What's in Te Laudamus?—Part 3

Further to Part 1 and Part 2, we resume our survey of the hymns in Te Laudamus (TL, and other abbreviations previously used continue to apply) with Hymn 295.

Praise & Thanksgiving hymns, 295-303, begin with the usual color painting, this one depicting David leading a celestial orchestra with a harp, and a historic collect for Thanksgiving.

• "I will sing my Maker's praises" is by Gerhardt, set to Johann Schop's chorale, SOLLT ICH MEINEM GOTT. Its 12 stanzas sprawl across four pages, with 6-12 on the second spread lying under the bare melody.
• "All ye who on this earth do dwell," again by Gerhardt, is translated by Alfred Ramsey and set to Crüger's tune NUN DANKET ALL (see also "Come, let us join our cheerful songs").
• "Thou whose glory none can see" by Franzmann is set to Reuning's tune ST. BARBARA, which I take it he named after his dear wife. It's a very serious tune in a traditional style.
• "My soul, now bless thy Maker" by Johann Gramann, translation Winkworth with a supplemental stanza by Carver, is set to its own chorale, NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL.
• "Now thank we all our God" by Martin Rinckart, translation Winkworth, is set to Crüger's tune NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT.
• "O fearful place" by Franzmann is set to Ralph Vaughan Willimas' ironically named tune SINE NOMINE ("For all the saints"). TL subsections it "Church Anniversary."
• "The Lord hath helped me hitherto," by Ämelie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, translation Crull, is set to Nikolaus Decius' tune ALLEIN GOTT IN DER HÖH ("All glory be to God on high"). I've missed this hymn with its "henceforths" and "hithertos" since TLH; though a different translation of it was in LW as "God brought me to this time and place." LSB dropped it entirely. It was a hymn I made good use of when I was a pastor, so it's nice to see it on the return. Ish. A woodcut of Zacchaeus climbing a tree to see and hear Jesus follows it.
• "O Lord, I sing with lips and heart" by Gerhardt, translation Kelly, is set to Praetorius' IN BETHLEHEM EIN KINDELEIN, which I think is new to me, with the bare melody repeated over stanzas 7-12 on the facing page.
• "Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing" by Gerhardt, again via Kelly, is set to the chorale ICH SINGE DIR. A note at the top of both it and the previous hymn explains that they were originally one, 16-stanza hymn.

Morning hymns, 304-313, begin with a Cranach-the-Elder painting of the creation of the world, from the 1534 edition of Luther's Bible, and Luther's morning prayer from the Small Catehcism.

• "Awake, my heart, be singing" by Gerhardt is translated partly by Carver and partly by Kelly and set to Crüger's tune NUN LASST UNS GOTT ("Now let us come before Him"). Stanzas 6-10 lie under a repeat of the melody on the second side of the spread.
• "God, who madest earth and heaven," words and melody (GOTT DES HIMMELS) by Heinrich Albert, is translated by Winkworth.
• "I thank Thee, Lord, for keeping" by Johann Kolross, translation Carver, is set to the rhythmic chorale LOB GOTT GETROST a.k.a. ICH DANK DIR, LIEBER HERRE.
• "My inmost heart now raises" is by Georg Nigidius, a.k.a. Niege, translation Winkworth except one stanza by Cronenwett, with "alt." everywhere. The tune is AUS MEINES HERZENS GRUNDE.
• "O Splendor of God's glory bright" by St. Ambrose is a two-tune celebration, with Nikolaus Herman's tune O HEILIGE DREIFALTIGKEIT ("O blessed Holy Trinity") on the left, alternating with the exceptionally lovely plainsong SPLENDOR PATERNAE GLORIAE on the right. And as always, the whole hymn many be sung to either tune. I'm thrilled to see it uncut after LSB abridged it, having once gone to the trouble of memorizing all nine stanzas.
• "Praise God, the day is here at last" by Selnecker, translation carver, is set to OLD HUNDREDTH (cf. "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow"). The stanzas are split into what appears to be a two-tune celebration, but actually both tunes are OLD HUNDREDTH, only the one on the right side of the spread has the melody in the tenor line and a descant on top, courtesy of John Dowland.
• "The wingeld herald of the day" by Prudentius, translation Neale, is in fact a two-tune celebration with Crüger's tune LOB SEI DEM ALLMÄCHTIGEN GOTT ("Great God, a blessing from your throne" in LBW; "O Paschal Feast, what joy is thine" in Service Book and Hymnal). On the right is the plainsong CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM ("Creator of the starry height").
• "While yet the morn is breaking" is by Johannes Mühlmann, translation mainly Winkworth, set to Bartholomäus Gesius' tune GEDULT, DIE SOLLN WIR HABEN (paired with this hymn in TLH and the preceeding Ev. Lutheran Hymn-Book).
• "O heavenly Word, eternal light," subsectioned "Advent," is translated from Latin by Neale and set to the chorale ACH BLEIB BEI UNS ("Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide"). The entire hymn is repeated on the facing page with the plainchant VERBUM SUPERNUM PRODIENS ("O saving Victim, openng wide" in SBH), as either an alternate tune or (the end-note suggests) some kind of celebration; though no attempt has been made to divide the stanzas between the two, in this case.
• "The radiant sun shines in the skies" is by Herman, set to Vulpius' tune DIE HELLE SONN LEUCHT, which LBW and LW used with "God loved the world so that He gave."

