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A Collection of Spiritual Songs and Hymns Selected from Various Authors by Richard Allen, African Minister (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1801). This collection, and its Second Edition published the same year with an additional ten hymns, mark the first known compilation by an African American for use in an African American congregation, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Richard Allen*, founder and pastor of the church, selected the texts that are included in the volume. No authorial...
Africa Praise. This book, published in 1969 by the United Society for Christian Literature, is a good example of an early attempt to provide hymns for African schools that would recognise the importance of local cultures and the needs of independent African nations. It was edited by David G. Temple (words) and Arthur Morris Jones* (music). It was intended for schools in which English was the medium of instruction, and one of its aims was 'to discover as many African hymns as possible' (Preface,...
YearDenomination and EditorsTitleComments
1801
African Methodist Episcopal ChurchRichard Allen*
A Collection of Spiritual Songs and Hymns Selected From Various Authors, by Richard Allen, African Minister
54 Texts only (no music like other hymnals of this period; the authors of text were not included).
1801
African Methodist Episcopal ChurchRichard Allen
A Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs from Various Authors, by Richard Allen, Minister of the African Methodist Episcopal...
Agape
Agape: Songs of Hope and Reconciliation, edited by Maggie Hamilton and Päivi Jussila, was published by Oxford University Press in 2003 (the title, pronounced 'A-ga-pay', is a Greek term referring to the highest form of love: in Christianity, the love of God for humankind, and the reciprocal love of humans for God). It contains 110 items and was compiled for the 2003 meeting of the Lutheran World Federation Assembly, the theme of which was 'For the Healing of the World'. Hamilton's preface...
Altar Hymnal, The (1884/1885).
The Altar Hymnal was a production of the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England. It was edited by Claudia Frances Hernaman*, Elizabeth Harcourt Mitchell, and Walter Plimpton. The music editor was Arthur Henry Brown*. His name appeared on the title page together with that of Thomas Thellusson Carter (rector of Clewer, Berkshire, and the biographer of John Armstrong*), who provided a brief introduction. That introduction left the reader in no doubt about what...
Anglican Hymn Book (1965) was an attempt to replace the Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer (Third Edition, 1890) and The Church Hymnal for the Christian Year (1920). It was compiled by a committee appointed by the Church Society, chaired by Canon Herbert Taylor, vicar of Orpington, Kent, and Honorary Canon of Rochester Cathedral. The music editor was Robin Sheldon. It contained 663 hymns, printed in a sans-serif type, unusual in a hymnbook at that time. It is notable for the number...
Liturgical use in early Anglo-Saxon England
No complete hymnal survives from Anglo-Saxon England before the late 10th century. A list given by Thomas of Elmham (early 15th cent.) of the contents of a hymnal purportedly sent to St Augustine of Canterbury by Gregory the Great* seems to suggest a document of considerable antiquity (i.e. possibly authentically Gregorian or at least pre-900 AD) but we cannot be sure of its provenance. We are on firmer ground, however, with two 8th-century...
Asian and Asian American hymns, USA
This essay updates a portion of Carlton R. Young*'s earlier study (1998) on the inclusion of ethnic congregational song in hymnals published 1942-95 by the Protestant Episcopal Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church, The Christian Reformed Church, The United Methodist Church, The Presbyterian Church (USA), The Southern Baptist Church, The United Church of Christ, and the Disciples of Christ. His detailed work noted a distinct increase of ethnic minority...
Although this account focuses on five 20th-century Australian hymnals, Australia's history of hymn publication extends back to 1821 and has involved the Roman Catholic and major protestant traditions, and others including the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Salvation Army, Churches of Christ, Reformed Church and various Pentecostal groups (see 'Australian hymnody'*). Of the hymnals discussed here, two in particular represent the force of ecumenism in Australian since the 1960s; the others reflect...
The monastery at Bangor, in present-day Northern Ireland, was founded by St Comhghall in 555. A codex of 36 leaves was written there between the years 680 and 691, containing three sections: canticles and hymns; collects; and hymns for various liturgical occasions. This manuscript has been known as the Bangor Antiphonary since the 17th century; properly speaking, this is a misnomer, since the manuscript contains no antiphons and was not entitled 'antiphonary' by its scribes. It is a remarkable...
The Bay Psalm Book (BPB), or—to use its actual title—The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre ([Boston], 1640), is one of the most famous books ever printed in what is now the United States. Its press run was only 1700 copies. The dozen or so that still survive are almost beyond price today. Their value rests chiefly on the BPB's standing as the first book written and printed in English-speaking North America, and as a symbol of the country's beginnings. Much research...
Baylor University Sacred Music Collection
Baylor University was chartered in 1844 by the Congress of the Republic of Texas and officially established in 1845 in Independence, Texas. In 1886 Baylor and Waco Universities consolidated to form Baylor University at Waco, Texas, in the center of the state.
Most of Baylor University's sacred music collection is in the Arts and Special Collections Research Center. The Center is an integrated unit that supports Baylor University's research and...
BBC Songs of Praise was published in 1997. It traced its origins from two sources: the original Songs of Praise (SofP, 1925, SofPE, 1931), and the popular BBC television programme, 'Songs of Praise', in which congregations from various parts of the British Isles were seen, and individuals were invited to choose hymns. That programme, in the words of the Preface, 'has made churchgoers aware of songs and hymns from beyond their individual traditions, and has been able to popularize newer music on...
The Believers Hymn Book, with supplement, for use at Assemblings of the Lord's People, was published in 1959. It is the most recent edition of The Believers Hymn Book of 1884. The title has no apostrophe. See Brethren hymnody, British*.
From 1 to 326 the hymns are arranged alphabetically. From 327 to 360 they appear in random order. From 361 ('All hail the power of Jesu's name'*) to 464 ('Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim'*) the hymns are again arranged alphabetically, followed by a...
Benson Collection, Princeton Theological Seminary.The Louis F. Benson Hymnology Collection is one of the premier collections for the study of the history of Christian hymnody in North America. It consists of over 12,000 volumes of hymnals and printed materials related to the study of Christian hymnody. The collection was originally received by Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1931 from the estate of Louis F. Benson*. Benson was the author of a number of works on...
The Book of Praise (1862)
This influential anthology of hymns was the work of Roundell Palmer*, a distinguished politician and man of letters. Its full title was The Book of Praise from the best English Hymn Writers. It was published by Macmillan in London and Cambridge in 1862. The frontispiece showed a picture of David with his harp, to emphasise the continuity of tradition between the great psalmist and contemporary hymn writers. The book was very successful, and there were many further...
This is the title given to a book containing all the material necessary for performing the Divine Office — prayers, chants, and readings. The readings are usually abbreviated, hence the name. Breviaries first appeared in the 11th century, and contained so much material that they were often divided into summer and winter volumes. For a detailed introduction to the contents of Breviaries see Tolhurst (1942).
Breviaries were useful for monks and clerics who were not able to attend the office hours...
Bristol Tune Book. Until the First Edition of A&M (1861) and the edition of Church Hymns with Tunes (1874), hymn books were normally printed with words only, sometimes with the names of appropriate tunes added to the texts. Tune books were printed separately. Among the most successful mid-19th-century examples were The London Tune Book, The Leeds Tune Book, The Bradford Tune Book, and The Burnley Tune-Book.
The Bristol Tune Book. A Manual of Tunes and Chants, edited by Alfred Stone, was one...
Broadcast Praise (1981). This collection of 101 hymns, published in 1981, was a supplement to The BBC Hymn Book* of 1951, intended to fulfil a purpose similar to the parent book. The foreword by Colin Semper acknowledged the development of hymnody since 1951, and hoped that the supplement would attract a younger audience.
A few classic hymns omitted from the earlier book were included, and (in one or two cases) a text already provided there was re-printed with a new, and usually more popular,...
