The Zion’s Harp, as known today, was first printed during the years
1853-54 at the request of Bro. Samuel Froehlich in Switzerland. Up until this
time, various booklets and compilations of hymns had been used in one form or
another in the meetings of the Evangelical Baptists, founded by Bro. Samuel
Froehlich and which later became the Apostolic Christian Church.
The hymns in the Zion’s Harp cover a span of six centuries,
from the 15th to the 20th. G. M. Mangold was commissioned by Samuel
Froehlich to compile The Neue Zionsharfe, the first edition (1853-
1854) of the Zion’s Harp as we know it. This edition was probably
published in Zurich, but a copy of it has not been found. The hymnal
contained hymns from many previous collections in addition to at least 26
and possibly as many as 29 songs authored by Mangold himself. There
have been 15 editions of the Zion’s Harp printed to date; 8 in Switzerland
and 7 in the United States of America, including the 2000 edition
currently in use.
Many hymns date back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
during which time the believers suffered persecution, martyrdom, exile, and
imprisonment. This moved believers to express their sorrows, trials and
testings of faith in poetic verse to be passed on to others for encouragement
in faith’s conflicts. It is presumed that author and composer names were
intentionally withheld from the hymnal, as it now appears, to avoid persecution.
Many of the hymns were composed by noted classical composers,
placing them in a class of distinguished music and harmony
The hymns and musical compositions were authored by a variety of individuals, including
aristocrats. In fact, the person credited for leading the initial effort to collect
the first hymns was a Baroness. Moreover, a noted hymn writer whose hymns
were included was a Count. Many other hymn writers were devout men of God
trained as theologians in leading German and Swiss Universities.
A few of the tunes included in the hymnal were composed by such musical
luminaries as Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, and Rosseau. However, they did
not compose specifically for the Zion’s Harp. But perhaps the most noteworthy
consideration is that a good many of these authors were souls who surpassed
the banal plane of nominal Christianity, had repented of their sins, and were
converted people in the truest sense.
* Historical information taken directly from pp. 5 and 22 of the CD cover of "Zion's Harp CD # 1: Hymns 1-16."
