Du, o schönes Weltgebäude

"Du, o schönes Weltgebäude" (You, o beautiful building of the world) is a Lutheran hymn in German, with lyrics by Johann Franck[1] and a hymn tune by Johann Crüger. It was first published in Crüger's 1649 Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien, and was later adopted in other hymnals, such as the 1653 edition of his Praxis pietatis melica. The topic is renouncing the world, hoping to be united with Jesus. While the hymn is no longer in practical use, one stanza was prominently used in Bach's solo cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56.

"Du, o schönes Weltgebäude"
Lutheran hymn
CatalogueZahn 6773
Textby Johann Franck
LanguageGerman
Melodyby Johann Crüger
Published1649 (1649)

History

The text, a reflection when facing death, was written by Johann Franck in eight stanzas.[2] With a melody by Johann Crüger, the song appeared first in Crüger's hymnal Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien (Sacred church melodies) of 1649, with the incipit "Du geballtes Weltgebäude".[3] It was included in his Praxis pietatis melica in the 1653 edition.[3][4] A 1864 anthology of sacred poetry from Martin Luther to Klopstock contains seven stanzas.[5] The hymn is no longer used.[6]

Text

The text opens with a stanza exposing a disdain for worldly pleasures, renouncing the world for longing for a world beyond in unity with Jesus.[6] Jesus is consistently addressed in the last lines of all stanzas, as "Jesulein" (Little Jesus), with an attribute such as "allerschönstes" (most beautiful) or ""allerliebstes" (dearest).[6][5] More modern editions changed the text, for example the last line of the first stanza to "lieber Herr und Heiland mein" (My dear Lord and Saviour).[2]

Du, o schönes Weltgebäude,
magst gefallen, wem du willt;
deine scheinbarliche Freude
ist mit lauter Angst umhüllt.
Denen, die den Himmel hassen,
will ich ihre Weltlust lassen;
mich verlangt nach dir allein,
allerschönstes Jesulein![5]

You, O beautiful building of the world,
May please whom you will;
Your seeming joy
Is shrouded in anxiety.
To those who hate heaven
I will let them have their lust for the world;
My longing is for you alone,
most beautiful little Jesus.

The sixth stanza calls Death, brother of sleep, to come. The image was already in antic literature and decoration. Martin Luther wrote in "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin", a paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis: "Der Tod ist mein Schlaf worden" (Death became my sleep). The following line uses the metaphor of a voyage by ship, which was used in antic writing for life, the course of states, and love life. A metrical translation into English was provided by Henry Drinker.[7]

Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder,
Komm und führe mich nur fort;
Löse meines Schiffleins Ruder,
Bringe mich an sichern Port!
Es mag, wer da will, dich scheuen,
Du kannst mich vielmehr erfreuen;
Denn durch dich komm ich herein
Zu dem schönsten Jesulein.

Come, O death, to sleep a brother,
Come and make the voyage short,
Loose my little vessel's rudder,
Bring me safely into port.
Others shun and dread to meet thee,
I with eager joy will greet thee.
'Tis through death that I may be
Ever, Jesus mine, with thee.

In the seventh stanza, Franck called the body the prison of the soul, an image previously used in Plato's Cratylus.[6]

Melody and settings

The melody by Johann Crüger, Zahn No. 6773,[2] is in bar form.

Other hymns sung to the same melody include Paul Gerhardt's "Jesu, liebster Bruder", which addresses the "dearest Brother" as anchor and rudder ("Anker" and "Ruder"). It was printed by Zimmermann in 1821.[8] Johann Sebastian Bach composed a four-part chorale setting, BWV 301.[9] He used the sixth stanza, "Komm, o Tod, des Schlafes Bruder" (Come, o Death, brother of sleep), for the closing chorale of his solo cantata for bass, Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56.[2]

References
  1. "Du, o schönest Weltgebäude". hymnary.org. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  2. "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas Website. 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  3. "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Du geballtes Weltgebaude". Bach Cantatas Website. 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. "Johann Crüger: Praxis Pietatis Melica, Editio V (1653)". johann-crueger.de (in German). Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  5. Pressel (1864). Die geistliche Dichtung von Luther bis Klopstock. Ausgewählt von P. Pressel (in German). De Gruyter. p. 391.
  6. Pöhlmann, Egert (2020). "4 Antike Sprache im Kirchenlied". Ancient Music in Antiquity and Beyond: Collected Essays. De Gruyter. pp. 47–50. ISBN 978-3-11-066810-0.
  7. Drinker, Henry S. (1942). Texts of the Choral Works of Johann Sebastian Bach in English translation. Vol. 1. Cantatas 1 to 100. New York City: The Association of American Colleges Arts Program.
  8. Paul Gerhardt's Geistliche Lieder: in einem neuen vollständigen Abdruck (in German). Zimmermann. 1821.
  9. "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude BWV 301; BC F 50.1". Bach Digital. 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

Further reading
  • Johannes Kulp (ed. Arno Büchner and Siegfried Fornaçon): Die Lieder unserer Kirche. Eine Handreichung zum Evangelischen Kirchengesangbuch; Handbuch zum Evangelischen Kirchengesangbuch. Sonderband; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprechjt 1958; pp. 245f.
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