{{Short description|Traditional Christmas carol}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}} {{for|the version by Mike Oldfield|In Dulci Jubilo / On Horseback}} {{distinguish|Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing}} {{Infobox song |name = In dulci jubilo |cover = In dulci jubilo.jpg |cover_size = 200px |alt = |caption = The melody as published in the 1582 Finnish music collection ''[[Piae Cantiones]]'', which alternates the Latin with Swedish. |type = song |language = German, Latin |written = |published = |writer = |composer = |lyricist = | misc = Tune: [[Zahn number|Zahn No.]] 4947 }}
"'''In dulci jubilo'''" ([[Latin]] for "In sweet rejoicing") is a traditional [[Christmas carol]]. In its original setting, the carol is a [[Macaronic language|macaronic]] text of German and Latin dating from the [[Middle Ages]]. Subsequent translations into English, such as [[John Mason Neale|J. M. Neale's]] arrangement "'''Good Christian Men, Rejoice'''" have increased its popularity, and [[Robert Lucas Pearsall|Robert Pearsall]]'s 1837 macaronic translation is a mainstay of the [[Christmas]] [[Nine Lessons and Carols]] repertoire. [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]]'s chorale prelude based on the tune ([[Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis|BWV]] 729) is also a traditional [[:wikt:postlude|postlude]] for Christmas services.
==History and translations== The original song text, a [[Macaronic language|macaronic]] alternation of [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] German and Latin, is thought to have been written by the [[German mystic]] [[Heinrich Seuse]] circa 1328.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/show_score.pl?scoreid=45183 |title='In Dulci Jubilo' string quartet/quintet by trad. arr. Glynn Davies |publisher=Sibelius Music |access-date=24 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20040324200842/http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/show_score.pl?scoreid=45183 |archive-date=24 March 2004}}</ref> According to folklore, Seuse heard angels sing these words and joined them in a dance of worship.<ref name=hcc>{{cite web |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/in_dulci_jubilo.htm |title=In Dulci Jubilo – Notes on the Carol |publisher=Hymns and Carols of Christmas |access-date=24 July 2008}}</ref> In his biography (or perhaps autobiography), it was written:
<blockquote>Now this same angel came up to the Servant (Suso) brightly, and said that God had sent him down to him, to bring him heavenly joys amid his sufferings; adding that he must cast off all his sorrows from his mind and bear them company, and that he must also dance with them in heavenly fashion. Then they drew the Servant by the hand into the dance, and the youth began a joyous song about the infant Jesus ...<ref name=hcc/></blockquote>
The tune, [[Zahn number|Zahn No.]] 4947,<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Zahn | first1 = Johannes | author-link1 = Johannes Zahn | year = 1890 | title = [[Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder]] | volume = III | location = Gütersloh | publisher = [[Bertelsmann]] | pages = [https://archive.org/details/1508285990bsb11304501/page/n249 244–245] }}</ref> first appears in Codex 1305, a manuscript in [[Leipzig University Library]] dating from c. 1400, although it has been suggested that the melody may have existed in Europe prior to this date.<ref name=hcc/> In print, the tune was included in ''Geistliche Lieder'', a 1533 Lutheran hymnal by Joseph Klug. It also appears in [[Michael Vehe]]'s ''Gesangbuch'' of 1537. In 1545, another verse was added, possibly by [[Martin Luther]]. This was included in Valentin Babst's ''Geistliche Lieder'', printed in Leipzig. The melody was also popular elsewhere in Europe, and appears in a Swedish/Latin version in the 1582 Finnish songbook ''[[Piae Cantiones]]'', a collection of sacred and secular medieval songs.<ref name=hcc/>
The tune appears in several collections by [[Michael Praetorius]], for voices only: ''Musae Sionae'' II (1607) no. 5, a motet à 8 for double choir; ''Musae Sionae'' V (1607) nos. 80–82 (for 2, 3 or 4 voices); ''Musae Sionae'' VI (1609) nos. 28, 29, 31 resp. 32, 33 all for 4 voices; and 5 part setting from ''Musae Sionae VI'' (1597). And a vocal–instrumental version from his collection ''Polyhymnia Caduceatrix et Panegyrica'' (1618–19), No 34: a festive multi-choir version with large instrumental support including trumpets and timpani. It can be executed by 7, 12, 16 or 20 voices in 5 choirs (three vocal, one chapel- and one instrumental choir) and general bass. The Praetorius settings were widely adapted in Protestant continental Europe.
