Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
"Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" (What God Ordains Is Always Good) is a
History
As described in Geck (2006), an apocryphal account in the 1687 Nordhausen Gesangbuch (Nordhausen songbook) records that the hymn text was written by Samuel Rodigast in 1675 while his friend, the cantor Severus Gastorius, whom he knew from school and university, was "seriously ill" and confined to his bed in Jena. The account credits Gastorius, believing himself to be on his death bed, with composing the hymn melody as music for his funeral. When Gastorius recovered, he instructed his choir in Jena to sing the hymn each week "at his front door ... to make it better known."[1][2]
Rodigast studied first at the Gymnasium in Weimar and then at the University of Jena, where from 1676 he held an adjunct position in philosophy. In 1680 Rodigast was appointed vice-rector of the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin, eventually becoming rector in 1698. In the interim he had refused offers of a professorship at Jena and school rectorships elsewhere.[3]
He was closely associated with the founder and leader of the
In his 1721 book on the lives of famous lyric poets, Johann Caspar Wetzel reports that already by 1708 Rodigast's hymn had acquired the reputation as a "hymnus suavissimus & per universam fere Evangelicorum ecclesiam notissimus," i.e. as one of the most beautiful and widely known church hymns.[6][7] The text of the hymn was first published without melody in Göttingen in 1676 in an appendix to the Hannoverische Gesangbuch (Hanover songbook). It was published with the melody in 1690 in the Nürnbergische Gesangbuch (Nuremberg songbook).[8]
Rodigast's involvement with pietism is reflected in the hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist wohgetan", which is considered to be one of the earliest examples of a pietist hymn. The
Despite the "sick-bed" narrative surrounding the composition of the hymn melody, there has been uncertainty as to whether Gastorius was involved in composing the original melody. On the other hand, it is known that the melody of the first half is the same as that of the hymn "Frisch auf, mein Geist, sei wohlgemuth" by Werner Fabricius (1633–1679), published by Ernst Christoph Homburg in Naumburg in 1659 in the collection Geistliche Lieder.[8][12]
Although the text of Rodigast's hymn was published without the melody in 1676 (in the Hannoverische Gesangbuch), it was discovered in the 1960s that already within three years the melody had been used in Jena for other hymn texts by Daniel Klesch. Educated at the
The text and melody of Rodigast's hymn were published together for the first time in 1690 in the Nürnbergische Gesangbuch, with the composer marked as "anonymous". Before that the melody with the hymn title had already been used by
In German-speaking countries, the hymn appears in the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch as EG 372[19] and in the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob as GL 416.[20]
Precursor to hymn
There was a precursor of Rodigast's hymn with the same title to a text by the theologian Michael Altenburg,[7] first published in 1635 by the Nordhausen printer Johannes Erasmus Hynitzsch, with first verse as follows:
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan,
Kein einig Mensch ihn tadeln kann,
Ihn soll man allzeit ehren.
Wir mach'n mit unser Ungedult
Nur immer größer unser Schuld
Dass sich die Strafen mehren.
Like its sequel, each of the seven verses starts with the same incipit. The hymn was published in the 1648 Cantionale Sacrum, Gotha, to a melody of Caspar Cramer, first published in Erfurt in 1641. It is No. 2524 in the German hymn catalogue of Johannes Zahn.[21][22][23]
In 1650 Samuel Scheidt composed a four part chorale prelude SSWV 536 on Altenburg's hymn in his Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch.[24]
Text
In the original German, the hymn has six stanzas, all beginning with the incipit "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan". Below are the first, fifth and last stanzas with the 1865 translation by Catherine Winkworth.[8]
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan!
Es bleibt gerecht sein Wille;
Wie er fängt meine Sachen an,
Will ich ihm halten stille.
Er ist mein Gott, der in der Not
Mich wohl weiß zu erhalten,
Drum laß' ich ihn nur walten.
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan!
Muß ich den Kelch gleich schmecken,
Der bitter ist nach meinem Wahn,
Laß' ich mich doch nicht schrecken,
Weil doch zuletzt ich werd' ergötzt
Mit süßem Trost im Herzen,
Da weichen alle Schmerzen.
