Herr Gott Vater, Schöpfer aller Ding

 Here is my translation of the Antiphon for Fair Weather, “Herr Gott Vater, Schöpfer aller Ding” (Vincentius Schmuck, d. 1628), in ELGB #435, originally in Latin as “Domine Rex,” first apearing in German in the Dresden Gesangbuch (1632) with melody adapted the Gregorian chant. Since another, more musical (in the technical sense) setting was given it by Doles in 1785, I have retained the syllabic structure and to some extent also the accent. However, Doles’ setting is for a text very slightly altered, e.g., “Dinge” for “Ding” in the second phrase (requiring a slur on “thing”); “allein” for “alle” and insertion of “dich” in the last phrase. The Buffalo Synod hymnal thus indicates the later melody by the presence of these variants. My accommodations to these variants are found in square brackets. Nevertheless, it is apparent that the setting should be adapted by an able musician; to which end, for whoever might wish to carry out such a task, I include a more natural form of the English text below.

 

LORD God, Father,
Maker of all things, [things,–]
graciously grant us,
we pray Thee, (fair weather / fruitful rain)
for the fruits of Thy provision,
That receiving them
with thankful hearts
as from Thine own hands for our necessary use,
we may all acknowledge, hold, and ever praise Thee
As our dear Father, Maker, and [our] most gracious Sustainer.

A more natural form:
LORD God, Father and Maker of all things,
mercifully grant us, we beseech Thee, (fair weather / a fruitful rain) for the fruits of Thy provision,
that receiving them from Thy hand with thanksgiving for our necessary use,
we may evermore acknowledge, esteem, and adore Thee as our Father and Sustainer.

From the Latin (Cantica Sacra, 1613):
O LORD the King, the God of Abraham, give us (fair weather / rain) over the face of the earth, that this people may learn that Thou art the Lord our God. (Alleluia.)

Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN

Herr, Gott Vater,
Schöpfer aller Ding! […Dinge!]
gieb uns gnädiglich
ein (schön helles Wetter / fruchtbaren Regen)
zu den Früchten Deiner Gaben,
daß wir sie mögen
von Deiner Hand
zu unsre Nothdurft mit Danksagung empfahen,
und Dich, daß Du unser Vater und Ernährer seist,
alle erkennen, halten und ewiglich preisen. [allein…]

LATIN ORIGINAL

Domine Rex Deus Abraham, dona nobis (serenitatem / pluviam) super faciem terræ, ut discat populus iste quia tu es Dominus Deus noster. (Alleluia).

 

Aufer a nobis

Here is my suggested translation and adaptation of the Latin litany hymn, “Aufer a nobis,” which is found in ELGB #280, where the note is included: “It should be sung often at Matins and Vespers, in Rogation Week, and in time of need, and also on Sundays after the Epistle in place of the Sequence.” This hymn, originally an antiphon in the ancient church, is found in several slightly different versions. The present form found in the Buffalo Synod hymnal does not reflect the Trinitarian formula seen, e.g., in Cantica Sacra (Magdeburg, 1613), but has a stanza to the Triune God generally, the Father, and the Son, peculiarly with Alleluias instead of repeated refrains of “Have mercy,” etc., as seen for Advent I in Keuchenthal, 1f. This form rather comes from the Pomeranian Church Order (1569ff.) and originates thus as a separate Evangelical emendation of the Catholic form as seen later in Alte Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesäng, printed for the Bishop of Trier (Cölln: Quentel, 1615), replacing the Catholic phrase “Sancta Maria ora pro nobis” with “per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum.” A similar form was referenced in various Lutheran church orders of the 17th c.

TAKE away from us, O Lord,
all our iniquities,
that with clean hearts and minds we may worthily enter
into Thy Holy of Holies.
Alleluia.

2 Give ear, give ear, O Lord,
To our prayers through Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
Alleluia.

3 Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy on Thy people,
Whom Thou hast redeemed, O Christ, with Thy blood,
And be not angry with us forever!
Alleluia.

Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver.

LATIN

Aufer a nobis, Domine,
cunctas iniquitates nostras,
ut possimus puris mentibus introire,
ad Sancta Sanctorum.
Allelujah.

2 Exaudi, exaudi, Domine,
preces nostras per Jesum Christum,
Dominum nostrum.
Allelujah.

3 Miserere, miserere, miserer populi tui,
quem redemisti Christe, sanguine tuo,
ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.
Allelujah

Domine Rex, Deus, Abraham

Here is my suggested rendering of the supplicatory Responsory pro serenitate/pluviam, “Domine Rex, Deus, Abraham” in ELGB #273, evidently based on 1 Kings 18:36, 37, 45, a “prayer of the Christian congregation in time of need, for rain or fair weather.” This Latin text is in origin an ancient Antiphon for Litany processions which concluded with an Alleluia, and was evidently taken by Grabau from the Pomeranian Church Order, where it is found re-worked as a Responsory. Grabau indicates that the German version is found in the same Buffalo Synod hymnal as #435 (“Herr Gott, Schöpfer aller Dinge”). The English translation here is based on that of Blunt in his Annotated Book of Common Prayer. No melody is indicated in the hymnal for the Latin text, though the German designates “proper melody.” Grabau curiously numbers the phrases of the Responsory in the manner of hymn stanzas, and perhaps intends the whole to be spoken or sung in unison, or more likely, sung to the standard Agenda tones used for Responsorial singing otherwise (i.e., the versicle tone). As an illustration of the original Antiphon melody, I include that of Cantica Sacra, Magdeburg 1613 (Bezeli), which includes both options (serenitatem / pluviam):

 

℟. O LORD, King, God of Abraham, give us fair weather (or rain) over the face of the earth:
†. That this people may learn that Thou art the Lord our God.
℣. Arise, O Lord, deliver us and defend us for Thy name’s sake.
†. That this people may learn that Thou art the Lord our God.
Amen. 