The Cambridge Carol-Book was published in 1924 by SPCK (reprinted 1951). It was the work of George Ratcliffe Woodward* (words) and Charles Wood* (most of the music; occasional items were harmonized by GRW and one by George Herbert Palmer*). Its full title was The Cambridge Carol-Book, being fifty-two songs for Christmas, Easter, and other seasons. In fact it contained 53 songs, of which 34 were for Christmas-tide, including 'Ding! dong! merrily on high'* and 'Past three a clock, and a cold...
Cambridge Hymnal (1967). This hymnal, published in 1967, was the work of David Holbrook* (1923-2011) as literary editor and Elizabeth Poston* as music editor. It originated in discussions between Holbrook (tutor at Bassingbourn Village College, Cambridgeshire, 1954-61, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1961-65) and local teachers, concerning the quality of hymns used at morning assemblies in English schools. Holbrook argued that 'little or no attention was paid to the meaning of what was...
Caneuon Ffydd (2001). In 1993 the five major denominations in Wales (Anglican, Baptist, Congregationalist, Methodist, Presbyterian) appointed a joint committee to produce a hymnbook for the use of all the Welsh-speaking churches. A hope that such a book might be produced had been expressed in 1927, but never realized. The book, Caneuon Ffydd ('Songs of Faith') appeared in 2001 with 873 Welsh texts and 704 tunes, and, in addition, 86 English texts without tunes, and 33 Psalms and Canticles.
The...
Cantate Domino (1924-1980). The phrase 'Cantate Domino' is from Psalm 96: 1, 'Sing to the Lord a new song'. Its opening Latin words were used as an extra-territorial title by the World's Student Christian Federation for a succession of books published during the 20th century for Christian students from all countries. The editions were as follows:
1. Geneva: World Student Christian Federation (1924)
No date, but given as 1924 in the Second Edition. Many translations are dated 1924. The...
The Canterbury Hymnal was a type of New Hymnal (see Medieval hymns and hymnals*) that was apparently introduced at Canterbury during the late 10th-century Anglo-Saxon monastic reform movement called the Benedictine Reform (see 'Rule of Benedict'*). It was one of two types of monastic hymnal known to have been in use in England after the Benedictine Reform, the other being the Winchester Hymnal*. All information about the Canterbury Hymnal must be deduced from the hymnals themselves, since other...
Carmina Gadelica (1900, and after).
The full title of this remarkable collection is Carmina Gadelica, Hymns and Incantations, with Illustrative Notes on Words, Rites,and Customs, Dying and Obsolete: orally collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Translated into English. Volumes I and II were the work of Alexander Carmichael* (Gaelic name Alastair MacGillemhicheil) (1832-1912). Carmichael was an exciseman who collected Gaelic hymns, prayers, charms, and songs from the Highlands...
Chartism was a predominantly working-class movement which campaigned for political reform in Britain from 1838 until the mid-1850s. In particular, the 'People's Charter' contained six demands intended to make the British political system more democratic; these demands were:
A vote for every man over the age of 21;
A secret ballot;
No property qualification for members of Parliament;
Payment for MPs (so poor men could serve);
Constituencies of equal size;
Annual elections for...
Chetham's Psalmody
The title of this important collection was The Book of Psalmody. It was first published at Sheffield in 1718 by John Chetham or Cheetham (1665 – baptized 4 February -1746), subsequently master of the Clerk's School, Skipton, Yorkshire, and curate of Skipton, 1741-46. Further editions followed in 1722, 1724 and 1731, with many successors. It has been described as 'the most important country collection [of psalm settings] of all' (Temperley, 1979, p. 181). Each edition during...
This was the title of an attractive book published in 1937 by Oxford University Press, edited by W. H. Hamilton* (words) and H.E. Wiseman (music). It was reprinted five times before 1958. The preface indicates its aims clearly: 'A book of good hymns for very little children has long been a felt want'. The book begins with simple and short hymns of praise, with graces, and with brief prayer hymns. Then comes 'The Life of Christ', 'Children and their Friends' (including two 'Maxims for decent wee...
Children's Hymn Book (1881). The Children's Hymn Book was 'published under the direction of W. Walsham How, Ashton Oxenden, and John Ellerton' by the SPCK. It was not the first book with that title: The Children's Hymn Book had been published by Thomas Nelson in 1854, and was successful enough to be enlarged in subsequent editions. The 1881 book, however, was the most important and successful of 19th-century hymnbooks for children of the Church of England (in JJ, p. 223, WTB thought that the...
Christ in Song (1869). This was the title of a major anthology by Philip Schaff*, published in New York in 1869, with the preface dated 5 October 1868. The full title was ΙΧΘΥΣ. Christ in Song. Hymns of Immanuel: Selected from all ages, with notes. Another page has the Chi/Rho symbol/ 'Christo Sacrum'/ Φριστòς τà πáντα εν πασιν ('Christ is all in all')/ a verse from F.W.H. Myers*' poem 'St Paul':
Thro' life and death, thro' sorrow and thro' sinning
Christ shall suffice me, for He hath...
The Christian Harmony is a tunebook of hymn and psalm tunes, odes, and anthems, compiled by William Walker*, first published in 1867 by E. W. Miller (nda) in Philadelphia. Walker's earlier tunebooks, Southern Harmony and Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist (Philadelphia, 1846) used 4-shape notation, but Walker used 7-shape notation for Christian Harmony. The 7-shapes introduced by Jesse Bowman Aikin (1808-1900) in 1846 were patented, so that Walker devised three additional shapes on his own...
Christian Hymns (1977, 2004). Published in 1977 by the Evangelical Movement of Wales, this collection of 901 texts provided a rich selection of hymns by Isaac Watts* (71 hymns) and almost certainly the fullest representation of Charles Wesley* (93 hymns) outside Methodism. It also retained much classic Victorian hymnody, while introducing contemporary writers such as Alan Clifford, Eluned Harrison* and Vernon Higham* to a wider audience. A revision of the book appeared in 1985 and a full new...
Christian Praise (1957). In a decade not often admired for innovation, 1957 saw the arrival of Christian Praise, a collection of 401 hymns designed not as a church hymn-book but for student fellowships, schools, Bible classes and other groups outside denominational structures. The quality of the hymns marked a clear advance on what was normally available hitherto; published by the Tyndale Press, it came from a small committee chaired by Derek Kidner*, who was experienced in both parish ministry...
Christian Psalmody (1833 and after). This collection, edited by Edward Bickersteth*, became one of the most influential hymnbooks in the Church of England before A&M, and marked a significant increase in the resources available to those who wished to encourage hymn singing. Its title page in 1833 gives an accurate description of its contents and scope:
Christian Psalmody: A Collection of above 700 Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs; selected and arranged for public, school, family and...
The Church Army Mission Hymn Book. This was published in Britain ca. 1960 (no date is given, and there is no indication in the very brief preface). It was a successor to Hymns for the Church Army (ca. 1894), edited by Wilson Carlile*, the army's founder, and Hymns and Choruses of the Church Army (n.d., but ca. 1910, and frequently reprinted).
The front cover was embossed with the Church Army shield, a crown and crossed swords, and the words 'Fight the good fight'. The book contained 133 hymns,...
Church Hymnal (Cooke and Denton, 1853). This was one of the principal books published in the years before the First Edition of A&M. The full title was The Church Hymnal. A Book of Hymns adapted to the use of The Church of England and Ireland, arranged as they are to be sung in Churches. No editors' names appeared on the title page. No date is given on the title page. The copy in the British Library, presented by John Julian in 1893, bears his inscription 'Known as Cooke & Denton's...
Church Hymns (1871), Church Hymns with Tunes (1874). The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) had printed hymns since 1837, when it added them to a reprint of Tate* and Brady*'s Metrical Psalms, the New Version*. In subsequent editions, more hymns were added, and then printed separately from the Psalms in 1852. Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship followed in 1855, with an Appendix in 1863, edited by Berdmore Compton, then rector of Barford, Warwickshire. Some churches, such as St...
