Te Deum laudamus

translated as
Herr Gott, dich loben wir
Lord God, thy praise we sing
Grosser Gott, wir loben dich
Holy God, we praise Thy name
God, we praise you! God, we bless you!

with
GROSSER GOTT
STILLORGAN
HURSLEY
LUX EOI

I. Latin Origins & Authorship

This venerable hymn is sometimes associated with a remarkable legend: according to Hincmar of Reims, in his De praedestinatione (859), the hymn was produced spontaneously in alternation between St. Ambrose (c. 337–397) and St. Augustine (354–430) on the night of Augustine’s baptism (387). The evidence of authorship, however, weighs in favor of Nicetas (c. 335–414), bishop of Remesiana (modern Bela Palanka, Serbia), but some modern scholars prefer to simply regard it as anonymous, for lack of definitive evidence. The hymn can be dated confidently to the late fourth or early fifth century because it was included in the rules of early monastic orders, such as the Rule of St. Caesarius and the Rule of St. Benedict. In 1958, German scholar Ernst Kähler, in performing a detailed analysis of the text and its possible roots, believed “Te Deum in its original form belongs to the Vigil Mass of Easter Even, which concluded the rite of baptism-confirmation.”[1] For more detailed background on this hymn, its manuscripts, variants, and its possible authors, see especially James Mearns (1892), A.E. Burn (1926), Ernst Kähler (1958) and Carl Springer (1997).

One of the oldest manuscripts is a codex known as the Bangor Antiphonary, held at the Ambrosian Library of Milan (Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C 5 inf. | website), dated ca. 680–691. The Te Deum appears on folios 10r–10v (Fig. 1), where it is headed “Hymnus in die Dominica” and begins “Laudate pueri Dominum: laudate nomen Domini.”

Fig. 1. Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C 5 inf., fols. 10r-v, reproduced in The Antiphonary of Bangor, Part 1 (London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1893). — **Fig. 1.** Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C 5 inf., fols. 10r-v, reproduced in *The Antiphonary of Bangor*, Part 1 (London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1893).

The official Roman version of the text and two versions of the melody are shown below, as in the Liber Usualis (Fig. 2):

TDm Ldms

Fig. 2. The Liber Usualis, ed. Benedictines of Solesmes (NY: Desclee Co., 1961).

Te Deum laudamus,
Te Deum confitemur.
Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli,
Tibi caeli et universae Potestates:
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant:
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra majestatis gloriae tuae.
Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus:
Te prophetarum laudabilis numerus:
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia:
Patrem immensae majestatis:
Venerandum tuum verum, et unicum Filium:
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.
Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,
non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Judex crederis esse venturus.
Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni,
quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
Salvum fac populum tuum Domine,
et benedic hereditati tuae.
Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.
Per singulos dies, benedicimus te.
Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.
Dignare Domine die isto sine peccato nos custodire.
Miserere nostri Domine, miserere nostri.
Fiat misericordia tua Domine supernos,
quemadmodum speravimus in te.
In te Domine speravi: non confundar in aeternum.

You, God, we praise:
you, Lord, we acknowledge.
You, eternal Father, all earth venerates.
To you all angels,
to you all heavens and all powers:
to you cherubim and seraphim with unceasing voice proclaim:
Holy: Holy: Holy Lord God of hosts.
Full are the heavens and earth with your majesty and glory.
You, the glorious Apostolic chorus:
you, the praiseworthy corps of prophets:
you, the shining-robed army of martyrs, they praise.
You, throughout the whole world, the holy church confesses: Father of infinite majesty:
your admirable, true, and only Son:
holy also is the mediator Spirit.
You are the King of glory, Christ.
You, of the Eternal Father, are Son.
You, for our liberation, became man
and did not abhor the virgin’s womb.
You, having blunted the sting of death, you opened to the believing the kingdom of heaven.
You, at the right hand of God, sit in the glory of the Father. Judge, you are believed to be, to come.
To you, therefore, we plead, come to the aid of your servants, whom you have redeemed by your precious blood.
Eternally number them with your saints in glory.
Save your people, Lord,
and bless your inheritance.
And rule them, and commend them continually into eternity.
Through every day we bless you.
And praise your name into eternity, and into ages of ages. Grant, Lord, this day to keep us without sin.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us.
Let your mercy, Lord, be over us, just as we have trusted in you.
In you, Lord, I have trusted: may I not be confounded through eternity.

