Christ lag in Todes Banden ("Christ lay in the bonds of death") is a chorale published by Martin Luther in 1533, using a traditional Eastertide melody set to words by Luther. The original Christ lag ynn todes bande is sometimes rendered as Christ lag in Todesbanden.
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The seven verses[1] of Luther's chorale celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, with particular reference to a struggle between Life and Death. The third verse quotes from 1 Corinthians 15, saying that Christ's Atonement for sin has removed the "sting" of Death. The fifth verse compares the sacrifice with that celebrated by Jews in the Pascal Lamb at Passover. The tradition of baking and eating Easter Bread is referred to in the final verse. The text has been modernised in recent editions of the German Luther Hymnal.
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Christ lag in Todes Banden |
Christ lay in death's bonds |
The melody as set by Luther seems to have strong correlations with parts of the Eucharistic sequence for Easter, Victimae paschali laudes,[2] believed to have been written by Wipo of Burgundy in the llth century. This was transformed, gradually into a "Leise", a devotional German pre-Reformation sung with a number of stanzas, but maintaining strong characteristics of plainsong. A new version was published by Luther in 1524 and adapted by Johann Walter in his "Wittembergisch Geistlisch Gesangbuch" (1524). This was subjected to many minor alterations in later hymnbooks, but the melodic shape remained the same in later additions, which include the addition of passing notes and modification of rhythmic patterns to conform the chorale to emerging styles, and to fit the chorale into a regular time signature.