{{Short description|Lutheran hymn}} {{Infobox musical composition | name = "{{Lang|de|Christe, du Lamm Gottes|italic=unset}}" | type = Hymn by Martin Luther | image = Agnus Dei 01.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = An image of Christ as the Lamb of God ("Lamm Gottes"), addressed in the hymn | catalogue = Zahn&nbsp;58 | translation = Christ, you Lamb of God | text = translation | language = German | based_on = "Agnus Dei" | published = {{Start date|1528}} | misc = thumb }} "'''{{lang|de|Christe, du Lamm Gottes|italic=unset}}'''" (lit. "Christ, you Lamb of God") is a Lutheran hymn, often referred to as the '''German Agnus Dei'''. Martin Luther wrote the words of the hymn as a translation of the Latin Agnus Dei from the liturgy of the mass. The tune, Zahn&nbsp;58,<ref name="Zahn" /> was taken from an older liturgy. The hymn was first published in 1528 and has been the basis for several musical settings by composers such as Bach, Mendelssohn and Hessenberg. It appears in modern German hymnals, both the Protestant ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (EG 190:2) and the Catholic ''Gotteslob'' (GL 208).

==Background and usage== When Luther began the Reformation, he wanted to keep most of the order of the mass but to have it performed in German.<ref name="Schulz" /> In 1526, he published ''Deutsche Messe'' as a German language alternative to the Catholic liturgy. Before this publication, his liturgy was first used in the Advent of 1525. The document contains several German hymns, rather than using a German translation of the Credo and Agnus Dei from the Latin liturgy.<ref name="Leaver" /> Instead of using a translation of the Agnus Dei, "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland" was sung during communion because it was more instructive.<ref name="Leaver" />

The hymn first appeared with the Zahn 58 tune in Bugenhagen's Braunschweig order of church service, printed in Wittenberg in 1528.<ref name="hymnary" /><ref name="Luther" />

The Protestant hymnal ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' of 1993 has this hymn as EG 190:2.<ref name="Bibeln" /> The Catholic hymnal ''Gotteslob'' of 2013 has the hymn as GL 208, with a slightly different melody.<ref name="GL" />

== Tune == Robin A. Leaver points out that Luther used the tune of the Kyrie for this hymn in his ''Deutsche Messe'' to achieve symmetry.<ref name="Leaver" /> The tune is a Gregorian chant in the first mode (Dorian).<ref name="hymnary" /> Leaver notes that although the Zahn 58 tune was not printed with the hymn until 1528, it was already implied in Luther's 1526 ''Deutsche Messe''.<ref name="Leaver" />

[[File:Bwv619-preview.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The beginning of Bach's chorale prelude, BWV 619]] The hymn has been featured by composers through the centuries, often in elaborate settings. Bach used it several times, notably in the lost Weimarer Passion, in his cantata for the last Sunday before Lent ''Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn'', BWV 23,<ref name="Wolff" /> in the second version of his ''St John Passion'',<ref>[https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000308;jsessionid=F163449AD57CA4FBF4B24C5801BA261A?XSL.Style=detail St. John passion [second version] ] Bach Digital</ref> and in a chorale prelude, BWV 619, a canon at the twelfth interval, as part of his ''Orgelbüchlein''.<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|pages=273–274}}</ref>

Felix Mendelssohn used this hymn in a chorale cantata for choir and orchestra.<ref name="Mendelssohn" /> Kurt Hessenberg also employed this hymn in a five-part motet published in 1951.<ref name="Schott" />

== References ==

{{reflist | 30em | refs =

<ref name="Leaver">{{cite book | last = Leaver | first = Robin A. | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dD3A8cxPfJoC&pg=PA231 | title = Luther's Liturgical Music | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing | date = 2007 | pages = 185–187, 198–199, 231–103 | isbn = 978-0-8028-3221-4 | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Schulz">{{cite book | last = Schulz | first = Frieder | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bKt_lG1r2M0C&pg=PA102 | chapter = Evangelisches Gesangbuch 190:2 | title = Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch | publisher = Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | date = 2003 | language = de | pages = 102–103 | isbn = 978-3-525-50330-0 | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Wolff">{{cite web | last = Wolff | first = Christoph | authorlink = Christoph Wolff | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Koopman-C03-1c%5BErato-3CD%5D.pdf | title = From konzertmeister to thomaskantor: Bach's cantata production 1713 to 1723 | publisher = Bach-Cantatas | pages = 17–19 | year = 1995 | access-date = 6 February 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Bibeln">{{cite web | url = http://www.l4a.org/cgi-bin/4lieder?lookupMode=liedaufschlagen&lookup=Evangelisches%20Gesangbuch+190:2 | title = Evangelisches Gesangbuch 190:2 | publisher = l4a.org | language = de | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="GL">{{cite web | url = http://www.katholisch.de/video/14061-gotteslobvideo-gl-208-christe-du-lamm-gottes | title = Gotteslobvideo (GL 208): Christe, du Lamm Gottes | publisher = www.katholisch.de | language = de | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Schott">{{cite web | url = https://en.schott-music.com/shop/zwei-motetten-noq9144.html?SID=gl7a4d1sr5bgpt0uv1ien2lie2 | title = Christe, du Lamm Gotte | publisher = Schott | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Luther">{{cite web | url = http://www.luther-gesellschaft.de/assets/pdf/lieder/christe_du_lamm_gottes.pdf | title = 36. Christe, du Lamm Gotte | publisher = Luther Gesellschaft | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Mendelssohn">{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/composition/christe-du-lamm-gottes-chorale-cantata-for-chorus-orchestra-mc0002491157 | title = Felix Mendelssohn / Christe, du Lamm Gottes, chorale cantata for chorus & orchestra | publisher = AllMusic | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="hymnary">{{cite web | url = http://www.hymnary.org/tune/christe_du_lamm_gottes_kirchenordnung | title = Christe, du Lamm Gotte | publisher = hymnary.org | access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

<ref name="Zahn">{{cite book | last = Zahn | first = Johannes | author-link = Johannes Zahn | date = 1889 | title = Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder | location = Gütersloh | publisher = Bertelsmann | language = de | page = 21 }}</ref>

}}

== External links == {{commonscat}}

{{German Lutheran hymns}} {{English-language Lutheran hymns}} {{Hymn tunes by Zahn number}}

Category:16th-century hymns in German Category:Hymn tunes Category:Hymns by Martin Luther Category:1528 works