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¡Gloria, gloria, gloria! Pablo Sosa* (1933—2020).
This joyful chorus comes directly from Luke 2: 14, the canticle of the angels. 'Gloria' (1978) was composed for a Christmas pageant, designed so that the congregation could join in the drama as the chorus of angels. The song-dance is based on the cueca, the national dance of Chile, but also popular in Bolivia and parts of Argentina. The musical style includes a lively three-four (¾) meter melded with a cross-rhythm of six-eight (6/8)...
A toi la gloire, O Ressuscité. Edmond Louis Budry* (1854-1932).
Companions and Handbooks have long been uncertain about the date of this hymn and its first printing. The Swiss National Library confirms that it was published in Chants Évangéliques (Lausanne, 1885), and in subsequent editions of that book (1886, 1889, 1892, 1896, 1908). It was well enough known in Switzerland to have been selected as one of the texts in Chants de Pâques à 2 ou 4 voix avec accompagnement d'Orgue (Lausanne, 1905)....
Amen Siakudumisa. Stephen Cuthbert Molefe*.
We know this composition of 1977 ('Amen, we praise your name') through the work of David Dargie*, who met Molefe in that year at a composition workshop and transcribed a number of his works into staff notation, in a wide variety of musical styles, 'Masithi-Amen' being among the simplest (see the score of this tune in African hymnody*). The original version of 'Amen Siakudumisa' was 'Sive-sithi Amen, siakudumisa' ('Hear us we say, Amen, we praise...
An ancient Christian hymn with Musical Notation (P.Oxy.1786)
P.Oxy.1786, as it is known to scholars, is the only example of pre-Gregorian Christian music whose notation has survived (see Cosgrove, 2011). The original Christian hymn, unearthed from a rubbish dump in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt and published in 1922, originates in the late third century. The remains of the hymn score were found on the back of an account of grain deliveries. It is likely the musician who composed (or at least owned) the...
Built on the rock the church doth stand. Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig* (1783-1872), translated by Carl Døving* (1867-1937).
First published in Grundtvig's Sangvärk til den Danske Kirke (1837), and later revised and abbreviated to the normal length of seven 7-line stanzas. The first line was 'Kirken den er et gammelt Hus' ('The church which is a strong house'). It is based on Matthew 16: 18, 'upon this rock I will build my church'. The hymn goes on to locate the church in the hearts and...
Camina, pueblo de Dios (Walk on [Go forth], O people of God). Cesáreo Gabaráin* (1936–1991)
'Camina, pueblo de Dios' (1979) looks at the Resurrection of Christ, not only as the most significant event in Christian history, but also as a sign of hope for God's people on the journey toward reconciliation and justice. The standard English translation was prepared by George Lockwood* in 1987 for UMH. His translation of the refrain follows:
Walk on, O people of God;Walk on, O people of God!A new law,...
Cantemos al Señor. Carlos Rosas* (1939-2020).
This is Rosas' best known hymn. It was composed for 'Rosas del Tepeyac: misa en honor de Nuetra Señora de Guadalupe', a setting of the Mass found in Díez Canciones Para la Misa (San Antonio, 1976). It was originally entitled '¡Aleluya!'. Tepeyac is the hill where Juan Diego (1474-1548) is said to have had his vision of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in December 1531. The Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City was constructed on this site....
Throughout the centuries the cherubikon ('Οἱ τὰ χερουβίμ'; 'Hoi ta cherubim'), also called the 'mystical hymn', has been set to music by a great number of composers, because its text as well as its theme is particularly well suited for choral music. The cherubikon was first mentioned by the historian Georgios Kedrenos (11th-12th century), who states that it was sung during mass from 573/74 onwards. Kedrenos goes on to tell that it was emperor Iustinos II (565-578) who decreed that the...
Children of the Heavenly Father. Lina Sandell-Berg* (1832-1903), translated by Ernst W. Olson.
