Swedish Hymns

edited by

Per Harling

Swedish

Hymns and the stories behind them

Swedish

Hymns and the stories behind them

edited by

Per Harling t r a n s l at e d b y

Rachel Stenback

Verbums redaktion och Per Harling vill rikta ett varmt tack till Maria Björnståhl, Carl-Johan Falk, Henrik och Eva Glamsjö, Anki Lindström, Rolf Larsson, Elise Nilsson, Josefina Persson och er andra som har hjälpt oss att välja psalmerna!

Stort tack också till Miriam Hindle, Graham Sharpe, Christopher Meakin och er andra som har hjälpt oss med de engelska översättningarna!

Verbum har gjort stora ansträngningar för att nå alla psalmers respektive copyrightinnehavare. Har vi i något fall misslyckats ber vi att copyrightinnehavaren tar kontakt med oss på adressen Verbum AB, Box 22543, 104 22 Stockholm Verbum has made every effort to reach the rightful copyright holder of every single hymn. If in some case we have been unsuccessful, we kindly ask the copyright holder to contact us: Verbum AB, Box 22543, S-104 22 Stockholm, Sweden Copyright text © 2016 Per Harling och Verbum AB Copyright psalmtexter, psalmöversättningar och tonsättningar © 2016 författarna, översättarna och tonsättarna (där inget annat anges) samt AB Nordiska Musikförlaget (m 39, 74, 201, 210), AF-stiftelsen Psalm och sång (t 39, 61, 71, 197, 289, 338), ALIS (t 90, 200, tö 256, 744, 766, svensk ö 200), Augsburg Fortress (ö 201), Cantando forlag, Norge (m 256), Covenant Publications, USA (ö 116), Gehrmans musikförlag (t 74, 201), Konkarongen (tm 711), Little Beat Music (tmö 791), Norsk Musikforlag, Norge (tm 21, 172, 411), Stainer & Bell, England (ö 289), Ton-Vis produktion (ö 38, 45, 90, 135, 172, 192, 197, 200, 210, 217, 297, 338, 411, tmö 709, 745, mö 510, 942), Wing Musikproduktion (m 61, 90), The World Council of Churches, Genève, Schweiz (ö 61) Omslag: Maria Mannberg, Göteborg Inlaga: RPform, Köping Notsättning: Notsättarna, Aneby Notkorrektur: Notlinjen, Stockholm Översättning: Rachel Stenback Textgranskning: Angel Johnson Foto: Magnus Aronson Repro: Resultat Grafisk Form, Stockholm Utgiven i samarbete med Kyrkokansliet och Svenska kyrkan i utlandet och med tryckbidrag från kyrkoherde Nils Henrikssons stiftelse Tryck: Drukarnia Dimograf Sp. zo.o., Polen 2016 ISBN: 978-91-526-3490-5 Verbum AB, Box 22543, 104 22 Stockholm 08-743 65 00, www.verbum.se

Contents Preface by Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden 7 Introduction 9 11. How Great Thou Art/O store Gud 11 21. Sunshine and Rain/Måne och sol 18 38. By Choosing Not to Let Your Divinity/ För att du inte tog det gudomliga 22 39. Jesus of Nazareth/Jesus från Nasaret 26 45. I Know That Jesus Died For Our Sake/Jesus för världen 30 61. Many Are the Lightbeams/Lågorna är många 34 71. Like Grains of Wheat from Acres/Som spridda sädeskornen 39 74. You, Lord, Who Chose to Share/Du som gick före oss 42 90. With Open Mind/Blott i det öppna 46 103. Prepare the Way, O Zion/Bereden väg för Herran 50 116. Now Shine a Thousand Candles Bright/ Nu tändas tusen juleljus 54 134. Star of Bethlehem/Gläns över sjö och strand 58 135. Lo, How We Walk to Jerusalem/Se, vi går upp till Jerusalem 62 146. The Saviour Is Risen/Vad ljus över griften 66 147. Praise the Saviour/Upp, min tunga 72 169. In Heav’n Above/I himmelen 76 172. They Will Walk to the City of Heaven/ De skall gå till den heliga staden 80 176. Awakened by Your Morning Sun/Din klara sol går åter opp 86 190. Thy Holy Wings, O Saviour/Bred dina vida vingar 90 192. The Nise Is Fading/Nu sjunker bullret 93 197. The Springtime Is Arriving/Den blida vår är inne 98

