Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle in 1944. After a classical education he stud… Read Full Bio ↴Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle in 1944. After a classical education he studied organ, harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam and was awarded the Prix d'Excellence for both instruments. Almost from the beginning of his musical studies he was fascinated with authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship.
Even before completing his studies he laid the foundations for a career as a conductor of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music and this fascination with the Baroque era led him in 1969, at age 25, to establish his first Baroque orchestra and, in 1979, to found The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed in 1993 by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir.

Koopman's extensive and impressive activities as a soloist, accompanist and conductor have been recorded on a large number of LP's and CD's for labels like Erato, Teldec, Sony, Philips and DGG. Recently Ton Koopman has created his own record label: 'Antoine Marchand', with which he will publish his future recordings.
Over the course of a forty-year career Ton Koopman has appeared at the most important concert halls and festivals of the five continents.

As an organist he has performed on the most prestigious historical instruments of Europe, and as a harpsichord player and conductor of his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir he has been a regular guest at venues which include the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Theatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonie in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Lincoln Center in New York, and leading concert halls in Vienna, London, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Rome, Salzburg, Tokyo and Osaka. Over the past ten years Ton Koopman has been engaged in 'the recording project of the '90's' (so described by 'The Guardian' in London). Between 1994 and 2004 he has conducted and recorded all the existing cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, a massive work for which he has been awarded with the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis "Echo Klassik 1997", the Prix Hector Berlioz, and been nominated for both the Grammy Award (USA) and the Gramophone Award (UK). In March 2000 he received an Honorary Degree from the Utrecht University for his scholarly work on the Bach Cantatas and Passions and in February 2004 he was awarded both the prestigious Silver Phonograph by the Dutch recording industry and the VSCD Classical Music Award 2004 by the Directors of Theatres and Concert Halls of Holland. Ton Koopman is also very active as a guest conductor and he has worked with many prominent orchestras in Europe, the USA and Japan including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Boston Symphony, the Vienna Symphony, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Danish Radio Orchestra and many others. He has been for eight years principal conductor of the Radio Chamber Orchestra in Holland and he is principal guest conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. In the coming season he will be working with the Chicago Symphony, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Helsinki Radio Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Ton Koopman publishes regularly and for a number of years he has been engaged in editing the complete Handel Organ Concerti for Breitkopf & Härtel. Pedagogy has been an important factor in Ton Koopman's life for many years and to that end he is professor of harpsichord at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

http://www.tonkoopman.nl/

Dir dir Jehova will ich singen BWV 452
Ton Koopman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Dir, dir Jehova will ich singen
denn wo ist doch ein solcher Gott wie du?
Dir will ich meine Lieder bringen,
ach, gib mir deines Geistes Kraft dazu,
dass ich es tu im Namen Jesu Christ,
so wie es dir durch ihn gefällig ist.

Verleih mir, Höchster, solche Güte,

so wird gewiss mein Singen recht getan
so klingt es schön in meinem Liede,
und ich bet dich im Geist und Wahrheit an

so hebt dein Geist mein Herz zu dir empor,
dass ich dir Psalmen sing im höhern Chor.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Ton Koopman's "Dir dir Jehova will ich singen" express the singer's desire to sing to Jehovah, as there is no other God like him. The singer asks for Jehovah's spirit to give them the strength to bring their songs to him, through Jesus Christ's name as it pleases him. The singer also asks for Jehovah's kindness, so that their singing will be pleasing to him and they are able to worship him in spirit and truth. By doing so, the singer hopes that Jehovah's spirit will lift their heart to him, allowing them to sing psalms in a higher choir.

The song is a hymn that expresses devotion and praise to Jehovah. Through the lyrics, the singer expresses their desire to worship and honor Jehovah through song, recognizing his greatness and asking for his spirit and kindness to enable them to do so.

Line by Line Meaning

Dir, dir Jehova will ich singen
I will sing to you, Jehovah, and no one else, for there is no god like you.

denn wo ist doch ein solcher Gott wie du?
For where else can one find a god as great as you?

Dir will ich meine Lieder bringen
I will bring my songs to you and no one else.

ach, gib mir deines Geistes Kraft dazu,
Please give me the strength of your spirit to do so.

dass ich es tu im Namen Jesu Christ,
So that I may do it in the name of Jesus Christ,

so wie es dir durch ihn gefällig ist.
Just as it pleases you through him.

Verleih mir, Höchster, solche Güte,
Grant me, Highest One, such goodness,

so wird gewiss mein Singen recht getan
So that surely my singing will be done correctly.

so klingt es schön in meinem Liede,
So that it will sound beautiful in my song,

und ich bet dich im Geist und Wahrheit an
And I will worship you in spirit and truth.

so hebt dein Geist mein Herz zu dir empor,
So that your spirit lifts up my heart to you,