Church of England Hymn Book, A (1880). This hymnbook, edited by Godfrey Thring*, was an important contender for an official hymn book for the Church of England, although Thring claimed disingenuously in the preface that the time was not right for such a book. He went on:
On the other hand, the very arguments which may be urged against an authorized hymnal are in themselves a call for further progress, in order that hymns which offend both the taste and conscience, and which in a literary point...
The Cistercian movement, originating at the beginning of the 12th century, was founded on the desire to return to the rule of St Benedict (see Rule of Benedict*), which gave instructions for the chanting of Ambrosian hymns during the Offices of Nocturn, Lauds and Vespers. Cistercian brothers went to Milan to seek out St Ambrose*'s compositions, returning with a list of hymns. However, because of additions made during the intervening centuries, the Cistercians adopted a mixture of more recent...
Clarendon Hymn Book (1936). This was the title given to a collection published in 1936 by Oxford University Press. It was compiled by an anonymous 'committee of Public School masters' (i.e., masters teaching in fee-paying Independent Schools: see 'Public School hymnody'*). The word 'Clarendon' in the title (presumably to associate the book with the distinguished imprint of the OUP) conceals its predominantly Charterhouse origins.
Although it was not a publication of the Headmasters' Conference,...
The Colored Sacred Harp (Ozark, Alabama, 1934; Montgomery, Alabama, 2004) is a collection of 77 shape-note pieces. It was the result of the work of Judge Jackson (1883-1958) and members of a committee appointed by the Dale County Colored Musical Institute and the Alabama and Florida Union State Convention.
Sacred Harp singing had started with the publication of B. F. White* and Elisha J. King*'s The Sacred Harp (Philadelphia, 1844). Since the 1870s, African Americans had held singing...
Come Celebrate is the title of a collection of contemporary hymns by twenty British hymn writers edited by Michael Saward* and published in 2009. The twenty authors are: Basil Bridge*, Elizabeth Cosnett*, Graham Deans*, Marjorie Dobson*, Timothy Dudley-Smith*, Michael Forster*, Alan Gaunt*, Brian Hoare*, Christopher Idle*, Fred Kaan*, Graham Kendrick*, Martin Leckebusch*, Alan Luff*, David Mowbray*, Andrew Pratt*, David Preston*, Michael Saward, Emma Turl*, Paul Wigmore*, Janet...
Common Ground
Initiated by the Panel on Worship of the Church of Scotland and published in 1998 by the Saint Andrew Press, this ecumenical hymn book was compiled by representatives of seven Scottish churches and groups: Roman Catholic, Scottish Episcopal, Methodist, United Reformed, Scottish Congregational, Salvation Army, and Church of Scotland. The title page describes it as 'a song book for all the churches', and it was the first such collection since the Scottish Reformation. The Convener...
See 'Hymns Ancient and Modern#Common Praise (A&MCP)'*
CONYERS's Collection of Psalms and Hymns. One of the first hymn books of the Evangelical Revival (cf. Madan*, Toplady*) was Richard Conyers*'s A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, from Various Authors: for the use of Serious and Devout Christians of all Denominations (London, 1767). It contained 274 hymns plus five doxologies. There was no preface, and no compiler's name. The authors most represented were Isaac Watts* and Charles Wesley*, but it also included a hymn by Thomas Olivers* ('The God of...
Cowley Carol Book. This was a two-part collection of Christmas carols edited by George Ratcliffe Woodward*. The 'First Series' (1901, revised 1902) consisted of 39 carols, many already published. The Second Edition (1902) had 65 items. The 'Second Series' was delayed by the First World War, and appeared in 1919, with a further 37 carols. Charles Wood* co-edited this second volume. The origin of the title lies in a request for a carol book from the Church of St John, Cowley, Oxford, home of the...
Crown of Jesus (1862) was a major publication during the years of the expansion of the Roman Catholic church in Britain following Catholic Emancipation, the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill in 1829, and the growth in numbers following immigration from Ireland and the converts from the Oxford Movement*. Library catalogues give the names of the editors as R.R. Suffield and C.F.R. Palmer. Its full title was Crown of Jesus: a complete Catholic manual of devotion, doctrine, and instruction....
The Cyber Hymnal (www.hymntime.com/tch/) was founded in November 1996 by Richard Adams, who is himself a hymn writer. Until ca. 2009 the site was found at http://www.cyberhymnal. org, but that address is now used by a different site (see NetHymnal). The Cyber Hymnal provides lyrics, sheet music, audio files, biographies and pictures of authors and composers. It is regularly updated. The site is non-commercial, advertisement free, and has a published privacy policy. As of January 2017 the...
David's Companion (1808). James Evans*, a British Methodist who arrived in New York City in 1806, compiled and published David's Companion Being a Choice Selection of Hymn and Psalm tunes being adapted to the words and measures of the Methodist Pocket Hymn-Book containing a variety of tunes to all the metres that are now in use in the different churches: with many new tunes principally from Dr. Miller, Leach and other composers (New York, 1808). The title page dedicates the volume to 'the Rev....
Drew University Hymnological Collection
The hymnological collection at Drew University, Madison New Jersey, contains over 6000 volumes of significant range and depth. Included are 3000 Methodist hymnals and related works from more than 25 Methodist denominations, and over 2600 non-Methodist volumes. Three hundred volumes were printed before 1800, the earliest being The Whole Booke of Psalmes (London: Printed by John Windet, 1603). While many of these do not circulate, approximately 400...
Dunblane Praises (1965, 1967). The two collections under this title, published in 1965 and 1967 in manuscript form by the Scottish Churches' Music Consultation, were intended as a means of 'field testing' new hymns in congregations and as a stimulus for further new writing. Only two hundred copies of the first volume were printed, but the need to print another 1,200 copies indicated a demand for new material. As the Consultation came to the end of its work, selected items were republished, with...
EACC Hymnal (1963). This pioneering hymnbook was published in 1963 for the East Asia Christian Conference. The general editor was Daniel Thambyrajah Niles*, and the music editor was John Milton Kelly, assisted by his wife Edna and by Shanti Rasanayagam. The book was printed in Japan.
The language used was English, the international language of Asia. The words and music were European/American for the first 'General Section' of 100 hymns (including 11 'Spirituals'), followed by an 'Asian...
Ecumenical Praise, Carlton R. Young*, executive editor (Agape: Carol Stream, Illinois, 1977).
The hymn explosion in Britain lit by the Dunblane Music Consultations of the 1960s (see Dunblane Praises*) produced a plethora of hymnal supplements to the new and existing denominational hymnals in Great Britain and the United States. Contemporary hymnal committees were reluctant to include the rapidly expanding number of hymns that did not meet the traditional interpretation of hymnody.
Austin C....
Effata is the title of a Catholic hymn book for young people published at Passau, Germany, in 1990, sub-titled 'Neue religiöse Lieder für Gottesdienst' ('New songs for Sunday worship'). The title is explained as 'öffne dich', open thyself, probably best rendered in English as 'open up!' Continuing the metaphor, it encourages young people to have open minds to meet with God and other people.
Its structure is strikingly traditional. It is within the context of the normal Sunday service that these...
Elias Collection, Cambridge, UK
The Elias Library of Hymnology consists of just over 3,500 volumes on hymnology, mostly from the 19th and early 20th centuries, but with some dating back to the 16th century. It is held at Westminster College, Cambridge.
The Library is primarily the collection of Edward Alfred Elias. Born in Liverpool in 1875, he lived in West Kirby in the Wirral throughout his life; and though little more is known about him, he was a lifelong collector of hymnological works and...
English Hymnal (1906; new edition, 1933). The English Hymnal (EH) of 1906 (new edition, 1933) was a remarkable landmark in English hymnody. Its bright green covers, though initially associated with the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England, found their way into places of much broader churchmanship and the book influenced congregational hymn-singing and the contents of other hymn books throughout the 20th century.