A polyphonic arrangement for 8 voices was made by [[Robert Lucas Pearsall]] (1795–1856), this being later adapted for four voices, the most commonly performed version, by William Joseph Westbrook (1831–1894). A widely used arrangement in ''Carols for Choirs'', Vol. 1<ref>{{citation |title=Carols for Choirs 1 |author1=[[Reginald Jacques]]|author2=[[David Willcocks]]|date=1961 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> is Pearsall's edited by [[Reginald Jacques]]; the first two verses are in four-part harmony, the third and fourth verses are concatenated and in eight-part harmony. Carols for Choirs Vol. 4<ref>{{citation |title=Carols for Choirs 4 |author1=[[David Willcocks]]|author2=[[John Rutter]]|date=1980 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> contains simpler four- and three-part alternative arrangements.
There have been a number of translations of the Latin/German poem into English. The most popular that keeps the macaronic structure is Pearsall's 1837 translation, which retains the Latin phrases and substitutes English for German.<ref>{{citation |title=Carols for Choirs 1 – Recorded by the King's College Choir and the Cambridge Singers |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> A 2008 survey by ''[[BBC Music Magazine]]'' found this to be the second most popular choral Christmas carol with British cathedral organists and choirmasters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7752029.stm|title=Bleak Midwinter named best carol|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=27 November 2008|access-date=24 July 2008}}</ref>
Alternatively, a looser translation produced in 1853 by [[John Mason Neale]] titles the work "Good Christian Men, Rejoice".<ref name=hcc2>{{cite web|url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/good_christian_men_rejoice.htm|title=Good Christian Men, Rejoice|publisher=Hymns and Carols of Christmas|access-date=24 July 2008}}</ref> This translation is often criticised; [[Thomas Helmore]] made a mistake when transcribing the [[mensural notation]] of ''Piae Cantiones'' which led to the repeated "News, news" and "Joy, joy" phrase.<ref name=hcc2 /> In 1921, H. J. Massé wrote that it was an example of "musical wrong doing ... involving the mutilation of the rhythm of that grand tune ''In dulci jubilo'' to the English words ''Good Christian Men Rejoice''. It is inconceivable that anyone of any real musical culture should have lent himself to this tinkering with a perfect tune for the sake of fitting it perforce to works of inferior merit."<ref name=masse>Henri Jean Louis Joseph Massé, "Old Carols" in ''[[Music & Letters]]'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (January 1921), Oxford University Press, p. 67.</ref> He goes on to cite a more appropriate English translation from 1567 by [[John Wedderburn (poet)|John Wedderburn]] as a more "worthy effort".<ref name=masse /> [[Jeremy Summerly]] in his radio documentary series ''A Cause for Caroling'' is more complimentary, saying that the mistaken repeated note is what makes that version of the tune memorable.<ref>{{cite episode|series=A Cause for Caroling (omnibus)|title=Forging a Tradition|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03kvd5f|credits=[[Jeremy Summerly]]|network=[[BBC Radio 4]]|air-date=13 December 2013}}</ref>
Still another English translation, made in the 19th century by Arthur T. Russell and featured in several [[Lutheran]] hymnals, renders the work as "Now Sing We, Now Rejoice".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hymnary.org/text/now_sing_we_now_rejoice|title=Now Sing We, Now Rejoice}}</ref>
