For Christmas Eve
Words: Martin Luther, Joseph Klug's Gesangsbuch, 1535
Music: "Vom Himmel Hoch"
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / XML
Meter: 8 8 8 8 (LM)
1. Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her,
Ich bring' euch gute neue Maehr,
Der guten Maehr bring ich so viel,
Davon ich sing'n und sagen will.
2. Euch ist ein Kindlein heut' gebor'n
Von einer Jungfrau auserkor'n,
Ein Kindelein so zart und fein,
Das soll eu'r Freund und Wonne sein.
3. Es ist der Herr Christ unser Gott,
Der will euch fuehr'n aus aller Noth,
Er will eu'r Heiland selber sein,
Von allen Suenden machen rein.
4. Er bringt euch alle Selighkeit,
Die Gott der Vater hat bereit't,
Dass ibr mit uns im Himmelreich
Sollt leben nun und ewiglich.
5. So merket nun das Zeichen recht,
Die Krippen, Windelein so schlecht;
Da sindet ihr das Kind gelegt,
Das alle Welt erhaelt und traegt.
6. Dess lasst uns Alle froehlich sein
Und mit den Hirten geh'n hinein,
Zu seh'n was Gott uns hat bescheert,
Mit seinem lieben Sohn verehrt.
7. Merk auf, mein Herz, und sieh dort hin:
Was liegt doch in dem Krippelein?
Wess ist das schoene Kindelein?
Es ist das liebe Jesulein.
8. Bis willekomm, du edler Gast,
Den Suender nicht verschmaehet hast,
Und koemmst in Elend her zu mir,
Wie soll ich immer danken dir?
9. Ach Herr, du Schoepfer aller Ding',
Wie bist du worden so gering,
Dass du da liegst auf duerrem Gras,
Davon ein Kind und Esel ass.
10. Uud waer' die Welt vielmal so weit,
Von Edelstein und Gold bereit't,
So waer sie doch dir viel zu klein,
Zu sein ein enges Wiegelein.
11. Der Sammet und die Seiden dein,
Das ist grob Heu und Windelein,
Darauf du Koen'g so gross und reich
Herprangst, als waers dein Himmelreich.
12. Das hat also gefallen dir,
Die Wahrheit anzuzeigen mir:
Wie aller Welt Macht, Ehr und Gut
Fuer dir nichts gilt, nicht hilft noch thut.
13. Ach, mein herzliebes Jesulein,
Mach dir ein rein sanft Bettelein,
Zu ruhen in mein's Herzens Schrein,
Dass ich nimmer vergesse dein.
14. Davon ich allzeit froehlich sei,
Zu springen, singen immer frei
Das rechte Susannine* schon,
Mit Herzen Lust den suessen Ton.
15. Lob, Ehr sei Gott im hoechsten Thron,
Der uns schenkt seinen ein'gen Sohn,
Des freuen sich der Engel Schaar
Und singen uns solch's neues Jahr.
Luther, though a rebel, was no Puritan, and was a passionate lover of music and folk-poetry. “I would fain,” he said, “see all arts, especially music, in the service of Him who has given and created them.” Kindly, a lover of children, he had a deep feeling for the festival of Christmas; and in 1534 he wrote for his children (including his little son Hans) one of the most delightful and touching of all Christmas hymns — “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her.” According to Clement A. Miles, its first verse was adapted from a secular song; its melody may, perhaps, have been composed by Luther himself. There is another Christmas hymn by Luther — “Vom Himmel Kam Der Engel Schar” — written by him in 1543 for use when “Vom Himmel hoch” was thought too long. The English Translation is To Shepherds As They Watched By Night by Richard Massie (1854).
It was first published in 1534, and then republished in 1539 by Luther with a new melody.
The song was designed to show, first, the angel’s declaration to the shepherds; originally, the first five verses were sung by a man (dressed as an angel). This declaration was followed by the shepherds’ response, and our welcoming of our Savior (the next 9 verses were sung in response by Luther's children, with the last verse sung by the angel and the children together). "Together, this entire package forms a whole piece of teaching and admonition as well as gratitude to God," wrote Leonard Payton (Trinity Hymnal Commentary, 1990 Hymnal).
