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African hymnody. In this article, African hymnody will be considered under the headings 'Western Africa', 'Eastern Africa' and 'Southern Africa', preceded by a general introduction. Articles on individual countries and authors/composers will be found as separate entries.
Introduction
'Music might be considered as one of the best ways to educate Christian people. A beautiful hymn, well understood and lived, has the value of a good sermon' (Ntahokaja, 75). In this quotation, Father Ntahokaja...
Armenian Hymnody
The documented music in Armenian culture is the sacred music associated with the liturgical services of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church. The tradition developed soon after the invention of the Armenian alphabet (405-406). Fragmentary manuscripts of the Sharaknots ('Hymnal') with neumatic (khaz) notation date back to the 8th century. In common with other Christian cultures of the east, Armenian music was exclusively monodic.
During the first centuries of Christianity,...
1788-1859
The European phase of Australian history commenced with the establishment in 1788 of a penal settlement to which prisoners or convicts were transported from England, Ireland and Scotland to serve out their sentences. Little evidence concerning the singing of hymns in this settlement or elsewhere in the earliest years has survived, although it is clear that hymns were greatly treasured by individuals and groups. An early chronicler recorded that the first service in Melbourne was...
Introduction
Vernacular-language Christian hymnody in central Europe is characterised by a rich history of spiritual singing in church communities, especially since the 16th century, during which period the church hymn emerged as a fundamental characteristic of reformed Christianity. But the beginnings of this history go back to the Middle Ages. From then onwards, and not only as a reaction to reformed practice, the vernacular church hymn formed an important part of church musical and...
See also 'Byzantine hymnody'*, 'Byzantine rite'*, 'Greek hymnody'*, 'Rite of Constantinople'*, 'Rite of Jerusalem'*, 'Greek hymns, archaeology'*.
The earliest period
The Bulgarians officially accepted Christianity under Tsar Boris I in 865, and were granted an autonomous archbishopric in 870, whose seat was in Pliska. This archbishopric was under the jurisdiction of Constantinople, from where the first hierarch, clergy, and theological and liturgical books naturally came.
The very early...
See also 'Byzantine rite'*, 'Greek hymnody'*, 'Rite of Constantinople'*, 'Rite of Jerusalem'*, 'Greek hymns, archaeology'*.
This is a highly sophisticated and powerful literary tradition of religious poetry intended for the liturgical services of the Eastern Orthodox Church and for private, devotional purposes. Profoundly doctrinal, Byzantine hymnody mirrored the major developments in Christology and Trinitarian theology throughout the first millennium of Christianity. At the same time, it was...
The hymnody composed within the Byzantine rite is essentially a continuation of Hagiopolite hymnody (Rite of Jerusalem*), but the liturgical framework is no longer the Palestinian rite but the new rite resulting from the fusion of the Palestinian and the Constantinopolitan rites. This fusion, whose result is usually called the 'Byzantine rite', took place from the 7th century onwards in the patriarchate of Constantinople, thereafter spreading to other regions, for instance Southern Italy...
One does not immediately connect Christian hymnody with the country of Cambodia, whose population historically has been approximately 98% Buddhist and minority Christians have been mostly Protestant and Roman Catholic, whose tradition did not emphasize congregational singing.
The first Christian hymnal in the Cambodian language (Khmer) was published in July 1958 by the Rev Arthur Hammond (1898–1979), a missionary of the Christian Missionary and Alliance Church. Two thousand copies were printed....
Caribbean hymnody
When one examines the hymns or sung liturgical poetry that are current within the various island states geographically located between North and South America, one must conclude that Caribbean hymnody is an eclectic and a dynamic reality. The people of the region are a mixed entity. By virtue of history, they are the descendants of Amerindians (the original inhabitants) and migrants from Europe, Africa and Asia. Consequently, the Caribbean is often described as a melting pot...
Chinese Christian hymnody
Introduction: the Beginnings
The earliest Christian missionaries to China were Nestorians, who were active during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Their version of Christianity (so-called Jieng Jiao, Luminous Religion) was received warmly by Emperor Taizong (唐太宗,599-649) and flourished throughout China. One hymn from this period, 'Wushang zhu tian shen jing tan' ('All heaven worships in great awe'), was probably composed by Nestorian missionaries and thought to have been...
