Origins: Sing the Mighty Power - Herzogl

Subject: Origins: Sing the Mighty Power - Herzogl
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 May 05 - 12:55 PM

Today a hymnal toppled off my To-Do pile and flopped open to "I Sing the Mighty Power of God."

"Hmm," I said to myself, "you know, the tune of that could easily be made to sound like a sprightly Baroque piece." Then upon looking at the credits, I saw that the words are by Isaac Watts, but the tune is from Gesangbuch der Herzogl, 1784. Well, well, right place, right period for Baroque music.

I have only one question. What's a Herzogl? ( ein Gesang would be a song or choral piece.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Sing the Mighty Power - Herzogl
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 11 May 05 - 01:41 PM

Herzog is Duke, I think... maybe a little duke? Declined duke?

Subject: RE: Origins: Sing the Mighty Power - Herzogl
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 May 05 - 04:49 PM

That's probably right. the "l" is a variant of "lein," which of course means little. That syllable tends to vary in time and place.

Remember Schwaenli and Baerli, the little swan and little bear (goats, actually) in "Heidi"?

I wonder whether he was a minor duke or a short duke.