This hymn of nine stanzas was in Schutz’s Christliches Gedenkbüchlein (Christian Commemorative Booklet), published in 1675 at Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was headed “Hymn of Thanksgiving” and was based on Deuteronomy 32:3, “Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.”

Frances Cox translated eight of the stanzas into English, and it was printed in her Hymns From the German, 1864. Ever since then it has been a treasured part of the Lutheran song tradition.

Johann Jacob Schutz was born September 7, 1640, at Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He studied law and practiced all of his life in his hometown. He was highly respected as a counselor, and for His deep sense of piety. Influenced by Philipp Spener and Johann Petersen, he left the Lutherans and became a Separatist. In 1683 he joined with others in the Frankfurt Company, which purchased land in Germantown, Pennsylvania, from William Penn. He died at Frankfurt on May 22, 1690.

Frances Elizabeth Cox was born on May 10, 1812, at Oxford, England. She wrote a few poems for magazines before she achieved fame as a translator. Barron C.C.J. Bunsen, ambassador from Germany 1841 to 1854, had compiled an important book of German hymns in 1833 and suggested that she make some of them available in English. She did so, translating and publishing 46 of them in Sacred Hymns From the German, 1841. Later she revised 27 of them and added 29 new ones in Hymns From the German, 1864. She died at Iffley, Oxford, in September 1897.MIT FREUDEN ZART (With Tender, or Fond, Joy), gets its name from the original German text associated with this tune, the translation of which is, “With high delight let us unite.” It is also known as BOHEMIAN BRETHREN, after the followers of John Huss, who fled persecution in Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) and found refuge on the estate of Count Zinzendorf (see SDAH 177) in Saxony, Germany. The hymnbooks of the brethren made free use of adopted folk songs, and this could be from such a source. It is believed that the tune originated in the Middle Ages, and many different versions have found their way into hymnbooks. It is closely related to LASST UNS ERFREUEN (see SDAH 2, 91, 228). It resembles the tune for Psalm 138 in the Genevan Psalter and is similar to a popular French song, Une pastorelle gentille,” printed about 1529. The Bohemian Brethren included it in their Kirkengesaänge (Church Hymns), 1566, and Ralph Vaughan William (see Biographies) introduced it to English congregations in the English Hymnal, 1906.