199. Now Comes the Time For Flowers/ Den blomstertid nu kommer 102 200. Into the Summertime We Go/I denna ljuva sommartid 106 201. The Earth Adorned/En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt 112 210. I Lift My Eyes to You, God, on High/ Jag lyfter ögat mot himmelen 114 217. God, For You All Things Are Clear/ Gud, för dig är allting klart 120 248. Children of the Heav’nly Father/Tryggare kan ingen vara 124 249. Day by Day/Blott en dag 128 256. Don’t Be Afraid/Var inte rädd 134 289. Your Love, O God, Is Broad Like Beach and Meadow/ Guds kärlek är som stranden 138 297. Fair Is Creation/Härlig är jorden 144 338. Like a Bell I Hear You Chime/Som ett klockspel hör jag dig 148 411. In God’s Care/Gud har omsorg om vårt släkte 152 510. As the Night Is Falling/Innan natten kommer 156 607. I’m Near You Now, My God/Jag är hos dig, min Gud 161 608. Come Join Us in Our Circle/Vi sätter oss i ringen 164 709. You Are Holy/Du är helig 168 711. In God I Believe, One Only/Jag tror på en Gud, en enda 172 744. Stars and Children/Barn och stjärnor 176 745. Dance with the Angels/Dansa med änglarna 180 766. Creed/Trosbekännelse 185 791. I Hope You Know That You’re Invaluable/ Du vet väl om att du är värdefull 190 942. The Beauty of the Winterland/Din skönhet, som i vintern bor 194 Index of themes 199 Hymns in alphabetical order 204

Preface … as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:19–20) These words, prefacing Den svenska psalmboken (The Swedish Hymnal) in 1986, are also appropriate as a preface for this edition of Swedish Hymns.

The Christian church began by singing, and has not stopped since.

The hymns recorded in the Gospel of Luke – Gloria in excelsis, Benedictus, Magnificat, and the Canticle of Simeon – have accompanied the Christian community throughout the centuries. As we continue to sing and pray with the biblical Psalms, we remember that they were Jesus’ own hymnal.

The hymnal heritage of our Christian tradition is huge and complex. It represents a collection of human, Christian and theological experiences gathered over centuries. Some of “our” Swedish hymns in fact stem from other churches and languages and have, over time, become cherished parts of our tradition; others were written in Swedish and have never been translated.

It is a joy that glimpses of the Swedish hymn tradition are made available in this way to an English-speaking audience. In a globalised world, Swedish Hymns will prove valuable in several situations: when welcoming refugees and international guests in our congregations; when celebrating baptisms, weddings and funerals with bilingual families; in the life and work of Church of Sweden parishes abroad; in youth gatherings; in the exchange between link parishes, and on other occasions.

Hymns are works of art that are born in the encounter between the biblical message and the experience of life. As poetry, they are condensed 7

experience, and thus in some sense universal. No wonder, then, that hymns are loved by so many! They give voice to shared experiences, desires and prayers. And they do so in a spirit of hope, nourished by the Triune God. May Swedish Hymns contribute to joy in worship wherever it is used!

Antje JackelĂŠn, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden Uppsala in the spring of 2016

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Introduction Since the Reformation in the 16th century only four official, authorized hymnals have been produced within the Lutheran Church of Sweden, all named after the year when they were published: 1695, 1819, 1937 and 1986. Every epoch in our history has given its special contribution to the ongoing process of hymn writing and singing. Apart from the hymns of our own time, in this way the 1986 hymnal has carried parts of the former hymnals into the future. For this material we have selected 43 Swedish hymns, and we are happy to present them in English together with the stories behind them—their historical, cultural, theological, and often personal context. A little more than half of them are from the 1900s, while the rest were written in the 1600s-1800s. An asterisk (*) by the name of the original author indicates that the words have been slightly adapted.

In searching for English translations, especially of the older hymns, I was surprised to find there were so many. Their existence is mainly due to the fact that so many Swedes emigrated to North America during the 1800s.

