Passed Time - A New Year's Song

A New Year's Song

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Photo Courtesy of Earnest Archives and Library

Schopflin New Year Liedw

Happy New Year! We would like to extend our wishes of happiness, health, and prosperity to our readers. The folks here at Passed Time

This Lied (Song) is part of a larger broadside--a sheet of paper printed on one side only. Occasionally, only a few examples of a broadside specimen survived. As they were often printed to announce a passing event, broadsides were thrown away once the affair was complete. This New Year Song is the only known survivor of this particular edition. It is a long, narrow sheet with another lied printed below. The original sheet was larger still--at least double in size. The other half probably showed the same two lieds and the printer cut the sheets in half, or even quarters, to sell.

As for the the printer who created the broadside? At first blush, I would begin looking in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The putto (cherub) matches elements used by printers in Chambersburg beginning circa 1815, about the time this piece was printed. The press of Pennsylvania German Friedrich Wilhelm Schöpflin (1777-1825) is a likely candidate for producing the Neu Jahrs Lied. The European-born printer arrived on American shores in 1807 and moved to Chambersburg in 1813.¹ His wife Anna, continued the business after William's death in 1825 with the aid of Heinrich Ruby, a nephew who apprenticed with the Schöpflins. W ithout an imprint, this attribution is only an educated, and temporary, guess. Admittedly, more research needs to be done before anyone can make a conclusive attribution. Happy New Year! 202 Years Ago (or thereabouts), Pat

The lied is one of Dietrich Buxtehude's (c. 1637/1639-9 May 1707) compositions (BuxWV13). An English translation provided to Choral Wiki (link below) by Paul R. Marchesano reads,

The newborn little child,
the dearly beloved little Jesus
brings again a new year
to his chosen Christian flock.

Thus the angels rejoice
who like to be around and with us
and singing freely in the heavens
that God is reconciled with us.

Since God is reconciled and our friend,
what can the wicked Foe do to us?
Despite the Devil, the world, and hell's portals,
Lord Jesus, you are our refuge.

You bring us a true jubilee year.
Why should we always mourn?
Look alive!—it's time now for singing:
Lord Jesus, you turn away all suffering.

^1. Stopp, Klaus. The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans. Russell D. Earnest Associates. Volume II, page 34.

External Sources:

Choral Wiki

Das Neugebohrne Kindeleinperformed by Coro Dell'Universitá di Pisa on 15 December 2011. You Tube video, well worth a listen.

Dietrich Buxtehude

Lyrics with some differences and English translation, thereof Bach Cantatas Website