By the end of the 19th century, the resources for hymn singing in the...
English Praise (1975) was sub-titled 'A Supplement to the English Hymnal'. It was the result of two perceived needs: the sense that the revised edition of EH, published in 1933 (with a revision of the music only, so that the texts dated back to 1906) was becoming out-dated; and the requirements of the Church of England at a time when liturgical practice was changing. These are clearly stated on p. v of the introduction, which discusses the hymns, none of which had been in EH:
Some have already...
Lauluraamat Piiskoplikule Metodistikirikule Eestis (Tallinn, 1926; The Estonian Methodist Episcopal Hymnal). The Estonian Methodist Episcopal hymnal (cited as ESMEH 1926), like its Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts (see 'Lithuanian Methodist hymnody'* and 'Latvian Methodist hymnody'*), was strongly dependent on the Gesangbuch der Bischöflichen Methodisten Kirche in Deutschland und der Schweiz ('Hymnbook of the German and Swiss Methodist Episcopal Church', Bremen, 1896, cited as GBMK 1896). It...
Ethereal Hymnody (http://www.ccel.org/cceh/) is an online database of public domain hymn tunes and chants. The site includes MIDI files, and editable electronic music scores for music software Finale and Noteworthy Composer, indices of tune name, composer, source, meter, and source hymnal. Because Ethereal Hymnody only catalogues hymns in the public domain, very few contemporary hymns are included. Visitors to Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary will find links to hymnary.org* which now...
The Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (ELHB 1912) was the first, official English-language hymnal of the Missouri Synod branch of American Lutheranism. It was published at a time when the Missouri Synod was slowly, and reluctantly, making the transition from German to English in its worship forms and ecclesial culture. As such, ELHB 1912 assisted in a far-reaching transformation of this immigrant, Lutheran church body by bringing a large portion of its German hymnody into English, while at the...
Flor y Canto (flower and song) is a hymnal that represents the diversity of Latino/a cultures in the United States. Published by Oregon Catholic Press in four editions (1989, 2001, 2011, 2023), the title indicates the symbolism of flower and song found in Aztec culture and the experiences of indigenous peoples in Hispanic cultures. Unlike earlier Spanish-language Protestant hymnals, this Catholic publication includes a limited number of hymns in Spanish translation from traditional Western...
Gadsby's Hymns
William Gadsby* (1773-1844) is famous for his Selection of Hymns for Public Worship (Manchester, 1814), which he published in the same year as a collection of his own work, The Nazarene's Songs: being a Composition of Original Hymns by William Gadsby (Manchester, 1814). Edition after edition followed, with enlargements and supplements (1838, 1844, 1850, 1854, and thereafter) and it is still in print. These were words-only books: tune books, Companion Tunes to Gadsby's hymn book,...
The Genevan Psalter, 1539-1562
The singing of psalms was regarded by Jean Calvin* as an essential part of congregational worship, and it was a distinctive feature of the reformed church at Geneva in the 16th century. Unlike Luther*, Calvin was cautious about using hymns, because they were of human composition. In the words of Louis F. Benson*, 'He would have nothing in the cultus which could not claim the express authority of Scripture' (1915, p. 23). Psalms, however, were seen as inspired by...
glauben hoffen singen
This is a hymnal (believe; hope; sing) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany, published at Lüneburg in 2015. It contains 694 hymns, with Appendixes containing services, prayers, creeds, and songs for special occasions. Contemporary German hymn-writers are well represented: Hartmut Handt (1940- ) has six hymns, and Jürgen Hartmann (1961- ) has twenty-four songs. Contemporary British writers are represented by Fred Pratt Green* (three hymns), Timothy Dudley-Smith*...
Golden Bells: Hymns for our Children (ca. 1890); Second Edition, 1925/26; Facsimile with Supplement, ca. 1960; Hymns of Faith, 1974.
'Golden Bells' is the title of a succession of hymnbooks for young people published by the Children's Special Service Mission. The CSSM itself was part of the Scripture Union, founded in 1867 by Josiah Spiers and Thomas Hughes to be an alternative to more formal Sunday Schools: in 1868, for example, it began 'beach missions' for children on holiday, and the...
Goode's Psalms
An Entire New Version of the Book of Psalms. William Goode* (1762-1816).
This collection was published in 1811, with a Second Edition in 1813 and a Third in 1816. It was presumably given the 'Entire New' title to distinguish it from the 1696 'New Version' by Nahum Tate* and Nicholas Brady*, and from other predecessors such as Isaac Watts* and James Merrick*: in the Preface, Goode said that Watts' The Psalms of David, 1719, was 'simple and elegant', but that it professed to be...
Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (1894) (New York: Biglow & Main Company; and Cincinnati: John Church & Company): Gospel Hymns and Sacred Solos by P. P. Bliss and Ira D. Sankey as used by them in Gospel Meetings [No. 1] (1875), No. 2 (1876), No. 3 (1878), No. 4 (1883), No. 5 (1887), No. 6 (1891), Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (1894).
Beginning with the first Great Awakening ca.1730-60 (see Great Awakenings, USA*), the colonies, and subsequently the USA, have periodically...
Gospel Pearls (1921)
Published in 1921 by the Sunday School Publishing Board of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Gospel Pearls is recognized as the first hymnal for African American congregations with 'gospel' in the title. It cast a profound influence on the African American worship tradition, and became known for its blend of traditional hymnody, gospel songs, spirituals, and songs by a new generation of black composers.
The need for a new hymnal developed after a 1915 dispute over...
Hannoversches Gesangbuch (1646 onwards). The 'Hannoversches Gesangbuch' is the name given to the book published in various editions at Hannover and other north German cities, with its first title as New Ordentlich Gesang-Buch Sampt Einer nothwendingen Vorrede und Erinnerung Von dessen nützlichem Gebrauch (Hannover, 1646). Further editions appeared in Braunschweig (1648, 1652, 1653), Lüneburg (1657, 1659, 1660, 1662) and Göttingen (1676). The two major editions after 1646 were:
Das...
Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer (1870). The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer (not a 'Companion' in the usual sense of the word) was edited by Edward Henry Bickersteth* during his time as vicar of Christ Church, Hampstead, and published in 1870. It was successful enough to warrant a revised and enlarged edition in 1877, and a Third and Revised Edition with tunes in 1890.
The edition of 1870 was a words-only book, of considerable interest because of its Preface and the...
Hymni Sacri et Novi (1689). This is the title of a collection by Jean-Baptiste de Santeuil*, published in Paris and dedicated to Cardinal Bulloni, abbot-elect of Cluny. The author was 'Santolio Victorino' (de Santeuil's religious name, Santolius Victorinus). It contained 53 hymns for saints' days and the Great Festivals of the church's year, and 12 for collective and general use for martyrs, doctors, evangelists, confessors, and others. There followed a prayer and three poems, succeeded by 12...
Hymnologia Christiana (1863).
This was the title of a massive anthology of hymns compiled by Benjamin Hall Kennedy*, then Headmaster of Shrewsbury School (he used the title of his office on the title page, presumably to present his credentials). It contained 1500 hymns and 35 doxologies. It was sub-titled 'Psalms and Hymns selected and arranged in the Order of the Christian Seasons'. After Trinity Sunday there was a substantial section of about 360 hymns 'for the weeks after Trinity' (it is...
Hymns Ancient and Modern for use in the Services of the Church (1861); Appendix, 1868; Second Edition, 1875; Supplement, 1889; New and Revised Edition, 1904; Second Supplement, 1916; Standard Edition, 1922; Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised, 1950; Hymns Ancient and Modern New Standard Edition, 1983; Common Praise, 2000; Ancient and Modern: Hymns and Songs for Refreshing Worship, 2013.
[note: Sing Praise is annotated separately].
The 19th Century
During the first half of the 19th century, the...