Introduction
Between the 16th and the beginning of the 19th century, Croatian congregational hymns ('Kirchenlied') and sacred folk songs ('geistliches Volkslied') played a role that significantly surpassed their primary sacred and spiritual purpose. This corpus of liturgical and paraliturgical music, distinguished from Croatian art music of the time, did not reach the heights of artistic expression, but its function was not dependent on its aesthetic merit. The most notable efforts to promote...
The beginnings of Danish Hymnody date back to the 15th century, partly originating in the lay movements of that time, and partly as a Danish version of the renaissance culture of Northern Europe. Only a few texts have been preserved. Revised versions of some songs to the Holy Virgin and a number of pre-Reformation Christmas and Easter carols were included in hymnals of the Reformation period. Some of these carols are from German sources and are either parallel translations from Latin or...
Das deutsche Kirchenlied DKL Kritische Gesamtausgabe der Melodien (1975) is the title of a work in the RISM series (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, VIII). It deals with the music of German hymnbooks from the beginning to 1800. The publishers are Bärenreiter (Kassel, Basel, Tours, London). The editors are Konrad Ameln, Markus Jenny and Walter Lipphardt.
It is a catalogue of printed sources of German hymns, of all denominations, that contain at least one melody in musical...
Pre-Reformation Netherlands hymnody
Apart from a page of 10th century neumatic plainchant notation and the mystical vernacular hymns by the 13th century nun Hadewijch, the earliest written evidence of sacred music in the Netherlands dates from the 15th century.
Two important sources for our knowledge of spiritual songs in the Netherlands are the manuscripts from the Tertiarissenklooster (Cloister of the Tertiaries) of St Margaretha in Amsterdam (ca. 1480: now in the Austrian National Library...
Before the Reformation
English hymnody is as old as English poetry itself. The first known English poem is the hymn by Caedmon*, the lay helper at Whitby Abbey, dated between ca. 657 and 680. According to Bede* in his Historia Gentis Anglorum Ecclesiastica, Caedmon thought himself unable to sing but was visited by an angel who told him to sing of the Creation, whereupon he composed the hymn in Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse beginning 'Nu sculon hergan | heafonrices Weard' ('Now praise we the...
See 'Estonian Methodist hymnody'*
This account of Ethiopian Hymnody is in two parts: Traditional Hymnody (Ralph Lee); New Songs (Lila Balisky)
Traditional Ethiopian Liturgical Music
Of all the ecclesiastical arts liturgical singing is the most important and jealously guarded in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition. No external influences are permitted and the purity of the original tradition is uncompromisingly protected. Music creates the atmosphere of worship: Orthodox believers often comment on the spiritual quality and...
In the Nordic countries, the Lutheran reformation is often recognised as marking the dawn of hymn writing in the native language. In spite of their remote location in the North Atlantic the Faroe Islands are a part of what was then known as the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway, and the small and scattered population had a Nordic language of its own. But the Reformation made Danish — the king's language — the official language in matters of state and administration, church and faith. Therefore the...
Hymns before hymnals
Although archaeological evidence suggests that some form of Christanity may have existed earlier, the Christian Church was brought to Finland in 1155 by the English-born Henry, Bishop of Uppsala, Sweden, together with King (Saint) Erik of Sweden. Henry, the 'apostle to Finland', met an untimely end when he was murdered by a peasant, Lalli, on an icy lake. Amazing tales began to circulate about Henry and he was later canonized. Antiphons, hymns and sequences* were written...
French Protestant Psalms
16th Century
French and German Reformers, such as Jean Calvin* (1509-1564), Guillaume Farel (1489-1565), Martin Luther* (1483-1546) and Martin Bucer* (1491-1551) were very conscious of the impact of singing. They wished to introduce, very early on in the Reformation, a new liturgy and hymnody, mainly for worship. Their task was to supply the new reformed Church with its specific liturgy and hymnody. The language was an essential problem to be solved, because everyone...
