Gelobt sei Gott im höchsten Thron lyrics by Michael Weiße
History
Weiße published his text in 1531 in his hymnal Ein New Gesengbuchlen for the Bohemian Brethren, with a melody known from the beginning of the 15th century and used in Czech congregations in Bohemian Hussite hymnals. Weiße structured the text in three parts, two stanzas of praise, fifteen stanzas of narration, and three stanzas of prayer to Jesus. Each stanza consists of three rhyming lines in similar meter, and a "Halleluja" refrain.In 1609, the hymn appeared in the Lutheran hymnal Ein schön geistlich Gesangbuch by Melchior Vulpius from Weimar, who composed a different tune and two harmonisations, one for four parts, one for five parts. With this melody, the hymn became widely known in the 19th century by publication in the hymnals of Johann Gottlieb Tucher and Philipp Wackernagel. The number of stanzas was reduced considerably, because of less interest in a long narration and a focus on the Passion.The hymn was translated to English in several versions, for example "Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing" by Cyril A. Alington in 1931. Other hymns sung to the tune "Gelobt sei Gott" include "O Lord of Life, Where'er They Be".In the current German Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG), the hymn is number 103. It has one stanza of praise, three stanzas of narration and two of prayer. Praise and narration correspond to stanzas 1, 4, 9 and 10 of the first version, the two stanzas of praise are derived from the three stanzas in the long version. The first melody still appears in the EG, as number 105, with the text "Erstanden ist der heilig Christ" (Risen is the holy Christ), based on the Latin Surrexit Christus Hodie. "Gelobt sei Gott im höchsten Thron", the same six stanzas as in the EG, is part of the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob (GL), number 218 in the old version, number 328 in the current version.