Hymns and Poems by Elizabeth Scott
Among the collections in the Beineke Rare Book & Manuscript Library of Yale University is a manuscript volume by Elizabeth Scott*. Although a label on the spine the shows 'Hymns & Poems by Eliz. Scott', the manuscript itself shows no title. In the 19th century, John Julian*, in JJ, called it 'Yale College MS', and today it is the main constituent of GEN MSS VOL. 635.
This 'Yale College MS' consists of 90 hymns and poems (henceforth, just 'hymns')....
Hymns and Psalms (HP) (1983). The British Methodist Hymns and Psalms was sub-titled 'A Methodist and Ecumenical Hymn Book' reflecting the initial hope that this might be a hymn book project in which the United Reformed Church, the Churches of Christ, and the Wesleyan Reform Union would join. It was also a reflection of the ecumenical mood of the time, in spite of the rejection by the Church of England of possible Anglican-Methodist union in the early 1970s.
The Methodist Conference of 1979...
Hymns and Songs (1969). Hymns and Songs (1969) was a British Methodist Supplement to MHB. It contained 99 hymns and songs, five canticles and psalms, and 26 'Supplementary Tunes' to hymns in MHB. Some of the contents were traditional, because the opportunity was taken to include some omissions from MHB (such as James Montgomery*'s 'Songs of praise the angels sang'*). Others were (in the words of the preface) 'in an idiom and style which answer the demand for more contemporary expressions and...
Hymns for Prayer and Praise (1996). Hymns for Prayer and Praise was published by the Canterbury Press for the Panel of Monastic Musicians in 1996. It was intended primarily for use in monastic and religious communities, but also in churches in which daily prayer is offered with music. It acknowledges a debt to the Liber Hymnarius of the monks of Solesmes (1983), but its texts are in English, with a small selection of Latin hymns at the end of the book (501-515). The first five hundred hymns...
Hymns for Today's Church (HFTC) (1982). Hymns for Today's Church (1982) was the work of a British group of mainly Anglican evangelical authors and composers, some of whom had worked together on Psalm Praise (1973) and who by then had formed Jubilate Hymns*. Chaired by Michael Saward* (words) and David Wilson* (music), the two committees had Michael Baughen* as Consultant Editor; he was Rector of All Souls', Langham Place, London, until becoming Bishop of Chester just before the book was...
Hymns of the City (1989). This is the title of a collection edited by John J. Vincent, a Methodist minister, and published by the Urban Theology Unit at Sheffield (1989, revised 1998). It is a collection of 31 texts (32 in the second edition), attempting to give voice to Christians living in cities, providing hymns for and from small congregations in inner city and housing estate churches. The preface claims that such hymns are about people's real experience and not 'the endless praise for no...
Hymns of the Spirit (1864). This was the title of a major anthology edited by the Unitarian ministers Samuel Longfellow* and Samuel Johnson*, published at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1864. It contained 717 hymns, arranged in two principal sections: 1. Worship; 2. God and His Manifestations.
The first was divided into:
Usual Public Worship
Special Occasions.
The second was divided as follows:
God in Himself;
God in Nature;
God in the Soul;
God in the Life;
God in Humanity.
The subdivisions of...
Hymns Old & New
This is the title, with additional variants, of a series of hymnbooks published from 1986 onwards by Kevin Mayhew*, first from Leigh on Sea, Essex, and subsequently from an address near Stowmarket, Suffolk, sometimes described as Rattlesden and sometimes as Buxhall, both local villages. The title of these books is an obvious reference to the great British hymnal of the 19th century and after, Hymns Ancient and Modern*, to which these books are intended to be a modern...
Innario christiano (2000). Published in Turin, this is the third edition of the hymnbook used by Protestant churches in Italy, the Federazione delle chiese evangeliche in Italia (FCEI). It is the successor to the editions published in Florence in 1922 and in Turin in 1969. It was edited by a committee (Bruno Rostagno, Alberto Taccia, Franco Tagliero, under the chairmanship of Flavio Gatti, with Ferruccio Corsani as music editor). The introduction draws attention to particularly notable features...
Irish Church Praise (1990-2000).
When the Church of Ireland published its first edition of the Church Hymnal in 1864, with the approval and blessing of the House of Bishops, it was understood that hymns being used in public worship should always be selected from what is contained in its own official hymnbook. That was still the attitude by the time the Fourth Edition of the Church Hymnal was launched in 1960.
In some ways, however, while this latest edition was both comprehensive and...
A Collection of Psalms and Hymns (CPH, 1737) was the first Anglican hymnal published in Colonial America for use in private and public worship (Evans, no. 4207). It was compiled and published in 1737 at Charles-town [now Charleston], South Carolina, by the missionary-priest, John Wesley*, for use in his ministry to English settlers and others who attended his religious societies in Savannah and Frederica, in the Georgia colony.
The Collection is patterned after resources used by Anglican...
Kentucky Harmony, and A Supplement to Kentucky Harmony. These two books of fasola tunes were compiled and printed by Ananias Davisson* in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Davisson published Kentucky Harmony in five editions (1816, 1817, 1819, 1821, 1826) and Supplement in three (1820-1826). The success of these books and their influence on later Southern tunebook compilers stemmed largely from Davisson's insightful selection of tunes. Of the 143 tunes in Kentucky Harmony, 32 were counted by Rachel...
Lambeth Praise is the title of a hymnbook produced for the Lambeth Conference of 1998. The Lambeth Conference is a meeting every ten years of all the bishops in the world-wide Anglican Communion, normally held in the eighth year of each decade. Originally it was held in London, where Lambeth Palace is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but now it is held at Canterbury.
The book was compiled by Geoff Weaver*, the Director of Music for the 1998 Conference. It contained 296 hymns, divided...
Dseesmu Grahmata Biskapu Metodistu baznizai Latwija (Rigâ, 1924) [The Latvian Methodist Episcopal Hymnal].
The Latvian Methodist Episcopal hymnal (cited as LAMEH 1924) has some similarities with that of the Lithuanian Methodist Episcopal Hymnal (cited as LIMEH 1923, see 'Lithuanian Methodist hymnody'*). Both hymnals included a preface by George Albert Simons*, the Methodist Episcopal Superintendent of the Baltic States; both were heavily dependent on the Gesangbuch der Bischöflichen Methodisten...
Laudate (1999, 2012)
This is the title ('Praise') of a British Roman Catholic hymnbook, first published in 1999 by Decani Music. It was edited by Stephen Dean*. It was revised in 2012 in accordance with the 2010 translation of the Roman Missal, with a fifth revised printing in 2014.
It contains a first section, 'The Liturgy of the Hours', with three sections: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. These contain hymns, psalms, and antiphons by various writers, from John Mason Neale*...
Let's Praise!
The Let's Praise! series of hymnals contains two volumes; the first, published in 1988, was subtitled 'The Worship Songbook for a New Generation' and the second, published in 1994, was simply entitled Let's Praise! 2. They were published by Harper Collins under the Marshall Pickering imprint, and were produced in association with Jubilate Hymns*. The principal editor of both volumes was David Peacock*, assisted in both cases by Michael Perry*. Graham Kendrick* is named as a...
Liedboek – zingen en bidden in huis en kerk
In May 2013, exactly 40 years after the publication of the Dutch hymnal Liedboek voor de kerken, (see Dutch hymnody*) the 'Interkerkelijke Stichting voor het Kerklied' ('Interdenominational Foundation for the Hymn') published the hymnal Liedboek – zingen en bidden in huis en kerk ('Songbook – Singing and Praying in Home and Church').
Eight denominations from Holland and Belgium participated in this foundation, which – after many delays – was given the...
Lietuviška Giesmių Knyga (Kaunas, 1923) [The Lithuanian Methodist Episcopal Hymnal]. This hymnbook (cited as LIMEH 1923) was published in 1923 with Lithuanian Methodist Episcopal pastors Karlas Metas and Jonas Tautoraitis as editors. Like the other Methodist hymnbooks of the Baltic states (see 'Estonian Methodist hymnody'*and 'Latvian Methodist hymnody'*) it was heavily dependent on the Gesangbuch der Bischöflichen Methodisten Kirche in Deutschland und der Schweiz ('Hymnbook of the German...
