A Latin hymn, Quae stella sole pulchrior, was included in the Paris Breviary, 1736, and, again, in Coffin’s Hymni Sacri, 1736. Charles Coffin, rector of the University of Paris, wrote a large number of hymns, “not so much,” he says, “to gratify the poetic Spirit as to achieve elegance and piety.”
The translation is by John Chandler, 1806-76, in his Hymns of the Primitive Church, 1837. Chandler was educated at Oxford and became a minister in the Church of England. Besides making a collection of hymns, he is the author of several biographies and volumes of devotional literature. His translation of this hymn has passed into many English hymn books but invariably with some alterations.
MUSIC. PUER NOBIS is an arrangement of a German folk tune published by the German composer, Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621, which he wrote in 1609. It was harmonized in 1904 by G. R. Woodward, an English musician. It is a spirited tune and should be sung briskly and merrily.
88. Bethlehem, of noblest cities
Prudentius, 348-c. 413
Tr. E. Caswall, 1814-78
Based on Matt. 2:6: “And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel,” and the story of the three wise men bringing their gifts to Jesus.
The author, Prudentius, 348-c. 413, a Spaniard, was one of the best and most prolific of early Latin Christian poets. He received legal training and served as lawyer and judge in several cities. At the age of 57 he entered a monastery and for the rest of his life was a writer of poetry in defense of and in praise of the Christian faith. He is regarded by some as the first really great Christian poet and was widely read in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, Erasmus being one of his admirers.
The translation is by Edward Caswall who shortly before had left the Church of England to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. Caswall was a Latin scholar and did much translating of Latin hymns. For further comments on Caswall see [Hymn 19].
MUSIC. STUTTGART is adapted from a melody by Christian F. Witt in his Psalmodia Sacra, published in Gotha, 1715, where it is set to the hymn, “Sollt es gleich bisweilen scheinen.” It is a stately, straightforward tune of simple, rhythmic pattern and is singable by any average congregation.