Many commentaries on this hymn state that Sandell-Berg wrote the original Swedish hymn 'Tryggare kan ingen vara' in 1858 as a result of her father's tragic death by drowning. Per Harling*, author of Sandell's most recent biography, Blott en dag: Lina Sandell og hennes sanger (Stockholm, 2004), drawing upon research by Swedish hymnologist Oscar Lövgren, suggests that Sandell wrote the hymn much...
Dieu, nous avons vu ta gloire en ton Christ. Didier Rimaud* (1922-2003).
This canticle, with music by Jean Langlais*, was first sung in July 1957 at a Catholic conference at Strasbourg when Rimaud was working for the Centre National de Pastorale Liturgique. The canticle was sung at the Vigil before Mass on the Sunday as the Bible was shown to the 3,000-strong congregation. It has since become well known and frequently used, especially in the English translation by Brian Wren* (verses) and Sir...
Discendi, amor santo. Bianco da Siena* (d. 1434). For details of the English translation and its use, see 'Come down, O Love divine'*. The Italian text was published by Telesforo Bini in Laudi Spirituali del Bianco da Siena, Povero Gesuato del Secolo XIV (Lucca, 1851). It contained a first verse of four lines:
Discendi, amor santo,
Visita la mie mente
Del tuo amore ardente,
Si che di te m'infiammi tutto quanto.
Followed by seven verses of eight lines. The final lines of the verses rhyme...
Eat this bread. Robert Batastini* (1942– ) and Jacques Berthier* (1923–1994).
John 6:35, one of the 'I AM' sayings of Jesus, provides the basis for the text of 'Eat this bread': 'Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”' (NIV):
Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry.Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.
©1984 Ateliers et Presses de Taizé,...
El cielo canta alegría. Pablo Sosa* (1933— ).
El cielo canta alegría ('Heaven is singing for joy') was Sosa's earliest hymn to incorporate an indigenous Argentine musical form, the carnavalito, a style derived from huayno, a kind of Argentine folk jazz. The pentatonic melody drawns upon a simpler form of folk music characterized by an arpeggiated base line with an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes (quaver followed by two semiquavers). This celebrative musical dance-song was written...
Good people all, this Christmas time. Irish traditional.
'The Wexford Carol', sometimes called 'The Enniscorthy Christmas Carol' ('Carúl Loch Garman, Carúl Inis Córthaidh'), originates from Enniscorthy, County Wexford, in the north-eastern corner of Ireland. The precise origins are unknown, though some commentaters suggest that its roots extend to the 12th century. Though the only carol known by this name, several carols come from Wexford (Costello, 2016). The Wexford Carol is often confused...
Hana irodoru haru wo ('Spring, symbol of hope'). Mie Kamishima* (1961– ).
'Hana irodoru haru wo' is a unique contribution to Hymnal 21 (Sambika 21)*, the hymnal for the United Church of Christ in Japan. Written by on the subject of 'Memorial', it begins with a description of the each of the four seasons of life, one for each stanza: 1) spring, symbol of hope; 2) summer, symbol of brightness; 3) autumn, symbol of maturity; 4) winter, symbol of meditation. Each stanza concludes with a plea for...
Here is love, vast as the ocean. William Rees* (1802-1883), translated by William Edwards (1848-1929) and Howell Elvet Lewis* (1860-1953).
This is Rees's best known and finest hymn, dating from some time in the 1870s. In the manner of earlier Moravian and Methodist hymns, there is an intense focus on the shedding of Christ's blood, which Rees explores through a series of water-inspired metaphors in the second stanza. Though Edwards' translation is somewhat free, he faithfully preserves this...
Höga Majestät, vi alla. Samuel Johan Hedborn* (1783-1849).
Published in Psalmer av Hedborn (1812), this has been described by Marilyn Kay Stulken* as 'One of our loftiest hymns of praise' (1981, p. 322). Its use has been primarily by North American Lutherans, in translation. According to hymnary.org., it appeared in a few Swedish language books in the USA between 1890 (Lill Basunen Innehallande Andliga Sånger) and 1903 (Nya Psalmisten: sånger för allmän och enskild uppbyggelse). It was...
