{{Short description|1613 Lutheran hymn written by Valerius Herberger}} {{Infobox musical composition | name = "{{lang|de|Valet will ich dir geben|italic=no}}" | type = hymn | composed = by Melchior Teschner (1615) | image = Valet will ich dir geben (Melodie 1614).jpg | image_upright = 1.2 | alt = | caption = The ''Sterbelied'' (hymn for the dying) in a Lutheran hymnal, 1614 | translation = "Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee" | catalogue = Zahn 5403–5404a | text = by Valerius Herberger, translated by Catherine Winkworth (1865) | written = 1613 }} "'''{{lang|de|Valet will ich dir geben|italic=no}}'''" is a Lutheran hymn written by Valerius Herberger in 1613. It is a ''{{lang|de|Sterbelied}}'' (hymn for the dying). The text was published with two hymn tunes by Melchior Teschner, Zahn Nos. 5403 and 5404a, in 1615. The second of these melodies was used in compositions such as chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach and Max Reger. Bach used single stanzas in vocal works, including his ''St John Passion''.
Catherine Winkworth made a metrical translation to "'''Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee'''" which also appeared with the second tune as No. 137 in ''The Chorale Book for England'' in 1865.
==Valet will ich dir geben== [[File:Valet will ich dir geben (Text 1614).jpg|thumb|First print of "Valet will ich dir gerben", with acrostic]] Herberger wrote the hymn in 1613 in response to the plague in Fraustadt, as a ''{{lang|de|Sterbelied}}'' (hymn for the dying).<ref name="translation" /><ref name="hymnary" /> Its subtitle reads:<ref name="Albrecht" />{{Verse translation|lang=de|Ein andächtiges Gebet, damit die evangelische Bürgerschaft zu Fraustadt Anno 1613 im Herbst Gott dem Herrn das Herz erweicht hat, daß er seine scharfe Zuchtrute, unter welcher bei zweitausend Menschen sind schlafen gegangen, in Gnaden hat niedergelegt. Sowohl ein tröstlicher Gesang, darinnen ein frommes Herz dieser Welt Valet gibt.|A devotional Prayer, by which in the Autumn of the Year 1613 the Reformed Citizens of Fraustadt softened the Heart of the Lord God, so that He mercifully laid down His sharp scourge, under which two thousand Men and Women had gone to sleep. Likewise a Song of Consolation, wherein a pious Heart sayeth Farewell to this World.}}The hymn's first word, "Valet", is derived from the Latin {{lang|la|valete}} (fare thee well) in the original imprint: Herberger arranged his own Christian name "Valerius" as an acrostic—the first letters of each of the five stanzas form his name, Vale R I V S.<ref name="Albrecht" /> The hymn text was first printed in Leipzig in 1614.<ref name="melody" />
Teschner composed two melodies for the hymn, Zahn 5403 and 5404a,<ref name="Zahn" /> which he published in {{lang|de|Ein andächtiges Gebet}} (a devotional prayer) in 1615, both in a five-part setting.<ref name="hymnary" />
== Musical settings == Johann Sebastian Bach used the second of these melodies in his compositions, for instance the chorale preludes BWV 735 and 736.<ref>{{citation|title=The Organ Music of J. S. Bach|first=Peter |last=Williams|edition=2nd|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-89115-9}}</ref><ref name="BWV" /> He used the first stanza of the hymn as movement 3 in his cantata ''Christus, der ist mein Leben'', BWV 95,<ref name="translation" /><ref name="Dellal" /> and the third stanza, "{{lang|de|In meines Herzens Grunde|italic=no}}" (Within my heart's foundation), in his ''St John Passion''.<ref name="Ambrose" /> He wrote a four-part harmonisation in BWV 415.