See also 'Byzantine hymnody'*, 'Byzantine rite'*, 'Greek hymnody'*, 'Rite of Constantinople'*, 'Rite of Jerusalem'*, 'Greek hymns, archaeology'*.
History
The history of Georgian Orthodox hymnody can be traced back to the first centuries of Christianity, and is directly connected with the conversion of Georgia. In the first century AD, Christianity was preached in Georgia by the apostles St. Andrew and St. Symeon Cananeli (Symeon of Canania). Christianity became the state religion in the first...
This account is in two parts: German Hymnody to the end of the 19th century, by J.R. Watson ; German Hymnody in the 20th century, by Cornelia Kück. The Appendix is by J.R. Watson.
Introduction
'German hymnody surpasses all others in wealth.' This is the opening sentence of the article on the topic in JJ (p. 412), and there is no reason to question it, certainly with regard to the modern period (Latin hymnody has an equal claim if all ages of Christian hymnody are under consideration). The...
The term 'Greek hymnody' within Christianity has both a contemporary and an historical sense. First, it signifies the hymnody of the present Byzantine liturgical rite, contained in the official liturgical hymnbooks. The Byzantine or Eastern Roman empire ended in 1453, but the Byzantine rite contined to be practised in post-Byzantine times, both by Orthodox and eventually by Catholic Uniate churches, as it still is. Second, Greek hymnody incorporates all hymnody used in any of several historical...
This article includes the tradition of Egypt/Alexandria. See also 'Greek hymnody'*.
Introduction
Christian papyrology enables us to study many of the non-biblical liturgical songs of the early Greek Church, which were previously known only through translations, particularly in the Georgian, Armenian or Coptic traditions (which are difficult to date), through fragments in late Greek compilations, or through literary works of dubious authorship or uncertain liturgical use. These papyrological...
As far as we can judge from the few remaining pieces of evidence (such as the famous 'Phos hilaron'*) and from some late testimonies (Saint Augustine*, Egeria's pilgrimage, comments by abbot Pembo, the Life of Auxentios), the earliest forms of Christian hymnody in Greek were written in rhythmic prose, were based on patterns of parallelism and antithesis (like the biblical psalms and canticles) and were sung responsorially. It is generally assumed that the earliest hymns, such as troparia and...
Hungarian Hymnody
This entry is in two parts. The first, on the medieval period, is by Judit Fehér. The second, from the 16th century to the 20th century is by Ilona Ferenczi.
Medieval hymns and hymnals
Medieval Hungary consisted of two archbishoprics (Esztergom and Kalocsa), and a regional unit covering the eastern part of the medieval country (today mostly Transylvania). Each of these three regions had its own liturgical rite.
The Use of Esztergom
Esztergom, founded in 1001 by King St...
In Iceland there developed a rich literary heritage during the Middle Ages, the Sagas and the Eddas. Soon after the establishment of Christianity in 1000, Icelandic poets began also to write poetry on Biblical themes and on the Saints, in which they used the skaldic and eddic metres formerly used in the heroic and mythical poems. Of these the most famous are Geisli ('The Beam') on St Olav from the 12th Century, and Sólarljóð ('The Sun Poem') from the 13th Century composed in the Eddic metre...
Indian Christian hymnody
The beginning of Christianity in India is ascribed to the arrival of St Thomas—one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ—in the Southern part of India during the first century of the Common Era. Even though such an ascription is contested in some scholarly circles, it is certain that the Eastern Orthodox tradition of Christian faith was in existence in India quite early in the Common Era. The Indian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Syrian Church of the East, Armenian...
Early Irish hymnody
The arrival of Christianity in Ireland is commonly associated with the mission of St Patrick in the 5th century, though there were certainly some groups of Christians in the island at an earlier date. The early history of Irish Christianity (including details of Patrick's work) remains tantalisingly obscure, but what is certain is that, subsequently, monasticism developed rapidly in Ireland, so that from the middle of the 6th century onwards substantial monastic foundations...
I was agreeably surprised. I have not heard better singing either at Bristol or Lincoln. Many, both men and women, have admirable voices; and they sing with good judgement. Who would have expected this in the Isle of Man?
