Aandelige Siunge-Koor (Spiritual Song Choir)
Aandelige Siunge-Koors Første Part
Vaagn op og slaa paa Hjertets Streng, thi Natten er omme.
Our renderingWake up and strike the strings of the heart, for the night is over.
What it is
Thomas Kingo's two-part collection of devotional hymns for domestic use, published in 1674 and 1681, was designed — following Luther's prescription in the Small Catechism — for fathers to lead family prayers with morning, evening, and penitential hymns. Kingo was promoted by King Christian V of the Oldenburg dynasty to Bishop of the Funen Diocese in 1677, and Christian V later commissioned Kingo to compile a new national hymnal. The Aandelige Siunge-Koor established Kingo as Denmark's supreme Baroque hymnist and many texts passed directly into the 1699 royally authorized church hymnal.
Why it still matters
Kingo's morning and evening hymns from this collection are still sung in Danish Lutheran worship; they offer a model of Baroque Scandinavian personal and family devotion accessible in modern Danish and in English translation.
Kept alongside
Kingo's Hymnal (Dend Forordnede Ny Kirke-Psalme-Bog)
Dend Forordnede Ny Kirke-Psalme-Bog
Royally decreed for use in all churches of Denmark-Norway by King Frederick IV of the Oldenburg dynasty in 1699, this hymnal replaced Thomissøn's 1569 psalter as the sole authorized Danish church hymnal. Of its 267 hymns, 136 were newly composed by Bishop Thomas Kingo. An earlier 'Winter Part' draft had been withdrawn by King Christian V in 1689 after controversy; the 1699 edition represents the settled Oldenburg royal church's definitive hymnody. The hymnal remained in use for over a century and is a foundational text of Danish Lutheran devotion.
Sandhed til Gudfrygtighed (Truth Unto Godliness)
Sandhed til Gudfrygtighed: Forklaring over Luthers Lille Katekismus
Composed at royal rescript by King Christian VI of the Oldenburg dynasty in 1736 and published in 1737, Pontoppidan's 759-question explanation of Luther's Small Catechism became the official catechism of the Church of Denmark. Pontoppidan was the royal chaplain to Christian VI, a deeply pietist king who introduced universal confirmation in 1736 and needed a rigorous catechetical basis for it. The catechism was authorized by three successive Oldenburg monarchs (Christian VI, Frederick V, and Christian VII) in 1738, 1748, and 1768, and remained the official Danish catechism for fifty years. New editions continued in use in Norway into the 20th century.
Den danske Psalmebog (Thomissøn's Hymnal)
Den danske Psalmebog, met mange Christelige Psalmer
The first royally authorized Danish hymnal, published in Copenhagen in 1569 by Lorenz Benedict with the authorization of King Frederick II of the Oldenburg dynasty. After the royal authorization, churches across Denmark-Norway were legally required to possess the book, chained to the sexton's chair. Hans Thomissøn, the leading Danish hymnologist and parish priest at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, spent twelve years compiling 268 hymns with 216 melodies, translating many from German Lutheran originals. This was the sole authorized hymnal in Denmark-Norway for over a century until Kingo's hymnal in 1699.