==Tune== {{anchor|score}} <score sound="1" raw="1"> % from https://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0368.htm \header { tagline = ##f arranger = "J. S. Bach (BWV 368)" } %\paper { paper-width = 260\mm } \layout { indent = 0 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } \context { \Voice \remove "Dynamic_engraver" } }
global = { \key f \major \time 3/4 \partial 4 }
soprano = \relative c' { \global \set midiInstrument = "flute" f4\ff | \repeat unfold 2 { f2 f4 | a2 bes4 | c2 (d4 | c2.) | } \repeat unfold 2 { c2 d4 | c2 bes4 | a4. (bes8 a g) | f2 f4 | g2 g4 | a2 g4 | f2 (g4 | a2.) | } d,2 d4 | e2 e4 | f8 (e f g a bes | c2.) | a2 a4 | g2 g4 | f2.~ | f2 \bar "|." }
alto = \relative c' { \global \set midiInstrument = "flute" c4 | d2 d4 | e2 e4 | f2.~ | f2. | f4 (e) d | c2 d4 | c (e g | e2.) | f2 f4 | e (f) g | cis, (d e) | d2 f4~ | f e8 (d) e4 | f2 e4 | f4. (g8 f e f2.) | f2 f4 | g (f) g | g (f e) | d2 f4~ | f e8 (d) e4 | f2 (e4~ | e a,) d | cis2. | d2 d4~ | d c8 (d) e4~ | e d2 | c2. | c4 (f8 e) f4 | f2 e4 | f8 (es \tempo 4. = 90 d c d bes | c2) \bar "|." }
tenor = \relative c' { \global \set midiInstrument = "french horn" a4 | a2 bes4 | c2 bes4 | a2 (bes4) | a2. | a2 bes4 | a (g) f | g (c b | g2.) | a2 bes!4 | c (d) e | a, (b cis) | a2 c!4 | d (bes!) c | c2.~( | c4 a) c | c2. | a2 bes4 | g2 e'4 | e (d cis) | a2 c!4 | d (bes) c | c2 c4 | a2 (bes4 | e,2.) | r8 f( g [a]) (bes a) | g4 (a8 [bes]) c (bes) | a4. (g8 f4 | g2.) | a4 (bes) c | d (bes) c~ | c bes8 (a bes g | a2) \bar "|." }
bass = \relative c { \global \set midiInstrument = "trombone" f4\pp | d (c) bes | a bes8 a g a | f (f' es d c bes | f'2.) | d4 (c) bes | f' (e!)d | e (c g | c2.) | f2 bes4 | bes (a) g | g (f e) | d2 a4 | bes (g) c4 | f,8 ([g a bes]) c (bes) | a4 (f c | f2.) | f'4 (e) d | e (d) c | f8 (g a4 a,) | d2 a4 | bes (g) c | f,8 ([g a bes]) c (a) | d4 (c bes | a2.) | bes4 (a) g | c (bes) a | d8 (c d e f d | e2.) | f,4 (g) a | bes (g) c | a (bes2 | f2) \bar "|." }
verse = \lyricmode { In dul -- ci ju -- bi -- lo, __ sing -- et und seid froh, __ un -- sers Her -- zens Won -- ne liegt in prae -- se -- pi -- o, __ leuch -- tet als die Son -- ne mat -- ris in pre -- mi -- o. __ Al -- pha es et O! __ Al -- pha es et O! __ }
\score { \new ChoirStaff << \new Staff << \new Voice = "soprano" { \voiceOne \soprano } \new Voice = "alto" { \voiceTwo \alto } >> \new Lyrics \lyricsto "soprano" \verse \new Staff << \clef bass \new Voice = "tenor" { \voiceOne \tenor } \new Voice = "bass" { \voiceTwo \bass } >> >> \layout { } } \score { { << \soprano \\ \alto \\ \tenor \\ \bass >> } \midi { \tempo 4. = 108 \context { \Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument } \context { \Staff \remove "Staff_performer" } \context { \Voice \consists "Staff_performer" } } } </score> Source<ref>[https://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0368.htm "BWV 368"], Luke Dahn (2018) bach-chorales.com</ref>
==First verse textual comparison== {| class="wikitable" !German/Latin text<br />by [[Heinrich Seuse]], {{circa|1328}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/in_dulci_jubilo-original.htm |title=In Dulci Jubilo |publisher=Hymns and Carols of Christmas|access-date=26 November 2010}}</ref> !English literal translation !Translation by [[John Wedderburn (poet)|Wedderburn]], {{circa|1567}}<ref>Edith Rickert, ''[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/in_dulci_iubilo.htm Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400–1700]'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), pp. 206–7</ref> !Translation by [[Robert Lucas Pearsall|Pearsall]], 1837<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/in_dulci_jubilo-Pearsall.htm|title=Pearsall: 'In Dulci Jubilo'|publisher=Hymns and Carols of Christmas|access-date=18 December 2025}}</ref> !Good Christian Men Rejoice<br />by [[John Mason Neale|Neale]], 1853<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/good_christian_men_rejoice.htm |title=Good Christian Men Rejoice |publisher=Hymns and Carols of Christmas|access-date=26 November 2010}}</ref> |- | <poem>{{lang|de|italic=no|{{lang|la|In dulci jubilo,}} Nun singet und seid froh! Unsers Herzens Wonne Leit {{lang|la|in praesepio;}} Und leuchtet wie die Sonne {{lang|la|Matris in gremio.}} {{lang|la|Alpha es et O!}}}}</poem> |<poem>In sweet rejoicing, now sing and be glad! Our hearts' joy lies in the manger; And it shines like the sun in the mother's lap. You are the [[Alpha and Omega]]!</poem> |<poem>Now let us sing with joy and mirth, In honour of our Lordes birth, Our heart's consolation Lies {{lang|la|in præsepio}}, And shines as the sun, {{lang|la|Matris in gremio}}. Alpha is and O, Alpha is and O.</poem> |<poem>{{lang|la|In dulci jubilo,}} Let us our homage shew! Our heart's joy reclineth {{lang|la|In praesepio;}} And like a bright star shineth {{lang|la|Matris in gremio.}} {{lang|la|Alpha es et O!}}</poem> |<poem>Good Christian men, rejoice With heart, and soul, and voice; Give ye heed to what we say: News! News! Jesus Christ was born to-day: Ox and ass before Him bow, And He is in the manger now. Christ is born today! Christ is born today.</poem> |}
==Influence in music== {{multiple image | width = 175 | footer = Autograph manuscript of "In dulci jubilo", BWV 608, from the ''[[Orgelbüchlein]]'' of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]] | image1 = Indulci1.jpg | image2 = Indulci2.jpg }} {{listen|type=music | filename = In dulci jubilo.mid | title = In dulci jubilo (BWV 608) | description = For organ, from the ''Orgelbüchlein'' (MIDI rendition) }}
[[Dieterich Buxtehude]] set the melody as a [[chorale]]-[[cantata]] in 1683 for soprano, alto and bass accompanied by two violins and [[figured bass|continuo]] (BuxWV 52) and as a [[chorale prelude]] for organ (BuxWV 197) c. 1690.<ref>{{citation|title=Dieterich Buxtehude: organist in Lübeck|first= Kerala J. |last=Snyder|publisher=University of Rochester Press|year= 2007|isbn=978-1-58046-253-2}}</ref><ref>{{citation|first=Deiterich|last=Buxtehude|author-link=Dieterich Buxtehude|publisher=Dover|year=2006|isbn=0-486-45287-5|title=Chorale preludes BuxWV 177–224|pages=54–55}}</ref>
[[Johann Sebastian Bach]] set this melody several times: as a chorale in BWV 368; and then for organ in [[BWV 608]] as a [[canon (music)|double canon]] in his ''[[Orgelbüchlein]]'' and in BWV 729 and [[Johann Michael Bach#Works|BWV 751]] as a chorale prelude. Commentators agree, however, that BWV 751 is too simple and undeveloped to be the work of Bach.<ref>{{citation|first=Peter|last=Williams|title=The Organ Music of J.S. Bach, Volume II: BWV 599–771, etc.