Je Te salue, mon certain Rédempteur. French Psalter, Strasbourg, 1545, possibly by Jean Calvin*.
Found in an edition of the French Psalter published in Strasbourg in 1545, this was printed in Corpus Reformatorum volume 34, Calvini opera vol. 6 (Braunschweig, 1867). It was placed at the end of a set of nine French metrical psalms by Calvin, but regarded by the editors as of doubtful authorship.
In the year following the publication of Corpus Reformatorum the text was translated by Elizabeth Lee...
Jesus es mi Rey soberano. Vicente Mendoza* (1875-1955).
This is the most widely used original hymn by Mendoza. Fernández comments as follows:
The best known hymn to Hispanics is one written by Dr. Vicente Mendoza. It is said that while he was waiting for a bus on a street corner in Los Angeles on a foggy night the words for 'Jesus es mi Rey Soberano' came to his mind. Even today this hymn is sung in all Hispanic churches throughout the world (Fernández, p. 67).
Translated by Esther Frances...
Jesus, Savior Lord, lo to you I fly ('Saranam, saranam'). Traditional Pakistani, translated by Daniel Thambyrajah Niles* (1908-1970).
Asian hymns are perhaps the most neglected repertoire in Western hymnals. Hymns that are available in Asian musical idioms are rarer. The normative practice in Asian churches is to sing Western classic hymns in translation or use contemporary Christian music. Because of their experience with many Western missionaries who did not encourage composition in Asian...
Kum ba yah, my Lord. African American spiritual*, of Gullah origin.
The origins of this song are unknown. It was recorded in the 1920s; the recording is found in the American Folklife Center Archive of the Library of Congress. There is a detailed account of various possible histories in the Archive's Folklife Center News, 32, Nos. 3-4 (Summer/Fall, 2010) available on-line (see below). The article suggests that it was known 'fairly early throughout the American south, including Texas, Alabama,...
Kyrie eleison. 'Kyrie eleison' has been a supplication since pre-Christian times, particularly in the imperial cultus, in which the emperor was referred to as kyrios. This Greek text, which translates as 'Lord have mercy' is used, in Greek, in many churches beyond the Greek-speaking world, including the Coptic*, Ethiopian*, West Syrian* and Roman Catholic churches. It is translated into the vernacular in the Armenian*, Romanian* and Nestorian Syrian churches, as well as in many protestant...
Les anges dans nos campagnes. French carol, perhaps from Lorraine, perhaps 18 century.
This is the original French carol from which several translations have been made into English. They include 'The angels we have heard on high' by James Chadwick* ('Angels we have heard on high'* in The Holy Family Hymns, 1860, and Crown of Jesus, 1862) , 'Bright angel hosts are heard on high' by R.R. Chope*, 'Angels, we have heard your voices' by Richard Runciman Terry*. There are variations in the text, both...
Minuit, chrétiens, c'est l'heure solennelle. Placide Cappeau* (1808-1877)
Cappeau is believed to have written this Christmas hymn in 1843, at the request of the parish priest of his native town of Roquemaure in the Gard department of France. Cappeau himself said that he wrote it in a stage-coach travelling to Paris. It has three stanzas. Cappeau had a reputation as a Socialist and a free-thinker: this carol is the Incarnation seen through the eyes of a follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
It is...
Nada te turbe. St Teresa of Avila* (1515-1582).
According to P. Silverio, the editor of the works of Saint Teresa, these lines were found in the Breviary that she used in prayer during the Divine Office when she was dying at Alba de Tormes ('Guardaba Santa Teresa estas sentencias en el breviario que usaba para el rezo del oficio divino, cuando murió en Alba de Tormes'). They were:
Nada te turbe,
nada te espante,
todo se pasa;
Dios no se muda.
La paciencia
todo lo alcanza
quien a Dios...
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika. South African national anthem. See Enoch Mankayi Sontonga*.
Numai harul ('Grace and mercy'). Nicolae Moldoveanu* (1922-2007).
