RATISBON
RATISBON was first published in Johann Freylinghausen’s Geistreiches Gesangbuch (1704) as an adaptation of ajoachim Neander (PHH 244) tune. A subsequent adaptation appeared in Johann G. Werner’s Choralbuch (1815) with the text ‘Jesu, meines Lebens Leben.” There it appeared as an 87 87 88 77 tune with the third and fourth lines a repeat of the first two. In the 1861 Hymns Ancient and Modern the repeat was omitted and the tune further altered to its present predictable shape. A number of earlier tunes are similar to and also may have influenced the development of RATISBON; among them is JESUS, MEINE SUVERSICHT (399). The tune name probably derives from the ancient German city Ratisbon, now known as Regensburg. Sing with two beats to the bar and savor the harmony. Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (b. Gandersheim, Brunswick, Germany, 1670; d. Halle, Germany, 1739) attended the University ofJena in 1689 and came under the influence of August Francke and the Pietist movement. He followed Francke to Halle in 1692, became his live-in and unpaid assistant, and married his daughter in 1715. After Francke’s death in 1727, Freylinghausen became pastor of St. Ulrich’s Church and headed the school and orphanage that Francke had established. An effective Pietist preacher and hymnal publisher, Freylinghausen wrote about forty hymn texts and twenty-two hymn tunes. Besides Geistreiches Gesangbuch, he compiled another significant Lutheran hymnal, Neues geistreiches Gesangbuch (1714). Both volum [Liturgical Use] Thanksgiving to God for answered prayer; expressions of how Christian gratitude should result in godly living—trust in God and obedience to his will. Stanza 1 can be a choral call to worship; stanza 3 is appropriate in the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper. In a communion service, the entire psalm could be framed by the refrain of 301, “Taste and see that God is good.”
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Invocation of Christ's illuminating presence → Personal petition for inner light → Transformation through divine radiance → Progressive sanctification to Christlikeness