Gott der Vater wohn uns bei

including
Sancta Maria wohn uns bei
Vater der Barmherzigkeit

translated as
God the Father, be our stay

I. Antecedants

The hymn known to Germans and Lutherans via the adaptation by Martin Luther (1483–1546), “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei,” was in circulation for at least a century prior in various forms. The original is regarded as a processional, constructed as a litany, calling upon a series of saints to “be with us” or “stay with us.”

A: München. The oldest surviving variant is from a manuscript dated 1422 held at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München, CGM 444, fols. 13r-v. In this copy, text only, the words began “Sanctus petrus won uns pey.” This has been transcribed in Wackernagel, vol. 2 (1867), pp. 517–518, and in Jenny (1985), p. 82.

Sanctus petrus won uns pey,
wenn wir schüllen sterben.
Mach uns aller sünden frey
und laß uns nicht verderben.
Vor dem teufel uns bewar,
reyne mayt maria,
Und für uns an der engel schar,
so singa wir alleluia.
Alleluia singa wir
dem werden got von hymelreich,
Das er uns mit seinen engeln kröne.
Kyrieleis, christeleys.
Nu heut so helff uns der heylig geist
Und der heylig crist,
der aller werlt ein vater ist.

B: Crailsheimer. The text appeared in the Crailsheim school order (Crailsheimer Schulordnung), 1480, held at Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg, Bestand B 70, Nr. 41, fols. 62r–66r, beginning “Sancta Maria ste und bej.” This was transcribed in Jenny (1985), p. 82, and in Alemannia, vol. 3 (1875), pp. 249–250, as edited by Wilhelm Crecelius.

Sancta Maria ste und bej
so wir sullen sterben.
Mach uns aller sunden frej
und laß uns nicht verderben..
Vor dem teufel uns bewar,
rayne magt Maria;
hilff uns an der engel schar,
so singen wir alleluia.
Alleluia singen wir
got dem herren zu lone,
das er uns in seyner ewickait
mit dem himel krone.
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia.

All propheten, die steen uns pei,
so wir sullen etc.
Machen uns aller sunden frej,
lassen uns nicht verderben.
Vor dem teufel uns bewar,
raine magt Maria.
Hilff uns an der engel schar, etc. ut supra.

C: Halberstadt. Text and tune were written in the Halberstadt choirbook in three parts, held in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS Mus. 40021, fol. 240v, dated 1485 by the library (Fig. 1). In this source, the text begins “Sancta maria won unß bey.” The melody is in the discantus part. Most importantly, this version of the melody is not consistent with the German bar form, since the opening melodic shape does not repeat like a Stollen, instead leading to a different idea entirely. It does contain two lengthy repeated sections and ends with a coda. This score was transcribed in standard notation in Jenny (1985), pp. 84–87, and in Just (1990), no. 123. The text from Jenny is shown below.

D: Kleber. Another manuscript variant of the tune, prepared closer to Luther’s version, was included in a collection entitled Tabulatur für die Orgel by Leonhard Kleber, dated ca. 1515–1524 (“scriptum et finitum ultima Decembris 1524”). This melody (Fig. 2) is very similar to the 1485 copy (Fig. 1). Kleber’s score did not include the text, but it was headed “Sancta Maria.” The melody was written in standard notation, while the additional parts were written using note names and rhythmic figures. This manuscript is held by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS Mus. 40026 (1515–1524), fols. 72r–73r.

Fig. 2. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS Mus. 40026 (1515–1524), fols. 72r–73r.

E: Vehe. In the same lineage as the above sources, the earliest reported printed version of this tune in a Catholic source was in Michael Vehe’s Ein new gesangbüchlin geistlicher Lieder (1537 | Fig. 3). Vehe’s version of the melody has many similarities to the Halberstadt and Kleber MSS but it is not exactly the same as either. It follows the overarching AABBC structure of the Kleber MS. Textually, it begins “Gott der Vater won uns bey,” and it unfolds in the manner of an extended litany, appealing to Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, Mary God’s mother, patriarchs, prophets, etc.

Fig. 3. Michael Vehe, Ein new gesangbüchlin geistlicher Lieder (Leipzig: Wolrab, 1537), pp. 47v–49r.

