A Survey of Christian Hymnody

The Harvard Dictionary of Music defines a hymn as: “A song of praise or adoration of God. In the early Christian era, the term “hymn” was applied to all songs in praise of the Lord; later it was restricted to newly written poems, as distinguished from the scriptural Psalms and canticles.”

Augustine defined a hymn as: "...the praise of God by singing. A hymn is a song embodying the praise of God. If there be merely praise but not praise of God it is not a hymn. If there be praise, and praise of God, but not sung, it is not a hymn. For it to be a hymn it is needful, therefore, for it to have three things - praise, praise of God, and these sung."

The hymn scholar Theron Brown developed this devotional approach to God, which applies both to word and song, further in 1906: "It is natural to speak of hymns as poems, for they have the same structure. But a hymn is not necessarily a poem. Imagination mates poems; devotion mates hymns. There can be poetry without emotion, but a hymn never. A poem can argue; a hymn must not. Faith, hope, and charity have to be components of a hymn". Ancient hymns have been found on stone tablets, and from all evidence, the Hebrew people surpassed all other cultures in their development. The hymns of David and Solomon and all of the Psalms are ultimately the basis for our modern hymns. The Hebrews were the only ancient nation who had a Psalter which is the forerunner of our present hymn book. The music of the Temple was in the hands of professional musicians, the tribe of priests called the Levites (II Chron. 6:12-14). Instruments such as the hasosra (or chatzotzra, a silver trumpet, used in numbers up to 120 in Solomon’s time), magrepha (organ), tzilzal (cymbals), and others apparently served chiefly for signaling, i.e., to announce the entrance of the priests, give the sign for the congregation to prostrate themselves, etc.

Silver Lyre, Ur 2800 BC Bull Lyre, Ur Egyptian Lyre

Many instruments mentioned in the Old Testament have an Egyptian ancestry, e.g., the nevel (or nebel, probably a large harp, played with the fingers), the kinnor (a lyre, played with a plectrum, similar to the Greek kithara), and the halil (probably a double-oboe). Similar to the Greek aulos, the halil was used for highly exciting and virtuoso-like music; for this reason, it was banned from use in worship in ancient Israel.

The only instrument to survive up to the present day is the shofar, a ram’s horn that also was (and still is) used as a signaling instrument.

The earliest reference in the Hebrew text shows that Jubal was the ancestor of inventing instruments, but it mentions only two instruments: kinnor (lyre) and ugav (pipe) (Gen. 4:21). Other instances of instrumental music show up in various contexts (e.g., transportation of the Ark), and they also performed to gather in specific instances (celebrations involving all of Israel, I Kings 1:40).

The Hebrew text also describes instances of groups of women with frame drums and singing to commemorate acts of God and triumph in battle (Exod. 15:20; Judg. 11:1-40; I Sam. 18:6-7). The instrumental music of the Temple fell into oblivion after its destruction in A.D. 70. However, the chanting of the Bible (believed to have been established in the 5th century B.C.) has survived in the various synagogues to the present day, representing the oldest existing type of Jewish music. Although no manuscripts of early Jewish music exist, the state of music in the late pre-Christian era has been researched and considerably clarified by A.Z. Idelsohn, who examined the musical tradition of Jewish tribes in Yemen, Babylonia, Persia, Syria, etc. An amazing similarity was found among the chants sung by these tribes, who lived in strict isolation and had no contact with one another after leaving Palestine. Therefore, these melodies probably come from before the destruction of the Temple and have been preserved for 2,000 years with only slight alterations. They are thought to approximate very closely the Jewish chant of the pre-Christian era. There is also a close resemblance between some of these melodies and certain melodies of Gregorian chant. The earliest types of Jewish ritual music are the chants used for reading the prose books of the Bible (the Pentateuch, Prophets, Ruth, etc.) called the “cantillation”, and the prayers, sung in a free vocal style of a highly virtuoso character. The first mention of singing in the Old Testament, Exodus 15, praises God for the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. The singing of the Psalms was entrusted to professional musicians. A number of psalms, however, show that the congregation occasionally participated in their performance by responding “Hallelujah” or “Amen” after each verse.

In the New Testament, the “Lucan Canticles” show the following expressions of thanksgiving and praise: Luke 1:46-55 “The Magnificat” – sung by Mary upon Elizabeth’s salutation before the birth of Jesus; Luke 1:67-79 “The Benedictus” – Zechariah’s prophecy at the naming of John the Baptist; Luke 2:13,14 “Gloria in Excelsis” – the angels’ announcement of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds; Luke 2:28-32 “Nunc Dimittus” – Simeon’s blessing at the presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

Jesus and his disciples sang hymns (Matt. 26:30) and hymns are mentioned by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16. Here, a distinction is made between psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as well as the inference that the ministry of hymns is 3-directional: upward to God; inward, for self-meditation; and outward, to evangelize and edify.

In keeping with the fact that the first church was actually comprised of “Messianic Jews”, the music of the 1st century church was undoubtedly “Jewish” plainsong (chant). Due to persecution, they met in secret and singing was limited. The earliest record of music from this period is from Byzantium (later named Constantinople and now called Istanbul). It is characterized by being monophonic, acapella, and recitative. With the Edict of Milan in 313, Christians would no longer be persecuted, leading the way to Christianity becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire. There was much activity in Syria as early Christians carried the Gospel beyond Palestine. The practice of antiphonal singing was introduced at Antioch early in the 4th century and the chanting of the psalm verses became the responsibility of the congregation. Its members were divided into two semi-choruses, one of men, one of women and children, and the groups alternated with one another in the singing of the psalm verses and combined in singing an Alleluia or, possibly a new refrain.

In c. 364, the Council at Laodicea brought up some resistance to man-made hymns and only allowed singing by priests.

Hilary, the Bishop of Poitiers (now known as France) (?-368 AD), has been called "the father of Christian hymnology". In the middle of the 4th century, he regulated the musical service, wrote plainsong (chant), and prescribed its use in his choirs. When in the East, he heard chants of man-made texts (not Scripture) being used both by some orthodox Christians as well as Arians (followers of Arius) who were spreading heresies denying the deity of Christ in the form of hymns set to catchy drinking songs. Hilary and John Chrysostom wrote their own chants to combat this heresy and spread the true faith.

Very soon after, Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), known as “the father of Latin hymnody”, organized the work of Hilary and others and developed what has become known as “Ambrosian chant". He was a Roman citizen, son of a Roman prefect, and at 34 was appointed governor of northern Italy. Soon after, in 374 he became bishop of Milan. He instituted the singing of “hymns and psalms after the manner of the Eastern churches, to keep the people from being altogether worn out with anxiety and want of sleep.”

His development of plainsong arranged for a more impressive effect using four scales, and more metrical, strophic meters. His purpose in hymns was to combat heresy as well as provide comfort and strength to the congregation. Over the next few centuries, not much happened, in fact, the use of music was on a decline. In 563 the Council of Braga (Spain) mandated Scripture singing only.

Music in worship rebounded when Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) founded a school of sacred melody, added four new scales, and established the distinctive character of “Gregorian chant” which became the basis of cathedral music for the next 1,000 years. The melodies of a few of our present-day hymns, e.g., “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (15th Cent. French) and “Of The Father’s Love Begotten” (11th Cent. Sanctus Trope) are actual plainsong melodies.

Although it has been popular to attribute many of the chants that were used to Gregory, his role is more accurately that of collector and cataloguer, gathering them into a recognized repertoire. In 613 the Council of Toledo restored hymnody by preserving the Latin hymns of Ambrose and his followers.

The influence of the “Gregorian” chant was so strong that it soon became the accepted pattern for Western churches. Before the end of the 7th century, it had reached England and was taken from England to Germany early in the 8th century. During the reign of Charlemagne, the Roman church prospered, and its influence increased. Churches, schools, convents, and monasteries were established throughout Europe, and the practice of Christian song was an integral part of this expansion.

