Die Lieder des Evangelischen Gesangbuchs, Band 1: Kirchenjahr und Gottesdienst (EG 1-269). Kommentar zu Entstehung, Text und Musik.

Peters, Mark A.

Die Lieder des Evangelischen Gesangbuchs, Band 1: Kirchenjahr und Gottesclienst (EG 1-269). Kommentar zu Entstehung, Text und Musik. By Karl Christian Thust. Kassel: Barenreiter, 2012. [484 p. ISBN 9783761822456. [euro]39.95.] Appendix, glossary, bibliography.

Karl Christian Thust brings a wealth of experience as a pastor, church musician, and scholar to bear in this commenutty on hymns of the Evangelisches Gesangbuch (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1995), the principal hymnal used by the Lutheran Church in Germany. Designed as a companion volume for the Evangetisches Gesangbuch, Die Lieder des. Evangelischen .Gesangbuchs closely follows both the structure and content of the hymnal. The commentary simply mirrors the numbering of the Evangelisches Gesangbuch, making for ease of use as a companion volume to the hymnal.

This first commentary volume covers the first half of the Evangelisches Gesangbuch, with hymns for the church year (numbers 1-154, including sections for Advent, Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Passion, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, special days, penitential clays, and the end of the church year) and service music (numbers 155-269, including sections for procession and recession, liturgical songs, word of God, baptism and confirmation, Eucharist, confession, weddings, gathering and sending, and ecumenical songs). This will be followed by a second volume addressing the remaining hymns in the Evangelisches Gesangbuch, comprised of biblical songs (numbers 270-315) and other hymns tinder the title "Faith--Love--Hope" (numbers 316-535).

Die Lieder des Evangelischen Gesanginschs serves well its stated principal audience of pastors, church musicians, and interested laypersons who are living with the hymns of the Evangelisches Gesangbuch week by week. Thust treats each hymn in detail, explaining the hymn's history, reception, and uses in the liturgy, while providing insightful analyses of poetry, music, and theological content.. The volume fulfills well its stated purpose to provide a better understanding and deeper appreciation of the hymns of the church:

 Um sie besser verstehen und wertschatzen
 zu kormen, bedarf es des-halb theologischer
 Hintergrundinfor-mationen und hilfreicher
 Hinweise auf die Zeitumstiinde der Entstehung,
 auf Sprache und Melodie, auch wegen des oft
 problematischen Gebrauchs be-kannter
 Kirchenlieder eines gescharften kritischen
 Blickes. (p. 7)

Other than a brief foreword, a glossary, and a short bibliography, the bulk of the volume consists of commentary on each hymn individually. Thust's analyses of both text and music are detailed and insightful, based on his vast knowledge of hymnody and on extensive research. Thust employs similar categories of study throughout the volume, though not all categories are addressed for every hymn and he treats the order of the categories flexibly so that the flow of commentary for each hymn is clear. As expected, some hymns are treated in more detail than others, based, for example, on the length of hymn or the extent of historical detail available about it.

Thust employs the following categories in his commentary:

* Entstehung: This section briefly provides the basic details of the hymn's origin

* Inhalt: Often one of the longest sections of the commentary, Thust here provides an overview of the theological content of the hymn, followed by a stanza-by-stanza discussion of key words and phrases and of relationships to Bible verses or theological concepts.

* Sprache: In this section, Thust focuses on poetic analysis of the hymn, including treatment of structure, meter, rhyme scheme, etcetera.

* Melodic Thust provides here a descriptive analysis of salient melodic features, including overall character, key/mode, ambitus, points of climax, and relationship to other melodies, if any.

* Rezeption: This section provides an introduction to compositional settings of the hymn, as well as to the hymn's publication in other hymnals. The goal is to point the reader to key moments in the hymn's reception, not to provide a comprehensive history of compositional settings or publication.

* Verwendung: Thust offers suggestions for liturgical use, although this section is often either quite brief or left out altogether.

Thust's goal in Die Lieder des Evangelischen Gelangintchs is clearly to discuss each hymn on its own, as he provides only a brief introduction to the volume before proceeding to his treatment of individual hymns. While such an approach makes sense for those interested in studying particular hymns, the volume provides no sense of broader scope or of relationships among hymns in a section. The second commentary volume could benefit from more of a framing context by providing, for example, even a brief introduction to each section of hymns and a broader perspective on the hymns included in that section (e.g., trends in the treatment of content, in chronology, or in liturgical purpose). Such an introduction could orient the reader more clearly to which hymns are included and could be especially helpful to pastors and musicians planning music for a liturgical season.

While Thust's analyses are well-suited and beneficial for those using the volume in conjunction with liturgical practice, it is not particularly designed for scholarly use. The background information on each hymn is generally brief and could easily be found in other sources. Students of hymnology, however, could certainly benefit from using Thust's analyses as models, interacting with his ideas, and learning from his obviously vast knowledge of hymnody. Nonetheless, the volume does not easily facilitate scholarly research. This is not a criticism of Die Lieder des Evangelischen Gesanginichs, but rather a recognition of its principal purpose and audience.

Thust does, however, include a short bibliography that will prove valuable to those interested in studying the hymns of the Evangelisches Gesanginich further. The bibliography is in three parts:

1. Introductory literature, those books most relevant to further study of' the hymns of the Evangelisches Gesangbuth.

2. A list of journals that often include articles about hymnody.

3. Literature addressing particular hymns in the Evangelisches Gesangbuch.

Scholars will also want to consult Thust's much more extensive Bibliografie Lieder die Lieder des Evangelischen Gesangbuchs (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006), with its nearly 25,000 entries.

While not designed for scholarly use per se, Die Lieder des Evangelischen Gesangfruchs is a valuable addition to the literature on the hymns of the Evangelisches Gesangbuch. Each hymn analysis is insightful and easy to follow; Thust meets well the challenge of offering valuable insights into the hymns without overwhelming the reader with a flood of information. Furthermore, the flexibility of format within each hymn analysis contributes to ease of use and understanding for the reader. Thust will no doubt provide the same level of expertise and insight in his next commentary volume treating the remaining hymns of the Evangelisches Gesarigfruch.

MARK A. PETERS

Trinity Christian College