II. Textual Analysis

In its Latin form, the Te Deum does not qualify as a hymn by traditional rubrics, because it does not rhyme and it is not strophic. It has often been treated like a biblical canticle and used among canticles in liturgical churches. Lutheran scholar Paul Westermeyer saw the Te Deum as having a three-fold structure.

First, praise to God everlasting includes a “Holy, holy, holy” Sanctus-like section in which apostles, prophets, martyrs, and the whole church praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then a christocentric section points to Christ, the King of Glory, and tells the whole story of Christ: born of a virgin, conquers death, opens the kingdom of heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, will come to be our judge. It concludes with a prayer to Christ to help us, “whom you have redeemed with your blood.” The third section was not originally part of the Te Deum and is sometimes omitted. It is a series of versicles from the Psalms: bless us, save us, keep us without sin.[2]

Having been written around the same time as the Nicene creed, it has a creedal quality, especially in the second section. The song contains many allusions to other Scriptures and texts. Influences include a clear citation of Isaiah 6:3 and/or Revelation 4:8, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;” an allusion to de Mortalite by St. Cyprian (d. 258), beginning with the Apostolic chorus, and numerous excerpts from the Psalms, including 24:7–10, 110:1, 28:9, 115:2, 123:3, 33:22, and 31:2, in that order.[3]

III. Translation: Book of Common Prayer

The hymn was translated and adopted into the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549 (Fig. 3), to be used daily at Matins (except during Lent), thus making its presence known to English worshipers since the dawn of English liturgy. The Lent restriction was removed in 1552.

Fig. 3. The Booke of the Common Prayer (London, 1549).

IV. Translation: Martin Luther

The Te Deum was also adopted into Lutheran worship, as paraphrased by Martin Luther (1483–1546), “Herr Gott, dich loben wir.” This was probably included in Joseph Klug’s Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert (Wittenberg, 1529), now lost; from there, it was printed in Geystlyke leder uppt nye gebetert (Rostock, 1531), then again in later editions of Klug, including this 1533 printing (Fig. 4). Luther’s version is not a hymn, but an adaptation intended for antiphonal singing, perhaps a nod to the legend of Ambrose and Augustine.

TDm Ldms 2

Fig. 4. Joseph Klug, Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert (Wittenberg, 1533).

Luther’s version was translated into English by Richard Massie (1800–1887), in Martin Luther’s Spiritual Songs (London: Hatchard & Son, 1854 | Fig. 5), as “Lord God, Thy praise we sing.” For a musical setting of Massie’s translation, in the style of Luther’s antiphonal design, see Leonard Bacon & Nathan H. Allen, The Hymns of Martin Luther (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883), pp. 55–59 (PDF).

Fig. 5. Richard Massie, Martin Luther’s Spiritual Songs (London: Hatchard & Son, 1854).

V. Translation: “Grosser Gott, wir loben dich” & Clarence Walworth

The most prominent hymnic version of the Te Deum in common usage comes by way of an anonymous German translation, “Grosser Gott, wir loben dich,” the text of which was first printed in Die Christlich-katholische Lehre in Liedern (Sagan, 1768 | Fig. 6), in twelve stanzas of six lines. The preface to that collection credited the authorship of the hymns to Ignaz Franz (1719–1790), therefore the text, at least, can be reasonably attributed to Franz. Some scholars have noted how this text also appeared in Franz’s Allgemeines und vollständiges Catholisches Gesangbuch (Bresslau: Johann Friedrich Korn, 1778), except that version began “Herr und Gott, wir loben dich.” The hymn in the original 1768 printing was labeled “Melody No. 31 or 32,” but the only known copy at the University of Augsburg does not contain any melodies. An earlier edition from 1766 (here) only contained 23 melodies, so the intended musical setting for this first printing is unknown.

Fig. 6. Die Christlich-katholische Lehre in Liedern (Sagan, 1768).

Another important early printing of the text was in Katholisches Gesangbuch (Wien, 1774), also in twelve stanzas of six lines (Fig. 7), with some textual differences from the 1768 version. For many years and in many commentaries, this was regarded as the earliest source of the text, and it still is known as the earliest source of the melody GROSSER GOTT (more on the tune below, Fig. 11).

Fig. 7. Katholisches Gesangbuch (Wien, 1774). — **Fig. 7.** *Katholisches Gesangbuch* (Wien, 1774).

