Hymns Alive!

By Dr. Craig Westendorf, Director of Music, regarding the hymns for Sunday, June 27.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty is such a standard that it is easy to take for granted.  The author, Joachim Neander (yes, he really did live in Neanderthal for a while), quickly came under the influence of the Reformed church with its Pietistic leanings.  In spite of this, this text was quickly adopted by the Lutheran church in the latter part of the 17th century.  It was translated by Catherine Winkworth in 1863, and was quickly taken into the English language hymnals of Lutherans settling in America.  Catherine Winkworth translated more than 100 German hymns into English, 19 of which are found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

Translating from the German and creating something truly poetic that will match the original meter is quite a task!  Her translations have gone through any number of “fixes” in the last thirty years, which is why there are two translations side by side in the ELW.  Often the translator will have to create more of a paraphrase.  For comparison, here is Winkworth’s translation alternating with my literal translation:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!     

Praise the Lord, the mighty King of Glory,

O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!

My beloved soul, that is my desire.

Let all who hear

Come, get up,

Now to his temple draw near,

Psaltery and harp, wake up,

Joining in glad adoration.

Let the song of praise be heard.

Very often only the stronger images and verbs can be directly translated.  In any case, its imperative verbs and insistent, rising melodic lines combine to make this a classic.