View source for Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

{{short description|Hymn in German by Philipp Nicolai}}
{{Redirect|Sleepers Awake|other uses of Sleepers Awake|Sleepers Awake (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = "{{Lang|de|Wachet auf, {{nowrap|ruft uns die Stimme}}|italic=no}}"
| type                = [[Lutheran hymn]]
| composer            = [[Philipp Nicolai]]
| image               = Freudenspiegel deß ewigen Lebens 412.jpg
| alt                 =
| caption             = First publication in Nicolai's 1599 ''Frewden Spiegel deß ewigen Lebens''
| catalogue           = [[Zahn number|Zahn]]&nbsp;8405a
| translation         = "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying"
| other_name          = ''Sleepers Awake''
| related             = [[Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140|Chorale cantata by Bach]]
| text                = by Philipp Nicolai
| language            = German
| published           = {{Start date|1599}}
}}
[[File:Philipp Nicolai 2.jpg|thumb|[[Philipp Nicolai]], the hymn writer]]
"'''{{Lang|de|Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme|italic=no}}'''" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling us) is a [[Lutheran hymn]] written in [[German language|German]] by [[Philipp Nicolai]], first published in 1599 together with "{{Lang|de|[[Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern]]|italic=no}}". It appears in German [[hymnal]]s and in several English hymnals in translations such as "'''Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying'''" ([[Catherine Winkworth]], 1858),<ref>[http://www.hymnary.org/text/wake_awake_for_night_is_flying_winkworth Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying], hymnary.org, retrieved 28 June 2016</ref><ref>[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/wake_awake_for_night_is_flying.htm Wake, Awake, For Night Is Flying], hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com, retrieved 28 June 2016</ref> "'''Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling'''" ([[Francis Crawford Burkitt]], 1906),<ref>[http://www.hymnary.org/text/wake_o_wake_with_tidings_thrilling Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling], hymnary.org, retrieved 28 June 2016</ref><ref>[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/wake_o_wake_with_tidings_thrilli.htm Wake, O Wake! With Tidings Thrilling], hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com, retrieved 28 June 2016</ref> and "'''Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple'''" ([[George Ratcliffe Woodward]], 1908).<ref>[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/up_awake_from_highest_steeple.htm Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple], hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com, retrieved 28 June 2016</ref> [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] based a [[Chorale cantata (Bach)|chorale cantata]] on the hymn, {{Lang|de|[[Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140|''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'', BWV 140]]|italic=unset}}, one of its many musical settings.
== Nicolai ==
Philipp Nicolai wrote the hymn in 1598, a time when the [[Plague (disease)|plague]] had hit [[Unna]]<ref name="Crump" /> where he lived for six months as a preacher after studies in theology at the [[University of Wittenberg]].<ref name="Hymnary" /> The text is based on the [[Parable of the Ten Virgins]] ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Matthew|chapter=25|verse=1|range=–13}}). Nicolai refers to other biblical ideas, such as from [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] the mentioning of marriage ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Revelation|chapter=19|verse=6|range=–9}}) and the twelve gates, every one of pearl ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Revelation|chapter=21|verse=21}}), and from the [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]] the phrase "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard" ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Corinthians|chapter=2|verse=9}}).<ref name="Hymns" />
In 1599 Nicolai published both the [[hymn tune]], [[Zahn number|Zahn No.]]&nbsp;8405a, and the words to the hymn.<ref name="Zahn" /> Portions of the melody are similar to the older hymn tune "[[In dulci jubilo]]" ("In sweet rejoicing") and to "{{Lang|de|Silberweise|italic=no}}" ("Silver Air") by [[Hans Sachs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfbach.org/notes-march-2015 |title=Program Notes |first=Alexandra |last=Amati-Camperi |publisher=San Francisco Bach Choir |date=March 2015 |access-date=29 August 2015}}</ref><ref name=hymnal/> In the first publication in {{Lang|de|Frewden Spiegel deß ewigen Lebens}} ("Mirror of Joy of the Life Everlasting"), the text was introduced:
{{verse translation|lang=de|italicsoff=yes
|Ein anders von der Stimm zu Mitternacht
vnd von den klugen Jungfrauwen
die jhrem himmlischen Bräutigam begegnen
Matth. 25. / D. Philippus Nicolai.
