Fairest Lord Jesus | Celebrating Holidays
Sarah Marsh Fairest Lord Jesus
This page includes a lyric video, history, sheet music, and other resources for the classic hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.” Enjoy!
Enjoy this You Tube video, performed by Christy Nockels, with lyrics for “Fairest Lord Jesus”:
History of “Fairest Lord Jesus”
Words by German Jesuits (c1662); translated from German to English in 1850
The hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus” was first published with the name “Crusaders’ Hymn” in a 1677 German hymnal titled Münster Gesangbuch (though evidence shows that it was written 15 years prior).1 The words are thought to have been authored by German Jesuit priests.2
The first English translation appeared in the 1850 hymnal Church Chorals and Choir published by Richard Storrs Willis (see below). Though Richard arranged the music, it is unknown who translated the hymn. In 1873, Joseph August Seiss published an English translation titled “Beautiful Savior, King of Creation.” In modern hymnals, the fourth stanza is typically Seiss’. You can see his full translation at Hymn Time (the bottom of the page).
Tune “Crusaders’ Hymn,” Published in 1842;* Arranged in 1850 by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900)
Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900)
The tune for “Fairest Lord Jesus” first appeared, along with the German text, in Schlesische Volkslieder (1842) as a collection of folk songs. As mentioned above, Richard Storrs Willis arranged and published the tune in his 1850 hymnal Church Chorals and Choir; he added the erroneous notation (based on the original hymn name) that the words were actually “sung by German knights on their way to Jerusalem” during the Crusades — a legend that continues to be perpetuated.3
Though born in Boston and educated at Yale University, Richard spent six years studying music in Germany. During that time, he became “an intimate friend of Mendelssohn who was greatly interested in his compositions.”4 Richard returned to the United States in 1848 and established himself as a reputable music critic. He also published a variety of music collections but is most remembered for his arrangement of the music for “Fairest Lord Jesus.”
*The tune has also been called “St. Elizabeth” because it was used in a musical production titled “The Legend of St. Elizabeth” created by the famous Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1862.5
Additional Resources for “Fairest Lord Jesus”:
Sheet Music (PDF Compliments of Hymnary.org)
Guitar Chords (Links to Ultimate Guitar)
Visit Hymnary.org or Hymn Time.com for more on this hymn.
See our Hymn of the Week page for a list of the hymns that are included on this site.
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Sources:
1 Reynolds, William Jensen. Hymns of Our Faith: A Handbook for the Baptist Hymnal. Broadman Press, 1964, p. 42.
2 Hymn Time, “Fairest Lord Jesus.”
3 Reynolds, p. 43.
4 Reynolds, p. 443.
5 Reynolds, p. 43.