Some of them established the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in 1860. In order to preserve their heritage and spirituality in the new English-speaking country, they translated many of the hymns they knew from Sweden. Some of these hymns from the 1800s can also be found in the latest hymnal of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America), Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006).

In the 1960s and 1970s there was a “Swedish hymn explosion”, and many hymns were written, sung and tested in different versions in the long process that led to the new hymnal, published in 1986. Many of these new and beloved hymns from the 1986 hymnal with appendix (2002) have been translated for this volume.

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We present all hymns as they are numbered in the 1986 hymnal with appendix (2002). Hymn 942 is from the hymn supplement Psalmer i 2000-talet (Hymns of the 2000s), Verbum (2006).

All hymns are printed in English as well as in Swedish and can be sung simultaneously in two languages. The music for each hymn is printed with lyrics, melody, and chords, and an Index of Themes is also included in the book. The accompaniment edition is available in Swedish, published

by Verbum (Den svenska koralboken).

Some of the hymns have many verses, and through the years a traditional selection of them has been more or less established. In this book you will find the verses which are most often sung in the Church of Sweden.

And now: Sing! Faith makes the song!

Per Harling Uppsala in the spring of 2016

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How Great Thou Art/O store Gud

The story behind “How Great Thou Art” (“O Store Gud”) begins on a warm summer day in 1885. Carl Boberg (1859–1940) was pastor of Mönsterås Missionsförbundsförsamling (Mission Covenant Church in southeast Sweden). On his way home from a service in a nearby village he was surprised by a strong thunderstorm, but by the time he arrived home the bad weather had passed. A rainbow shone on the horizon, sunshine flooded over the cove once again, and blackbirds’ song resonated throughout the neighbourhood. The text took shape that evening in Boberg’s home after this experience of shifting weather, and the poem was published the next spring in the local newspaper in Mönsterås. Eventually the text was set to a melody of unknown origin. The song was sung more and more, at first in 3/4 time, but later in 4/4 time.

In 1907 a German man living in Estonia translated Carl Boberg’s text into his native language, and the song began its remarkable journey around the world. Ivan Prokhanov, “modern Russia’s Martin Luther,” as some have called him, translated the German text into Russian around 1914. The song quickly spread through Russia. Around 1927 the English missionary Stuart Hine was introduced to the song in its Russian form, and began using it in his mission work in the Ukraine. He later translated it into English. When WWII broke out Hine returned to England, where the song was frequently sung at different evangelical meetings. It gradually began to receive more attention in the USA as well, its breakthrough facilitated by well-known evangelist Billy Graham. It was sung at each and every one of the more than one hundred revival meetings at the “Crusade” the Graham organisation arranged in New York in 1957.

During this time the song had practically been forgotten in Sweden–it was not even included in the Mission Covenant Church hymnal in 1951!

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However, thanks to Einar Ekberg, a popular Swedish singer who lived in the USA but returned to Sweden each summer in the 1950s with his “American repertoire,” the hymn was once again recognised, at first in a new Swedish translation of the English text by Hine. And so Carl Boberg’s musical reflection about the greatness of God – inspired by shifting summer weather in Mönsterås in 1885 – travelled around the world for 70 years before it found its way home again. Today the song is unrivalled as Sweden’s most renowned hymn, translated into countless languages and universally loved. It was said to be one of Elvis Presley’s favourite songs, and he recorded it several times.

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2 When through the woods and forest glades I wander, I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze; Then sings my soul…

2 When through the woods and forest glades I wander, the birds singthat sweetly inhis theSon trees; 3I hear But when I think God, not sparing, when I look down from lofty mountain sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, grandeur and hear thecross brook feel the gentle breeze; that on the myand burden gladly bearing Then sings my soul… he bled and died to take away the sin; Then sings my soul…

3 But when I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, onjag thehör cross my röst burden gladly bearing 2that När åskans och stormar brusa he bled andklingor died tospringa take away sin; och blixtens framthe ur skyn, sings myfriska soul… närThen regnets kalla, skurar susa och löftets båge glänser för min syn då brister själen ut . . .

2 När jag hör åskans röst och stormar brusa och blixtens klingor springa fram ur skyn, när regnets kalla, friska skurar susa och löftets båge glänser för min syn då brister själen ut . . .

