Editon of Martin Opitz's Epistle Hymns

In 1628, the poet Martin Opitz (1597–1639) published a cycle of poetic renditions of the Sunday and festival epistles, setting them to melodies he selected from the »Genevan Psalter« for singing. These pericope hymns, which can be seen as a supplement to existing collections of gospel hymns, gained some recognition. As was common at the time, they were reprinted multiple times without authorization, but Opitz also included them in the 1638 edition of his Geistlichen Poemata.

The idea for this editorial project emerged in connection with the Francke Foundations' project »Johann Crüger: PRAXIS PIETATIS MELICA – Edition und Dokumentation der Werkgeschichte« (PPMEDW). Starting in 1664, the epistle hymns appeared in new musical arrangements by the Berlin city musician Jacob Hintze (1622–1702), first as an appendix, then as part of the hymnal, and in 1690 even in four-part settings. After Crüger's death, Hintze took responsibility for the PRAXIS PIETATIS MELICA. As early as 1661, Hintze had published the epistle hymns in his own compositions, which he revised for inclusion in the hymnal—a decision apparently still supported by Crüger. All Berlin editions of the PRAXIS PIETATIS MELICA from 1664 to 1703, the year after Hintze's death, contain this cycle, but it does not appear in later editions.

The final volume of the Halle PRAXIS PIETATIS MELICA project will include the four-part settings from 1690, which Hintze presented in the »EDITIO XXIV« that year. Additionally, this last project volume will contain descriptions of all editions of the famous hymnal.

The editions of the epistle hymns since 1628 were all highly problematic, with errors ranging from minor oversights to severe, meaning-distorting mistakes. Hintze responded with repeated textual revisions, which, however, are not documented in the final volume of the PRAXIS PIETATIS MELICA project due to its specific focus. While these revisions brought improvements, they also introduced new errors and reflect linguistic developments over time.

Until now, there has been no reliable edition of the epistle hymns that accounts for these complexities. This project addresses that gap by presenting the relevant texts from the Luther Bible in a synoptic arrangement alongside the hymns. It also includes the respective melodies from the »Genevan Psalter« which Opitz assumed to be familiar to his audience. The critical text edition was prepared by Prof. Dr. Irmgard Scheitler (Eichstätt/Würzburg) and Dr. Hans-Otto Korth (Kassel/Halle (Saale)) on behalf of the Francke Foundations.