|Another [call] of the voice at midnight
and of the wise maidens
who meet their celestial Bridegroom
[[Matthew 25]] / [[Dominus (title)|D.]] Philippus Nicolai.}}
The author wrote in his preface, dated 10 August 1598:
{{quote|Day by day I wrote out my meditations, found myself, thank God, wonderfully well, comforted in heart, joyful in spirit, and truly content; gave to my manuscript the name and title of a Mirror of Joy... to leave behind me (if God should call me from this world) as a token of my peaceful, joyful, Christian departure, or (if God should spare me in health) to comfort other sufferers whom He should also visit with the pestilence.<ref name=hymnal>{{cite book |editor-first=Raymond F. |editor-last=Glover |title=The Hymnal 1982 Companion, Volume 1 |publisher=Church Publishing |date=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OrYDXtjzAYAC&pg=PA117 |pages=117–118|isbn=978-0-89869-143-6 }}</ref>}}
Nicolai's former student, {{ill|Wilhelm Ernst von Waldeck|de|Wilhelm Ernst (Waldeck)|lt=Wilhelm Ernst, Count of Waldeck}}, had died of the plague at the age of fourteen, and Nicolai used the initials of "Graf zu Waldeck" in reverse order as an [[acrostic]] to begin the three stanzas: "Wachet auf", "Zion hört die Wächter singen", "Gloria sei dir gesungen".<ref name="Crump" />
== Musical settings ==
[[Dieterich Buxtehude]] composed two [[cantata]]s based on the hymn, BuxWV 100 and BuxWV 101. [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] based his [[Chorale cantata (Bach)|chorale cantata]] {{Lang|de|[[Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140|''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'', BWV 140]]|italic=unset}}, on the hymn<ref name="Wolff" /> and derived one of the [[Schübler Chorales]], BWV 645, from the cantata's central movement. His son [[Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach]] wrote a cantata for a four-part choir, {{Lang|de|[[Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (J. C. F. Bach)|Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme]]}}. In [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s [[St. Paul (oratorio)|''St. Paul'']] oratorio, ''Wachet auf'' features prominently as a chorale and also as the main theme of the overture.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Khz3kZNd0Z8C&pg=PA156 |title=A History of the Oratorio, Volume 4: The oratorio in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries |first=Howard E. |last=Smither |author-link=Howard E. Smither|publisher=UNC Press Books |date=2000 |page=156 |isbn=978-0-8078-2511-2}}</ref>
In 1900, [[Max Reger]] composed a [[fantasia (music)|fantasia]] for organ on "{{Lang|de|Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme|italic=no}}" as the second of [[Three chorale fantasias, Op. 52]]. He composed a [[chorale prelude]] as No. 41 of his [[52 chorale preludes, Op. 67]] in 1902. [[Herbert Blendinger]] also wrote a chorale fantasia on the hymn, Op. 49.
Norwegian-American composer [[F. Melius Christiansen]] composed a famous ''a capella'' choral arrangement of the hymn in 1925, titled "Wake, Awake" in English.
[[Hugo Distler]] composed an organ [[partita]] based on the hymn in 1935 (Op. 8/2).
