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CRUSADER'S HYMN
The hymn "Fairest Lord Jesus" is sung to the hymn tune CRUSADER'S HYMN. This tune is of unknown origin. The earliest form of this tune appears in the collection by Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Schlesische Volkslieder, 1842. It was written down by Fallersleben when he heard haymakers sing it in 1839. It was called Ascalon in this collection.
It is also known as ST. ELIZABETH, as it was named by Franz Liszt in his oratorio, The Legend of St. Elizabeth. Reportedly, Liszt wrote to a former organ pupil of his in Germany and asked for a tune he could incorporate into the oratorio about St. Elizabeth, who lived in the thirteenth century in Hungary. Gottschalg sent Liszt the tune, saying it was an old "pilgrim song." Liszt’s repeated use of it in his stirring oratorio likely led to it being called CRUCIFIER'S HYMN.
As is common with folk tunes, this tune seems to have come from older melodies. It is similar to a tune composed by Christian Ernst Graff for "Laat ons Juichen, Batavieren," which was used at the installation of Willem V as Statholder in the Hague in 1766, and was set in eight variation by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at that time.