“The Quempas goes ’round” is the expression which has been used in Silesia for several hundred years to describe the delightful, worshipful, and truly beautiful custom of Quempas singing which dates back to the Middle Ages. At midnight on Christmas Eve, when the congregation had assembled for worship, four groups of boys proceeded to the four corners of the church to announce to the congregation from north, south, east, and west that “Heaven’s all-glorious King is born.” As soon as they had reached their places, group one began to sing the first phrase of the Quempas carol, “He whom joyous shepherds praised,” followed by the second group singing the second phrase, and so on. After the fourth phrase the mixed choir sang the first stanza of the Nunc angelorum, “The glorious angels came today.” Then the congregation joined both choirs in the singing of the refrain “God’s own Son is born a child.” In this manner all four stanzas of the Quempas were sung. This constituted the principal item of carol singing on Christmas Eve; in fact, the service was not considered complete without the singing of the Quempas.

The Name Quempas

The Quempas Carol receives its name from the first two syllables of the Latin original:

QUEM PAStores laudavere,
quibus angeli dixere; absit vobis jam timere,
natus est Rex gloriae.

The complete carol consists of three Latin texts. The second text is:

Nunc angelorum gloria
hominibus resplenduit in mundo,
quam celebris victoria
recolitur in corde laetabundo;
novi partus gaudia
virgo mater produxit,
et sol verus in tenebris illuxit.

The third text is the refrain:

Magnum nomen Domini Emanuel,
quod annuntiatum est per Gabriel.

from the carol Resonet in laudibus.

Quempas sometimes refers to the first carol only and sometimes to the complete Quempas Carol.

The History of the Quempas

No one really knows how old the Quempas is. At the time of the Reformation it appears in various hymnals and service orders (Gottesdienstordnung) as “ein uralter Brauch”—a very old custom. Some handwritten copies of the Latin text (no music) go back farther into the Middle Ages. They all stem from Bohemia. In the Hohenfurth Cloister in southern Bohemia a manuscript was discovered about the year 1450, which contained quite a few sacred folk songs. Some were in German and some were in Latin. The two Latin carols which form the Quempas appear next to each other at the very beginning of this manuscript. (The Ms. is now in the museum of the city of Prague.) The melodies of both carols in the Hohenfurth Ms. are printed out. The last line of the Nunc angelorum is set for two voices—in organum. This, no doubt, points to the division of the Quempas among various choirs. The few extant examples indicate that the Quempas was generally known in this form in Bohemia, both before and after the Reformation. The Quempas appeared in handwritten manuscripts rather than in printed books because folk carols were forbidden in the church (Catholic) in this region of Bohemia and Moravia. Precentors sang them from handwritten copies, particularly in the home.

Martin Luther makes no mention of the Quempas, although the Latin Nunc angelorum appears as a hymn among other hymns from 1543 on in various hymnals closely related to Luther. For example, it is No. LV in the Babst Gesangbuch of 1545. (Luther’s Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her is a Wechselgesang.)

Only after Luther’s death do we find the complete Quempas printed in hymnals; however, the first hymnals which contained it were edited and published by men who stood between Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism theologically.

The first of these was Georg Witzel of Vacha on the Werra. He was a Roman Catholic priest who became Lutheran and served for a time as a Lutheran pastor at Niemegk in Flaming. Later he returned to Catholicism in order to try a reformation from within. In 1550 Witzel published a book which contained the hymns for Christmas Eve from the ancient church. These he had translated into German and also had added explanations for the laity. One section was called “Jubelgesang der heiligen Weihnachten, wie sie von unsern christlichen Vorfahren fröhlich gesungen” (Songs of rejoicing for the Holy Night as they were joyfully sung by our Christian ancestors). Here appeared the first known German translations of the Quempas. The Quempas was partly in rhyme, beginning Den die Hirten lobeten sehre. The Nunc angelorum was a prose translation beginning, “Nun ist die himmlische Herrlichkeit den Menschen auf Erden erschienen.” This version could not be sung to the traditional melodies.

In 1555 Pastor Valentin Triller published Ein schlesisch Singebüchlein aus göttlicher Schrift. Here both melodies appear with Triller’s own German translations. The Quempas begins with melody only: “Preis sei Gott im höchsten Throne und auch seinem lieben Sohne.” The Nunc angelorum is set for three voices and begins, “Es ist der Engel Herrlichkeit den Menschen itz erschienen hie auf Erden.” Above the individual stanzas of the Nunc angelorum appear the beginning words (in Latin) of the appropriate stanzas of the Quempas, indicating that they are to be sung in alternation between the unison singing of the Quempas and the part singing of the Nunc angelorum. Triller’s German version was spread in the church of the Counterreformation through the efforts of the ecclesiastical administrator, Dr. Johann Leisentrit. In his Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen, Bautzen, 1567, he printed Triller’s German version with music with the heading, “Ein schön Lied für die Knaben zu singen auf vier Chor” (“A beautiful song for the boys to sing in four choirs”). This is the first time that we hear of the specific method of performance of the Quempas. (This translation of the Quempas together with the Latin appeared in Catholic hymnals until almost the 18th century.)

In 1605 in the Mainzer Cantual (R. C.) a new German translation appears—

“Geborn ist uns ein König der Ehre,
den die Hirten lobten sehre.”

The Nunc angelorum was added in Latin with the following instructions: “The two songs are to be sung in three ways. First, each one by itself. Second, four boys in four corners of the church sing the four lines of the Quempas—each boy sings one line. In this manner they sing the other stanzas. The choir may sing a German stanza in between the Latin stanzas. Third, the four boys sing the Quempas as above. Then two tenors follow with the singing of the first half of the first stanza of the Nunc angelorum, followed by two other tenors singing the second half with the entire choir joining in ‘Cuius festi hodie recolitur memoria.’ The remaining stanzas were sung in the same way. ‘Und also haben vor Zeiten die lieben Alten in der heiligen Christnacht pflegen zu singen, dasz sie des englischen Lobgesangs und der Hirtenfreud’ sich hiebei erinnerten und nach ihrem Exempel Gott den Allmächtigen für die heilsame Geburt Christi inniglich lobten.’”

The hymnal of the Bohemian-Moravian Brethren of 1566 contained only the melodies of the Quempas and the Nunc angelorum, but used other Christmas carol texts with them.

In the meantime, however, Cantor Nikolaus Herman (“Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzugleich”), born c. 1480 in Altdorf near Nürnberg and died in 1561, printed a broadside (ein fliegendes Blatt) in St. Joachimsthal, Bohemia (where he was serving as teacher and cantor), containing “Heut’ sein die lieben Engelein” (the Nunc), which has since been the “official” German version. In 1560 he included it in his book Sonntagsevangelia. Herman’s version has certain problems. He refers to Engelein, which are not mentioned in Scripture. They exist only in paintings and sculpture. Nunc angelorum gloria was not translated accurately by Herman either. A Catholic translation of 1608 reads “Heut’ ist der Engel Glorienschein den Menschen all in dieser Welt erschienen.” This is closer to the Latin word gloria, which connects with “natus est Rex gloriae” of the Quempas, and belongs to the living presentation (announcement) experienced by the shepherds in the fields—“and the glory of the Lord shone round about them.” In Herman’s translation we miss the tremendous manifestation of the glory of God and the angel chorus. This is not helped by the use of “Engelein.” (Here the English translation by H. Bouman is much better.)

At the end of the 16th century we find definite and specific indications of the Quempas and the customs connected with it. Matthäus Lüdtke (Ludecus), the Lutheran canon at the Cathedral of Havelberg, had a missal printed in Wittenberg in 1589 which contained the order of services for the Lutheran Dom. Here we see in print for the first time the German text of the Quempas, which the congregation had been singing for a long time.

According to Lüdtke’s description the Christmette began at 4 A. M. Choir and organ intoned “Hört zu und seid getrost nu” (possibly in the setting by Leonhart Schroeter from his Neue Weihnachtsliedlein, 1507.) This was followed by an artistic rendering of “Vom Himmel hoch” alternatim by choir and congregation. Then the deacon intoned the “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” Choir and organ responded with “Resonet in laudibus,” in which the “Eia” was always sung by two boys. Then the choir sang “In dulci jubilo,” and an organ motet followed by the Quempas in Latin and German (four boys in four corners, etc.). The choir responded with the Nunc angelorum. Then the deacon intoned, “Ein Kind ist uns geboren. Hallelujah!” and the choir answered, “Ein Sohn ist uns gegeben. Hallelujah!” followed by the Collect for Christmas Eve in German. Then follows Epistle, Isaiah 9, and organ and choir responding with “Omnis mundus jocundetur” (“Alle Welt springe und lobsinge”). Gospel—John 1 (Luke 2 was the Gospel for the chief service). After the Creed the choir sang a responsorial version of John 1, followed by the sermon. This way of singing the Quempas became the standard order for Germany (Lutheran).

Soon after, various part settings appeared. The most famous of these is the one by Michael Praetorius (1571–1621). Praetorius not only made various settings for mixed voices, equal voices, etc., he also arranged similar antiphonal songs for all the festivals of the church year for boys’ voices, choir, and instruments. They appear in his Puercinium. (Easter—“Ubi Rex est gloriarum?”—“Wo ist doch der König der Ehren?”) Praetorius also made it a point to spread the Quempas in his homeland, Thuringia.

In the introduction to his setting of the Quempas, Praetorius quotes from the Mainzer Cantual of 1605: “This is very old. It originated in the ancient church. (With this carol the people) reminded themselves of the angels’ hymn of praise and the joy of the shepherds. Following their example, they praised the almighty God intimately for the gracious birth of Christ.”

Praetorius also suggested three methods of singing the Quempas and the Nunc angelorum. The first method (the one he preferred) follows:

Four choirs of boys (or four boy soloists) are to take their stations in the four corners of the church during the service on Christmas Eve. The first choir sings the first line: Quem pastores laudavere; the second choir sings: Quibus angeli dixere; the third: Absit vobis jam timere; and the fourth: Natus est Rex gloriae. Then the first stanza is repeated in the same way by the four groups in the vernacular. To this the mixed choir, instruments, and organ respond with the first stanza of the Nunc angelorum, immediately repeated in the vernacular. Stanzas two, three, and four of both carols are sung in the same manner. After each of the stanzas sung by the mixed choir the congregation may sing a stanza of In dulci jubilo.

In the 17th century, when the court chapels were developing artistic singing, attempts were made to “improve” the poetic quality of the Quempas. Some of the emphasis was on equalizing the number of syllables in each line and improving the rhyme. The best of these was Paul Gerhardt’s (1607–1676) hymn Kommt und lasst uns Christum ehren (“Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising,” TLH, 90). This has eight stanzas corresponding to the four original Latin stanzas of the Quempas and the four German stanzas. Gerhardt’s version was taken up rapidly by almost all hymnals. Johann Georg Ebeling published it in 1667 as “Weihnachtsgesang nach der Melodie Quem pastores.”

The original Quempas continued to appear in the various Gesangbuecher of the 17th century. It was included, for example, in Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen’s Geistreiches Gesangbuch of 1704, however, with the Latin text. (This was the most important of the early Pietistic hymnals.) The general approach of the Pietists was that since Latin was not understood by the people, it was therefore harmful. In spite of this the Freylinghausen hymnal does contain both Latin and German for Puer natus in Bethlehem and several other Latin hymns. The melodies for the Quempas were printed out in the Freylinghausen Gesangbuch —the Quempas with melody only and the Nunc angelorum with melody and a figured bass. By including the Quempas the Freylinghausen Gesangbuch showed itself to be conservative.

The Quempas, however, did not fare well under the Pietists. What follows must be understood in the light of the celebration of Holy Night at this time. It must be remembered that Christmas was considered the beginning of the New Year. The celebration of Christmas at this time was quite degenerate, akin to an annual fair. However, instead of correcting the abuses, the Pietists abolished the entire service and naturally the Quempas customs also. The first was the pietistic reformer Graf Christian Ernst von Wernigerode, who forbade the celebration of the Christmette in 1732. The antipietistic consistory of Hannover followed with a decree abolishing the Christmette on Dec. 17, 1734. (See note in Graebner’s The Borderland regarding a Christmas service at Paul Gerhardt’s church in Berlin.)

Brandenburg followed next. In 1739 Frederick William I of Prussia issued an order to the church superintendents to have all church doors locked on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. He also forbade any kind of church services on Holy Night, and abolished the singing of the Quempas.

Later similar prohibitions were issued in Sachsen-Gotha, Sachsen-Weimar, and at the beginning of the 19th century in the kingdom of Saxony. However, in smaller communities in remote places the Quempas singing continued unabated.

In Brandenburg they had gone too far. Shortly after Frederick the Great came to power, he abolished the decrees of Frederick William I regarding Christmas Eve services and Quempas singing. Here and there in Thuringia the Quempas was even officially adopted, as is shown by the fact that it was included in the Reuszische Agende of the year 1766 with both Latin and German texts and the suggestion of Matthäus Lüdtke of introducing it with a dramatic presentation of “Vom Himmel hoch.”

Although Pietism did not wipe out the custom of Quempas singing, it did bring with it the use of the Quempas melody for countless other hymns, whereas before it had been used only for the Quempas.

Zinzendorf and the Bohemian Brethren

Zinzendorf himself wrote ten hymns for the Quempas melody, and other poets of the Brüdergemeinde wrote four others. Only one of Zinzendorf’s ten songs had a connection with Christmas—a “Kinderlied auf seine Tochter Benigna an ihrem zweiten Geburtstage, 28. Dez. 1727.”

Jesu Christ, man hat gelesen,
dasz Du auch ein Kind gewesen. . . .
Heut ist’s Fest unschuld’ger Kindlein,
gestern sah man Dich in Windlein;
Jesu, binde in dies Bündlein
der Benigna Seele ein!

The best-known poem of Zinzendorf (“Jubilus Bernhardi”) is the one from 1730:

Jesu! Deiner zu gedenken
Kann dem Herzen Freude schenken,
Aber mit was Himmelstränken
Labt uns Deine Gegenwart!

Among the four songs by followers of Zinzendorf which used the melody of the Quempas was one other Christmas song, Johann Baptist Albertini’s “O du wunderholder Knabe.” Of the 14 Moravian Brethren songs to the Quempas melody plus Paul Gerhardt’s “Kommt und lasst uns Christum ehren” as No. 14 and Gerhard Stip’s morning hymn “Früh am Morgen Jesus gehet” from the year 1851, there were still ten in the hymnal of the Bohemian Brethren in 1939 (in Germany) which use the Quempas melody. Many musicians wrote other melodies for Gerhardt’s “Kommt und lasst uns Christum ehren” and individual songs of the Herrnhuter, but none of the melodies replaced the Quempas melody.

What is the significance of this, that the Herrnhuter took over the melody of the Quempas for so many hymns? Wilhelm Thomas believes this happened because the Quempas originally came from the same territory as the Brethren. But they did not possess the good sense to reserve the melody for the once-a-year Quempas singing.

The Age of Rationalism

The Age of Rationalism, which continued the radical approach to the old Lutheran hymnody which Pietism had begun, also had its misgivings about the Quempas.

Ehrenfried Liebich (a serious person interested in a real Biblical church and also the editor and chief promotor of the Hirschberger Bibel) stated, “In Schlesien wird fast durchbegangen, an den meisten Orten wird das sogenannte Quem pastores von den Schulknaben in 4 Chören dabei gesungen. Warum? Das weiss ich nicht; zur Erbauung gibt der Text wenig Gelegenheit, und die Melodie hat wohl auch nichts Reizendes.” He and others did not conclude therefore that the Quempas should be discontinued. Instead, they promoted it with zeal, as well as they understood it, wrote new texts for it, and adapted it to the taste of the times. These new texts were lovingly rehearsed and sung, and they were careful that printed copies were available for posterity.

To get an idea of the performance of the Quempas at this time and the joy and effort they brought to it, we have only to consult Sammlung christlicher Lieder für evangelische Gemeinden zur öffentlichen und stillen Erbauung, which Supt. Scherer dedicated to his congregation in Jauer in 1813 and had printed in Breslau. This collection begins with a section “Feier der Geburt Jesu,” containing two Christmas hymns by contemporaries, one by Keimann (probably “Oh, Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly”), Luther’s Gelobet sei’st du, Jesu Christ, one by Klopstock, etc. Then followed two Festliche Wechselgesänge, which are new versions of the Quempas. The first one the congregation begins “mit hoher Freude”: “Jauchzet, ihr Himmel, frohlocket, ihr englischen Chöre!” This is followed by a “feierlicher Chor” of angels singing “Jauchzet dem Herrn! Er sprach: Es werde.” Then follows a choir of shepherds “mit Erstaunen und Demut” to the tune of Quem pastores:

Hört doch, hört, ach welche Lieder!
Engel Gottes schweben nieder!
Seht doch, seht des Himmels Klarheit!
Hirten, zittert, Gott ist nah!

There are six such stanzas interspersed with an encouraging, reassuring choir of angels singing, “Fürchtet nichts, ihr guten Leute.” After the shepherds have praised the joyous news “mit süszer Wonne” (with sweet delight), the congregation closes with “Jauchzet, ihr Himmel! Frohlocket, ihr Enden der Erden.” Wilhelm Thomas comments: “Schwung kann man dieser dramatischen Dichtung nicht absprechen. Es ist ein ausgesprochenes Wechselgespräch zwischen den heiligen Personen der biblischen Geschichte entstanden, eingerahmt von dem Lobgesang der Gemeinde.”

The second Wechselgesang in Scherer’s collection is the one by Ehrenfried Liebich, which first appeared in his Geistliche Lieder und Oden, 1768. (Liebich was under the influence of Gellert.) Liebich’s version was divided between four choirs of boys also.

The Liebich version is the one that was brought to America by our forefathers. It is contained in Liederperlen and also in English translation in Hanser’s The Christmas Song Book. The Liederperlen indicates that it is to be sung by different choirs.

The Quempas in Modern Times

In 1902 George Ratcliffe Woodward and Charles Wood included both the Quempas and the Nunc angelorum in The Cowley Carol Book. The Quempas with three stanzas in Latin only is contained in The Oxford Book of Carols.

In 1930 Konrad Ameln and Wilhelm Thomas edited (for the Bärenreiter-Verlag) Das Quempas-Heft. Auslese deutscher Weihnachtslieder. During the Third Reich, when Christmas had become the “Hohe Nacht der klaren Sterne,” this Quempas-Heft was the most popular song collection in Germany. The sale of this booklet has reached the fantastic number of over 1,536,000 copies since 1930. The Quempas-Heft was printed with beautiful outline drawings for coloring by Willi Harwerth, a pupil of Rudolf Koch. This harked back to the custom of preparing individual Quempas-Hefte or booklets.

During the Advent season the Quempas boys and the other children of the church busied themselves with the preparation of their own handwritten collections of traditional Christmas hymns and carols. Each carol was neatly copied on the center of the page and surrounded with garlands of flowers. The remainder of the page was decorated with drawings or paintings of the Holy Family, the shepherds, the Wise Men, angels, stars, and Christmas and Epiphany symbols. The collections were called Quempas-Hefte after the chief carol—the Quempas. Such Quempas carol books are again being made by boys and girls during the Advent season, and many old Quempas-Hefte are preserved in the libraries and museums of Europe.

There is also a new Quempas in Germany, based on the same pattern as the original Quempas. The words are by Kurt Müller-Osten, and the setting is by Gerhard Schwarz.

Siona-Quempas

In 1877 the magazine Siona printed a form of the Quempas which has since been called the Siona-Quempas. It consists of Gerhardt’s “Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising” and “Now Sing We, Now Rejoice.” Friedrich Spitta placed it into the hymnal for Alsace-Lorraine, and in 1913 it appeared in a “Liturgical Devotion for Christmas.” It also appeared in the hymnal of Schleswig-Holstein in 1908. In 1930 it was also included in Das Quempas-Heft.

Conclusion

Someone may very well ask, “Why be so concerned about a single carol, especially since there are so many fine and beautiful carols?”

The following answers may be given:

1. Both text and music are of the highest quality. The text contains both proclamation and praise. It grows out of Scripture.
2. It admirably fulfills the twin aim of all worship and church music—to the glory of God and the edification of man.
3. It involves the adult congregation, the children, and the choir in a very special way in the praise of God for the Incarnation.
4. Because of its special form and the customs connected with it, it incites the people to worship.
5. It is old and quite universal in usage (ecumenical). In some churches in Europe it has an unbroken tradition from the 15th century to today.
6. It has popular appeal and yet fits easily and comfortably in a Lutheran liturgical service.
7. It serves as a symbol of the type of Christmas carol singing which should prevail in our churches.

St. Louis, Mo.

From The Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume VI (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1963). Copyright Concordia Publishing House. Printed by permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Concordia Publishing House.