So wrote John Wesley*, in tones of some surprise, on 6 June 1781. His diary entry is one of the very first eye-witness accounts of Manx singing and suggests that there was already established on the Island a firm tradition of a congregational style that would have been...
[This entry is in two parts: the first by Blake Wilson, the second by Marzio Pieri]
Lauda (plural Laude)
The origins of the Lauda* are bound up with the literary origins of the Italian language itself. The roots of the tradition can be traced to the 'Cantico di frate sole'* ('Canticle of the Sun') by St Francis of Assisi (ca. 1181/2-1226), beginning Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore/tue so le laude, la gloria, et l'onore. Francis urged his followers to 'go through the world preaching and...
Before the Second Vatican Council, Western hymns in translation and settings of the ordinary of the mass were the primary sources of congregational music among the mainline colonial churches in Eastern Africa, including in Kenya. For Protestants, the spread of Pentecostal songs provided an impetus for change. Oral-tradition adaptations of Western hymns also flourished in African Independent (Initiated) Churches. Nathan J. Corbitt, a missionary ethnomusicologist in Kenya during the early 1980s,...
See 'Latvian Methodist hymnody'*, 'Latvian Lutheran hymnody'*.
See 'Lithuanian Methodist hymnody'*
The ethnomusicologist and missionary, A. M. Jones, states that African Christian music was first used in worship by the Church of Scotland in the late 1800s among the Ngoni people of what was then Nyasaland (now Malawi), as an exceptional occurrence. While he provides no details, his observation indicates the possibility of attempts to produce indigenous hymnody that preceded most other places in Africa with the exception of the hymns of the Xhosa prophet Ntsikana* in South Africa (Jones,...
Methodist Hymnody, USA
Hymns were used within the Methodist movement for teaching of doctrine, for evangelism (of the unsaved and to revive those who faith was lagging), for praise and confession. Important doctrines for the Wesleyan movement are Arminianism, the understanding that Christ died for everyone, not just the elect; the Christian journey as the way of salvation, on a continuum of God's prevenient grace (which comes before one is awakened to God's call), justifying and...
See also 'New Zealand hymnbooks'*. The history of New Zealand Pakeha (non-Maori) hymnology begins on Christmas Day, 1841, with a service of worship conducted in the presence of a largely Maori congregation by the Reverend Samuel Marsden (1765-1838) representing the Church of England's Church Missionary Society. Marsden himself led the singing of Psalm 100, to Loys Bourgeois*' tune known in England as the OLD HUNDREDTH. The Anglican presence in the new colony-to-be was followed by the arrival of...
Early history and the first hymnody
Norwegian language-use and hymnological terminology, while largely concordant with the other Scandinavian languages, differs significantly compared to those of most other languages. The term salme (from the Greek ψάλμος, psalmos) is used to denote both biblical, paraphrasal and other religious strophic verse set to music. This reflects the fact that the psalter in post-Reformation Denmark-Norway gradually disappeared from the service life of the church,...
See 'New Zealand hymnody#Pacific Island Churches'*
1. Latin Hymns of the Catholic Church
Poland has always served as fertile ground for the cultivation of the Latin hymn. The monophonic Latin hymn repertory was introduced in Poland in the 10th century, and was gradually transformed by the introduction of folk idioms and the addition of new compositions. Early Polish manuscripts show that the Romano-Frankish chant was often seasoned with melodic leaps and pentatonic leanings, suggesting that folk music influences blended in with the imported...
The liturgical tradition of the patriarchate of Constantinople was centred in the cathedral of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), also called 'The Great Church'. The hymnody of this rite is quite restricted, especially compared to that of Jerusalem*. It consists of two types of hymns: psalmodic hymnody (Psalm refrains, troparia) and independent hymnody (kontakia).
Psalmodic hymnody
Ordinary refrains (the Psalter and the Odes)
The Psalter of the Constantinopolitan rite, including a series of 14...
The liturgical rite of Jerusalem, as the name indicates, developed and was practised primarily in the Holy City itself. The physical and organising centre of this rite was the Cathedral of Jerusalem, a complex of churches built around the cross and the tomb of Christ. Festal offices were celebrated in the Martyrium basilica (or other churches of the city) and daily offices in the Anastasis rotonda (the Church of the Resurrection, also called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). In addition,...