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan!
Dabei will ich verbleiben;
Es mag mich auf die rauhe Bahn
Not, Tod und Elend treiben,
So wird Gott mich ganz väterlich
In seinen Armen halten,
Drum laß' ich ihn nur walten.
Whate'er my God ordains is right,
Holy His will abideth;
I will be still whate'er He doth,
And follow where He guideth.
He is my God, though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.
Whate'er my God ordains is right
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.
Whate'er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father's care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.
Melody
First stanza and melody in 2/2 time as they appear in the 1690 Nürnbergische Gesangbuch.[25][12][26][8][27]
Musical settings
Rodigast's hymn and its melody have been set by many composers, one of the earliest being
Bach also set the hymn early in his career for organ as the chorale prelude BWV 1116 in the Neumeister Collection. The hymn title appears twice on empty pages in the autograph manuscript of Orgelbüchlein, where Bach listed the planned chorale preludes for the collection: the 111th entry on page 127 was to be the hymn of Altenburg; and the 112th entry on the next page was for Rodigast's hymn.[33][26]
Amongst Bach's contemporaries, there are settings by
In the nineteenth century,
In 1902
Sigfrid Karg-Elert included a setting in his 66 Chorale improvisations for organ, published in 1909.[40]
Notes
- ^ Görisch & Marti 2011, p. 45 "bitte zum trost gemacht, welcher auf dem kranckenbett die melodey dazu componiert und bey seinem begräbnis zu musiciren befohlen
- ^ For the life and works of Severus Gastorius, see:
- ^ a b c Julian 1892, digitised page
- ^ Wallmann 1995.
- ^ Heidemann 1874.
- ^ a b c Geck 2006
- ^ a b Görisch & Marti 2011
- ^ a b c d e Terry 1917
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hymns". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 189.
- ^ Görisch & Marti 2011, p. 46.
- ^ Unger 1997.
- ^ a b Zahn 1890b
- ^ See:
- Detailed description, engraving of Jena, Caspar Merian, 1650
- Richter 1887, history of Raths-Schule until 1650
- Richter 1888, history of Raths-Schule after 1650
- ^ Görisch & Marti 2011, p. 44.
- ^ Fornaçon 1963, p. 167.
- ^ Flood 2006.
- ^ Wallmann 2011.
- ^ a b Görisch & Marti 2011, p. 50
- ^ Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan gesangbuch-online.de
- ^ Gotteslobvideo GL 416 Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan katholisch.de
- ^ Terry 1921
- ^ Fischer & Tümpel 1905
- ^ Zahn 1890a
- ^ Scheidt 1941
- ^ The hymn is No. 5629 in the catalogue of Johannes Zahn.
- ^ a b c Williams 2003
- ^ a b c Braatz & Oron 2008
- ^ Rathey 2010.
- ^ Dürr 2006
- ^ Hudson 1968.
- ^ Leaver 2007
- ^ Wolff 2001
- ^ Stinson 1999
- RISM 211011502 Catalogue description, cantata Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan by Johan Kuhnau, Saxon State and University Library Dresden. This cantata is one of those scheduled for publication by the "Kuhnau-Project" in Leipzig, directed by Michael Maul.
- ^ a b Walker 1997
- ^ Reger 1914
- ^ Anderson 2013.
- ^ Haupt 1995.
