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Track(s) taken from CDP12103

We plough the fields and scatter – Wir pflügen

First line:
We plough the fields and scatter
composer
Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1747-1800)
published in Hanover in 1800; doubtful attribution; NEH 262
author of text
Matthias Claudius (1740-1815)
translator of text
Jane Montgomery Campbell (1817-1878)

Wells Cathedral Choir, Malcolm Archer (conductor), Rupert Gough (organ)
Recording details: June 2002
Wells Cathedral, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: September 2002
Total duration: 3 minutes 16 seconds
 

Reviews

‘The voices are magnificent; likewise the organ. The whole record is a delight’ (Gramophone)

‘There is nothing in this collection that is not worth hearing and much to treasure’ (Cross Rhythms)
Matthias Claudius trained in theology but became a journalist and civil servant. In 1783 he published a short sketch of a harvest thanksgiving in a German farmhouse at which a song is sung. Verses of this were taken to make a hymn and set to the present tune in a publication of 1800. Jane Campbell translated the hymn some fifty years later and it has, since its inclusion in the Hymns Ancient and Modern Supplement of 1869, been a necessary part of any Harvest Festival. Though seeming light and unpretentious, the words are thoroughly biblical.

The tune’s composer rose from humble beginnings in Germany to be the Master of the Chapel to the King of Denmark. It has a wide range, but when a congregation’s imagination is captured, as with this hymn, no obstacle seems too great.

from notes by Alan Luff © 2002

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