Product Description
SET A: SATB
Choir/Organ
(optional brass quintet and timpani-sold separately
)
Now Thank We All Our God was originally
written ca. 1636 by Protestant minister,
Martin Rinkart.
The melody is attributed to Lutheran Hymnist, Johann Crüger and was used in
three J.S. Bach chorales but the most common version we hear today was
harmonized by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840
.
Martin Rinkart was a
deacon in Eisleben Germany where he served during the Thirty Years War. The
city of Eisleben and Rinkarts own home became
a sanctuary for political refugees during the war. The resulting overcrowding
in the walled city resulted in a horrible plague which hit its peak in
1637. Rinkart was the only surviving
pastor in the city and before the plague was over he would preside over 4000
funerals include that of his own wife. Despite this, it was during this time
that he wrote Now thank we all our God.
This new setting of Now Thank We All Our God draws
on Rinkarts fierce spirit of optimism and
faith in a time of desolation and despair. To paint the picture of the
circumstances in which Rinkart wrote the hymn,
this setting opens with the text from Psalm 13:
How long, Lord? Will you forget
me forever?
The setting turns quickly, in an act of disruptive
optimism and faith, to a lopsided dance of joy. In the end, the setting returns
to the opening question of Psalm 13, "How long?" only to be answered by Rinkarts declaration, "Gifts of love
today!"
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.