Johann Heermann
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Johann Heermann (11 October 1585 – 17 February 1647) was a German
Life
Heermann was born in Raudten (modern day
In 1602, he moved to
He decided to go to university in 1607, but was persuaded by his
Over Easter 1609 he travelled via
After a successful start to his career in Köben, the plague arrived in 1613, then in 1616 a fire swept through the town. In addition, Heermann's wife Dorothea died childless on 13 September 1617. He married again in 1618, this time to Anna Teichmann, daughter of a merchant; they had four children: Samuel, Euphrosina, Johann and Ephraim.
Heermann fell ill once again in 1623 and never really recovered, his nose and air passages having become infected. The effects of the
Works
Heermann started out writing
As well as poetry based on the Gospels, Heermann also wrote poetry influenced by works of devotional literature, especially those by Valerius Herberger, Martin Moller and Johann Arndt. These works were often themselves influenced by earlier, pre-Reformation texts by the Church Fathers, especially Bernard of Clairvaux, Augustine and Anselm of Canterbury. Heermann's most influential work of devotional poetry was Devoti musica cordis (1630), 'music for a devout heart', which combined hymns based on texts of the Church Fathers and writers such as Moller with hymns Heermann himself had composed. In addition to works of poetry, he also published collections of sermons.
- Hymns from Devoti musica cordis
- "Was willst du dich betrüben" (Why do you want to distress yourself)
- "O Jesu Christe, wahres Licht" (O Christ, our true and only light)
- "Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen" (Beloved Jesus, what have you done wrong)
- "O Gott, du frommer Gott" (O God, Thou faithful God)
- "Herr, unser Gott, lass nicht zuschanden werden" (O Lord, our Father, shall we be confounded)
- "Jesu, deine tiefen Wunden" (Jesus, Grant that Balm and Healing)
Johann Sebastian Bach based his chorale cantata Wo soll ich fliehen hin, BWV 5 on Heermann's hymn with the same name.
References
Sources
- Carl Hitzeroth, Johann Heermann (1585–1647): Ein Beitrag der Geschichte der geistlichen Lyrik im siebzehnten Jahrhundert, Marburg: Elwert, 1907
- Rudolf Irmler, Johann Heermann. Der schlesische Hiob, Giessen: Brunnen-Verlag, 1959
- Bernhard Liess, Johann Heermann (1585–1647): Prediger in Schlesien zur Zeit des Dreissigjährigen Krieges, Münster: Lit, 2003
- Alfred Wiesenhuetter, Johann Heermann (1585–1647), Leipzig: Schloessmann, 1935
- Carl-Alfred Zell, Untersuchungen zum Problem der geistlichen Barocklyrik mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Dichtung Johann Heermanns (1585–1647), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1971
- Catherine Winkworth, Christian Singers of Germany, 1869
- "Johann Heermann". The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
External links
- Johann Heerman (Hymn-Writer) bach-cantatas.com
- Johann Heerman 1585–1647 Archived 30 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine from Cyber Hymnal
- Johann Heerman from Christian Singers of Germany
- People › Heermann, Johann, 1585–1657 › Texts hymnary.org