1000 Songs/O morning star how fair and bright (Philipp Nicolai)

O morning star how fair and bright (Philipp Nicolai)

1000 Songs

Text
Based on Psalm 45.

Author
Philipp Nicolai(1556-1608) was a Lutheran Pastor. He was a writer, a poet, and a fantastic composer. Two of his most notable hymns are: "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" and "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" which is known in English as "How Lovely Shines The Morning Star. Nicolai was an inspiration to many other composers including Johann Sebastian Bach! Bach even based some of his famous chorals on Nicolai's two notable hymns! Nicolai was also known as the last example of writing hymns in Meistersinger form.

Translations/Challenges
Original language is German, and the first translation to English was by a man named J. C. Jacobi, in his Psalter Germanica, 1722. The most recent translation and the most commonly used one today is the translation by Catherine Winkworth, around the middle of the 1800's.

Editor's Choice
O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright, by Catherine Winkworth.

Tune
Translations: German and English. Meter: 887.887.4.84.8 To The Tune: How Lovely Shines The Morning Star.

Arrangements
The Arrangements we have today are due to Bach.

Author biography
Background of Philipp Nicolai. Born in Germany in 1556, son of a Lutheran Pastor. Grew up being forunate enough to go to school and eventually studied theology. He eventually became a Lutheran Pastor himself, and started writing hymns. His first hymn was, "Wake, Awake, for the Night if Flying". He continued to write many hymns and became very popular among his colleges, including Bach. Philipp Nicolai died in 1608 from a four-day illness.