During the time known as the Middle (Dark) Ages (450-1450), Theodulph of Orleans penned "All Glory Laud and Honour" while in prison in 821, Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) gave us the texts to “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee” and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded”, and Francis of Assisi wrote "All Creatures of Our God and King" on a sweltering summer day in 1225.

Changes abounded during these ten centuries as music became increasingly complex. During the long period of time between the seventh and sixteenth centuries, many very gradual changes occurred in the development of Western music;

(1) composition slowly replaced improvisation as a way of creating musical works,

(2) the invention of musical notation made it possible to write down music along with directions that could be learned from the score,

(3) music began to be more structured and subject to principles of order, eg., the development of modes (keys), scales, rules of rhythm, etc., and

(4) the most important and dramatic change to develop was the advent of polyphony. The first clear description of music in more than one voice, Musica enchiriadis (“Handbook of Music”), dated around the end of the ninth century, refers to polyphony as something already being done - not something new. Along with these developments during this thousand years came an increasing secularization of music.

By the sixteenth century, long after the introduction of harmony, the plainsong form of the hymn had almost become forgotten. The period from about 1450 to 1600 in the history of music is now generally known as the “Renaissance”. This “rebirth” of the human spirit was also the start of the movement known as humanism. The trend shifted towards secular subject matter with an emphasis on artists wanting their works to be acceptable to men as well as acceptable to God. More music was composed during this time than any previous age. Although music in the Renaissance became more autonomous in the sense that composers felt a freedom to create works that should be aesthetically satisfying, the largest use was again in the church and it once again became a center of musical activity. Strict professional standards were becoming more widely accepted. By this time, the authenticity of many texts had been lost or become confused and artistic standards of composition and performance were questionable.

The rise of printing with Johann Gutenberg’s movable type in 1440 was applied to music notation in 1473. This enabled a more plentiful supply of music, more accurate copies, and the fact that more works could be preserved for later generations. The period of time between 1450 and 1550 also saw a great increase in instrumental music (although this could be an illusion due to the fact that more music was starting to be written down) as well as the development of European national styles. In 1562 the Council of Trent was called upon to reform the degenerating standards and possibly ban polyphonic music. One of the experts who was consulted was the great Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. (“The Strife is O’er”) A master of polyphony as well as the older plainsong, he proposed applying the new polyphony to grace the older modes of chant. His music was universally recognized as a model of clarity and balance, and theorists of the time constantly pointed to his pieces to illustrate their points. While he did write some secular madrigals, later in his life he renounced the (saying that he “blushed and grieved” over them) and began writing “spiritual madrigals” – pieces in the lighter style of the madrigal without the taint of a secular text. His exceptional talents changed not only church music, but also influenced all the new composers of his age. Palestrina died in 1594, but his masses and his motets are still sung today. Although he was a loyal Roman Catholic, he did much to influence the Protestant Reformation in the development of the hymn.

A contemporary of Palestrina’s in England was Thomas Tallis (1505- 1585) who developed the Anglican school of church music. Called the "father of English Cathedral Music", Queen Elizabeth I gave him her blessing in allowing congregational singing within the church.

Many of the early Anabaptists were hymn writers, about 130 being identifiable by name. Among them were Hans Hut (German) and Menno Simons (Dutch) (“Foundation-Book”). Many of the hymns of these writers were included in the several German and Dutch Anabaptist hymnals printed around 1560-1565, but many others circulated in manuscript form. The unusual number of Anabaptist hymn writers and hymns suggests that these hymns were much used among the Anabaptists for private personal and family reading and singing as well as in the congregations, although of course in times of worst persecution singing was little heard because of the danger. But the Anabaptists did sing; the hymns were even assigned tunes in the hymnals. In 1596 it was reported of Peter Ehrenpreis of Urbach that he had won much favor with the people by his manner of life and "with his Anabaptist songs which he is accustomed to sing in his vineyards and elsewhere" (TA: Württemberg, 687). The hymns were also a factor in Anabaptist evangelism, both read and sung. Christian Neff says (ML II, 86), "A flood of religious songs poured over the young brotherhood like a vivifying and refreshing stream. The songs became the strongest attractive force for the brotherhood. They sang themselves into the hearts of many, clothed in popular tunes. They were mostly martyr songs, which breathed an atmosphere of readiness to die and a touching depth of faith. And those that did not report on martyr steadfastness admonished the listener to a devout faith, which was to prove itself in love. Sanctification and its demonstration in life and death is their glorious content." Von Liliencron says (pp. 4-5), "Love is the great and inexhaustible theme of their hymnody; for love is the sole distinguishing mark of the children of God .... For the brethren love is the 'chief sum' of their being... So these hymns immerse themselves in the concept of the love which is all in all, which takes up its cross with joy, which gives everything in the service of God and the neighbor, which bears all things, and out of which flows all humility and meekness, mercy, and peace." The Anabaptist hymns seldom have a dominant doctrinal character, although doctrine is not absent. Sebastian Franck's characterization of Anabaptist doctrine as teaching nothing but "faith, love, and the cross" (Chronica, 1531) may well be applied to their hymns.

