In putting together this podcast, I’ve been looking for arrangements of German hymnody roughly from the time of Gerhard and Gerhardt.  Eventually, I intend to record my own bump music with instrumentals of Crüger’s arrangement of Gerhardt’s hymns, but in the meantime, I’ve found this gem from the University of California–Santa Barbara’s cylinder recording archives.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the Johann Strauss Orchester’s 1911 Edison Blue-Amberol recording of Joachim Neander’s (1650-1680) hymn, Lobe den Herren.  Neander himself was a Calvinist, but I don’t think that disqualifies him from having his hymn used in a podcast initially focusing on Lutherans 😉 (And besides, it’s in The Lutheran Hymnal, so that’s that!)

A fun bit of trivia is that the Neander Valley (Neander-thal) is named for him; his grandfather apparently thought that the family name (possibly “Niemann” or “Neumann”) would sound better graicized (“νεός” new + “ἀνήρ/ἄνδρος” man).  The tune used for “Lobe den Herren” (which was published in 1680), “Stralsund,” dates to ca. 1660, and may have been known to Gerhard and Gerhardt.

Do you have any suggestions for bump music?  Feel free to write them in the comments below!