No information is at hand concerning the composer.
CHRISTMAS
411. The happy Christmas comes once more
Nikolai F. S. Grundtvig, 1783-1872
A charmingly fresh Christmas hymn written by the greatest of Danish hymn writers. An omitted stanza reads:
O let us go with quiet mind,
The gentle Babe with shepherds find,
To gaze on him who gladdens them,
The loveliest flower of Jesse’s stem.
Nikolai F. S. Grundtvig was born in Udby, Denmark, 1783, the son of a Lutheran pastor. He lived in a day when rationalistic “new theology” had dried up the stream of spirituality in the church. The church worship had lost its evangelical glow, and the sermons had deteriorated into lectures on science and domestic economy. Young Grundtvig, in the course of his studies for the ministry, had come under the influence of this rationalism and for a time lost all interest in religion. Various influences opened his eyes to the spiritual poverty existing in the church, and he became an indefatigable worker for the dawn of a new day in the life of the people. His zeal sometimes led him into extravagances which put him at odds with his fellow ministers, but his preaching and writings, nevertheless, became a powerful influence in Denmark and resulted in fresh stirring of the Spirit in the church. His poems and hymns, entitled Hymns and Spiritual Songs, were published in five volumes.