Katharina von Schlegel, Hymn Writer "Be Still, My Soul"

Catharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (22 October 1697 - after 1768 ) was a German hymn writer.

Her PRESUMED parents are Christoph Gottlieb Schlegel von Gottleben and Dorothea Christina Hertel.

Schlegel, Catharina Amalia Dorothea von. Little is known of this lady. According to Koch, iv., p. 442, she was born Oct. 22, 1697, and was "Stiftsfräulein" in the Evangelical Lutheran Stift (i.e. Protestant nunnery) at Cöthen. On applying to Cöthen, however, her name did not occur in the books of the Stift; and from the correspondence which she carried on, in 1750-52, with Heinrich Ernst, Count Stolberg, it would rather seem that she was a lady attached to the little ducal court at Cöthen. (manuscript from Dr. Eduard Jacobs, Wernigerode, &c.) Further details of her life it has been impossible to obtain.

The only one of her hymns which has passed into English is:— Stille, mein Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen. Cross and Consolation. A fine hymn on waiting for God. It appeared in 1752, as above, No. 689, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines; and is included in Knapp's Evangelischer Lieder-Schatz, 1837, No. 2249 (1865, No. 2017). The translation in common "Be still my soul!—-the Lord is on thy side." This is a good translation, omitting stanzas iii., by Miss Borthwick, in Hymns from the Land of Luther, 2nd Ser., 1855, p. 37 (1884, p. 100). [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

She wrote a number of hymns in the spirit of early Pietism that can be found in the various collections of Cöthen'schen Lieder. Amongst English speakers, von Schlegel's best known hymn is "Stille mein Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen" (written in 1752). It was the translated into English by Jane Laurie Borthwick as Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side and is usually sung to the tune of Finlandia by the composer Sibelius.

The surname von Schlegel (more accurately Schlegel von Gottleben) is an aristocratic one and with her religious life it is most likely that her parents were Christoph Gottlieb Schlegel von Gottleben (also called von Schlegel) and his wife Dorothea Christina Hertel. Most likely, if these were her parents, she was left an orphan and so entered the Lutheran Damenstift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqgC1tqifV8

Be Still My Soul

Text: Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel, Jane Borthwick (translator) Music: Jean Sibelius

1. Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake To guide the future, as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart, And all is darkened in the vale of tears, Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears. Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay From His own fullness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

5. Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise On earth, believing, to thy Lord on high; Acknowledge Him in all thy works and ways, So shall He view thee with a well-pleased eye. Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Catharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (* 22. Oktober 1697; † nach 1768) war eine deutsche Kirchenlieddichterin. Über ihr Leben ist wenig bekannt. Belegt ist, dass sie unverheiratet in Köthen in dem noch heute existierenden lutherischen Damenstift lebte, das von der Fürstin Gisela Agnes, der Witwe des Fürsten Emanuel Lebrecht von Anhalt-Köthen, 1711 gegründet worden war. 1726 korrespondierte sie von hier mit August Hermann Francke; 1768 war sie vermutlich noch am Leben.

Sie verfasste eine ganze Reihe von Kirchenliedern im Geist des frühen Pietismus, die in die verschiedenen Sammlungen der Cöthen’schen Lieder, die zuletzt vollständig in drei Teilen 1768 in Halle (Saale) erschienen, und in der Wernigerodischen Neuen Sammlung geistlicher Lieder des Grafen Heinrich Ernst zu Stolberg-Wernigerode aufgenommen wurden. Die größte Nachwirkung hatten zunächst Glauben, Glaubensflügel her und Süßes Lamm, gieb meiner Seelen.

Durch die Übersetzung ins Englische durch Jane Borthwick erreichte jedoch ihr Lied Stille, mein Wille! als Be still, my Soul unter der Melodie Finlandia die weiteste Verbreitung. Es wird bis heute gesungen und findet sich vielfach auf CDs aufgenommen (u. a. von Libera, Isobel Cooper und dem Mormon Tabernacle Choir).