Center For Church Music, Songs & Hymns
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Anonymous
We do not know who wrote "Fairest Lord Jesus." It was first published in Munster Gersangbuch, 1677, where it was stated to be "first of three beautiful selected new hymns." It was later published by Hoffman Fallersleben in his Schliesische Volkslieder in 1842. He heard a group of Silesians singing the hymn and recorded the words and music from the oral presentation. He wrote "Towards evening I heard the haymakers singing: I made inquiries: they sang folksongs which seemed to me worthy of being collected. How far back this melody goes cannot be determined. It is sung by all classes and ages, from the shepherd on the hillside to the lisping urchin in the nursery."