Praxis pietatis melica

Praxis pietatis melica

Title page of the 39th edition, 1721
Editor	Johann Crüger
Language	German
Genre	Hymnal
Published	1640 (1640) to 1737

Praxis pietatis melica (Practice of Piety in Song) is a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger. The hymnal, which appeared under this title from 1647 to 1737 in 45 editions, has been described as "the most successful and widely-known Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century". Crüger composed melodies to texts that were published in the hymnal and are still sung today, including "Jesu, meine Freude", "Herzliebster Jesu" and "Nun danket alle Gott". Between 1647 and 1661, Crüger first printed 90 songs by his friend Paul Gerhardt, including "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden".

The volume of hymns was intended for use in both church and private services. The explanation of the Latin title was given from the very first publication in 1647: "Das ist: Vbung der Gottseligkeit in Christlichen und Trostreichen Gesängen" (That is: practice of Godliness in Christian and comforting chants). The subtitle continued: "Herrn D. Martini Lutheri fürnemlich / und denn auch anderer vornehmer und gelehrter Leute. Ordentlich zusammen gebracht" (mostly by Martin Luther / and others of his faithful followers and confessors of pure Protestant doctrine. Collected meticulously). Subsequent text on the title page varied between editions, and could include the number of hymns in the volume—the fifth edition stated it had 500 hymns, while the penultimate 44th edition contained 1316.

Crüger was appointed Kantor at the Nikolaikirche in Berlin in 1622, a post he held until his death in 1662. In 1640, he published a collection of 240 hymn texts and melodies as Newes vollkömliches Gesangbuch (New perfect song book), which contained core songs of the Reformation, especially by Martin Luther, and 18 new melodies composed by Crüger, mostly to texts by Johann Heermann. In 1643 Crüger met Paul Gerhardt, who had taken up a position as a tutor in Berlin. Crüger wrote melodies and choral settings for many of Gerhardt's songs. In 1647, Crüger published a second volume of hymns, titled Praxis pietatis melica. Its 383 texts and 170 melodies included those published in 1640; among the new material was the first publication of 18 texts by Gerhardt. The volume's title was derived from the title of a book by Lewis Bayley, The Practice of Piety, which had been translated to German in 1631. By the fifth edition in 1653, the number of hymns had increased to 500, and 82 of these were on Gerhardt's texts. The tenth edition in 1661, the last one compiled by Crüger, had 550 hymns in all, and a total of 90 by Gerhardt.