Trautwein, Dieter

Author & Composer

b Holzhausen, bei Biedenkopf, Central Germany 1928. d. 2002. Ordained to the ministry of the Lutheran ch, for some years following the 2nd world war he was a director of its youth work. He pioneered new approaches to German hymnody, abandoning the traditional chorale in favour of what became known as the ‘Kirchentag’ style for large, politically radical youth gatherings. The biblical words in fresh language, set to a rhythmic, syncopated style of music, lasted well beyond its immediate context. In 1970 Trautwein became Provost of Frankfurt Cathedral, and from around that time his hymns began to feature in several German books. 50 years after its 1st edn he was a member of the editorial group for the 1974 (4th) edn of the international and multi-lingual hymn-book Cantate Domino. In 1983 in Vancouver he brought together some key hymnwriters from China, Argentina and Zimbabwe, who met again in 1999 at the American Hymn Soc conference in that city. His own work has been translated by Fred Pratt Green and Fred Kaan as well as Stephen Orchard, as here; in translation it has featured at Hymn Festivals in the UK and USA. Its qualities include ‘new thinking, intimacy, informality, ruggedness, and sincerity’—Routley. No.582.