User:Gerda Arendt/Ein feste Burg
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"Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" is a German hymn written by the Reformer Martin Luther, probably before 1529. The melody is also attributed to him. The song became of great symbolic value for Lutheranism. A paraphrase of Psalm 46, it is included in many Protestant hymnals, including the current Protestant German hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG 362), also in translations such as "A mighty fortress is our God".
"Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" | |
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Hymn by Martin Luther | |
Text | by Martin Luther |
Language | German |
Based on | Psalm 46 |
Published | 1529 (1529)? |
It was also used as a battle song for other movements, such as the peasants' wars, national movements of the 19th century and in World War I. Composers have written instrumental and vocal settings for church use, but also quoted it in other context, such as Mendelssohn in his Reformation Symphony, Meyerbeer in a dramatic function in his opera Les Huguenots, and Reger as the climax of Der 100. Psalm, when it is played by brass as a cantus firmus in the final double fugue.