"Den Vater dort oben" (The Father up there) in five 7-line stanzas, set to the 1531 associated melody, was published again in the Moravian Hymnbook of 1554. It is used as an omnes tempore Communion hymn and Grace after Meals (Wackernagel iii: 321). It is found in the 1682 NLGB with music (Zahn 7495), No. 225 Catechism Thanksgiving (https://books.google.com/books?id=UmVkAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA600#v=onepage&q&f=false, and is known in English as "Father, Lord of mercy," by John Christian Jacobi, 1722. Bach set it as a plain chorale, BWV 292 in C Major (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0292.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqLIj4KVVTg). Stanzas 1, 3, and 5 are translated in Terry's Four-Part Chorales of J. S. Bach (London: Oxford University Press, 1929, No. 63; Bach Digital, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000362?XSL.Style=detail), and in the Helmut Rilling Edition Bachakademie Vol. 83, A Book of Chorale-Settings for Thanks & Praise (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV250-438-Rilling.htm, English translation, Stanza 1: "The father high above / We will praise now, / Who has kindly fed us / in his divine mildness, / And Christ, his son, / Through whom blessing come / From the highest throne."
Source: Passiontide Devotional Chorales, Other Weiße Hymns (William L. Hoffman, February 20, 2018) |