Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

File:Philipp Nicolai 2.jpg

Philipp Nicolai, the hymn writer

"" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling us) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "". It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying" (Catherine Winkworth, 1858), "Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling" (Francis Crawford Burkitt, 1906), and "Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple" (George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1908). Johann Sebastian Bach based a chorale cantata on the hymn, , one of its many musical settings.

Nicolai

Philipp Nicolai wrote the hymn in 1598, a time when the plague had hit Unna where he lived for six months as a preacher after studies in theology at the University of Wittenberg. The text is based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13). Nicolai refers to other biblical ideas, such as from Revelation the mentioning of marriage (Revelation 19:6–9) and the twelve gates, every one of pearl (Revelation 21:21), and from the First Epistle to the Corinthians the phrase "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

In 1599 Nicolai published both the hymn tune, Zahn No. 8405a, and the words to the hymn. Portions of the melody are similar to the older hymn tune "In dulci jubilo" ("In sweet rejoicing") and to "" ("Silver Air") by Hans Sachs. In the first publication in ("Mirror of Joy of the Life Everlasting"), the text was introduced: Template:Verse translation

The author wrote in his preface, dated 10 August 1598: Template:Quote

Nicolai's former student, Template:Ill, had died of the plague at the age of fourteen, and Nicolai used the initials of "Graf zu Waldeck" in reverse order as an acrostic to begin the three stanzas: "Wachet auf", "Zion hört die Wächter singen", "Gloria sei dir gesungen".

Musical settings

Dieterich Buxtehude composed two cantatas based on the hymn, BuxWV 100 and BuxWV 101. Johann Sebastian Bach based his chorale cantata , on the hymn and derived one of the Schübler Chorales, BWV 645, from the cantata's central movement. His son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach wrote a cantata for a four-part choir, . In Felix Mendelssohn's St. Paul oratorio, Wachet auf features prominently as a chorale and also as the main theme of the overture.

In 1900, Max Reger composed a fantasia for organ on "" as the second of Three chorale fantasias, Op. 52. He composed a chorale prelude as No. 41 of his 52 chorale preludes, Op. 67 in 1902. Herbert Blendinger also wrote a chorale fantasia on the hymn, Op. 49.

Norwegian-American composer F. Melius Christiansen composed a famous a capella choral arrangement of the hymn in 1925, titled "Wake, Awake" in English.

Hugo Distler composed an organ partita based on the hymn in 1935 (Op. 8/2).

The following example is the final movement of Bach's cantata, a four-part setting of the final stanza:

<score>

<< << \new Staff \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" } { \clef treble \time 4/4 \key es \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ" \relative c'

 << {
 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t
 es2 g | bes2. bes4 | bes2 bes | c1 | bes\fermata |
 r2 bes | es bes | es4( f) g2 | f es | d( c) | bes1\fermata |
 r2 bes | es bes | c g | as4( g ) f2 | es1\fermata \bar":|." \break } \\
 { bes2 es | g f | g f | g( f) | f1 |
 r2 f | bes2. as4 | g( as) bes2 | bes c | c4( bes2) a4 | f1 |
 r2 g | as g | es es | es d | bes1 }
 >>
 \relative c
 << { r2 bes | bes2. as4 | g2 f | es1\fermata |
 r2 bes' | bes2. as4 | g2 f | es1\fermata |
 r2 f | g as | g1\fermata |
 r2 bes | c d | es\fermata
 es4( f) | g2 f | es\fermata
 bes | es bes | c g | as4( g) f2 | es1\fermata \bar"|." } \\ {
 r2 f | g2. f4 | bes,( c) d2 | c1 |
 r2 d4( es) | f2 f | f4( es2) d4 | bes1 |
 r2 d2 | es2. d4 | es1 |
 r2 g2 | g4( f) f( g) | g2
 g4( as) | bes2. as4 | g2
 g4( as) | bes( as) bes( g) | as2 es | es d | bes1 } >>

} \new Lyrics \lyricmode { \set stanza = "3. " Glo2 -- ri -- a sei dir ge -- sun1 -- gen,

 ""2 mit2 Men -- schen- und eng -- li -- schen Zun1 -- gen,
 ""2 mit2 Har -- fen und mit Zim -- beln schon.1
 ""2 Kein2 Aug’2. hat4 je2 ge -- spürt,1
 ""2 kein2 Ohr2. hat4 je2 ge -- hört1
 ""2 sol2 -- che Freu -- de,1
 ""2 des2 sind wir froh,
 i2 -- o, i -- o,
 e -- wig in dul -- ci ju -- bi -- lo.1 }
 \new Lyrics \lyricmode { \set stanza = " " Von2 zwölf Per -- len sind die Pfor1 -- ten,
 ""2 an2 dei -- ner Stadt wir sind Kon -- sor1 -- ten
 ""2 der2 En -- gel hoch um dei -- ne Thron.1 }

\new Staff \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" } { \clef bass \key es \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ" \relative c'

 << { g2 bes | es d | es bes | bes( a) | d1 |
 r2 d | es es | bes es | f f | f2. c4 | d1 |
 r2 es | es es4( des) | c2 c | c4( bes) as2 | g1 } \\
 { es1~ | es4 g bes as | g( f) es( d) | es c f2 | bes,1 |
 r2 bes'4( as) | g( as) g( f) | es2 es' | d4( c) bes( a) | bes2 f | bes,1 |
 r2 es4( des) | c( d!) es2 | as4( bes) c2 | f, bes, | es1 }
 >>
 \relative c'
 << { r2 bes | es4( d) c( d) | es2 bes4( as) | g1 |
 r2 bes | bes4( c) d2 | bes4( c2) bes4 | g1 |
 r2 bes | bes c4( as) | bes1 |
 r2 es | es d | c
 es | es d | es
 es | bes es | es2. c4 | c( bes) as2 | g1 } \\ {
 r2 d | es f | g4( as) bes( bes,) | c1 |
 r2 g' | d4( c) bes2 | es4( c) as( bes) | es1 |
 r2 bes'4( as) | g2 f | es1 |
 r2 es' | a, b | c
 c | g4( as) bes2 | c,
 es4( f) | g( f) g( es) | as,( bes) c2 | f bes, | es1 } >>

} >> >> \layout { indent = #0 } \midi { \tempo 4 = 100 } </score>

File:Bach - cantata 140. 7. chorale.ogg

In English

Hymnologist John Julian, in his 1907 Dictionary of Hymnology, listed sixteen English translations of this hymn, ten of which were then in common use. The following year, Duncan Campbell reported that "the favourite rendering" was either that of Catherine Winkworth or the one compiled by William Cooke. Both of these translations are titled "Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying"; Cooke's translation is based on Winkworth's and other translations, with additions by Cooke himself.

Further reading

• Christian Möllers (ed.): Kirchenlied und Gesangbuch. Quellen zur Geschichte. A. Francke Verlag, Tübingen 2000, pp. 148–149.
• Barbara Stühlmeyer, Ludger Stühlmeyer: Wachsam – Achtsam. Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme. In: Das Leben singen. Christliche Lieder und ihr Ursprung. Verlag DeBehr, Radeberg 2011, pp. 11–18, Template:ISBN.

External links

• Template:Wikisourcelang-inline
• Template:Sister-inline
• Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Nicolai): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme cpdl.org
• Text & Musik: 1599. cyberhymnal.org
• Frewden Spiegel deß ewigen Lebens, Frankfurt 1599, p. 412f.
• J. S. Bach's chorale prelude BWV 645, played by E. Power Biggs in 1968