Before the production of complete hymnals some Anabaptist hymns were published as single numbers or small pamphlets. Apart from manuscript collections, real Anabaptist hymnals did not appear until after the middle of the 16th century. Then five hymnals appeared at almost the same time, two German and three Dutch. The Dutch came first, one a martyr hymnal, the “Lietboeken van den Offer des Heeren” with 25 hymns, a collection of spiritual songs, “Veelderhande Liedekens”, with 257 hymns; and “Een nieu Liedenboeck” (1562) with 289 hymns.

The first German hymn book appeared at Wittenberg in 1524. German Anabaptists also had an outspoken martyr hymnal, the Ausbund, 1st edition in 1564 with 53 hymns, first full edition in 1583 with 130 hymns, 3rd edition in 1622 and nine additional reprints in Europe to 1838, as well as many in America beginning with 1742. This was the official Swiss Brethren hymnal, and was used in Switzerland and South Germany until at least 1750-1830 in most places, and until about 1900 among some of the Amish congregations in France. It is still used and reprinted by 65,000 Amish members in the United States and Canada.

The Reformation was causing a rethinking of church music, especially in Germany. There was a reaction against the formal and stylized masses and motets of Palestrina. Erasmus (1469?-1536) (the “tolerant” scholar who contributed to the development of the Reform but stayed loyal to the RC church) said of the music of his day, “modern church music is so constructed that the congregation cannot hear one distinct word”. The Reformers generally felt that the music should be the servant of the Word, so they wanted it written more simply.

Martin Luther (1483- 1546) believed that the congregation should take an active role in the worship service. The most distinctive and important musical contribution of Luther was the strophic congregational hymn called in German a Choral or Kirchenlied (church song) and in English a chorale. An example of this is Ein’ feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress), first printed in 1529. Luther developed many hymns based on popular tunes of the people - these are known as contrafacta (or parodies). Examples of these are “Away In A Manger” and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” (formerly “My Peace of Mind is Shattered [by a tender maiden’s charms]” by Hans Hassler) set in about 1600. Altogether, Martin Luther wrote thirty-seven hymns. Another composer that worked closely with Luther was Johann Walther. Elsewhere during the reformation, Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Protestant reformer (1484-1531), did not want music to be a part of worship at all.

John Calvin (1509-1564) recognized the power of music and only permitted simple monophonic acapella singing with Scripture for lyrics avoiding the instrumentation associated with the world. He stated that it would make a person have a proud heart to hear the beauty of his own voice mixed with three others. With this in mind, the (French) Geneva Psalter was published in 1562.

John Knox (1505- 1572) published the first Scottish Psalter in 1564 which subsequently came out in various later editions. The Baroque period (1600–1750) ushered in many notable composers of sacred music such as (in Germany) J.S. Bach (1685-1750), and (in England) G.F. Handel (1685-1759), W. Byrd (1543-1623), and H. Purcell (1658-95). Use of the organ flourished and the growing practice of congregational singing of the chorales with organ accompaniment grew in this period. In 1700, Erdmann Neumeister (1671- 1756) introduced a new kind of sacred poetry for musical setting, in a form he designated by the Italian term cantata. J.S. Bach was the greatest master of the church cantata with over 200 to his credit. Bach often wrote the initials JJ and SDG on his scores. These were abbreviations for two Latin phrases: JJ stands for Jesu juva, which means "Help, o Jesus". (Juva is the singular imperative form of juvare, "to help", so it is a request for help ("help me"). Jesu is the "vocative form" of Jesus, meaning "O Jesus", so "Help me, O Jesus" might be the best translation.) Bach would write this near the beginnings of works. SDG stands for Soli Deo Gloria, which means "To God alone (be) (the) Glory." Bach would often write this at the end of a composition.