As inhabitants of the territory north of the Lower Danube, Romanians participated in Byzantine culture, in common with most Christian peoples in the region. The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were established in the 14th century and organized into two metropolitan churches dependent on Constantinople. This was followed by the spreading of Slavonic hymns and, secondarily, of Greek hymns, in forms almost identical to those of the Romanians' southern neighbours. Hymn books spread from...
See also 'Byzantine hymnody'*, 'Byzantine rite'*, 'Greek hymnody'*, 'Rite of Constantinople'*, 'Rite of Jerusalem'*, 'Greek hymns, archaeology'*.
Historical background
Kievan Rus' was the result of the coming together of the eastern Slavic tribes in the 9th century, under Count Oleg (879-912). Christianity had existed in Kiev at least from the mid-10th century (there is evidence of a community with a church at the time of Count Igor, where in 945 the Count's troops made a contract with the...
Sarawak hymnody in the Chinese Methodist Church in Malaysia
Introduction
This article focuses on the development of hymns in a particular region of Malaysian hymnody*. The Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Malaysia (SCAC) began with the arrival of Foochow immigrants in Sibu on 16 March 1901. The immigrants, predominately Christians from the Methodist Episcopal Church, were led by the Chinese headman (港主), Wong Nai Siong (1849–1924), from Foochow, China. On Sunday,...
The hymns written and sung by Scottish Christians have been generally more rugged, strenuous and theologically nuanced than those of their co-religionists south of the Border, reflecting the harsher nature of their physical landscape, the greater seriousness and intensity of their faith, and the intellectual calibre of their ministry. Scottish hymn writers may not have had the smooth elegance or artistic accomplishment of their English counterparts — JJ ended its entry on them with the...
See also 'Byzantine hymnody'*, 'Byzantine rite'*, 'Greek hymnody'*, 'Rite of Constantinople'*, 'Rite of Jerusalem'*, 'Greek hymns, archaeology'*.
From conversion to the 18th century
The early years
Serbia converted to Christianity between 867-74. The first contacts were with Latin Church priests in coastal areas dominated by the Byzantine Empire; later contacts were with the Slavic missionaries, the Thessalonian brothers Cyril and Methodius. St. Cyril reputedly created the Slavic script,...
The Period of Great Moravia
The beginnings of hymn use in the territory of present-day Slovakia should be sought in old Slavonic liturgical singing, which was established by the Thessalonian brothers Saints Constantine (who took the name Cyril as a monk) and Methodius in the 9th century. While in this period evidence post-dates events, the Life of Cyril makes it clear that Pope Hadrian approved the old Slavonic liturgy in 868, after which the Mass and the Divine Office were performed in old...
The Early Years (750?-1550)
The first Slovenian musical records date from the second half of the 16th century. Prior to that date there were sacred songs, defined as songs of religious content that are sung at church service. Their contents are based on the Bible (psalmic hymns), religious truths (catechetic hymns) and on the lives of the saints (hymns of the saints and pilgrimage hymns). This survey will give an outline of the sacred music that took place on the Slovenian territory and was...
South African Hymnody. Though the first mission station in South Africa was begun by the Moravians in 1737, it was not until 1800 that a variety of mission societies and denominations pursued the evangelization of this region in earnest. By the end of the 19th century, JJ provided information of the remarkable developments in hymnody in South Africa (referred to as 'Kafirland' or 'Kaffaria') in the 'Foreign Missions' entry. The article noted that Untsikana (Ntsikana Gaga*), generally thought to...
Introduction
While there is a substantial amount of writing produced on religion and theology in South America, there is surprisingly almost nothing written concerning hymnody and its development. Information about the history of South American hymnody is scarce. Some of the accounts are conflicting, and they are not organized in any formal way. A more complete survey of current and historical South American hymnody and singing would require individual articles on each South American country...
This entry is in two parts. The first, on the early and medieval period, is by Carmen Julia Gutiérrez; the second, from 1502 onwards, is by Elena Gallego Moya/ Jose Fco. Ortega Castejón.