This hymn, written in 1973, is the most familiar of Moldoveanu's compositions. It was written immediately after a severe trial, when he discovered that not even all he had done for the Lord could serve as groundwork for the people of faith. It is based on a famous excerpt from the Biblical Pauline letter to the church in Ephesus (Eph. 2: 8-9), and captures the message that Jesus' death on the cross alone is the foundational...
O sleep now, holy baby. Mexican carol, translated by John Donald Robb (1892-1989).
This carol, 'Duérmete, Niño lindo', was translated by Robb, a lawyer who changed career to become Professor of Music at the University of New Mexico, and printed in Hispanic Songs of New Mexico (Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1954). It is one of many 'lullaby carols'. It was used in a folk play, Los Pastores, sung in villages in New Mexico during the Christmas season. Originally from Mexico, it tells of sorrows to...
Pan de vida (Bread of life). Bob Hurd* (1950– ) and Pia Moriarty (1948– ).
This eucharistic hymn is the best-known composition by Bob Hurd and his wife Pia Moriarty. Composed in 1988, it appeared initially in the first edition of Flor y Canto* (Portland, Oregon, 1989) and subsequently in most Catholic hymnals published in the United States.
The song, one of the first bilingual worship songs, was composed while Bob Hurd was living in Guatemala. During this time, he was searching for songs that...
Pelas dores deste mundo (For the troubles and the sufferings of the world). Rodolfo Gaede Neto* (1951—).
'Pelas dores deste mundo' was composed in 1999. It is known as the 'Brazilian Kyrie' (Daw, 2016, p. 728). Neto composed the song in the context of a liturgy course taken during his graduate theological studies at the Escola Superior de Teologia, a Lutheran seminary in South Brazil. The class was discussing each portion of the liturgy and, when they focused on the kyrie, Neto realized...
Phos hilaron.
'Phos hilaron' ('joyful light') is an ancient hymn originating in the early church and sung daily at Vespers (hesperinos) in the Byzantine liturgy of the hours. It is still sung today. St. Basil the Great (d. 379) described it as ancient, in fact so old that he did not know who wrote it, and he equated it with thanksgiving for the light. The origin of the hymn, as well as the name of the hymnographer, is unknown, though there is a reference to a martyr Athenogenes in the modern...
Porque él entró en el mundo ('Tenemos Esperanza'). Federico José Pagura* (1923-2016).
Written in 1979, this hymn first appeared in Cancionero Abierto ('Open Songbook') (six editions between 1974-1994) edited by Argentinian Methodist pastor and composer Pablo Sosa*. For many within the church, the hymn is known by its refrain 'Tenemos Esperanza' ('We have hope').
This is the third of three 'Porque' ('Because') hymns authored by Pagura with music by the then young Uruguayan composer Homero...
Send your Word. Yasushige Imakoma* (1926–2013), paraphrased by Nobuaki Hanaoka* (1944– ).
Yasushige Imakoma (1926–2013) prepared this text in 1965 for Pentecost Sunday to be sung by congregation he served in Kawasaki. Taiwanese educator and ethnomusicologist I-to Loh* describes the origins of this hymn:
The poet believes that the crisis and wars of the world are caused by the lack of verbal communication, as shown by God's interference in the building of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1–9)....
See 'We are marching in the light of God'*
Sois la semilla ('You are the seed'). Cesáreo Gabaráin*; translated by Raquel Gutiérrez-Achón* and Skinner Chávez-Melo*.
'Sois la semilla' is based on the Great Commission, Matthew 28: 19–20: 'Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world' (ASV). This is articulated in the...
Somos uno en Cristo ('We are one in Christ Jesus'). Author unknown.
This anonymous Spanish-language scripture chorus (corito) focuses on Ephesians 4:4–6. It was undoubtedly transmitted via oral/aural tradition before being included in Celebremos su gloria (Dallas, 1992), a collection produced by an association of evangelical churches in Central America. Philip Blycker* (1939-2023), the music editor of the collection, arranged the music under his Spanish name Felipe Blycker J. Most collections...
