Hyperion Records

The words to this familiar hymn were written by Joachim Neander (1650–1680) and translated from the German by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). Neander also wrote the words of All my hope on God is founded and the tune ‘Unser Herrscher’ which is usually set to the hymn Come, ye faithful raise the anthem. The tune ‘Lobe den Herren’ is derived from the melody to Hast du denn, Liebster found in P Soren’s collection of hymns entitled Praxis Pietatis Melica (1668). It was set to Neander’s ‘Lobe den Herren’ in Catherine Winkworth’s Chorale Book for England (1863), which was the culmination of a revival of interest in the old Lutheran chorales and their tunes, initiated by the publication in 1841 of Frances E Cox’s Sacred Hymns from the German.

from notes by Sarah Langdon © 1999