Lobt froh den Herrn

"Lobt froh den Herrn" (Praise the Lord gladly) is a hymng of praise with a 1795 text by Georg Gessner [de] and a melody by Hans Georg Nägeli, composed in 1815. The Lutheran hymn is still popular and appears shortened in hymnals including the Protestant Evangelisches Gesangbuch and the Catholic Gotteslob, and in songbooks.

"Lobt froh den Herrn"
Lutheran hymn
Portrait of Gessner
English	Praise the Lord gladly
Written	1795 (1795)
Text	by Georg Gessner
Language	German
Melody	by Hans Georg Nägeli
Composed	1815 (1815)

History

Gessner wrote the text of Lobt froh den Herrn in 1795 in 16 stanzas of six lines each.^[1] Hans Georg Nägeli composed a melody to fit in 1815.^[1][2] It is part of the Protestant Evangelisches Gesangbuch (1995) as EG 332, and the Catholic Gotteslob (2013), as GL 396, stanzas 1, 12, 13 and 16, and in many other hymnals and songbook including those for children and youth.^[1]

Text and music

The poem of Lobt froh den Herrn is in 16 stanzas of six short lines each.^[1]

The repeated line "Lobt froh den Herrn" has the same function as the biblical Hallelujah: both a call to praise, and the praise. In modern versions, this line serves as a refrain concluding repeated all stanzas but the last one.^[3]

GL 396

1) Lobt froh den Herrn, ihr jugendlichen Chöre! Er höret gern ein Lied zu seiner Ehre. Lobt froh den Herrn! Lobt froh den Herrn! 2) Es schallt empor zu deinem Heiligtume, aus unserm Chor ein Lied zu deinem Ruhme, Lobt froh den Herrn! Lobt froh den Herrn! 3) Vom Preise voll lass unser Herz dir singen! Das Loblied soll zu deinem Throne dringen, 4) Einst kommt die Zeit, wo wir auf tausend Weisen, o Seligkeit! Dich, unsern Vater preisen, von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit!

It was translated into English as "O praise the Lord! with happy children's voices" by Caroline Hanser.^[4]

Johann Crüger's melody in B-flat major in a triple metre with dotted notes responds to the positive mood of the text.