A popular hymn of praise and thanksgiving, written in 1704, shortly after the author’s home was destroyed by fire! Our version is a selection of stanzas 1, 4, 5, and 15, of the original 15.
The author, Johann Mentzer, was for 38 years a pastor at Kemnitz, Saxony, and belonged to the more conservative Pietistic school of hymn writers. He is the author of 34 hymns, many of them of high merit.
For comments on the translator, Catherine Winkworth, see [Hymn 236].
MUSIC. O DASS ICH TAUSEND ZUNGEN HÄTTE was composed by Johann Balthasar König, 1691-1758, director of music in several churches in Frankfurt-am-Main. The tune appeared in Harmonischer Liederschatz, Frankfurt, 1738, where it is set to the hymn, “Ach sagt mir nichts von Gold und Schätzen.” The Harmonischer Liederschatz, edited by König, is the most comprehensive chorale-book of the 18th century. It contains 1940 tunes, including several of König’s own compositions.
510. Heav’n and earth, the sea, the air
Joachim Neander, 1650-80
Tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-78
Frances Cox, 1812-97
1.
Himmel, Erde, Luft und Meer,