The visual picture of the angelic announcement to the shepherds had led, in the past, to some unusual practices. According to Clement A. Miles, at Crimmitschau in Saxony a boy, dressed as an angel, used to be let down from the roof by a rope singing Luther's “Vom Himmel hoch,” and the custom was only given up when the breaking of the rope caused a serious accident.
Illustration left: "Singing 'Vom Himmel Hoch' From A Church Tower At Christmas," by Ludwig Richter, from "Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan," by Clement A. Miles (1912).
The hymn has enjoyed great popularity in Germany since it was written. It is said that "Vom Himmel Hoch" was one of the hymns sung during the Christmas Truces of the Frank-Prussian War (1870-1871), and World War I, 1914. See the notes following O Holy Night.
The earliest English-language version of the hymn was I Come From Heuin To Tell, ("Ane Sang of the Birth of Christ") written by the Wedderburn brothers, and published in 1567 in Ane Compendious Buik of Godlie Psalms and Spirituall Sangis.
H. R. Bramley followed with From Highest Heaven I Come To Tell; his version was "based on an old Scottish version" and was printed in Christmas Carols - New and Old, Third Series, circa. 1878. The well-known translation from the German by Catherine Winkworth was published in 1855.
J. H. Hopkins, in Great Hymns Of The Church, gives the full 15 verses (the Massie translation), as do other sources. Ian Bradley, in The Penguin Book of Carols has the 15-verse translation by Catherine Winkworth. See: Christmas Poetry of Catherine Winkworth: "A Carol." Many other hymnals and carol collections, however, give or use shorter translations.
According to Studwell (and based on other research), some translations of Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her include:
Ah Dearest Jesus (verse 7 and two others)
From Heaven Above To Earth I Come - the full 15-verse Winkworth translation.
From Heaven High I Come To You - Version 1
From Heaven High I Come To You - Version 2
From Heaven High, O Angels, Come (Maria Augusta Trapp)
From Highest Heaven I Come To Tell (Bramley & Stainer; using this translation, with alterations (vv. 3, 14, 15), is Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), Carol 60, who give a background to the hymn, plus three musical settings, the last of which is their arrangement of the original folk-dancing melody, "Ich komm aus fremden Landen her."
From Highest Heaven, On Joyous Wing, R. Massie
I Come From Heaven To Tell (From Rickert; Ane Sang of the Birth of Christ from Ane Compendious Buik of Godlie Psalms and Spirituall Sangis, John, James and Robert Wedderburn, 1567.) 15 Verses.
I Come From Heuin To Tell (William Sandys, 1833; Ane Sang of the Birth of Christ, 15 verses)
O My Dear Heart, Young Jesus Sweet, John, James and Robert Wedderburn, 1567. See: Baloo, Lammy ("Balulalow"). See: I Come From Heaven To Tell
Today We Celebrate The Birth (Moravian Translation, 1754)
Welcome To Earth, Thou Noble Guest (Verse 8 and following)
Ian Bradley, in The Penguin Book of Carols, has an extensive discussion of the history of this hymn. He mentions several other translations (that I haven't yet found):
I Come From Heaven To Declare, Moravian Hymn Book of 1754
I Come, I Come From Yon Celestial Climes
From Heaven High I Wing My Flight
He also notes that some versions begin with verse 7, Give Heed, My Heart and Ah Dearest Jesus, while other versions select verses based on themes, as in the United Reformed Church's hymnal Rejoice And Sing (vv. 1-3: "The Angel's Message;" vv. 10, 13, 14, 16: "The Children's Welcome"). See: From Heaven High I Come To You.
Sources include:
Ian Bradley, The Penguin Book of Carols. London: Penguin, 1999.
J. H. Hopkins, ed., Great Hymns of the Church Compiled by the Late Right Reverend John Freeman Young. New York: James Pott & Company, 1887.
Clement A. Miles, "Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan." T. Fisher Unwin, 1912.
Leonard Payton, Trinity Hymnal Commentary, 1990 Hymnal
G. Rietschel, “Weihnachten in Kirche, Kunst und Volksleben” (Bielefeld and Leipsic, 1902), p. 75, cited by Clement A. Miles.
William Studwell, The Christmas Carol Reader. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1995.
