Johann Heermann

Johann Heermann (11 October 1585 – 17 February 1647) was a German poet and hymn-writer. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 26 October with Philipp Nicolai and Paul Gerhardt.

Life

Heermann was born in Raudten (modern day Rudna) in Silesia, the fourth son of a middle-class Protestant family. None of his elder siblings had survived beyond childhood, so when the infant Heermann became very ill, his mother prayed that, if he survived, she would pay for him to study at university. He attended the local school in Raudten, and when his teacher Johannes Baumann left the school to become the local pastor in 1597, Heermann's parents took him to Wohlau, where he lived and studied with Jakob Fuchs, a doctor and apothecary. At school in Wohlau, he was taught by Georg Gigas, son of Johann Gigas, composer of two popular hymns of the time. After a year he became ill yet again, and his parents brought him home. After recovering, he returned to school in Raudten. At the house of a teacher, Gregorius Fiebing, he began his first poetry at the age of seventeen.

Vox Christi

Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a setting of Jesus' words in a vocal work such as a Passion, an Oratorium or a Cantata. Conventionally, for instance in Protestant music of the Baroque era, the vox Christi is set for a bass voice.

In Protestant Germany the words of the vox Christi are in German: when the vocal work contains a sung Gospel reading, such as in Bach's Passions, the words are taken from Luther's Bible translation, but the words may also be free verse, as for instance in the Brockes Passion. In either case the composition may also contain a setting of an Evangelist's words, which are traditionally set for a tenor voice.

Apart from a difference in voice type, settings of Jesus' words in recitatives can be further differentiated from surrounding text settings by, for instance, giving them a more arioso character, or setting them accompagnato (while the Evangelist and other characters sing secco).

Passions and Oratorios of the first half of the 18th century

Jesus Christus ist um unsrer Missetat willen verwundet is a St Mark Passion which originated in Hamburg in the first decade of the 18th century. Johann Sebastian Bach's first staging of this Passion music was in Weimar c.1712. Its vox Christi bass appears in secco and accompagnato recitatives, and in an arioso on the Gospel words "Eli, eli, lama asabthani". In his Brockes Passion George Frideric Handel set Jesus' words for bass in recitatives, ariosos and arias. The Evangelist's recitatives are set for tenor.

Herzliebster Jesu

"Herzliebster Jesu" (often translated into English as "Ah, Holy Jesus", sometimes as "O Dearest Jesus") is a German hymn for Passiontide, written in 1630 by Johann Heermann, in 15 stanzas of 4 lines, first published in Devoti Musica Cordis in Breslau. As the original headline reveals, it is based on Augustine of Hippo; this means the seventh chapter of the so called "Meditationes Divi Augustini", presently ascribed to John of Fécamp. Its tune, also called "Herzliebster Jesu", was written ten years later by Johann Crüger and first appeared in Crüger's Neues vollkömmliches Gesangbuch Augsburgischer Confession.

The tune has been arranged many times, including settings by J.S. Bach: one of the Neumeister Chorales for organ, BWV 1093, two movements of the St John Passion, and the St Matthew Passion.Johannes Brahms used it for one of his Eleven Chorale Preludes for organ, Op. 122: No. 2.). Max Reger's Passion, No. 4 from Seven Pieces for Organ, Op. 145 (1915–1916) ends in this melody.

Ich will

"Ich Will" (German for I Want) is a single by Rammstein. It was originally released in Germany on September 10, 2001. Since it was released the day before the September 11, 2001 attacks, many channels did not air the music video (which was to debut on U.S. television the night of September 11, 2001). The German single contains a live cover version of The Ramones' song "Pet Sematary", sung by keyboardist Flake.

Music video

The music video of "Ich Will" features the band members staging a bank robbery, making it seem as realistic as possible. The video shows both the robbery and its aftermath, and moves between these two scenes.

The robbery: The band is shown entering a bank wearing stockings over their heads, except for Flake, who has a very large and elaborate bomb strapped to his chest. They quickly remove their masks and head for the front desk. A bank employee reaches for the panic button, but she is seen Richard, who presses her hand against the button, intentionally triggering the alarm. The woman faints, and Richard dances with her unconscious body until Ollie confirms that the Polizei and Media have arrived. The group continues to terrorize the hostages and vandalize the bank, while also fantasizing about the media storm when they exit. In another room, Till is giving a live interview to the an press, who appear to be slain in the next scene, though the broadcast continues. As the band (excluding Flake) exit the bank unarmed, they are swarmed by members of the Spezialeinsatzkommando instead of the media as anticipated. Despite this the band seems to revel in the attention they are getting, and shortly after the timer on Flake's bomb reaches zero. The video quickly flicks through a series of short clips from some of Rammstein's other music videos,(Seemann, Du hast, Du riechst so gut '95, Du riechst so gut '98, Stripped and Sonne) then comes to an end.

Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymn writer.

Biography

Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. At the age of fifteen, he entered the Fürstenschule in Grimma. The school was known for its pious atmosphere and stern discipline. The school almost closed in 1626 when the plague came to Grimma, but Paul remained and graduated from there in 1627. In January 1628 he enrolled in the University of Wittenberg. There, two teachers in particular had an influence on him: Paul Röber and Jacob Martini. Both of these men were staunch Lutherans, promoting its teachings not only in the classroom but in sermons and hymns. Röber in particular often took his sermon texts from hymns. In this way Gerhardt was taught the use of hymnody as a tool of pastoral care and instruction.

Gerhardt graduated from the University of Wittenberg around 1642. Due to the troubles of the Thirty Years War it seems he was not immediately placed as a pastor, and thus moved to Berlin where he worked as tutor in the family of an advocate named Andreas Barthold. During his time in Berlin his hymns and poems brought him to the attention of Johann Crüger the cantor and organist at the Nicolaikirche in Berlin. Crüger was impressed by Gerhardt's hymns and included many of them in his Praxis pietatis melica. The hymns proved popular, and Gerhardt and Crüger began a collaboration and friendship that continued for many years.