Max Reger composed a chorale prelude as No. 38 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.carus-verlag.com/en/focus/organ-music/reger-52-easy-preludes-for-the-most-common-lutheran-chorales-op-67-volume-1.html |title=Reger: 52 easy preludes for the most common Lutheran chorales op. 67, Volumes 1–3 |publisher=Carus Verlag |access-date= 17 June 2020 |year=2014 |ref= {{sfnref|Carus|2014}} |editor1-first=Alexander|editor1-last=Becker |editor2-first= Christopher|editor2-last=Grafschmidt |editor3-first=Stefan|editor3-last=König |editor4-first=Stefanie|editor4-last= Steiner-Grage}}</ref> Naji Hakim composed in 2011 "Valet will ich dir geben / 5 Variations for Choir and Organ on a Choral by Melchior Teschner".<ref name="Schott" /> "{{lang|de|Valet will ich dir geben|italic=no}}" is part of the German Protestant hymnal {{lang|de|Evangelisches Gesangbuch}}, under number EG 523.
== In English == Winkworth's translation was published as No. 137 in ''The Chorale Book for England'' in 1865, with a four-part harmonisation of the tune.<ref name="Sterndale" />
The hymn tune is also known as "St. Theodulph" after Theodulf of Orléans who was the author of the Latin hymn which became, in John Mason Neale's 1845 English translation, "All Glory, Laud and Honour".<ref name="Marti" />
== References == <references> <ref name="Albrecht">{{cite book | last = Albrecht | first = Christoph | author-link = Christoph Albrecht | title = Einführung in die Hymnologie | language = de | location = Göttingen | publisher = Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | year = 1995 | pages = 36ff | isbn = 9783525571781 }}</ref> <ref name="Ambrose">{{cite web | last = Ambrose | first = Z. Philip | url = http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV245.html | title = BWV 245 Johannes-Passion | year = 2012 | publisher = University of Vermont | access-date = 29 March 2014 }}</ref> <ref name="BWV" >BWV<sup>2a</sup> (1998), p. 479</ref> <ref name="Dellal">{{cite web | last = Dellal | first = Pamela | author-link = Pamela Dellal | url = http://emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv095.htm | title = BWV 95 – ''Christus, der ist mein Leben'' | publisher = Emmanuel Music | access-date = 12 April 2014 }}</ref> <ref name="Marti">{{cite book | last = Marti | first = Andreas | editor-last = Evang | editor-first = Martin | editor-last2 = Alpermann | editor-first2 = Ilsabe | title = Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch, Heft 4 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qUAkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 | chapter = 523 Valet will ich dir geben | publisher = Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | year = 2017 | pages = 88–95 | isbn = 9783647503462 | language = de }}</ref> <ref name="translation">{{cite web | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale039-Eng3.htm | title = Valet will ich dir geben / Text and Translation of Chorale | publisher = bach-cantatas.com | year = 2003 | access-date = 12 April 2014 }}</ref> <ref name="melody">{{cite web | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Valet-will-ich-dir-geben.htm | title = Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Valet will ich dir geben | publisher = bach-cantatas.com | year = 2005 | access-date = 12 April 2014 }}</ref> <ref name="hymnary">{{cite web | url = http://www.hymnary.org/tune/st_theodulph_teschner | title = St. Theodulph (Teschner) | publisher = hymnary.org | access-date = 12 April 2014 }}</ref> <ref name="Schott">{{cite web | url = http://www.schott-music.com/shop/1/show,304092.html | title = Valet will ich dir geben | publisher = Schott | access-date = 12 April 2014 }}</ref> <ref name="Sterndale">{{cite book |translator-last1 = Winkworth |translator-first1 = Catherine |translator-link1 = Catherine Winkworth |date = 1865 |chapter = No. 137 |chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/chorale00benn/page/n269 |editor1-last = Bennett |editor1-first = William Sterndale |editor1-link = William Sterndale Bennett |title = The Chorale book for England |url = https://archive.org/details/chorale00benn |location = London |publisher = Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green }}</ref> <ref name="Zahn">{{cite book | last1 = Zahn | first1 = Johannes | author-link1 = Johannes Zahn | year = 1890 | title = Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder | location = Gütersloh | publisher = Bertelsmann | pages = [https://archive.org/details/1508285990bsb11304501/page/n411 406–407] }} [https://archive.org/details/1508285990bsb11304501 Vol. III]</ref> </references>
== External links == * {{commons category-inline}}
{{German Lutheran hymns}} {{English-language Lutheran hymns}} {{Hymn tunes by Zahn number}}
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Category:17th-century hymns in German Category:Lutheran hymns Category:Hymn tunes Category:1613 works Category:1610s in music