Part 1: Early and Medieval
The hymns of the Hispanic Liturgy
The Hispanic rite was used in the Iberian Peninsula until the 11th century, except for Marca Hispánica and the Bracarense province, where the Romano-Frankish rite was followed from the 8th century. The texts of the Hispanic rite were compiled by...
Strengthen for Service. 100 Years of the English Hymnal, 1906-2006.
The English Hymnal was a landmark in Anglican worship. Looking back after 100 years provided an opportunity for a measured appraisal, both of its creation and of its effect on Church of England worship of the 20th century. Just as The First Fifty Years (1956) was a retrospective view of the book, with some remarkable reminiscences by Ralph Vaughan Williams*, the centenary was the justification for a more ambitious collection of...
Medieval hymns
Latin hymns in medieval Sweden have been more thoroughly researched than in other Scandinavian countries. An edition of 129 surviving Swedish melodies, with commentary, together with 60 photographs of medieval Swedish hymn sources may be found in Moberg and Nilsson (1991). The texts were edited in Moberg (1947). Sweden came under the influence of north-west European missionaries in the 11th century, and had contacts with central European Christians in later centuries, both of...
German-speaking Switzerland
Reformation
In German-speaking parts of Switzerland at the time of the Reformation, the most common form of Sunday service was the south German preaching service. At first this involved no music or hymn-singing whatever; then, following the example of Strasbourg and the community hymn singing of the south German towns, psalm-singing was introduced. In some places this happened quickly; in others more slowly. Schools often led the way with psalm-singing, and...
History of the Syrian Church
Syriac Christianity has grown out of the Aramaic speaking population of Mesopotamia and its environs which, around the beginning of the Christian Era, was divided into two empires: the Roman-Byzantine Empire in the West and the Parthian-Persian Empire in the East. It had its early centre in Edessa in the West, a relatively independent kingdom, where the majority of the population spoke Aramaic. Edessa was christianised from Antioch as early as the 2nd century. The...
Tanzania is a particularly fertile location for the development of indigenous hymnody because of the work of a leading African priest, Stephen Mbunga, and the ministry of a Protestant missionary, Howard Olson*, that spanned four decades. Together they offer insight into a process of cultivating congregational song, a pattern followed in other areas of the continent.
Precursors
The Moravian diaspora resulted in their first mission station in colonial German East Africa in 1891 by Theodor Meyer...
Romanians in Transylvania were almost all Orthodox until the early 18th century, when the Romanian Church United with Rome was founded (Greek Catholics or Catholics of Byzantine Rite). This Church, in full communion with Rome but retaining the Byzantine liturgy, played an important role in resisting Magyarization in 19th-century Transylvania. By the early 20th century, half of the Romanians in Transylvania were Orthodox; the other half were Greek Catholics. On their tradition, see Romanian...
Psalmody in the 17th and 18th Centuries
The early settlers of the British North American colonies—including the Anglicans of Jamestown, the Pilgrims and Puritans of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the French and Dutch of New Amsterdam—generally relied upon Genevan and/or English psalm tunes for the musical settings of their congregational singing. These tunes were mostly sung from memory, aided by the lining-out process (see Scottish Psalter* and Lining out* for a description of...
This entry is in three parts: pre-Reformation Welsh hymnody by Sally Harper; post-Reformation hymnody, and Welsh tunes, by Alan Luff. A final paragraph is by Martin Clarke.
Medieval Welsh hymnody
Some form of liturgical hymnody was clearly sung in parts of the early 'Celtic' church in Wales. The 7th-century Latin Vita of St Samson (composed by a Breton monk) claims that St Illtud's death occurred as the community at Llantwit Major in Glamorgan was singing hymns, while St David's biographer...
Zimbabwean hymnody
In Zimbabwe the interaction between missionaries and African musicians has yielded hymnody that captures the spirit of the country's churches. The southern region of Africa has a long history of interaction between missionaries and indigenous tribes. As African independence movements (See African hymnody*) spread throughout the 1960s, the development of hymnody conceived by Africans was influenced by the rise of African Independent (Initiated) Churches free from the influence...