Verspoell, Christoph Bernhard (1743, 1818)

Christoph Bernhard Verspoell (1743-1818) was a German church musician and composer. He was active after 1776 as the vicar at the Catholic Church of St. Lamberti in Münster and after 1779 also worked for the St. Ludgeri Church in the same city. His ""Gesänge beym römisch-katholischen Gottesdienste" ("Hymns for the Roman Catholic Church Service", published 1810), along with Hermann Ludwig Nadermanns hymn collection "Geistliche Lieder" ("Sacred Songs") represent a radical departure from earlier church music. The collections were popular not only in Münster but also in the rest of Germany. Well-known and still reprinted in modern songbooks are his "Heiligste Nacht" ("Holiest Night"), "Menschen, die ihr wart verloren" ("O mankind, who were lost"), "O selige Nacht" ("O Blessed Night") and "Wahrer Gott, wir glauben dir" ("True God, We Believe in Thee").