Liturgia horarum (1971). The daily ritual celebrated by most monastic congregations today is the Liturgia Horarum, or Liturgy of the Hours, first published in 1971. The modern Liturgy is a much less demanding regimen than the Medieval Office. The office of Prime is no longer included, and the office of Matins is now an office of readings which may be observed at any time of the day. Lauds and Vespers are given the most emphasis, and Terce, Sext, None, and Compline retain their traditional...
Louange et Prière (1939). Louange et Prière ('Praise and Prayer'), for the French Protestant churches, was published in 1939. It originated with the General Assembly at Marseilles in 1929, and the Commission interecclésiastique of 1931. Delegates from the different churches – Reformed (Calvinist), Lutherans, Methodists, Moravians, and Independent - were invited to join a Souscommission, which began work in 1932.
The book was based on the preceding books of the various churches, notably the...
Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW). LBW was published by Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis in 1978. It is the service book and hymnal edition of the larger project with the same title developed by the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship. The hymnal was published in pew and accompaniment editions. Eugene L. Brand (1931- ) served as project director and Leonard R. Flachman (1936-2013) as managing editor. The compilers describe their task as working 'for an equitable balance among hymns of the...
Lyra Davidica (1708). The full title of this book is Lyra Davidica, or, A Collection of Divine Songs and Hymns, Partly New Compos'd, partly Translated from the High-German, and Latin Hymns: And set to easy and pleasant Tunes, for more General Use. A quotation from Isaiah on the title page reads 'Isa. XXIV. XVI, XIV, XV. From the [Wing] of the Earth we have heard Songs: Even Glory to the Righteous. — They shall Sing for the Majesty of the Lord; they shall Cry aloud from the Sea. — Wherefore...
Medieval Hymns and Hymnals.
This entry is by various authors. See below.
Hymns have been a part of Christian worship since the earliest times, but the use of Latin in worship appears to postdate the acceptance by Emperor Constantine of Christianity as the official Roman faith in 313. On the patristic Latin hymn repertory, see Latin hymns*.
Medieval hymns vary in their poetic structure, some being metrical, some accentual, and others are organized according to syllable count together with final...
Melodies of Praise (1957, 1985).
This the title of the hymnal of the churches known as Assembly of God churches. The denomination dates from 1914, when a group of evangelical and Pentecostal ministers meeting at Hot Springs, Arkansas, formed the 'Assemblies of God (USA)'. It is now part of a world-wide organisation, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship. Its headquarters are in Springfield, Missouri, although each church has its independent governance. Its non-negotiable 'Statement of...
The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns, and Sacred Poems ('Mercer's Cluster'). Compiled by Jesse Mercer* (1769-1841).
Mercer's Cluster, or 'The Cluster', as it is often called, is a collection of text-only verse compiled by Jesse Mercer. The collection was especially important as a source of texts for William Walker*'s Southern Harmony* and other collections in the development of Shape-note hymnody* and Baptist hymnody in America (see Baptist hymnody, USA*).
The first two editions were...
Methodist Sunday-school hymnals and songbooks, USA
A list of collections with or without music published by or for the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939), the Methodist Protestant Church (1830-1939), the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1845-1939) and the Methodist Church (1939-1968). Many collections were issued for general use, e.g. The Cokesbury Hymnal (MEC,S 1923+), The Abingdon Hymnal (MEC 1928+), Abingdon Song Book (MEC 1938+) and Upper Room Hymns (MC 1942+).
Methodist Episcopal...
Mirfield Mission Hymn Book
The Community of the Resurrection (CR) was founded in Oxford in 1892 by six priests, including Charles Gore, subsequently Bishop of Worcester, Birmingham and Oxford. It moved to Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in 1898. From the outset it combined a strong liturgical interest with a concern for the poor and needy, and it provided practical and spiritual help, notably in London. For much of the 20th century it also staffed missions in other countries, most significantly in...
Missalette is a generic term for a shortened form of a missal for congregational use, published periodically, and generally including liturgical music and hymns and songs for use at Mass. The missalette is descendent from the pre-conciliar 'hand missals', which included the Order of Mass and readings and propers in Latin and English for congregational use. Beginning in 1965, the J. S. Paluch Co., Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, published Monthly Missalette, presently Seasonal Missalette®, one of the...
Mission Praise (Mission England Praise, 1983; Mission Praise 2, 1987; Mission Praise Supplement, 1989; Mission Praise Combined, 1990; New Mission Praise, 1996; Complete Mission Praise, 1999; new edition, 2005; online edition, 2008; 25th anniversary edition, 2009; 30th anniversary edition, 2015).
In terms of sales, Mission Praise was a phenomenally successful publication in the last fifteen years of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st. Across all its editions, including Junior...
The Missouri Harmony (St Louis, Missouri: published by Allen Carden*, printed in Cincinnati, Ohio: Morgan, Lodge, & Co., 1820) was a 'Choice Collection of Psalm Tunes, Hymns, and Anthems, selected from the most eminent authors and well adapted to all Christian Churches, singing schools, and private societies. Together with an Introduction to grounds of music, the rudiments of music, and plain rules for beginners'. Carden compiled Missouri Harmony, a four shape-note collection similar in...
New Catholic Hymnal (1971). The New Catholic Hymnal was published in 1971, edited by Anthony Petti* and Geoffrey Laycock*. It bears the imprint of a church in a post-Vatican II situation; but by any standards, it was a remarkable book for its time. Not only did it publish many new texts and tunes, but it also revised texts into modern speech and syntax, an example followed a decade later by HFTC. Controversially, it was one of the first books to use the 'you' form for God, as in 'Lord, your...
The New Church Hymnal was a Protestant non-denominational book published in New York and London in 1937. The Editor was H. Augustine Smith*, assisted by three Associate Editors, Edward Shippen Barnes*, Howard Chandler Robbins*, and James Dalton Morrison.
The Foreword was a reflection of a certain optimism at the time:
The reviving interest in worship that is evident in Protestantism is consonant with a revival of spiritual living. The need of quickening through worship the inner life, the...
New English Hymnal (1986). The New English Hymnal, published in 1986, represented the most recent development in what might be described as 'the ongoing English Hymnal project'; that is to say, the succession of publications which shared and continued to disseminate the literary and musical objectives pioneered by EH in 1906 (an EH with revised music appeared in 1933). A further development took place in 1975 with the publication of English Praise, a supplement to EH.
In order to understand...
New English Praise (2006). New English Praise was a supplement to the New English Hymnal (1986), published twenty years after the parent book to take account of new hymn writing and changes in liturgical practice in the Church of England. The compilers also used the opportunity to repair some defects in NEH. The book contains fifty hymns, together with 'a significant selection of liturgical material providing, together with the existing book, a complete companion to the Common Worship...
This was the title of a Supplement to CP (1951). It was one of the first Supplements to a denominational hymnbook in Britain, and its contents were widely appreciated and used. For details, see Bernard Stanford Massey*.
A New Version of the Psalms of David, Fitted to the Tunes Used in Churches, by Nahum Tate* and Nicholas Brady* (1696) was a response to mounting criticism of Sternhold* and Hopkins*'s psalm paraphrases of 1562. It made slow headway against the Old Version*, but eventually gained an acknowledged place as an alternative psalm book for Anglican use. From about 1770 to 1830 it was probably the most widely used word book in the church, being frequently bound at the back of the Book of Common Prayer....
'New Version', Supplement (c. 1700). Shortly after the New Version (1696) came A Supplement to the New Version of Psalms. In some ways it was a more significant enterprise than its parent book, for it was not a mere substitute for the Old Version. It offered a group of new hymns and tunes, some of which gained a permanent foothold in English hymnody.
