Kirchenlied


Kirchenlied is a German Catholic hymnal published in 1938. It was a collection of 140 old and new songs, including hymns by Protestant authors. It was the seed for a common Catholic hymnal which was realised decades later, in the Gotteslob.

History

Kirchenlied was published in 1938 by, Adolf Lohmann and Georg Thurmair. It was a collection of 140 songs from different periods, starting in the 16th century, and it included several Protestant songs as well as ten of Thurmair's own songs. Known as the "Standard Songbook", it was designed to be a common hymnal for German-speaking Catholics.
Kirchenlied was published first by the, subtitled Eine Auslese geistlicher Lieder für die Jugend. The hymnal, unlike other publications by Thurmair, was not immediately banned by the Nazis, because of its many Protestant songs. From the fourth edition, the subtitle was shortened to "Eine Auslese geistlicher Lieder" because it was generally accepted, not only by young people. It was published by the Christophorus-Verlag, then part of the Catholic Verlag Herder.
Kirchenlied was significant for ecumenical church singing in German and became the seed for the 1975 Gotteslob. 75 of its songs were included in the Gotteslob.

Layout

The hymnal appeared in a text edition and an edition with musical scores. The exterior design was simple. The music books were partly in two colours, with the headers and staff red, text and notes black. Alfred Riedel was responsible for the layout with its large structuring headers for the sections, and a cover which showed a stylised view of the Altenberger Dom. The adjacent Haus Altenberg was from 1926 the centre of the Catholic youth movement. The hymnal had no illustrations and included some songs derived from Gregorian chant, rendered without rhythm and metre.

Topics

The songs are grouped by themes, which are marked by section headers. Songs of general praise and petition are followed by songs for the occasions of the liturgical year, songs venerating Saints, songs for the times of day, songs about death and dying, and hymns for the celebration of mass. All but the last header are the incipits of hymns.
The collection includes 38 songs, sometimes shortened, which were written by Protestant authors, including "Lobe den Herren", "Macht hoch die Tür" and "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". 26 of them were here published in a Catholic hymnal for the first time. Three songs by Martin Luther were included in the hymnal, but his name was not mentioned; instead, a temporal reference, "16th century", was used. While the inclusion of these songs met with criticism, Bishop or Mainz Albert Stohr, in his preface, congratulates the editors for their ecumenical effort: "Dank sei euch, daß ihr mit Liebe gesammelt habt, was uns an gemeinsamem Liedgut verbinden kann zu einem gewaltigen Gottbekenntnis aller Christen in deutschen Landen!"

Songs

No.Incipit
1Dein Lob, Herr, ruft der Himmel aus
2Erde, singe
4Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
5Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren
6Großer Gott, wir loben dich
7Ein Haus voll Glorie schauet
15Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten
16Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
20Nun danket all und bringet Ehr
22O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf
24Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
25Macht hoch die Tür
27
29Unser lieben Frauen Traum
31Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
32In dulci jubilo
35Es kam ein Engel hell und klar
37Vom Himmel hoch, o Engel, kommt
39Zu Bethlehem geboren
41Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
42Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzugleich
44Wie schön leucht' uns der Morgenstern
52Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen
54O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden
58O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid
59Christ ist erstanden
60Gelobt sei Gott im höchsten Thron
62Laßt uns erfreuen herzlich sehr
64Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag
65Christ fuhr gen Himmel
66Gen Himmel aufgefahren ist
67Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist
71
74Ich will dich lieben, meine Stärke
77Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet
88
96Nun, Brüder, sind wir frohgemut
97
100Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir
101
110Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne
115Lobet den Herren alle, die ihn ehren
117Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud
118Mein Gott, wie schön ist deine Welt
125Nun ruhen alle Wälder
129
130Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig
131Mitten in dem Leben sind wir vom Tod umfangen
138O du Lamm Gottes unschuldig

Literature