LATIN

Domine Rex, Deus Abraham, dona nobis serenitatem (pluviam) super faciem terrae:

2 Ut discat populus iste, quia Tu es Dominus Deus noster.

3 Exsurge Domine, libera nos et protege nos propter nomen tuum.

4 Ut discat populus iste, &c. Amen.

Gott, der da reich ist

Here is my adaptation of the liturgical song for Apostles’ days and other feasts, “Gott, der da reich ist” (Anon., 1526? or 1634), in ELGB #253, a quotation of Ephesians 2:4–5, 7, first appearing, according to Schöberlein, in the Erfurt Deutsch Kirchenamt 1526, though Zahn says he is not familiar with this. Zahn gives the melody from Erfurt Geistliche Lieder 1634, with others’ variants, and from the Gotha Cantional, which does not have repeats, and so is not the likeliest source for the Buffalo Synod hymnal’s text; there, it is given the title “Conclusion,” i.e., of the service. No music is indicated in our hymnal, and the text is ascribed to the translator, Luther. In form it is a scriptural responsory of sorts, though Zahn does not indicate the repeats. Presumably, the repeated part might well be sung by a second choir in the places indicated.

 

 

GOD, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
(for His great love wherewith He loved us,)
That He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace through Christ Jesus,
(for His great love wherewith He loved us.)

Adaptation & engraving © 2023 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN

Gott, der da reich ist an Barmherzigkeit,
durch seine große Liebe, damit er uns geliebt hat,
die wir tot waren in Sünden, hat er uns mit Chistus lebendig gemacht,
durch seine große Liebe, damit er uns geliebt hat,
zu erweisen den überschwenglichen Reichtum seiner Gnade durch Jesus Christ,
durch seine große Liebe, damit er uns geliebt hat.

Dies ist der Tag / Haec est dies quam

Here is my translation of the antiphon-hymn “Dies ist der Tag” (tr. C. Spangenberg, †1604), itself a Germanicization of the Annunciation Antiphon Haec est dies quam, etc. Spangenberg’s text (as given by Wackernagel) represents a significant expansion of the original, much like a farce or trope. Note however the change in stanza , where probably for doctrinal reasons the poetic contrast of two "femina"s has been omitted. Spangenberg seems to have intended each syllable of the German to match one note of the original tune, much in the same way as the Bohemian Brethren adapted Gregorian melodies, but eliminated the difficulty of learning and singing melismas by turning them into syllabic phrases. I have mostly followed the German in dividing lines, but not having the exact version of the melody used by Spangenberg, I have chosen in some places to divide lines at more logical points following the Latin text. The melody I give here is transcribed for modern notation from a book (prob. an Antiphoner) printed in Augsburg ca. 1580, where the Antiphon appears for the Benedictus on the Feast (apparently in a variation of canticle tone VIII).

THIS IS the day,—

The holy, gracious and most blessed day,—
Which God hath made,
Before the world’s foundations were laid.

2. This day the good and merciful God did His creation prize,
In lovingkindness turning His godly eyes
Upon His poor people’s heaviness, anguish, and need,
And from death, devil, sin, and hell His people freed.

3. This day with might,
In human vesture, as right,
God’s only Son dispelled eternal death from hence,
Which Eve had ushered into this world by disobedience.

4. This day God the Father’s only Son a true Man was made,
Nor did what He e’er had been diminish or fade;
What He was not
Into His own self He brought.

5. Therefore, dear Christians, let us celebrate
In spirit and truth, and most rev’rent state,
With faith, love, and gladness great,
The Source of our Righteousness,
Grace, Redemption, and true Blessedness;
And, from our inmost heart giving God our thanks,
Sing to Him in united ranks:
“Praise, honor, and glory be to Thee, Lord God, forever.”

Translation © Matthew Carver, 2012.

GERMAN

1. Dies ist der Tag,
der gnadenreich heilig selige Tag,
den vor der Welt
Gott der Almächtiger Herr hat gemacht.

2. Heute hat der wohltätiger barmherziger Gott
mit sein Göttlichen Augen freundlich angesehn
seins elenden Volkes Beschwerung, Angst und Not
und vom Teufel, Tod, Sünd, Höll gnädiglich erlöst.

3. Heut hat mit Gwalt
in menschlicher Form und Gestalt
Gotts einiger Sohn den ewigen Tod verjagt,
den Eva durch ungehorsam in diese Welt hat gebracht.

4. Heutzutag ist Gottes des Vaters einiger Sohn Mensch worden:
was er war, das bleibt er ohn Ende,
immer und ewig,
was er nicht war nahm er in der Zeit an sich.

5. Darum, ihr lieben Christenleut,
bedenket ernstlich heut
im Geist und Wahrheit,
Glauben, Lieb und herzlicher Freud
unser Gerechtigkeit,
Gnad, Erlösung und Seligkeit Anfang,
und laßt uns von Herzen Gott sagen Dank,
allzugleich singen Gott in dieser Zeit:
“Lob, Ehr und Preis sei dir, Herr Gott, in Ewigkeit.”

LATIN

1. Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus.
2. Hodie Dominus afflictionem populi sui respexit et redemptionem misit.
3. Hodie mortem quam femina intulit femina fugavit.
4. Hodie Deus homo factus : id quod fuit permansit : et quod non erat assumpsit
5. Ergo exordium nostrae redemptionis devote recolamus : et exultemus dicentes: Gloria Tibi Domine.