The Supplement was advertised in the 1698 Hodgkin edition of the New Version, for binding up with the volume in either size; but the earliest...
See also 'New Zealand hymnody'*. The first European Christian church communities in New Zealand to use printed hymnbooks were largely made up of immigrants from England and Scotland, who brought their hymnbooks with them. For more than a century, and in some cases to the present day, denominational hymnbooks in successively revised editions and differentiated titles were sourced overseas, at first from Britain and later from America and Australia.
Dependence on overseas publications was also...
Medieval Hymns in Germany; The Medingen Manuscripts. German hymns are only rarely noted down in full before the Lutheran reformation. Then, a major need for spreading the gospel in German led to the wide distribution of hymns via pamphlets, single-leaf prints and hymnbooks. Many of these reformation hymns were based, at least partly, on earlier material as titles such as 'Christ ist erstanden, gebessert' ('Christ is risen, in a better version') demonstrate (see 'Christ lag in Todesbanden'*)....
Nos coeurs te chantent (1979). This book ('Our hearts sing to thee') is the successor to Louange et Prière* (second edition 1945), the hymnbook of the Fédération Protestante of France, published in Paris and (appropriately) in Strasbourg. It contains the 150 psalms in metrical form, many by Clément Marot*, Théodore de Bèze* and Valentin Conrart* (1679) all except seven (5, 43, 93, 96, 133, 137, 149) revised by Roger Chapal in the version of 1970 (75 Psaumes, published at Strasbourg and Paris)...
'Old Version' (1562). This is an informal name often used, from the mid-17th century onwards, for The Whole Booke of Psalmes, by Thomas Sternhold*, John Hopkins* and others, which was first published under that title by John Day* (London, 1562). It is sometimes termed simply 'Sternhold & Hopkins'. In popularity and durability it far exceeds any other psalm or hymnbook in English history. For nearly three centuries it was the standard English version of the metrical psalms. One psalm, one...
Olney Hymns
Olney is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England. In the 18th century the principal occupation of the inhabitants was lace-making (see, for example, Eliza Westbury*). To Olney came John Newton* as curate-in-charge in 1764. In the same year he had published An Authentic Narrative of some Remarkable and Interesting Particulars in the Life of --------, a book which detailed his remarkable early life and his religious conversion. He rapidly became well known among evangelicals, and in...
Our Growing Years, a hymnal
This hymnal was published by GIA Publications, Inc., in 1998. From the title, it would appear at first glance to be a children's book; but the title comes from a hymn by David Mowbray*, 'Lord of our growing years'*. It was a book designed for elderly people in retirement homes. The title is therefore both a clever surprise and a determined attempt to assert the right of the elderly to grow in the faith: 'by singing and reading hymns, we can share spiritual insights...
Paraclete Hymnal (c.1131). Abelard's* preface to Book I of this hymnal (Hymnarius Paraclitensis) makes clear that he and Heloise* found the Cistercian* hymn repertory unsatisfactory. When Heloise's new community had been established at the Paraclete, she requested that Abelard provide her with a hymnal that would be worthy of the liturgy. Some of her objections to the traditional hymns were that they often referred to the wrong season or time of day, others displayed exaggerated or mawkish...
Partners in Praise (1979). This is the title of a collection published in 1979 by Stainer and Bell Ltd, in conjunction with the Division of Education and Youth of the British Methodist Church. An edition appeared in the USA in 1982 (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press). The explicit aim was to provide material that could be used in worship by adults and children together (the 'partners' of the title), and to use contemporary hymns and tunes. The editors were Fred Pratt Green* and Bernard...
Peculiar Honours (1998). Peculiar Honours was published in 1998 by Stainer & Bell for the Congregational Federation, marking the 250th anniversary of the death of Isaac Watts*. The title is taken from Watts' hymn, 'Jesus shall reign where'er the sun'* ('Peculiar [i.e. special] honours to our king'). The book was designed as a resource to aid reflection on hymns: 'to reflect and encourage the traditions of hymn writing within Congregationalism' (Michael Durber, Preface, p. v). Hymns were...
Piae Cantiones. This collection of carols and songs was published in Greifswald, then part of Swedish territory, in 1582. It consisted of 74 items, arranged in 11 sections:
24 Cantiones for Christmas;
9 for Passion-tide and Easter;
1 for Pentecost;
3 for Trinity Sunday;
2 for Holy Communion;
4 'Songs of Prayer';
14 on 'the Frailty and Miseries of Human Life' ('De Fragilitate et Miseriis Humanae Conditionis');
10 on School Life;
2 on Peace;
3 'Songs of History'; and
2 Carols for Spring.
The...
The Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the Use of Christian Congregations (New York, 1855).
The Plymouth Collection was edited by Henry Ward Beecher*, then minister of Plymouth Congregational Church, New York. He delegated responsibility for the tunes to John Zundel* and to his brother, the Revd Charles Beecher (1815-1900). They provided 367 tunes, set to 1374 texts. Each tune was printed with the texts beneath: sometimes, but rarely, with a single text; more often, with several texts...
Pocket Hymn Book (1787)
The history of A Pocket Hymn Book begins with a production by Robert Spence, a bookseller in York. In 1781 Spence had earlier, to John Wesley*'s disapproval, printed a much shortened version of the 1780 Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists. The 1780 book was expensive, and Spence saw an opportunity. He added 'about fifty hymns by other authors popular in evangelical circles', reduced it in size, and printed it as A Pocket Hymn Book, designed...
Praise for Today (1974). Praise for Today was published in 1974 by the Baptist Church's Psalms and Hymns Trust as a supplement to the Baptist Hymn Book (BHB,1962). It contained 104 hymns and songs arranged alphabetically. The preface noted that although only twelve years had elapsed since the publication of BHB, 'many new hymns and tunes have been written in the intervening years, and are still being written, which by their choice of contemporary themes and use of up-to-date musical idiom, have...
Praise! (2000)! A result of collaboration between FIEC (the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches), and the Grace Baptists, this hymnbook was published in 2000. Chaired by Brian Edwards, an Editorial Board of twelve co-ordinated the work of several smaller groups in selecting its 999 items. The book broke new ground in two main directions; it was the first major work from this constituency to face the issue of archaic language, eliminating what were regarded as obsolete pronouns and...
Presbyterian hymnody and hymnals, USA
The Calvinist settlers who came from Scotland, and the Scots who came by way of Ireland (Scotch-Irish) in the 17th and early 18th centuries were firstly Puritans who leaned toward either the Presbyterian or the Congregational form of church organization. New England Puritans tended more toward the Congregational model, those in Pennsylvania and New York toward the Presbyterian. Doctrinally, however, the differences were not sufficient to keep Presbyterian...
Psalmodia Germanica (1722). Psalmodia Germanica; or a Specimen of Divine Hymns, Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes and Thorough Bass was published in London in 1722. It was dedicated to the Princesses Anne, Amalia and Carolina (the first two were the daughters of the future George II, who became king in 1727; Carolina was his wife), and it consisted of 'a Translation of Psalmody, used in the Native Country of your Royal Highnesses'. A Psalmodia Germanica, Part II...
Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship (SPCK, 1852-1869).
There are a number of books with this title, or similar titles, published by different editors in the mid-19th century. They are strong evidence of the increasing importance of hymn singing in worship. The list in JJ, p. 337-8, is instructive: many of them seem to have been compiled by incumbents of parishes for the use of their congregations. Examples included Christian Psalmody; being Psalms and Hymns adapted to Public Worship by the...
Early Psalters, Hymnals, and Tunebooks
During the 17th and 18th centuries American printers tended to be non-specialist, doing whatever type of printing came their way, whether newspapers, broadsides, government documents, educational textbooks, general interest books, or religious items. Authors, compilers, booksellers, or churches contracted with a printer to provide religious materials. The printer was paid by the person or group who contracted for the publication, and the latter received...
