Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer | |
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Born | |
Died | 8 September 1699 | (aged 64)
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Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer (11 July 1635 – 8 September 1699) was a German jurist, poet, satirist and Protestant hymn writer. He worked as an advocate at the court of Wolfenbüttel. Johann Sebastian Bach used a stanza from his hymn "Gott fähret auf gen Himmel" to conclude his Ascension Oratorio. Another hymn, Jesu, meines Glaubens Zier, appears in the 1736 Schemelli Gesangbuch in a setting attributed to Bach.
Sacer was born in Naumburg, the son of the town's mayor.[1] He was first educated by private teachers and from 1649 at the Landesschule Pforta. From 1654 he studied at the University of Jena law and literature. In 1657 he accepted a position as Hofmeister in Berlin where he had contact to poets such as Paul Gerhardt, Georg Philipp Harsdörffer and Andreas Tscherning. Johann Rist made him a member of the literary association Elbschwanenorden[1] under the name Hierophilo.
From 1669 he worked as an advocate at the court of Wolfenbüttel, a post for which he had to complete his studies. He achieved the doctorate in September 1671 in Kiel.[1] His last post was Fürstlicher Kammerkonsulent (Ducal chamber counselor).[1] He died in Wolfenbüttel and is buried in the Marienkirche, Wolfenbüttel.
Among Sacer's publications are:
Sacer's satirical writings, namely Reime dich, oder ich fresse dich, criticism of the work of his colleagues in poetry, are still read and often quoted.
"Gott fähret auf gen Himmel" | |
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Hymn | |
English | "Lo, God to Heaven Ascendeth!" |
Other name | "Der Herr fährt auf gen Himmel" |
Occasion | Ascension |
Text | by Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer |
Language | German |
Melody | "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen" |
Published | 1714 |
Sacer's hymn for Ascension in seven stanzas, "Gott fähret auf gen Himmel" (God goes up to Heaven)[2] was published in Geistliche, liebliche Lieder (Spiritual, lovely songs) in Gotha in 1714, sung to the melody "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen".[3][4] Later versions appear under the title "Der Herr fährt auf gen Himmel", for example the "Evangelisches Gesangbuch zum kirchlichen Gebrauche" (Protestant hymnal for church usage) of 1836,[5] sometimes with six stanzas.[6] Johann Sebastian Bach used the hymn's seventh stanza, "Wenn soll es doch geschehen", to conclude his Ascension Oratorio.[7][8] Among Bach's hymn writers, Sacer was the only contemporary.[9]
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