That same year, the text also appeared in Katholisches Gesangbuch, zum Gebrauche bey dem öffentlichen Gottesdienste, und bey der Hausandacht (Sagan: Johann Christoph Lauhen, 1774), likewise in 12 stanzas of 6 lines, this time assigned to an unknown Melodie No. 30.

**Fig. 8.** *Katholisches Gesangbuch* (Sagan: Johann Christoph Lauhen, 1774).

English Translation

This German rendition of the Te Deum entered English hymnody through a translation by Clarence Walworth (1820–1900), who was a member of the Catholic Redemptorist missionary society. He was trained in Belgium (1845–1848), ordained in Holland (1848), and served in England (1849–1851) before returning to his native United States, where he served St. Mary’s Church in Albany, NY for many years. “Holy God, we praise thy name” was first published in The Mission Book: A Manual of Instructions and Prayers (New York : M.T. Cozans, 1853 | Fig. 9) in seven stanzas of six lines. His paraphrase of the Te Deum is not a direct translation of the German, it is a new translation of the Latin following the metrical pattern of the German.

Fig. 9. The Mission Book: A Manual of Instructions and Prayers (New York : M.T. Cozans, 1853).

Walworth’s text was first published with music in The Catholic Psalmist (Dublin, 1858), where it was set to the related German tune (see Fig. 15). The hymn later appeared in Walworth’s own collection, Andiatorocté (NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1888 | Fig. 10), with very minor revisions, including a slight change in stanza three, “And from morn to set of sun,” and the inconsequential shift from “Doom’s-day” to “Doomsday.”

Fig. 10. Clarence A. Walworth, Andiatorocté (NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1888).

VI. Translation 4: Christopher Idle

Among the more recent translations is “God, we praise you! God, we bless you!” by Christopher Idle, written in August 1978 while he was recovering from a surgery, staying at a home on the Wirral peninsula near Liverpool, England. Idle’s hymn was first published in Hymns for Today’s Church (1982). A fuller story behind the hymn can be found in Idle’s Light Upon the River (London: St. Matthias Press, 1998), p. 216.

VII. Tune: LUX EOI

Christopher Idle’s preferred tune for his paraphrase is LUX EOI, by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), from Church Hymns and Tunes (1874 | Fig 11). In that collection it appeared twice, with “Hark, a thrilling voice is sounding” by Edward Caswall (1814–1878) and “All is bright and cheerful round us” by John Mason Neale (1818–1866). It is frequently paired with “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hearts to heaven and voices raise” by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885).

Fig. 10. Arthur Sullivan, Church Hymns and Tunes (1874), no. 67. — **Fig. 11.** Arthur Sullivan, *Church Hymns and Tunes* (1874), no. 67.

VIII. Tune: GROSSER GOTT

The German tune for “Grosser Gott, wir loben dich” was first published in Katholisches Gesangbuch (Wien, 1774 | Fig. 12), labeled “Melodie No. XLII.” The first musical phrase repeats, giving it a structure of AAB (bar form).

Fig. 11. Katholisches Gesangbuch (Wien, 1774). — **Fig. 12.** *Katholisches Gesangbuch* (Wien, 1774).

Over the next several decades, the melody was reprinted and altered in various ways, as documented by Wilhelm Baümker in Das katholische deutsche Kirchenlied, vol. 3 (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1891), pp. 285–287, and by Johannes Zahn, in Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, vol. 2 (Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann, 1890), p. 418, no. 3495. Zahn gave the normative version of the tune from Allgemeines Choral-Buch für Kirchen (Leipzig, 1819), while Baümker pointed to Heinrich Bone’s Melodieen zu dem katholischen Gesangbuche Cantate (1852). Given how the tune entered English hymnody before 1852 in forms resembling (but shortened) from the melody recognized as GROSSER GOTT, the 1819 source is better understood to be the springboard for the received shape.

The tune entered American collections via the 9th edition of Lowell Mason’s Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music (Boston, 1830 | Fig. 13), where it was dubbed FRAMINGHAM. In this version, the repeat of the opening phrase was eliminated, reducing it to an AB structure, and pickup notes were added to accommodate an iambic long-meter text. The melody is in the tenor part (third line). The tune was paired with “Come hither, all ye weary souls” by Isaac Watts (1674–1748).