This is the name given to the unedifying debate that arose after the publication in 1856 (Preface dated November 1855) of The Rivulet. Hymns for Heart and Voice by Thomas Toke Lynch*. It was a controversy that almost destroyed the Congregational Union that had been founded as recently as 1831.
The book contained hymns that are still sung today, such as 'Dismiss me not thy service, Lord'*, 'Gracious Spirit, dwell with me'*, and 'My faith, it is an oaken staff'*. Many of the hymns celebrate in a...
The Salisbury Hymn Book (1857). This was published in Salisbury and London, although it may have originated in a hymnbook for the local diocese of the former. It was edited by Horatio Bolton Nelson*. There was no Preface, but a letter addressed to Earl Nelson from the Bishop of Salisbury, Walter Kerr Hamilton, dated November of that year, was printed as follows: 'My dear Lord,/ I very much like the Hymn-book which you have sent me, and I quite approve of your publishing it./ I remain, Yours...
Sarum Hymnal, The (1868). This hymnbook was a successor to The Salisbury Hymn Book (1857), edited by Horatio Bolton Nelson*. In The Sarum Hymnal the editors were Earl Nelson, James Russell Woodford* and Edward Arthur Dayman*. Woodford was rector of Kempsford, Gloucestershire, and subsequently Bishop of Ely. He had previously edited The Parish Hymn Book (1863) with Hyde Wyndham Beadon* and Greville Phillimore*. Woodford included three of his own hymns:
'Lamb of God, for sinners slain'
'Not by...
Scottish Book of Praise (1876).
The Scottish Book of Praise (SBP) was published in 1876, principally for the fashionable Park Church in the West End of Glasgow. It was a decade at the beginning of which the Scottish Hymnal (SH) (Established Church of Scotland) had appeared, and the co-incidence is defended in the minister's Preface: 'When the Psalm-book and Hymnal of the Church of Scotland were promised, the Committee for a time suspended their labour, in the hope that these works would meet...
Scottish Psalter (1564).
Words
The metrical psalter was of immense importance in furthering and establishing the Reformation in Scotland. Even before the psalter of 1564, the Gude and Godlie Ballatis* of the Wedderburn brothers (see James Wedderburn* and John Wedderburn*) had brought the spirit of the continental reformers to Scotland in the 22 psalms translated into the rough vernacular. The Protestant exiles, who returned from Frankfurt, Geneva and elsewhere in the years immediately...
Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith (1875). This is the title of a substantial anthology of American Unitarian hymnody, edited by Alfred P. Putnam (Boston, 1875). Because Unitarianism was flourishing at the time, especially in the Eastern States of the USA, it contained much of permanent value by writers whose work has continued to feature in hymn books of all denominations, such as Samuel Johnson*, Samuel Longfellow*, Oliver Wendell Holmes*, Edmund Hamilton Sears*, and Sarah Elizabeth...
Songs for a Gospel People (Winfield, BC: Wood Lake Books, 1987). Songs for a Gospel People was a collection issued as a supplement to The Hymn Book (1971) of the Anglican and United Churches of Canada, under the authority of two annual conferences (Alberta and British Columbia) of the UCC. It was prepared by a team directed by R. Gerald Hobbs*, professor of church history and music at Vancouver School of Theology; with Darryl Nixon*, as music editor; and with the collaboration of publisher...
Sound of Living Waters
Sound of Living Waters was published in 1974 in London by Hodder & Stoughton and in the USA by Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1974), edited by Betty Pulkingham* and Jeanne Harper. It had a bright cover, and was ring-bound, making it one of the earliest books to break free from the traditional style and format. Sub-titled Songs of Renewal, it contained 133 items, arranged in sections, as follows:
Hallelujah!... Songs of praise and thanksgiving
Kneel and Adore…...
The Gude and Godlie Ballatis (ca. 1540). 'The Gude and Godlie Ballatis' is the title generally given to a collection of ballads and other songs, probably, from internal evidence, originating in Scotland in the 1540s. If this date is correct, it pre-dates the Scottish Psalter of 1564. However, the first extant edition, which lacks its title page, is normally dated 1567. There were further editions in 1578, 1600 and 1621, with a title page describing it as 'Ane Compendius Buik of Godly and...
The Hymnary (1872). The editors of The Hymnary (1872) were William Cooke*, Honorary Canon of Chester, and Benjamin Webb*, vicar of St Andrew's, Wells Street, London. It was published by Novello, Ewer & Co., following the decision of the Proprietors of A&M to transfer the printing of their book from Novello to William Clowes. Thus The Hymnary was born out of commercial rivalry, and its editors must have been instructed to make a more attractive book than A&M (1861) and...
The Sacred Harp
The Sacred Harp (Philadelphia: T. K. & P. G. Collins, 1844) was a 'Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Odes, and Anthems; selected from the most eminent authors, together with nearly one hundred pieces never before published…well adapted to churches of every denomination, singing schools, and private societies, with plain rules for learners', by B. F. White* and Elisha J. King*, of Hamilton, Georgia.
The Preface consists of a main paragraph dated April, 1844 followed by the...
The Worcester Collection of Sacred Harmony
The Worcester Collection first appeared in 1786, the work of compiler, printer, and publisher Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831). The first five editions reveal no author, but the prefaces are signed by Thomas. With a total of eight editions during 1786-1803, the work became 'by all standards the most popular tunebook of the day, and as such was a work for other collections to follow and emulate' (Kroeger, p. xxii). Compilers and composers represented...
Toplady's Psalms and Hymns (1776). One of the major early collections of the Evangelical Revival (cf. Madan*, Conyers*) was A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship. Collected (for the most part), and Published, By Augustus Toplady, A.B., Vicar of Broad Hembury. London, 1776. In the preface, Toplady wrote: 'God is the God of Truth, of Holiness, and of Elegance. Whoever, therefore, has the honor to compose, or to compile, any thing that may constitute a part of His...
Voices in Praise. This collection, published in 2013, is the authorised hymnal of The Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). It is a significant milestone in the history of the MCCA, as it is the first time it has issued an authorised hymnal since its foundation in 1967. Its preface indicates Caribbean Methodism's longstanding attachment to the British Methodist Hymn Book (MHB, 1933), and, in describing its long gestation, summarises the diverse influences, cultural...
GADSBY, William. b. Attleborough, Nuneaton, 3 January 1773; d. Manchester, 27 January 1844. Gadsby came from a very poor family (his father was a road-mender), and was uneducated. He had an unsettled childhood, but was converted at the age of 17. He attended an Independent chapel at Bedworth, but then joined the Strict and Particular Baptists at Coventry, and was baptised in December 1793 at the Cow Lane chapel. He continued to work, first as a ribbon weaver and then as a stocking weaver at...
Winchester Hymnal (late 10th century). The Winchester Hymnal is a type of New Hymnal (see Medieval hymns and hymnals*) that was introduced during the late 10th-century Anglo-Saxon monastic reform movement called the Benedictine Reform (see 'Rule of Benedict'*). It is one of two types of monastic hymnal known to have been in use in England after the Benedictine Reform, the other being the Canterbury Hymnal*.
The Winchester Hymnal is clearly linked to the Benedictine Reform movement because it...
World Praise (1993). Commissioned for the 1995 World Baptist Congress, World Praise gathered hymns and songs from different parts of the world, primarily outside North America and Western Europe, with the aim of encouraging churches to share each other's musical worship resources. The editors, David Peacock* and Geoff Weaver*, had the aim of encouraging the Western church to receive the music of other churches, so that we might, as the book's preface states, 'rejoice with those who rejoice and...
Worship Songs, Ancient and Modern was published as a joint venture in 1992, in Britain by the Canterbury Press, Norwich, and in the USA by Hope Publishing Company*, Carol Stream, Illinois. It was something of a surprise: A&M was 'an organisation identified so positively with the traditional world of hymnody', but it had identified a need to bridge 'the present gap between the classic hymn and the popular chorus' (Introduction).
The 100 songs are arranged alphabetically. There are some that...