Evening hymns, 314-322, bring us a painting of the supper at Emmaus and Luther's evening prayer. Then:

• "My soul doth magnify the Lord," a versification of the magnificat translated by J.T. Mueller, is set to Gibbons' SONG 34 (used with this hymn in LW).
• "The sun's last beam of light is gone" by Herman is set to Vulpius' HINUNTER IST DER SONNEN SCHEIN, seen earlier in the book.
• "I thank Thee, God, whose loving way" by Heermann, translation Carver, is set to HEUT TRIUMPHIERET, also seen earlier. The melody line is repeated on the third page over stanzas 6-10.
• "Creator of the stars of night," translation Neale from the Latin, is set to CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM and subsectioned "Advent."
• "Now rest beneath night's shadow," Gerhardt via Winkworth, is set to Heinrich Isaac's O WELT, ICH MUSS DICH LASSEN, a.k.a. INNSBRUCK (ich muss dich lassen).
• "O Christ, who art the light and day," translated by William John Copeland, is set to its own tune, CHRISTE, DER DU BIST TAG UND LICHT, traced back to a 7th century Latin hymn. Stanzas 6-7 are laid under the melody on the facing page, and the entire hymn is repeated on the next spread with the alternate tune CHRISTE, QUI LUX ES ET DIES, evidently a more ornate, closer-to-the-original-plainsong version of the first tune. So again, either a celebration or an alternate-tune situation.
• "O God, be with us" is mostly by Petrus Herbert, translation Winkworth, set to Petrus Nigidius' tune DIE NACHT IST KOMMEN, which I thought was one of the harder tunes in TLH. But there are a lot of rhythmic chorales in this book, so it'll be good practice.
• "Sink not yet, my soul, to slumber" is by Johann Rist, translation Winkworth, set to the isometric version of Schop's WERDE MUNTER (as in "Jesu, Joy of man's desiring"). The book heroically squeezes all 11 stanzas onto a single, two-page spread.
• Hymn 322 is an interesting case: two translations of the same hymn, placed side by side as a potential celebration. On the left is Luther's "Thou who art Three in unity," from St. Ambrose's Latin, translation Massie, set to the chorale DER DU BIST DREI IN EINIGKEIT. On the right is Neale's version of Ambrose, set to the former's apparent plainsong parent, O LUX BEATA TRINITAS. Personally, I like the choice between the two translations, but I'm not sure why I would make a congregation learn O LUX when DER DU BIST is right there.

And that, chickens, is it for the hymns in TL. Next time we'll tackle the remainder of the book, mainly liturgy. Less of it than you might imagine! But on that, more to come.