Words: Carl Boberg (1859–1940) 1885, revised 1984 Music: from Sanningsvittnet 1889 English words: Stuart K Hine (1899–1989)

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Words: Carl Boberg (1859–1940) 1885, revised 1984 Music: from Sanningsvittnet 1889 English words: Stuart K Hine (1899–1989)

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4 När jag i Bibeln skådar alla under som Herren gjort sen förste Adams tid, hur nådefull han varit alla stunder och hjälpt sitt folk ur livets synd och strid – då brister själen ut . . .

5 När tryckt av synd och skuld jag faller neder vid Herrens fot och ber om nåd och frid och han min själ på rätta vägen leder och frälsar mig från all min synd och strid – då brister själen ut . . .

6 När en gång alla tidens höljen falla, och jag får skåda det jag nu får tro, och evighetens klara klockor kalla min frälsta ande till dess sabbatsro – /: då brister själen ut i lovsångs ljud: Tack gode Gud, tack gode Gud. :/

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Sunshine and Rain/Måne och sol

Britt G. Hallqvist (1914–1997), author, translator, poet, and hymn writer, had no formal education in theology. Once during an interview she claimed, “I certainly don’t know theology!” Yet she became a central figure during the major period of change in the Church of Sweden in the late 1900s. Although she was never a member of the hymn committee that created the 1986 hymnal, she was consulted so frequently that her name ended up being listed on 88 hymns! She worked on the committee that presented its suggestions in 1968 for the official prayer book, En liten bönbok (A Little Prayer Book), which included about 30 prayers she had 18

written. That same year she was chosen for the 1968 church handbook committee, whose time-consuming work resulted in a new handbook for the Church of Sweden in 1986. Along with these official tasks for the church, she was a diligent writer of school materials, prayers, and songs for young people, as well as a well-known translator of novels and plays.

Although she claimed that she did not know theology, she influenced the Church of Sweden and the theology and faith of the people of Sweden more than almost anyone else in recent church history, especially considering her key contributions in the areas of the prayers, hymns, and liturgy of the late 1900s.

The church handbook committee tasked her with creating a new praise song, Laudamus, for family services. It became “Sunshine and Rain,” (“Måne och sol ”) which is now one of the most frequently sung hymns in Sweden, and throughout the Nordic countries. Britt G. Hallqvist describes the characteristics and presence of the Holy Trinity in a straightforward, concrete, and fresh way.

The hymn owes part of its success to Norwegian organist and composer Egil Hovland’s (1924–2013) simple accompanying melody. This was the first song Hallqvist and Hovland worked on together, and this creative collaboration continued for many years. Hovland described finding a letter from the Swedish church handbook committee when he had just returned home one day, saddened to have recently heard that a close friend had passed away. Then the following took place: I read the text in the special state I found myself in. And then something suddenly happened. I had a photo of my children’s choir on the wall, and it was as if all of the children in their choir robes left the picture and entered the room as small angels. I took out a sheet of manuscript paper and held it up. Then it was just like the children–the angels–landed on the paper and became music notes. It only took 20 seconds for the refrain to take shape, and the entire hymn was finished in three minutes.

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Singing together builds community, and the Swedish hymnal has something for almost every occasion. There are the joys of summer and of winter. There are times of sorrow and loss, and times of seeing with the eyes of a little child.

There are words for a private conversation with God, and words that unite the global family.

Some of these hymns have grown wings and flown out into the world.

Pastor, composer, and hymn writer Per Harling has compiled old and new English translations of the most beloved hymns from Den svenska psalmboken med tillägg. With Swedish Hymns, we can celebrate Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, as well as baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and funerals. All songs are presented with English and Swedish words, melody, and chords, and Per Harling tells the story behind each one of them.

Published in collaboration with Svenska kyrkan and Svenska kyrkan i utlandet. h y m n s i n c l u d e • How Great Thou Art /O store Gud

• Thy Holy Wings, O Saviour /Bred dina vida vingar • You Are Holy /Du är helig • Prepare the Way, O Zion /Bereden väg • Children of the Heavn’ly Father /Tryggare kan ingen vara

ISBN 978-91-526-3490-5

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789152 634905