| series=Cambridge Studies in Music|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1980|isbn=0-521-31700-2}}</ref> Since the 1984 rediscovery of the [[Neumeister Collection]], BWV 751 has been attributed to [[Johann Michael Bach]]. Bach also used the opening phrase of the melody as a fugal subject for two other choral preludes, BWV 703 (''Gottes Sohn ist kommen'') and BWV 724 (''Gott durch deine Güte''). BWV 729, written by Bach to accompany congregational singing in [[Arnstadt]], is traditionally performed as the first organ [[Voluntary (music)|voluntary]] at the end of the Festival of [[Nine Lessons and Carols]] at [[King's College, Cambridge]]. This voluntary was first introduced to the service in 1938 by organ scholar [[Douglas Guest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/chapel/festival-nine-lessons-2008.pdf|title=Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 2008|publisher=[[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]], [[University of Cambridge]]|access-date=26 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105081101/http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/chapel/festival-nine-lessons-2008.pdf|archive-date=5 November 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[Franz Liszt]] included the carol in his piano suite ''[[Weihnachtsbaum (Liszt)|Weihnachtsbaum]]'' in the movement entitled "Die Hirten an der Krippe" (The Shepherds at the Manger). [[Norman Dello Joio]] uses the theme as the basis of his ''Variants on a Medieval Tune'' for wind ensemble. [[Ronald Corp]] composed a setting of "In dulci jubilo" for unaccompanied SATB choir in 1976.
[[Gustav Holst]] included both "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (Neale version, 1853) and "[[God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen]]" in his 1910 choral fantasy ''Christmas Day'', with accompaniment for orchestra or organ.
[[Thomas Pynchon]] uses the carol as the choral centrepiece of the Advent episode in his 1973 novel, ''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]''. The singing, presided over by a nameless Jamaican countertenor, is described as "the War's evensong" (p. 130){{full citation needed|date=December 2025}}, and culminates thus: <blockquote>climaxing now with its rising fragment of some ancient scale, voices overlapping three- and fourfold, up, echoing, filling the entire hollow of the church—no counterfeit baby, no announcement of the Kingdom, not even a try at warming or lighting this terrible night, only, damn us, our scruffy obligatory little cry, our maximum reach outward—''praise be to God!''—for you to take back to your war-address, your war-identity, across the snow's footprints and tire tracks finally to the path you must create by yourself, alone in the dark. Whether you want it or not, whatever seas you have crossed, the way home... (p. 136){{full citation needed|date=December 2025}}</blockquote>
==Recordings== An instrumental arrangement of the Pearsall version by English musician [[Mike Oldfield]], "[[In Dulci Jubilo / On Horseback|In Dulci Jubilo]]", reached number 4 in the [[UK singles chart]] in January 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everyhit.com |title=Mike Oldfield search |publisher=EveryHit |access-date=22 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217183242/http://www.everyhit.com/ |archive-date=17 February 2007}}</ref>
==See also== * [[List of Christmas carols]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{ChoralWiki|In dulci jubilo|"In dulci jubilo"|prep=of}}, several settings and translations * [https://www.google.com/search?q={{urlencode:site:imslp.org In dulci jubilo}}{{#if:|&tbs=li:1|}} Search "In dulci jubilo"] at [[International Music Score Library Project]] (IMSLP) * [https://ingeb.org/spiritua/nunsinge.html "In dulci jubilo"], ingeb.org * {{YouTube|2gK3yH1mGcE|Animated score, several versions}}
{{Hymn tunes by Zahn number}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:14th-century hymns]] [[Category:Christmas carols in German]] [[Category:Christian hymns in German]] [[Category:Piae Cantiones]]