Joseph, lieber Joseph mein

Joseph Lieber, Joseph Mein is an example of a macaronic song. It was a congregational song sung at the matins and vespers around Christmas time to the pantomime of cradle rocking. It was, of course, not allowed in the Eucharistic service. Its German roots are even earlier. This Canzona Publications edition is based on the polyphonic arrangement of this tune by Johann Walter which first appeared in the 1544 edition of the Geistliches Gesangbüchlein. Although arranged originally for the four part choir, during the Reformation times individual parts or even the entire piece was, at times, performed by  instrumentalists. The tune and the meaning of the words were so familiar that Luther, who sponsored the publication and Walter, who wrote the arrangement, felt no need to translate the sections which appeared in Latin.