Meine engen Grenzen
"Meine engen Grenzen" | |
---|---|
Christian poem and hymn | |
Eugen Eckert in 2008 | |
English | My narrow limits |
Written | 1981 (1981) |
Text | by Eugen Eckert |
Language | German |
Melody | by Winfried Heurich |
Performed | 1981 (1981) |
"Meine engen Grenzen" ("My narrow limits") is a Christian poem by Eugen Eckert, written in 1981, and made a hymn of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied with a melody and setting by Winfried Heurich the same year.[1] The song, bringing one's shortcomings and limitations before God and praying for a broader perspective, is part of the common German Protestant and Catholic hymnals, and of other songbooks.
History
The poem was written by the Protestant theologian and minister Eugen Eckert from Frankfurt, who has taken care of students, the football arena, and persons outcast by society.[2] He wrote the text when he, as minister of a home for girls in difficult circumstances, was unable to help one of the girls.[1] The topic is bringing one's shortcomings before God and praying for a broader perspective.[1]
Eckert and Heurich are regarded as prolific authors of songs of Neues Geistliches Lied (New sacred song), and "Meine engen Grenzen" as one of their most successful songs.[3] It became part of the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch, in Baden-Württemberg as EG 589,[1][4] and in Rheinland / Westfalen / Lippe as EG 600.[2][4] It also appears in the German common Catholic hymnal Gotteslob as GL 437, in the section Bitte and Klage (request and lament).[5] The song is part of many other hymnals and songbooks.[6]
Text and music
In the four stanzas of four lines each, "Herr, erbarme dich" (Lord, have mercy) is the final line in every stanza,[7] which is the German version of the liturgical Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison of the mass, a regular part of also of Protestant church services. The singer speaks in the first person, beginning each first line, and most of the second lines, with meine ("my"), and then mentioning something limiting and troubling. The second line always ends bringe ich vor dich (I bring before you). The third line always begins with the request Wandle sie in ... (transform them to ...) and then mentions one positive term. In the first stanza, narrow limits and a short sight (kurze Sicht) are hoped to be transformed to broadness (Weite), in the second stanza, powerlessness (Ohnmacht) and things paralyzing (was mich lähmt) to strength, in the third stanza, lost confidence (verlornes Zutraun) and anxiety to warmth, and finally deep longing for comfort to be transformed to a sense of home (Heimat).[8] The song is suitable as a song of penitence, specifically for the Kyrie of the mass.[6]
The text has been set to music by Winfried Heurich. The melody is in D, undecided if D minor or Doric mode. The range is from low D to high D. The melody begins in the middle, on A, repeated twice and then moving downward in even steps for the first line, in a bowing motion. For the second line, the melody rises step by step to A again, but in faster notes in irregular rhythm. The melody of the third line, carrying the prayer for transformation, is similar to the beginning but intensely from the highest note. The fourth line, the plea for mercy, is similar to the beginning in both rhythm and range, bringing the song to rest on a long D.[7][2] Lines 3 and 4 of each stanza are repeated.[7]
It was recorded in 2003 on a collection Halte deine Träume fest (hold on to your dreams), a performance by the band Habakuk of all songs from a songbook of the same name by the Dehm-Verlag.[9] In 2006, Gerhard Fleischer created a different melody and composed settings for choir, and for voice with organ or piano.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d Weißer, Thomas (8 March 2015). "Meine engen Grenzen". SWR (in German). Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Meine engen Grenzen (eg 600)". WDR (in German). 17 October 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Frank, René (2003). Das neue geistliche Lied: neue Impulse für die Kirchenmusik (in German). Tectum Verlag [de]. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-3-82-888573-8.
- ^ a b "Meine engen Grenzen". Die christliche Liederdatenbank (in German). 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ Meine engen Grenzen (L) / Leben in Gott – Bitte und Klage (in German). Diocese of Limburg. 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Meine engen Grenzen (Kyrie)". evangeliums.net (in German). 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ a b c "Meine engen Grenzen". Gotteslob (in German). Diocese of Limburg. 2013.
- ^ a b Fleischer, Gerhard (2006). "Meine engen Grenzen" (PDF). www.neue-kirchenlieder.de (in German). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "CD Halte Deine Träume fest". Dehm-Verlag (in German). 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
External links
- Gotteslobvideo (GL 437): Meine engen Grenzen on YouTube
- Meine engen Grenzen Lyrics (text) golyr.de
- HeiligGeistBand – Meine engen Grenze on YouTube
- v
- t
- e
- "Von guten Mächten" (1944)
- "Danke" (1961)
- "Herr, gib uns Mut zum Hören" (1963)
- "Stern über Bethlehem" (1964)
- "Lass uns in deinem Namen, Herr" (1965)
- "Wie als een God wil leven" (1965)
- "Solang es Menschen gibt auf Erden" (1966)
- "Ik sta voor U in leegte en gemis" (1966)
- "Herr, unser Herr, wie bist du zugegen" (1969)
- "Herr, wir bringen in Brot und Wein" (1970)
- "Das Weizenkorn muss sterben" (1971)
- "Herr, segne uns" (1971)
- "Kommt herbei, singt dem Herrn" (1971)
- "Nahe wollt der Herr uns sein" (1971)
- "Segne dieses Kind" (1971)
- "Seht, der Stein ist weggerückt" (1971)
- "Das eine Brot wächst auf vielen Halmen" (1972)
- "Einer ist unser Leben" (1973)
- "Seht, er lebt" (1973)
- "Manchmal feiern wir mitten im Tag" (1974)
- "Herr, du bist mein Leben" (1978)
- "Komm, Herr, segne uns" (1978)
- "Selig seid ihr, wenn ihr einfach lebt" (1979)
- "Ich lobe meinen Gott, der aus der Tiefe mich holt" (1979)
- "Ich lobe meinen Gott von ganzem Herzen" (1979)
- "Meine engen Grenzen" (1981)
- "Wenn das Brot, das wir teilen" (1981)
- "Bewahre uns, Gott" (1985)
- "Möge die Straße uns zusammenführen" (1988)
- "Ob ich sitze oder stehe" (1988)
- "Eingeladen zum Fest des Glaubens"
- "Wo Menschen sich vergessen" (1989)
- "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele" (1991)
- "Gott, der du warst und bist und bleibst" (1993)
- "Gott hat mir längst einen Engel gesandt" (1996)
- "Wäre Gesanges voll unser Mund" (1999)
- "Weite Räume meinen Füßen" (2000)
- "Was mein Herz schwer macht" (2001)
- "Auf dem Weg durch diese Nacht" (2005)
- "Glauben können wie du" (2009)
- "Und meine Seele singt"
- "Segne, Vater, diese Gaben"
- "Nimm, o Gott, die Gaben, die wir bringen"
- "Auf zu neuen Horizonten"
- "Jetzt ist die Zeit"
- "Wenn wir das Leben teilen"
- Laudato si' (2016)
- Bruder Martin (2017)
- Eins (2021)
- Clemens Bittlinger
- Horst Christill
- Patrick Dehm
- Eugen Eckert
- Siegfried Fietz
- Claude Fraysse
- Winfried Heurich
- Peter Janssens
- Detlev Jöcker
- Thomas Laubach
- Christoph Lehmann
- Huub Oosterhuis
- Joachim Raabe
- Peter Reulein
- Kurt Rommel
- Helmut Schlegel
- Martin Gotthard Schneider
- Rolf Schweizer
- Michael Schütz
- Manfred Siebald
- Dieter Trautwein
- Erna Woll
- Lothar Zenetti
- Diethard Zils
- Alfred Hans Zoller
- Ralf Bendix
- Botho-Lucas-Chor
- Habakuk