The following example is the final movement of Bach's cantata, a [[four-part harmony|four-part setting]] of the final stanza: <!--transcribed from the BGA score which was previously given as a picture; lyrics per sung version -->
{{anchor|score}}
:<score>
<< <<
\new Staff \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" } { \clef treble \time 4/4 \key es \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ" \relative c'
<< {
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t
es2 g | bes2. bes4 | bes2 bes | c1 | bes\fermata |
r2 bes | es bes | es4( f) g2 | f es | d( c) | bes1\fermata |
r2 bes | es bes | c g | as4( g ) f2 | es1\fermata \bar":|." \break } \\
{ bes2 es | g f | g f | g( f) | f1 |
r2 f | bes2. as4 | g( as) bes2 | bes c | c4( bes2) a4 | f1 |
r2 g | as g | es es | es d | bes1 }
>>
\relative c''
<< { r2 bes | bes2. as4 | g2 f | es1\fermata |
r2 bes' | bes2. as4 | g2 f | es1\fermata |
r2 f | g as | g1\fermata |
r2 bes | c d | es\fermata
es4( f) | g2 f | es\fermata
bes | es bes | c g | as4( g) f2 | es1\fermata \bar"|." } \\ {
r2 f | g2. f4 | bes,( c) d2 | c1 |
r2 d4( es) | f2 f | f4( es2) d4 | bes1 |
r2 d2 | es2. d4 | es1 |
r2 g2 | g4( f) f( g) | g2
g4( as) | bes2. as4 | g2
g4( as) | bes( as) bes( g) | as2 es | es d | bes1 } >>
}
\new Lyrics \lyricmode { \set stanza = "3. " Glo2 -- ri -- a sei dir ge -- sun1 -- gen,
""2 mit2 Men -- schen- und eng -- li -- schen Zun1 -- gen,
""2 mit2 Har -- fen und mit Zim -- beln schon.1
""2 Kein2 Aug’2. hat4 je2 ge -- spürt,1
""2 kein2 Ohr2. hat4 je2 ge -- hört1
""2 sol2 -- che Freu -- de,1
""2 des2 sind wir froh,
i2 -- o, i -- o,
e -- wig in dul -- ci ju -- bi -- lo.1 }
\new Lyrics \lyricmode { \set stanza = " " Von2 zwölf Per -- len sind die Pfor1 -- ten,
""2 an2 dei -- ner Stadt wir sind Kon -- sor1 -- ten
""2 der2 En -- gel hoch um dei -- ne Thron.1 }
\new Staff \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" } { \clef bass \key es \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ" \relative c'
<< { g2 bes | es d | es bes | bes( a) | d1 |
r2 d | es es | bes es | f f | f2. c4 | d1 |
r2 es | es es4( des) | c2 c | c4( bes) as2 | g1 } \\
{ es1~ | es4 g bes as | g( f) es( d) | es c f2 | bes,1 |
r2 bes'4( as) | g( as) g( f) | es2 es' | d4( c) bes( a) | bes2 f | bes,1 |
r2 es4( des) | c( d!) es2 | as4( bes) c2 | f, bes, | es1 }
>>
\relative c'
<< { r2 bes | es4( d) c( d) | es2 bes4( as) | g1 |
r2 bes | bes4( c) d2 | bes4( c2) bes4 | g1 |
r2 bes | bes c4( as) | bes1 |
r2 es | es d | c
es | es d | es
es | bes es | es2. c4 | c( bes) as2 | g1 } \\ {
r2 d | es f | g4( as) bes( bes,) | c1 |
r2 g' | d4( c) bes2 | es4( c) as( bes) | es1 |
r2 bes'4( as) | g2 f | es1 |
r2 es' | a, b | c
c | g4( as) bes2 | c,
es4( f) | g( f) g( es) | as,( bes) c2 | f bes, | es1 } >>
}
>> >>
\layout { indent = #0 }
\midi { \tempo 4 = 100 }
</score>
:[[File:Bach - cantata 140. 7. chorale.ogg]]
== In English ==
Hymnologist [[John Julian (priest)|John Julian]], in his 1907 ''[[Dictionary of Hymnology]]'', listed sixteen English translations of this hymn, ten of which were then in common use.<ref name="Hymnary2" /> The following year, Duncan Campbell reported that "the favourite rendering" was either that of [[Catherine Winkworth]] or the one compiled by [[William Cooke (priest, born 1821)|William Cooke]].<ref name="Historichymns" /><ref>{{cite book |first=Duncan |last=Campbell |title=Hymns and Hymn Makers |date=1908 |page=159|url=https://archive.org/stream/makers00camp#page/158/mode/2up}}</ref> Both of these translations are titled "Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying"; Cooke's translation is based on Winkworth's and other translations, with additions by Cooke himself.<ref name="Hymns" />
== References ==
{{reflist
| colwidth = 30em
| refs =
<ref name="Wolff">
{{cite book
| last = Wolff
| first = Christoph