Technically, this example is not an antecedent to Luther, being printed 13 years post facto. Because this version of the text follows Luther’s example by starting with addresses to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it begs the question of whether Vehe copied Luther, or whether Luther knew a version like this and a representative manuscript precursor has not survived. Konrad Ameln (1984) suggested Vehe had followed Luther’s example.

F: Weisse. A similar but distinct variant of this melody appeared in early collections of the Bohemian Brethren, but with the text “Vater der Barmherzigkeit.” The root example of this variant is usually given as Ein New Gesengbuchlen (1531 | Fig. 4), compiled by Michael Weisse, but in a later study of that volume, Camillo Schoenbaum (1957) identified an earlier source for the song, Povstaň Pane, o povstaň by Bischof Lukas (1505). This melody was transcribed by Johannes Zahn (1891) at no. 6364.

Fig. 4. Michael Weisse, Ein New Gesengbuchlen (1531), pp. J IIIIv–J Vv.

The Stollen of this melody is clearly representative of Variants C–E above, and the Abgesang also has notable similarities, especially in the beginning triadic figure, a line descending to mi, and the eventual descent down to do. The Bohemian version of the melody does not contain a musical coda on Kyrie like the others. Though this is not readily apparent in the formatting of the text, the song has eleven stanzas of eight lines, 76.76.77.77.

II. Adaptation by Martin Luther

Luther’s adaptation of “Sancta Maria wohn uns bei,” recrafted as “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei,” was first published in Geystliche Gesangk Buchleyn (1524 | Fig. 6), in a choral arrangement by Johann Walter, melody being in the tenor part book.

Textually, Luther’s version of “Sancta Maria wohn uns bei” is partially a revision and partially a replacement. The closest antecedent is the Halberstadt MS; when compared to this, Luther kept the first five lines but rewrote the rest, save for his last line. The 1537 text (E / Fig. 4) has a little bit more in common with Luther, which again raises the question of influence in one direction or the other.

In Luther’s original version of the text, there was a small but notable difference between the first two stanzas, pleading “God the Father” or “Jesus Christ be with us,” versus the third stanza, “Holy Ghost who is with us.” In his final collection, Geystliche Lieder (1545 | Fig. 7), Luther inverted the text to read “Der Heilige Geist wohn uns bei.”

Fig. 7. Geystliche Lieder (Leipzig, V. Babst, 1545).

In describing the overall message of the text, Victor E. Gebauer wrote:

All of Christian life is put before God, resulting in the cleansing from sin, hope of life forever, strengthening of faith, rejection of the devil, and final praise. As a prayer to the triune God for divine protection, the hymn reflects the language of Ephesians 6:11, 13, where St. Paul enjoins, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”[1]

In shifting the text away from a litany to a myriad of saints, Luther repurposed the hymn to be suitable for Trinity Sunday and other trinitarian contexts. In some early Lutheran hymnals, including the 1533 edition published by Joseph Klug and the 1545 edition by Valentin Babst (see Fig. 7), this hymn was followed by a standard Catholic collect (prayer) for the festival of the Holy Trinity:

Almighty eternal God, who hast taught us to know and confess in true faith that thou art one eternal God in three Persons of equal power and glory and to be worshiped as such: We beseech thee that thou wouldst at all times keep us firm in this faith in spite of whatever opposition we may incur; who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.[2]

The hymn has also been associated with weddings and in times of death.

Musically, the Stollen is clearly patterned after the earlier tune tradition, as is the coda; the Abgesang is mostly congruent but has some notable differences. Luther’s Abgesang, for example, lacks the initial triadic figure present in the other examples, instead apparently drawing from a similar pattern in the coda. In the next phrase, Luther’s melody avoids an opening focal point around la, but ends like the others by descending from do to so. The next phrase follows the common pattern of ascending by leap again to do, this time resolving downward to mi, followed by a stepwise arch up to so, then back down to do.

Of Luther’s version of the melody, Gebauer remarked, “It moves easily in stepwise or triadic motion. There is a steady, sturdy ease to such singing that is consistent with the tune’s earlier use in processions.”[3]

Scholars debate whether Luther or Walter used a variant of the melody already known to them, or they modified the tune for their own purposes. Both positions are possible. For a phrase-by-phrase melodic comparison of antecedents C–F with Luther’s version, see this PDF.

