Wie falten sie die frohen Hände!
One of the great hymns by the German mystic, Gerhard Tersteegen.
For comments on Tersteegen see [Hymn 506].
Our version is a free translation of stanzas 1, 2, and 4 of the original 8.
Herman Brueckner, translator of the hymn, was born in Eisenach, Germany, and was educated at the Universities of Leipzig, Greifswald, and Jena. The latter gave him the doctor’s degree in theology in 1923. Coming to America, Brueckner served a year as Lutheran Seaman’s Pastor for the Port of New York. From 1915 to 1931 he was pastor of St. Matthaeus Lutheran Church, Hoboken, N. J., and since that time has served as Professor of Church History in Hartwick Seminary. He is the author of a number of volumes on ecclesiastical and historical subjects, among them, Church and State in Germany, published in 1934.
Brueckner’s translation was slightly altered by the editors of the Hymnary, at two points:
Stanza 1, line 4: “And sign of thy celestial lore,” to “Thy name to honor and adore.”
Stanza 2, line 5: “Thy love, so tender, and caressing,” to “Thy love, so tender, so possessing.”
MUSIC. ST. PETERSBURG, also known as “Wells,” “Wellspring,” and “Shangana,” is adapted from a portion of a mass by the Russian composer, Dimitri S. Bortniansky, 1752-1825.
For comments on Bortniansky see [Hymn 28].