Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her

History

In an account not confirmed by contemporary sources Martin Luther would have written "Vom Himmel hoch" in 1534 for the Christmas celebration in family circle. It is not certain but likely that Luther thought of a scenic representation. The text of the hymn was first published in 1535, the melody most commonly associated with it in 1539.

1535 publication

"Vom Himmel hoch" was first published as a hymn with 15 stanzas of four lines in the "Wittenberg hymnal" of 1535, under the header "Ein kinderlied auff die Weinacht Christi" ("A children's song on the Nativity of Christ"). In that publication, the text was coupled to the melody of the then well-known secular song "Ich kumm aus frembden Landen her." It was Luther's only contrafactum, reusing a tune of a secular composition for a religious text.

1539 melody

In 1539, the hymn was published with a new melody that was probably composed by Luther himself, in Geistliche lieder / auffs new gebessert vnd gemehrt /zu Witteberg. D. Marti. Luther. Viel Geistliche gesenge / von andern frommen Christen gemacht. Gedruckt zu Leyptzick durch Valten Schumann (Spiritual Songs / newly improved and extended / … made by other pious Christians …). This is the melody generally associated with the text:

 "Vom Himmel hoch" played on a carillon 

Content

The song is an interpretation of Luke 2:8–18, a part of the Christmas story. The first five stanzas echo the annunciation addressed to the shepherds. The following stanzas are an invitation to follow the shepherds to the manger and celebrate the newborn baby. The last stanza is a short doxology and mentions the new year, as a new, peaceful time.

Reception history

Another early publication containing the 1539 version of Luther's hymn is Lotther's Magdeburg Gesangbuch of 1540. The 1539 melody was used in various compositions, in vocal compositions often coupled to (parts of) Luther's hymn text. "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" became one of Germany's most popular Christmas carols.

In the 1560s the hymn spread to the Netherlands and the British Isles. "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come," the version best known in English, was published by Catherine Winkworth in 1855. The Swedish-language version ("Av himlens höjd oss kommet är") became one of the most commonly sung Lutheran hymns in Sweden and Finland, appearing in films there.

Not all settings of Luther's hymn text after his publication of the 1539 melody refer to that melody: for instance Sethus Calvisius' early seventeenth century motet Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her for SSATTB choir borrows some motifs from the "Ich kumm aus frembden Landen her" melody, but does not contain the 1539 tune. The Scottish translation contained in the sixteenth century Gude and Godlie Ballatis was indicated to be sung on the tune of a lullaby ("Balulalow").

The 1539 melody in other compositions

From the second half of the 16th century the melody appeared in organ compositions, for instance by Johannes Eccard, Adam Gumpelzhaimer, Hans Leo Hassler, Michael Praetorius, Samuel Scheidt (Görlitzer Tabulaturbuch, 1650) and Heinrich Scheidemann. Early 17th century four-part chorale harmonizations include those by Jacob Praetorius, Hassler and Calvisius. Later organ compositions include those by Johann Pachelbel (chorale preludes, one of them printed in his Erster Theil etlicher Choräle c. 1693) and by Georg Böhm (chorale prelude on the "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" theme).

Johann Hermann Schein made a setting of "Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her" for three voices and continuo, the unaltered 1539 melody being given to the tenor voice. Sebastian Knüpfer wrote a cantata Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her for six vocal soloists, choir and orchestra. Johann Christoph Bach set six stanza's of "Vom Himmel hoch" in his motet Merk auf, mein Herz und sieh dorthin, BWV Anh. 163. Also Johann Mattheson included "Vom Himmel hoch" in his Christmas Oratorio Die heilsame Geburt und Menschwerdung unsers Herrn und Heilandes Jesu Christi (1715).

Johann Sebastian Bach set the first stanza of "Vom Himmel hoch" as one of four laudes added to the Christmas 1723 version of his Magnificat. He also used the melody three times in his Christmas Oratorio (1734). The chorale Ach, mein herzliebes Jesulein, which uses stanza 13 of Luther's hymn, closes Part I of the oratorio. Bach wrote chorale preludes based on "Vom Himmel hoch", notably BWV 606 in his Orgelbüchlein, 700, 701, 738 and 738a. In 1747 he used the chorale theme for his Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" (BWV 769).

