Es kommt ein Schiff, geladen
It is a ship loaded is a adventlicher chorale which is one of the oldest German spiritual songs.
Text
1 It is a ship loaded until his ' highest board, bears the Son of God fully graces the father ewigs word. 2 The ship goes quiet in the shoots, it carries an expensive burden; the sail is love, the Holy Spirit of the mast. 3 The anchor adhesive ' on earth, there is the ship ashore. The word will be our meat, the Son is sent to us. 4 Born In Bethlehem in the barn a little child, are lost to us; blessed must be it. 5 And who this child with joy embrace, to kiss, must first suffer with Him great pain and torment much, 6 then die with him and spiritually resurrected, inherit the eternal life, is on while it happened.
For the form of the text
Because of the oldest surviving text source, before 1450 in the Strasbourg Dominican convent of St. Nicholas incurred in undis handwriting of Marie song, the lyrics of this song is often attributed to the mystic Johannes Tauler, who frequented the convent. It is " enphohet " on the allegedly characteristic for Tauler use of the word ( which receives ') referenced.
In typical medieval allegory, the pregnant woman (Virgin Mary) is compared with a loaded incoming ship in receiving biblical motifs. From Tauler's ideas can be seen on the other hand, that the ship acts as a symbol of the mind, the soul. Is set in motion by the ship sail ( = love) and mast ( = Holy Spirit).
As Tauler's writings were placed on the Index on suspicion of heresy, the song became Catholic side into oblivion.
The oldest tradition of the melody is included in Andernacher Hymns ( 1608). The song is there bilingual under the title Vns cometh a ship driven as well as the Latin De nauis Institoris to find.
In Daniel Sudermann (1550-1631) Strasbourg Hymns ( 1626 ) under the title of the song was There cometh a ship loaded published. The radikalprotestantische Sudermann took it under the heading An ancient song, so below concerning the Lord Tauleri Schrifften found, made more understandable: Thon, It wolt a hunter chase in want of heaven 's throne in his collection on. By adding the Bethlehem and stall - motifs ( v. 4) he presented an explicitly Christmassy respect her.
( FL 191; MG 245 EC 8) From 1899 ( Friedrich Spitta ) the song was re- entrance in the Protestant use. In the Catholic world, it seems supplemented by the Marie verse Mary Mother of God / blessed you need to. / Jesus is our brother / the dear little child ( GLalt 114). In introduced on 1 Advent Sunday, 2013 new Gotteslob the song instead of the heading " Advent" in the category "Christmas" was printed under number 236 without the said Marie verse and classified.
Melody
The melody has an older hymns rarely encountered rhythmic peculiarity. The first two ( Text/Melodie- ) lines are in 6/4-Takt, the last two in 4/4-time. This metric dichotomy corresponds to a tonal. The first part starts from the root d1 in Doric and turns with the end of the second line of text after f1. The second part moves first by f1, starting in the Lydian mode - which occurs here in the variant with b molle ( instead of b durum) - and finds at the end of the 4th line back to the Dorian Finalis d1.
Not looking at the melody - as above - from the perspective of the ancient canons of the church modes, but in the sense of 1547 introduced by Glareanus Dodekachordon, so you can see the Tonartenkomination / in the variant used here are Doric, Lydian as transposition levels of Aeolian / Ionian. In the later emerging and still used and major-minor system, one would speak of D minor and F major.
The metric - tonal dichotomy of the song has been widely interpreted to the effect that it reflects the content division of the first three verses in it. In the first stanza half a pictorial metaphor is presented in each case, their spiritual meaning is explained in the second half. So, for example, appears in the first half of the first stanza the image of a fully laden ship, its cargo in the second half verse as God's son a transferred meaning is assigned.