NUN DANKET, named for the incipit of Rinkart's text, has been associated with this text ever since they were published together by Johann Cruger (PHH 42) in his Praxis Pietatis Melica (1647). Like most modern hymnals, the Psalter Hymnal prints the isorhythmic (all equal rhythms) version. The tune was used by Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) in his cantatas 79 and 192 and by Felix Mendelssohn (PHH 279) in the Lobgesang movement of his Symphony No.2 (1840); the harmonization is based on the one in six voices by Mendelssohn in that work. There are also many organ compositions based on NUN DANKET.

A bar form (AAB), NUN DANKET is a splendid tune for majestic occasions of thanks¬giving. Sing stanzas 1 and 2 in either unison or harmony, but sing the doxology in stanza 3 in unison, preferably with a descant. Observe a fermata at the ends of the first two systems. This tune needs a broad tempo.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook