destroy,
And turn my sorrow into joy.

5 Thou art my Head, my Lord divine:
I am Thy member, wholly Thine;
And by Thy Spirit’s strength gracious power
Will seek to serve Thee evermore.

Amen.

Source: The Hymnal and Order of Service #29

Translator: Catherine Winkworth

Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used i… Go to person page >

Author: Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which con­demned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was r… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Immanuel, we sing Thy praise, Thou prince of life, thou fount of grace (Winkworth)
Title: Immanuel, We Sing Thy Praise
German Title: Wir singen dir, Immanuel
Author: Paul Gerhardt
Translator: Catherine Winkworth
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

GERMANY (Gardiner)


VOM HIMMEL HOCH

Initially Luther used the folk melody associated with his first stanza as the tune for this hymn. Later he composed this new tune for his text. VOM HIMMEL HOCH was first published in Valentin Schumann's Geistliche Lieder in 1539. Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) used Luther's melody in three places in his wel…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #2933
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #2933

Include 33 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us