Fröhlich wollen wir Alleluia singen

Meter: 11.11. 11.11.
Source: Johann Walter, Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn, Wittenberg, 1524
Proper Text: Joyful We Begin Alleluia to Sing (Fröhlich wollen wir Alleluia singen)


Johann Agricola’s text “Joyful We Begin Alleluia to Sing (Fröhlich wollen wir Alleluia singen)” appeared in January 1524 with no tune. By the end of the year it had been included in the Wittenberg songbook, furnished with a tune by Johann Walter in a setting for four voices, with the melody in the tenor.

Fröhlich wollen wir Alleluia singen a 4,” Johann Walter, Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn, Wittenberg, 1524:

In 1586, Lucas Osiander provided a setting for four voices with the melody in the soprano.

Fröhlich wollen wir Alleluia singen a 4,” Lucas Osiander, Fünfftzig Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen, Nuremberg, 1586:

Soon thereafter, Sethus Calvisius offered another four-part setting, continuing to place the melody in the soprano.

Fröhlich wollen wir Alleluia singen a 4,” Sethus Calvisius, Harmonia Cantionum Ecclesiasticarum, Leipzig, 1597:

The tune, together with the text with which it originated, has since fallen out of use.