Fig. 12. Lowell Mason, Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music, 9th ed. (Boston, 1830). Melody in the tenor part. — **Fig. 13.** Lowell Mason, *Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music,* 9th ed. (Boston, 1830). Melody in the tenor part.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the tune entered English and Irish hymnody through David Weyman’s Sequel to Melodia Sacra (ca. 1844), vol. 2, where it was named STILLORGAN (PDF / also Fig. 14) and set to “Jesus, and shall it ever be,” by Joseph Grigg (1720–1768). This version of the tune, like Mason’s, represents a partial AB structure, but it has a repeated final line, making it a phrase longer. To accommodate the long-meter text, Weyman started each phrase with triple notes rather than the pickups employed by Lowell Mason.

Fig. 14. David Weyman, John Smith & R.W. Beaty, One Hundred Fifty Hymns from the Sequel to Weyman’s Melodia Sacra, Arranged for One, Two, Three, or Four Voices (Dublin: Marcus Moses, n.d. [1840s]).

This tune was subsequently printed in The Metrical Psalter (London: Novello, 1855) edited by William Irons and Henry Lahee, set to John Keble’s hymn “Sun of my soul! Thou Saviour dear,” similar to Weyman’s version, but without the elongated ending. The relevant image is shown in that article as Figure 2. From there, the tune was adopted into the first edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861), where it was named HURSLEY after the parish where John Keble was vicar. It was also adopted into the Irish Church Hymnal (1864) and its successors.

The full version of the tune, GROSSER GOTT, in its original AAB structure, was printed with Walworth’s text in The Catholic Psalmist (Dublin: James Duffy, 1858 | Fig. 15), edited by C.B. Lyons, and it has enjoyed a long relationship—as it should—with the English version of its German root text.

Fig. 14. C.B. Lyons, The Catholic Psalmist (Dublin: James Duffy, 1858). — **Fig. 15.** C.B. Lyons, *The Catholic Psalmist* (Dublin: James Duffy, 1858).

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
26 October 2018
rev. 22 September 2024

Footnotes:

C.E. Pocknee, “Three Latin Hymns,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 4 (April 1966), p. 63.
Paul Westermeyer, Te Deum: The Church and Music (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 49–50.
Ron Jeffers, “Te Deum,” Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire, vol. 1 (Corvallis, OR: Earthsongs, 1988), pp. 215–220.

Related Resources:

Johannes Zahn, Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, vol. 2 (Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann, 1890), no. 3495: Archive.org

Wilhelm Baümker, Das katholische deutsche Kirchenlied, vol. 3 (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1891), pp. 285–287: HathiTrust

James Mearns, “Te Deum laudamus,” ed. John Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (London: J. Murray 1892), pp. 1119–1134: Google Books

F.E. Warren, The Antiphonary of Bangor, vol. 4 (Pt. 1) & vol. 10 (Pt. 2) (London: Harrison & Sons, 1893–1895).

A.E. Burn, The Hymn Te Deum and Its Author (London: Faith Press, 1926): WorldCat

The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd Rev. Ed. (NY: Church Pension Fund, 1956), pp. 121–123, 179–180.

Ernst Kähler, Studien zum Te Deum und zur Geschichte des 24 Psalms in der Alten Kirche (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1958).

Maurice Frost, “Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear,” Historical Companion to Hymns Ancient & Modern (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1962), p. 140, no. 24.

C.E. Pocknee, “Three Latin Hymns,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 4 (April 1966), pp. 61–63.

Markus Jenny, Luthers Geistliche Lieder und Kirchengesänge (Cologne: Böhlau, 1985), pp. 107-109, 276–284.

Ron Jeffers, “Te Deum,” Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire, vol. 1 (Corvallis, OR: Earthsongs, 1988), pp. 215–220.

Fred L. Precht, “Holy God, we praise your name,” Lutheran Worship Hymnal Companion (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992), pp. 187–188.

Raymond Glover & Carl Schalk, “Holy God, we praise thy name,” Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3A (NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1994), no. 366.

Carl P.E. Springer, “Nicetas and the authorship of the Te Deum,” Studia Patristica, vol. 30 (1997), pp. 325–331.

M. Huglo, “Te Deum,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., vol. 13 (2003), pp. 771–773.

“Te Deum: Two Versions,” Companion to Church Hymnal, ed. Edward Darling & Donald Davidson (Dublin: Columba Press, 2005), pp. 903–907.

Carl P. Daw, Jr. “Holy God, we praise your name,” Glory to God: A Companion (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2016), pp. 5–6.

Carl P.E. Springer, “You are God, we praise You,” Lutheran Service Book Companion, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 1515–1518.

Randy K. Asburry & Joseph Herl, “Holy God, we praise Thy name,” Lutheran Service Book Companion, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 1518–1523.