Meter: 8.8.7. 8.8.7. 8.8. 8.8. 8.8.
Source: Bernhard Schmid, Einer neuen Tabulatur, Strassburg, 1577
Proper Text: Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart (Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr)
The composer of the tune “Herzlich lieb” remains, unfortunately, anonymous. It was written for Martin Schalling’s text “Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart (Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr).” The earliest extant source for the tune is found in Bernhard Schmid’s Einer neuen kunstlichen Tabulatur auff Orgel und Instrumenten, Vol. 2, Strassburg, 1577, No. 11, a scan of which is available here. The tune itself must predate Schmid’s organ setting, but any earlier sources are unknown to hymnologists. The following audio represents my best attempt to reproduce what Schmid’s organ setting would have sounded like:
Schmid’s organ setting was built upon and slightly modified in cantional form by Sethus Calvisius in 1597, whose setting in turn formed the basis for many others, including the virtually identical setting found in Michael Praetorius’s Musae Sioniae, Vol. 8, 1610. For the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book, we have combined elements of Schmid’s 1577 organ setting with the typical cantional form of Calvisius, Praetorius, et al. A beautifully simplified version used for the Lutheran Service Book, No. 708, is unfortunately copyrighted. If the earlier version provided here at the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book is found too difficult, users are encouraged to seek out the version in LSB.