Traditional Dutch folk melody
Biography
The melody known in English-language hymnals as KREMSER is not the work of a single documented composer. It comes from sixteenth-century Dutch secular folk-song tradition and is associated in hymnological sources with a tune identified by the opening words Ey, wilder den wilt, wie sal mij temmen. Adrianus Valerius used the melody with the Dutch thanksgiving text in Nederlandtsch Gedenck-clanck, published posthumously in Haarlem in 1626.
In the nineteenth century the melody gained a new international life through Eduard Kremser's arrangement of older Dutch songs for male chorus. Because Kremser's setting became widely known in German- and English-speaking musical culture, hymnals eventually named the tune KREMSER after the arranger. The historical distinction is important: the melody is traditional and substantially older than Kremser, while his arrangement and harmonization were later stages in its transmission.
In the nineteenth century the melody gained a new international life through Eduard Kremser's arrangement of older Dutch songs for male chorus. Because Kremser's setting became widely known in German- and English-speaking musical culture, hymnals eventually named the tune KREMSER after the arranger. The historical distinction is important: the melody is traditional and substantially older than Kremser, while his arrangement and harmonization were later stages in its transmission.
Hymns by Traditional Dutch folk melody
We Gather Together
Role: Composer