In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God
John 1:1 0
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Little is known about the author of this hymn. Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel was born in 1697. The date of her death is unknown. As her name suggests, she may have come from an aristocratic family. Other than that she was connected with a small court at Köthen, north of Halle, in Germany, little is known of her life. Some hymnologists suggest that she may have become a Lutheran nun. We know her as the author of "Stille, mein Wille; dein Jesus hilft siegen" published in a collection entitled “Neue Sammlung geistlicher Lieder (A new collection of spiritual songs”) in 1752, one of several of her texts included there.

The tune FINLANDIA complements this stirring poem wonderfully. The melody comes from a symphonic tone poem by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) by the name of Finlandia, Op. 26. Sibelius wrote it as a patriotic offering in 1899 with a revision in 1900.

Finally, David Evans (1874-1948), a Welsh Oxford-trained organist-choirmaster and music professor, matched the translation with the tune for the Revised Church Hymnary (London, 1927). This pairing was brought to the United States when it was used in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. for The Hymnal (1933).

(Quoted from article at http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-be-still-my-soul)