Darauf wir uns verlassen.
An example of what a good, popular hymn should be—“neither didactic nor introspective, but natural, strong, and churchly.”
The author, Nikolaus Decius, was a contemporary of Luther. (The date, “1626,” in the Hymnary is obviously wrong.) He was a monk in the Roman Catholic Church but became a follower of Luther, leaving the cloister at Steterburg, in 1519, to become a teacher and evangelical preacher. His work was carried on under constant opposition from the Church of Rome. He died suddenly in 1541 with some suspicion of having been poisoned by his enemies. Three hymns are ascribed to Decius: versions of the Sanctus, the Gloria in excelsis, and the Agnus Dei ([No. 540]). The present hymn is a translation of the second, the Gloria in excelsis. It became very popular, though Luther did not use it in any of his collections.
For comments on Catherine Winkworth see [Hymn 236].
MUSIC. NUN FREUT EUCH is also attributed to Decius who was a good musician as well as a popular preacher. It is often called “Luther’s Hymn” but there is no evidence that he wrote it. The tune appeared in Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1535, where it was set to Luther’s hymn, “Nun freut euch, liebe Christengemein.”
ADVENT
522. Wake, awake, for night is flying
Philipp Nicolai, 1556-1608
Tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-78 Alt.