The Stollen of this tune is regarded as being the foundation for other tunes, especially JESUS MEINE ZUVERSICHT and RATISBON.

III. English Translation

The predominant translation into English, especially in American Lutheran churches, has been “God the Father, be our stay” by Richard Massie (1800–1887), from Martin Luther’s Spiritual Songs (London: Hatchard & Son, 1854 | Fig. 8). The challenge of translating this hymn is in its complex rhyme scheme (abab.cddd.ceee.cf) while also retaining the original meter (7777.7777.7777.78), which has both trochaic and iambic lines.

In general, Massie was a careful translator. In the preface to his work, he described his approach:

It seems necessary to say a few words upon the plan which I have proposed to myself in executing the translation. My first aim has been to give the meaning of the original with accuracy and fidelity, for if these be essential to every good translation, they seem to be especially so to the translation of hymns like Luther’s, since the slightest mistake, or, in some cases, even the change of a word, might involve the change of a doctrine, and thus destroy the interest which they possess, as a short and plain Epitome of the great Reformer’s views.[4]

Nonetheless, as this translation has been adopted into hymnals, it has been altered often, usually with the aim of improving the fidelity to Luther’s original. For example, the second and fourth lines are often rendered as “Oh let us perish never / And grant us life forever,” a change dating to The Lutheran Hymnal (1941). The editors of Lutheran Worship (1982) gave this hymn the alternate opening line “Triune God, oh be our stay,” which thus allows the hymn to be used in a trinitarian context by singing only one stanza.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
17 July 2020

Footnotes:

1. Victor E. Gebauer, “Triune God, be Thou our stay,” Lutheran Service Book Companion, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), p. 442.

2. Translated by Ulrich Leupold in Luther’s Works, vol. 53 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1965), p. 136.

3. Victor E. Gebauer, “Triune God, be Thou our stay,” Lutheran Service Book Companion, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), p. 442.

4. Richard Massie, Martin Luther’s Spiritual Songs (London: Hatchard & Son, 1854), p. ix.

Related Resources:

Philipp Wackernagel, Das Deutsche Kirchenlied, vol. 2 (Leipzig: 1867), no. 684, pp. 517–518: HathiTrust ; vol. 3, no. 24, p. 16: HathiTrust

Wilhelm Crecelius, “Crailsheimer Schulordnung von 1480 mit deutschen geistlichen Liedern,” Alemannia, vol. 3 (1875), pp. 247–262: HathiTrust

Johannes Zahn, Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, vol. 4 (Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann, 1891), no. 6364: Archive.org ; vol. 5, no. 8507: Archive.org

James Mearns, “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei,” A Dictionary of Hymnology, ed. John Julian (London: J. Murray, 1892), pp. 443: HathiTrust

Camillo Schoenbaum, “Die Weisen des Gesangbuchs der Böhmischen Brüder von 1531,” Jahrbuch für Liturgik und Hymnologie, vol. 3 (1957), pp. 44–61 (especially p. 57): JSTOR

Ulrich Leupold, “God the Father with Us Be,” Luther’s Works, vol. 53 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1965), pp. 268–270.

Gerhard Rau, “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei—Predigt über Martin Luthers Lied (EKG 109),” Musik und Kirche, vol. 53, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1983).

Konrad Ameln, “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei: Direkte oder indirekte Anrede?” Jahrbuch für Liturgik und Hymnologie, vol. 28 (1984), pp. 84–91: JSTOR

Markus Jenny, “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei,” Luthers Geistliche Lieder und Kirchengesänge (Cologne: Böhlau, 1985), pp. 79–88, 236–237.

Martin Just, Der Kodex Berlin 40021, vol. 3 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1991), no. 123: WorldCat

Hans-Otto Korth, “Gott der Vater wohn uns bei,” Lass uns leuchten des Lebens Wort: Die Lieder Martin Luther (Halle: Franckeschen Stiftungen, 2017), pp. 109–115.

Joseph Herl & Victor E. Gebauer, “Triune God, be Thou our stay,” Lutheran Service Book Companion, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 441–444.