19. All my heart this night rejoices
From the album 'Christmas Night'
Composer Johann Georg Ebeling
Conductor John Rutter
Choir The Cambridge Singers
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All my heart this night rejoices
The composer Ebeling and hymn-writer Gerhardt worked together in the 1660s as Cantor and Deacon respectively at the church of St Nicolai in Berlin. Ebeling wrote music for more than 100 of Gerhardt’s hymns, which were intended for private devotions rather than congregational use. 'All my heart this night rejoices' is a felicitous translation of one of them.
All my heart this night rejoices.
As I hear, far and near,
Sweetest angel voices;
‘Christ is born!’ their choirs are singing,
Till the air everywhere
Now with joy is ringing.
Hark, a voice from yonder manger,
Soft and sweet, doth entreat.
‘Flee from woe and danger!
Brethren, come! from all doth grieve you,
You are freed; all you need
I will surely give you.’
Come, then, let us hasten yonder!
Here let all, great and small.
Kneel in awe and wonder!
Love him who with love is yearning!
Hail the star that from far
Bright with hope is burning!
Thee, dear Lord, with heed I’ll cherish,
Live to thee, and with thee,
Dying, shall not perish;
But shall dwell with thee for ever.
Far on high, in the joy
That can alter never.
(Words: Paul Gerhardt (1607–76) Translation: Catherine Winkworth (1827–78)
Christmas Night
The theme of the album - Christmas Night - is the birth of Christ, reflected in the words and music of twenty-two carols spanning more than six centuries. Some of these carols have long been widely known and loved; others have become so thanks to the annual Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge. But all of them focus on the central event of the Christmas story – the birth at Bethlehem – and on the characters in that story: the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, and the mother with her child.
John Rutter, English composer and conductor, is associated with choral music throughout the world. His recordings with the Cambridge Singers (the professional chamber choir he set up in 1983) have reached a wide global audience, many of them featuring his own music in definitive versions. Among John’s best-known choral works are Gloria, Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, and Visions, together with many church anthems, choral songs and Christmas carols.
Contact
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