eral series of hymns based on the names of numerous Bible characters—the patriarchs, the prophets, the genealogy of Christ as given in Matthew, the genealogy of Christ as recorded by Luke, and the apostles—each group becomes the basis of a series of hymns; and (3) his revision of the hymns of Daniel Sudermann.[1] This revision consisted of a restrophicising of a number of the Sudermann hymns, and the addition, to the majority of the hymns, of one or more strophes intended as a prayer (Seufzer).
Of the hymnological studies of George Weiss—studies that were both extensive and productive of valuable information—our space forbids us to speak. Neither does this phase of his activity properly belong to the scope of the present work. It is in his role as the promoter of the work begun by Caspar Weiss, his father, that he demands consideration here. It was about the year 1726, when George Weiss took up the task of rearranging and enlarging the hymn collection of 1709. The addition which was at this time made to the original collection, was composed chiefly of three series of hymns; each complete in itself and written by as many authors. The series in question were: (1) The hymns of Daniel Sudermann which Weiss had revised—a series of hymns interpreting the Song of Solomon; (2) the "Epistel-lieder" so-called, by Balthaser Hoffmann—being a series of metrical versions of the "Epistle-lessons," complete for the church year; (3) the "Meditationes," which we have already characterized. The other hymns added by George Weiss to the first collection constitute a miscellany representing various Moravian and Lutheran hymn writers, as well as the early church fathers. The complete list of the hymns of this miscellany, which had been prepared for this chapter, it has been necessary to omit.
With respect to the plan of arrangement, it should be noted that the compilation made by George Weiss differs from that
- ↑ The Sudermann hymns based on the Song of Solomon. See our Descriptive Bibliography.