Carl Maria von Weber's first composition was a setting for organ of "Vom Himmel hoch". In 1831 Felix Mendelssohn wrote a chorale cantata Vom Himmel hoch, MWV A 10 based on Luther's hymn. Later he incorporated the melody in the incidental music for Racine's Athalie, Op. 74 (1845), and his sister cited it in the "December" piece of her piano cycle Das Jahr. Also Otto Nicolai's Christmas Overture was based on "Vom Himmel hoch."

A 1910 Fugue on the chorale "Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her" is by Immanuel Faisst. Other composers citing "Vom Himmel hoch" include Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Ernst Pepping und Hugo Distler. Max Reger composed a chorale prelude as No. 40 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902. He quotes the tune in the Christmas section of his organ pieces Sieben Stücke, Op. 145. Igor Stravinsky wrote "Chorale Variations on 'Vom Himmel hoch'" for choir and orchestra (1956), which was an arrangement of Bach's Canonic Variations, adding extra contrapuntal lines.

"Enkeli taivaan", the Finnish version of "Vom Himmel Hoch", appears in Act 2, scene five of Luther, an opera by Kari Tikka that premiered in 2000. The English-language version of the opera, brought to the United States in 2001, contains seven stanzas of "From heav´n above to earth I come." The opera premiered in Germany in 2004 containing stanzas of "Vom Himmel hoch" in the original language.

"Es kam ein Engel hell und klar"

Valentin Triller, a Protestant vicar, published a reworked version of the hymn with an additional introductory stanza in 1555, reverting to the "Ich kumm aus frembden Landen her" melody. This version, known by its new first line, "Es kam ein Engel hell und klar", found its way to Catholic songbooks in the 16th century, although such printings of the song would not always contain all eighteen stanzas of Triller's version and would also start to adopt Luther's 1539 singing tune again.

"Balulalow"

The 1567 second edition of The Gude and Godlie Ballatis (the good and godly ballads) contained a Scottish translation of "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" under the header "Followis ane sang of the birth of Christ, with the tune of Baw lula low" (Here follows a song of the birth of Christ, [to be sung] on the tune of Balulalow). The first line of this translation reads "I come from heuin to tell" (I come from heaven to tell).

The thirteenth and fourteenth stanza of this were considered a Scottish lullaby, "Oh, my deir hert, young Jesus sweit" (Oh, my dear heart, young Jesus sweet). As "Balulalow" these two stanzas were set to music for instance by Benjamin Britten as No. 4b in A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 (1942). Peter Warlock had already set the same lyrics in 1919.

Popular interpretations followed, for instance by Loreena McKennitt (To Drive the Cold Winter Away, 1987), by Sting (If on a Winter's Night..., 2009), and by the French band Revolver.

"From Heaven on High The Angels Sing"

"From Heaven on High The Angels Sing" is sometimes indicated as a translation of "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her." It is however a translation of "Vom Himmel hoch, o Engel, kommt", a song also known as "Susani," first published in the early 17th century, with a different tune ( "Vom Himmel hoch, o Englein, kommt!" played on a carillon ). Apart from the Christmas setting derived from Luke 2:1–18, the "Susani" repeated in this song also likens it to the "Susaninne" of the fourteenth stanza of "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her." There are however many other hymns, including older and English ones, with similar likenesses, e.g. the fourteenth century "A Little Child There Is Ybore," "A Little Child There Is Yborn," "Gloria Tibi Domine," and Luther's 1543 "Vom Himmel kam der Engel Schar" (de). The last one is usually sung to the "Vom Himmel hoch" melody.

"Ett barn är fött på denna dag"

"Ett barn är fött på denna dag" is a Swedish Christmas song partly based on the "Vom Himmel hoch" hymn.