Traditional German chorale melody
Biography
The melody now called MUNICH belongs to the German chorale tradition and has no securely identified individual composer. Hymnological sources trace related material to a 1593 Dresden Gesangbuch, where it accompanied Wir Christenleut. A form closer to the modern tune appeared in the third edition of the Neuvermehrtes Gesangbuch published at Meiningen in 1693 and became associated with the Lutheran hymn O Gott, du frommer Gott.
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy did not originate this melody. He adapted and harmonized the older chorale for the quartet Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord in his oratorio Elijah, first performed in Birmingham in 1846 and published the following year. That treatment helped shape the version later circulated in English-language hymnals under the name MUNICH. The tune has the double meter 7.6.7.6 D and is commonly described as having chorale bar form.
Because the melody predates William Walsham How's 1867 text by centuries, it was not composed for O Word of God Incarnate. The pairing became a major modern tradition, although How's text has also been printed with ELLACOMBE, BENTLEY, CHENIES, AURELIA, LANCASHIRE, and other tunes. The historical melody and Mendelssohn's adaptation are public domain; later harmonizations and arrangements may be protected separately.
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy did not originate this melody. He adapted and harmonized the older chorale for the quartet Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord in his oratorio Elijah, first performed in Birmingham in 1846 and published the following year. That treatment helped shape the version later circulated in English-language hymnals under the name MUNICH. The tune has the double meter 7.6.7.6 D and is commonly described as having chorale bar form.
Because the melody predates William Walsham How's 1867 text by centuries, it was not composed for O Word of God Incarnate. The pairing became a major modern tradition, although How's text has also been printed with ELLACOMBE, BENTLEY, CHENIES, AURELIA, LANCASHIRE, and other tunes. The historical melody and Mendelssohn's adaptation are public domain; later harmonizations and arrangements may be protected separately.
Hymns by Traditional German chorale melody
O Word of God Incarnate
Role: Composer