| author-link = Christoph Wolff
| title = Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician
| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]
| year = 2000
| page = [https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb00wolf/page/280 280]
| isbn = 0-393-04825-X
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb00wolf/page/280
}}
</ref>
<ref name="Hymnary">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.hymnary.org/tune/wachet_auf_nicolai
| title = Wachet auf (Nicolai)
| publisher = hymnary.org
| access-date = 4 December 2013
}}
</ref>
<ref name="Hymnary2">
{{cite web
| url = https://hymnary.org/person/Nicolai_P
| title = Philipp Nicolai
| publisher = hymnary.org
| access-date = 10 July 2019
}}
</ref>
<ref name="Hymns">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/wachet_auf_ruft_uns_die_stimme.htm
| title = Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
| publisher = hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com
| access-date = 4 December 2013
}}
</ref>
<ref name="Historichymns">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.historichymns.com/HymnPage.aspx?HymnalNumber=41&Hymn_Number=040a&TextID=4833
| title = Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying
| publisher = historichymns.com
| access-date = 9 December 2013 }}
</ref>
<ref name="Crump">
{{cite book
| last = Crump
| first = William D.
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OSuXAAAAQBAJ&q=wachet+auf+nicolai+plague
| title = The Christmas Encyclopedia, 3d ed.
| publisher = [[McFarland & Company|McFarland]]
| year = 2013
| isbn = 978-1-4766-0573-9
| access-date = 4 December 2013
}}
</ref>
<ref name="Zahn">{{cite book
| last1       = Zahn
| first1      = Johannes
| author-link1= Johannes Zahn
| date        = 1892
| title       = Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder
| url         = https://archive.org/details/1508287113bsb11304503|volume=V
| location    = Gütersloh
| publisher   = [[Bertelsmann]]
| language    = de
| page        = [https://archive.org/details/1508287113bsb11304503/page/n158 151]
}}</ref>
}}
== Further reading ==
* Christian Möllers (ed.): ''Kirchenlied und Gesangbuch. Quellen zur Geschichte.'' A.&nbsp;Francke Verlag, Tübingen 2000, pp.&nbsp;148–149.
* [[Barbara Stühlmeyer]], [[Ludger Stühlmeyer]]: ''Wachsam – Achtsam. Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme.'' In: ''Das Leben singen. Christliche Lieder und ihr Ursprung.'' Verlag DeBehr, Radeberg 2011, pp.&nbsp;11–18, {{ISBN|978-3-939241-24-9}}.
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Wikisourcelang-inline|de|Wachet auff rufft vns die Stimme}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme}}
* {{IMSLP|work=Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Nicolai, Philipp)|cname=Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Nicolai)}}
* [http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Wachet_auf,_ruft_uns_die_Stimme Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme] cpdl.org
* [http://www.cyberhymnal.org/non/de/wachetauf.htm Text & Musik: 1599.] cyberhymnal.org
* [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00017838/image_433 ''Frewden Spiegel deß ewigen Lebens''], Frankfurt 1599, p.&nbsp;412f.
* [https://archive.org/details/lp_bach-organ-favorites-volume-3_e-power-biggs-johann-sebastian-bach/disc1/02.01.+Wachet+Auf!+Ruft+Uns+Die+Stimme+(Sleepers+Awake!+A+Voice+Is+Calling).mp3 J. S. Bach's chorale prelude BWV 645], played by [[E. Power Biggs]] in 1968
{{Hymn tunes by Zahn number}}
{{German Lutheran hymns}}
{{English-language Lutheran hymns}}
{{Advent}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachet Auf Ruft Uns Die Stimme}}
[[Category:16th-century hymns in German]]
[[Category:Lutheran hymns]]
[[Category:Hymn tunes]]
[[Category:Advent songs]]
[[Category:1597 works]]