Paula and I recently spent a week in Berlin, among our all-time favorite cities, having spent three weeks there a dozen years ago. While we returned to several attractions savored on our first trip, most of what we took in earlier this month was new… or so it seemed, maybe our faulty memories. A highlight of both trips was Sunday morning worship at the Berliner Dom, the magnificent Lutheran cathedral located near the city’s center.
On the recent morning we attended, “Gott ist Gegenwärtig!” was the opening hymn (in English, “God Himself is Present”), composed by Joachim Neander, one of history’s most outstanding hymnwriters. Although some would suggest this is not Neander’s finest hymn – and I concur – its opening notes and chords were embedded in me throughout the remainder of our trip. (Perhaps partially explained by noting these four initial chords constitute the first two “amens” in the familiar three-fold “Amen” many Protestant congregations sing AND are also the first four notes of the much-loved Pachelbel “Canon”… its full name, “Kanon und Gigue für 3 Violinen mit Generalbaß”.)
I first wrote about Neander in May, 2021. This most recent encounter with the talented Mr. Neander prompted me to dig out, review, and revise the ramble I assembled and published almost three years ago. At that time, one of my four quipster brothers, commenting on my twists and turns, suggested the title noted above.
From an early March, 2021 news report, less than two months after taking office: “President Biden criticized states for lifting Covid-19 restrictions against pleas from CDC and top public health officials. ‘I think it's a big mistake… masks make a difference. The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking, that everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters,’ Biden said.”
The phrase “Neanderthal thinking” caught my attention. My thoughts were not of a cave man in Flintstone garb, but rather some of the most majestic lyrics in Christendom… from the opening phrase, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation; / O my soul praise him, for he is thy health and salvation,” to the stately last verse, “Let the Amen / Sound from his people again.” Let me explain this (admittedly somewhat peculiar) connection. Please, come along with me.
Joachim Neander was born in 1650 in Bremen, Germany, notable for the Grimm Brothers’ tale, the Bremen Town Musicians. Neander led a productive, abbreviated life, dying at age 30, brief even for 1680. According to contemporaries, “His student life was spent in vanity of the mind, forgetfulness of God, and the eager pursuit of youthful pleasures.” Another report simply stated, he “led an immoral, lusty life.”
Ah, but we know him today because he abruptly turned his life around. He became a tutor in Heidelberg, then a teacher in Düsseldorf, prior to becoming a minister. In Düsseldorf, he often retreated to the nearby Düssel River valley, where nature inspired him to write poetry and compose hymns. He spent so much time in the valley that locals started calling it Neander Valley, although it was not formally renamed until the early 1800s.
The Neander Valley (or, “the Neanderthal”) was a limestone canyon with rugged cliffs, waterfalls, and caves, although industrial quarrying in the 19th and 20th centuries dramatically altered its character. In 1856, quarry workers uncovered a cave containing fossilized bones. Initial findings consisted of a skull cap, two femora, five arm bones, and various fragments. Discovery of Neanderthal man was announced in 1857, now considered the beginning of paleoanthropology.
Meanwhile, back to our hero. Neander wrote 60 hymns, providing tunes for many of them, although not for “Praise to the Lord”, which is based on a folk tune. He is deemed the first important German hymnist after the Reformation and the outstanding hymn writer of the German Reformed (Calvinist) Church. “Praise to the Lord”, based on Psalms 103 and 150, is regarded as one of the greatest hymns of praise in the Christian church. Sadly, Neander’s early death means we’ll never know or sing of other great hymns he may have written were he to have lived another thirty, forty, or fifty years.
Quoting one source, Neander is known for “the glow and sweetness of his hymns, their firm faith, originality, variety and mastery of rhythmical forms, and genuine lyric character.” John Julian’s authoritative hymnology dictionary calls Neander’s masterpiece “a magnificent hymn of praise to God, perhaps the finest creation of its author, and of the first rank in its class.” But, of course, we don’t sing it today in its original language. Enter Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878).
Winkworth is the foremost translator of German hymns into English, having converted some 400 hymns written by 170 authors. Her translations, occasionally with modest alterations, are most widely used in modern hymnals. Among the best examples of Winkworth’s skill are "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying" and "How Brightly Beams the Morning Star!", also known as the King and Queen of Chorales, both hymns written and composed by Philipp Nicolai (1556-1608). And yes, she translated Neander’s “Praise”, my nominee for either Prince or Princess of Chorales, depending on your royal preference.
President Biden was not thinking about an idyllic German valley three years ago, when he scolded states for lifting COVID restrictions, but words and expressions often wander down long and intricate routes. Accordingly, we’ve journeyed quite some distance today – from a presidential comment, into hymnody, via paleoanthropology. Thanks for meandering along.
I was tempted to conclude with lyrics from “God Himself is Present” since they’re magnificent, however, Neander didn’t write them. They were penned by Gerhard Tersteegen, one in the distinguished trio of notable hymnwriters affiliated with the Reformed Church in Germany. (As noted above, one of the other two? Joachim Neander!) Accordingly, I’ll simply close with Neander / Winkworth’s third verse of “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”: “Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee; / Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee. / Ponder anew / What the Almighty can do, / If with his love he befriend thee!” AMEN!
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. These are my colleagues: