Gesangbuch

The facsimile of the Augsburg manuscript (1554) acquaints readers with the oldest known version of the texts and the melodies assembled in Adam Reißner's hymn book. As such, it is also the version that most closely reflects the author's intentions. The commentary on the 64 hymns takes a paradigmatic view of Reißner's hymn corpus, indicating how the traditions governing the various types of hymn and the melodies to which they were set (including medieval traditions, the Tenorlied, and the Bohemian Brothers) were transmitted by the Schwenckfeld hymn book. With reference to parallel corpora and individual instances of transmission, the commentary also traces the reception accorded to the texts and melodies of these 64 hymns as far as the 18th century.