Two of his most popular hymns were translated into English; "O rejoice, ye Christians, loudly" ("Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle") found in Chorale Book, No. 33, and "Jesus will I never leave" ("Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht") found in United Brethren's Hymn Book, No. 464.[3]Donald G. Bloesch in his book The struggle of prayer (1980) describes it as a "moving hymn".[4] His hymns in general have been described as "being of genuine poetic ring, fresh, strong, full of faith under manifold and heavy trials, and deeply spiritual".[5]
Keymann collaborated with composer Andreas Hammerschmidt who created tunes for Keymann's hymns.[6] In 1646, a collection of hymns Mnemosyne sacra was published by Keymann in Leipzig, including five tunes by Hammerschmidt. In 1658, the collection Fest-, Buß- und Danklieder (Songs for feast, repentance and thanks) was printed in Zittau, containing the hymn『Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht』(I will not let go of my Jesus).[6]
Max Reger based three compositions on "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht", a chorale prelude (Op. 67 No.26, 1902), a composition for soprano, mixed choir, violin, viola and Organ (1905), and again a chorale prelude (Op. 135a No. 17, 1914). Sigfrid Karg-Elert wrote a chorale improvisation for organ (Fughetta), Op. 65 No 49.[6]
Heinrich Julius Kämmel: Christian Keimann Programm Zittau 1856
Theodor Gärtner (ed.): Quellenbuch zur Geschichte des Gymnasiums in Zittau. vol. 1, Leipzig 1905, p. 88-90
Walther Killy (ed.): Literaturlexikon. Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache (15 volumes). Gütersloh, Munich: Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verlag, 1988–1991 (CD-ROM: Berlin 1998, ISBN3-932544-13-7)