- ^ Anderson, Keith (2006), Max Reger's Organ Works, Volume 7: Symphonic Fantasia and Fugue • Seven Organ Pieces, Programme Notes, Naxos Records
- ^ Choral-Improvisationen für Orgel, Op.65 (Karg-Elert, Sigfrid): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
References
- Anderson, Christopher S. (2013), "Max Reger (1873–1963)", in Christopher S. Anderson (ed.), Twentieth-Century Organ, Routledge, p. 107, ISBN 978-1136497902
- Braatz, Thomas; Oron, Aryeh (2008), "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works – Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan", Bach Cantatas Website, retrieved 29 January 2017
- ISBN 0-19-929776-2
- Fischer, Albert; Tümpel, Wilhelm (1905), Das Deutsche evangelische Kirchenlied des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts, Volume II (in German), pp. 42–43
- Flood, John L. (2006), "Daniel Klesch", Poets Laureate in the Holy Roman Empire: A Bio-bibliographical Handbook, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 1013–1014, ISBN 3110912740
- Fornaçon, Siegfried (1963), "Werke von Severus Gastorius", Jahrbuch für Liturgik und Hymnologie (in German), 8, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: 165–170, JSTOR 24192704
- Geck, Martin (2006), Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work, translated by John Hargraves, ISBN 0151006482
- Görisch, Reinhard; Marti, Andreas (2011), "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan", in Herbst, Wolfgang; Seibt, Ilsabe (eds.), Liederkunde zum evangelischen Gesangbuch (in German), vol. 16 (1., neue Ausg. ed.), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pp. 44–51, ISBN 978-3525503027
- Haupt, Hartmut (1995), Orgeln in Ost- und Südthüringen, Arbeitshefte des Thüringischen Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Thüringen, vol. 7, Ausbildung + Wissen, p. 168, ISBN 3927879592
- Heidemann, Julius (1874), Geschichte der grauen Klosters zu Berlin (in German), Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, pp. 180–190
- Hudson, Frederick (1968), "Bach's Wedding Music" (PDF), Current Musicology, 7, The Music Department, Columbia University: 110–120
- Jauernig, Reinhold (1963), "Severus Gastorius (1646–1682)", Jahrbuch für Liturgik und Hymnologie, 8, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: 163–165, JSTOR 24192703
- Scribner's Sons, p. 972
- Leaver, Robin (2007), Luther's Liturgical Music, Eerdmans Publishing, pp. 280–281, ISBN 978-0802832214
- Rathey, Markus (2002), "Severus Gastorius", in Ludwig Finscher (ed.), Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Personenteil, vol. 7, Bärenreiter, pp. 602–603
- Rathey, Mark (2010), "Buxtehude and the Dance of Death: the chorale partita 'Auf meinen lieben Gott' (BuxWV 179) and the ars moriendi in the seventeenth century", Early Music History, 29: 161–188, S2CID 190683768
- Reger, Max (1914), Dreißig kleine Vorspiele zu den gebräuchlichsten Chorälen Op. 135a, Max-Reger-Institute, retrieved 3 February 2017
- Richter, Gustav (1887), "Das alte Gymnasium in Jena: Beiträge zu seiner Geschichte, I", Jahresbericht über das Gymnasium Carolo-Alexandrinum zu Jena
- Richter, Gustav (1888), "Das alte Gymnasium in Jena: Beiträge zu seiner Geschichte, II", Jahresbericht über das Gymnasium Carolo-Alexandrinum zu Jena
- Scheidt, Samuel (1941), Christhard Mahrenholz (ed.), Das Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch: vom Jahre 1650, Leipzig: C. F. Peters
- Stinson, Russell (1999), Bach: the Orgelbüchlein, ISBN 978-0-19-386214-2
- Terry, Charles Sanford (1917), Bach's Chorals, vol. II, Cambridge, The University Press, pp. 162–164, 561–562
- Terry, Charles Sanford (1921), Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach's Chorals, vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works, Cambridge University Press, p. 52
- Unger, Melvin P. (1997), "Bach's first two Leipzig cantatas: the question of meaning revisited", Bach, 28 (1/2): 87–125, JSTOR 41640435
- ISBN 316146351X
- ISBN 978-3525559093
- ISBN 0801484537
- Williams, Peter (2003), The Organ Music of J.S. Bach, Cambridge University Press, pp. 569–570
- ISBN 0-19-924884-2
- Zahn, Johannes (1890a), "2524", Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, vol. II, Verlag Bertelsmann, p. 130, archived from the original on February 4, 2017
- Zahn, Johannes (1890b), "5629", Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, vol. III, Verlag Bertelsmann, p. 478
External links
- Information about the tune on hymnary.org