Sunday, July 23, 2023

"Christ ist erstanden von der" (#98)

German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Christ ist erstanden
von der Marter allen,
des solln wir alle froh sein,
Christ will unser Trost sein.
Kyrieleis.

2 Wär er nicht erstanden,
so wär die Welt vergangen;
seit daß er erstanden ist,
so lobn wir den Herrn Jesum Christ,
Kyrieleis.

3 Halleluja!  Halleluja!  Halleluja!
Des solln wir alle froh sein,
Christ will unser Trost sein,
Kyrieleis.

Aus dem 12ten Jahrhundert.
My prose translation:
1 Christ is risen
From all His torment;
Therefore we should all be happy;
Christ will be our comfort.
Kyrie eleison.

2 Had He not risen,
The world would have passed away;
Since He is risen,
We praise the Lord Jesus Christ,
Kyrie eleison.

3 Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!
Therefore we should all be happy;
Christ will be our comfort.
Kyrie eleison.

From the 12th century.
"Von der Marter allen" in the first verse is actually "from all the torment," but I translated it as "from all His torment," supplying the possessive adjective.

This hymn appears as "Christ Is Arisen" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#187), Lutheran Worship (#124), and The Lutheran Service Book (#459).  In all of these and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own melody."  Here's the TLH arrangement (although I held a few notes a bit longer than they're written):


And here's the arranged from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch: