Songs of thankfulness and praise

Today is the Last Sunday after Epiphany and the Sunday before Lent.

In "old usage," this day was known as Quinquagesima Sunday. The name Quinquagesima originates from Latin quinquagesimus (fiftieth). This is in reference to the fifty days before Easter Day using inclusive counting which counts both Sundays (normal counting would count only one of these). Since the forty days of the Lent do not include Sundays, the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, succeeds Quinquagesima Sunday by only three days.

This hymn is sung in many places as the "last hymn" before Lent. It sums up all the miracles and events of the Epiphany season and looks forward to the events of Lent, ending with a mention of the Resurrection.

The fine melody, known by the name, "Salzburg" is by Jakob Hintze (1622-1702). In 1666 he became court musician to the Elector of Brandenburg at Berlin. He retired to his birthplace in 1695, and died at Berlin with the reputation of being an excellent contrapuntalist.

The harmony is by J. S. Bach (1685-1750).

The text for the first three verses is by Catherine Winkworth (1807-1885), and the last verse is F. Bland Tucker (1895-1984).

The free accompaniment in the last verse is by T. Tertius Noble (1867-1953). It is found in "Fifty Free Organ Accompaniments to Well Known Hymn Tunes," and published by J. Fischer Bros. in 1949.

I imagine that Noble intended this at a "broader tempo." At this speed, it becomes quite "virtuosic." ;-)

The melody "completely disappears" from the accompaniment at times, so, YOU WILL NEED TO SING IT to keep it going!

The score for the hymn, the Noble free accompaniment, and a photo of T. Tertius Noble are attached below.

The full text is given in the FIRST COMMENT.