Away in a Manger
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"Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 G
The Birth of Jesus (1878) by Gustave Doré
William J. Kirkpatrick
"Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" is a hymn text relating to the Nativity of Jesus, written by Martin Luther in 1534. The hymn is most often sung to the melody, Zahn No. 346, which first appeared in
Away in a Manger
…doctrinarian." When some earlier 19th-century sources do mention a carol written by Luther for his son Hans, they are referring to a different text: "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her". Richard Hill, in a comprehensive study of the carol written in 1945, suggested that "Away in a Manger" might have originated in "a little play for…
1567 publication
1539 melody and first five stanzas in the Straßburger Gesangbuch (1541)