Tama ngakau marie ('Son of a peaceful heart'). Traditional Maori hymn. Neither the author nor the composer of this Maori hymn and melody have been traced, though the text is actually a free paraphrase of 'Jesus, meek and gentle' by George Rundle Prynne (1818-1903). Among Maori it is often sung at a funeral or commemorative service, but it was also adopted as a troop song by the Maori Battalion serving with the New Zealand forces in the Second World War. As a song common to both Maori and Pakeha...
The Saviour's precious blood. Tai Jun Park* (1900-1986), translated by William Scott and Yung Oon Kim.
This hymn, 'Yu Yesu hul lin pi', was written in May 1949. It was written for a Korean student, who was attending an international youth rally in India and who wanted a Korean hymn to take with him. It was then printed in Cantate Domino (1951), with the English translation by Dr Scott and Miss Kim, and with further translations in French and German. The first book in England to print it was...
Thy holy wings, O Savior. Lina Sandell-Berg* (1832-1903), translated by Ernest E. Ryden* and Gracia Grindal* (1943- ).
Like Sandell Berg's beloved Swedish hymn, 'Children of the Heavenly Father'*, this hymn (sometimes 'Thy holy wings, dear Savior') is also sung to a Swedish folk song, in this case, BRED DINA VIDA VINGAR. The relationship between this text and tune extends back to 1889 in a hymnal compiled in part by Sandell-Berg, Sionstoner ('Melodies of Zion'). See Swedish hymnody*. The text...
The Greek word 'Trisagion' means 'Thrice holy'. It is used to indicate three attributes of the deity: 'God holy, God mighty, God immortal' (Latin 'Sanctus Deus, Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Immortalis'). It is said to have originated during an earthquake in Constantinople when a child was carried up into the air. The people cried 'Kyrie eleison'; the child came down to earth and exhorted them to pray in the words of the Trisagion prayer: 'God Holy, God Mighty, God Immortal, have mercy upon us'. It...
Tú has venido a la orilla (Pescador de Hombres) (Lord, you have come to the lakeshore). Cesáreo Gabaráin* (1936–1991).
'Pescador de Hombres' ('Fisher of Men'), the original Spanish title, is the most published of Gabaráin's hymns. In translation, the first line is 'Lord, you have come to the lakeshore'. The hymn first appeared in the composer's Dios con nosotros: cantos de la iglesia (Madrid, 1974). The most used English translation in Protestant collections is by Raquel Gutiérrez-Achón*,...
Una espiga dorada por el sol. Cesáreo Gabaráin* (1936–1991), translated by George Lockwood*.
'Una espiga' ('Sheaves of summer', 1973), a hymn on the theme of Christian unity, first appeared in North America in Alabemos al Señor (Veracruz, Mexico, 1976), a collection published by the Seminario Regional del Sureste. Gertrude Suppe*, a collector of Spanish-language hymnody, described the song's hypothetical transmission from Spain to Latin America: 'Someone evidently came from Spain with a...
Var hälsad, sköna morgonstund. Johan Olof Wallin* (1779-1839).
This is from the 1819 Svenska Psalm-Boken, the book that Wallin produced after the unsatisfactory attempt at a national hymnbook in 1811. According to Stulken (1981, p. 176), the translation in LBW was the work of the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, based on a version made by Ernest William Olson for the Hymnal (1901) of the Augustana Synod of the Lutheran Church. It began 'All hail to you, O blessed morn'. It links the...
Vem, Jesus, nossa esperança. Jaci C. Maraschin* (1929–2009).
This Advent text first appeared in a Brazilian collection edited by the author, O Novo Canto de Terra (São Paulo, 1987), in four 8.7.8.7 stanzas. The musical setting, CRISTO É MAIS (1980), is by Baptist music professor Marcílio de Oliveira Filho (1947–2005). It was originally paired with the text 'Cristo é nossa esperança' (1981) by Guilherme Kerr Neto (1953– ) in the Brazilian Baptist hymnal Hinário para o Culto Cristão (Rio di...