Among the forms of church music in Lutheran Germany was the historia (a musical setting of Biblical narrative), the most important type of which was the Passion (depicting the suffering and death of Christ). Examples of this would be Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” and “St. John Passion”.

Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) was born in Germany into aristocracy and wealth and studied at the University of Wittenberg. He inherited an estate in Saxony and permitted a group of religious refugees called the Moravian Brethren to settle there. By 1732, this Moravian settlement grew to over 600 and became the Moravian Church, led by Zinzendorf himself. The Moravians began sending out missionaries in 1732. In 1735, a group went to Pennsylvania. They arrived on Christmas Day, 1741 and, inspired by their Christmas arrival, named the new settlement Bethlehem. Zinzendorf loved music and wrote about 2000 texts in his lifetime including “Jesus, Thy Blood And Righteousness”.

In all of music history after around 1750, great church music became scarcer and the few “religious” works of the great composers became music for the concert hall rather than church. Some of these are Mozart’s Requiem (1791), Beethoven’s Missa solemnis (1823), Rossini’s Stabat mater (1832), Verdi’s Requiem (1874), Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms (1930), L. Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” (1965), and John Rutter’s “Gloria” (1975).

The introduction of hymns to England occurred at the very time Pope Gregory was revising the chant of Ambrose. Gregory had sent Augustine to convert Ethelbert the king of Kent and overlord of the lands south of the Humber. Legend has it that when Augustine first met Ethelbert in 597 he approached the king - singing. In 1562, Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins published a collection of metrical psalmody, the “Whole Book of Psalms” which became the authoritative church text for more than a century.

In 1621, Thomas Ravenscroft revised the “Whole Book of Psalms” adding new hymn tunes. However, the English hymn of the 1600’s paled musically by comparison to the German chorale melodies and the Geneva Psalter.

One factor contributing to this was the illiteracy of most congregations; this required each hymn to be “lined-out”; a deacon sang one line of the hymn at a time and waited while the congregation sang it after him before singing the second line, etc. The result was that by 1725 many congregations knew fewer than ten tunes and sang most of the hymns to those tunes.

The hymn “Let Us With A Gladsome Mind” is from Psalm 136 and was written at the age of fifteen by John Milton (1608-1674) years before he wrote “Paradise Lost”.

(Note: Hymns written by authors such as Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley can be set to different tunes; Charles Wesley's famous hymn "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" has been set to many different tunes depending on the tradition of the congregation. Hymn tunes are always referred to by their title, which may refer to the place they were written such as "Abbot's Leigh"; the hymn with which they are associated; a saint, as in "St. Agnes"; or even a lady friend, such as “St. Gertrude” (Onward Christian Soldiers), and on rare occasions even by the name of the composer.) In the Baroque period in England, the overwhelming influence of George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) on church music actually discouraged other originality. Along with the cantata grew the oratorio, the most popular of which being Handel’s “Messiah” (1741), which greatly influenced some of the greatest composers to follow him for centuries. (“Joy To The World”, “Thine Be The Glory”) F. J. Haydn (German 18th century) openly acknowledged this influence of Handel’s Messiah when he penned his own oratorio, “Die Schoepfung” (Creation).

Ludwig von Beethoven revered Handel to the point of rewriting the entire score of “Messiah” so that he might learn something from this great master. The man who can be called “the father of English hymns” is Isaac Watts (1674-1748). His first hymnal appeared in 1707. Samuel Johnson reluctantly mentioned Watts in his "Lives and Poets" writing, "the little bachelor has only done better what no man had done well". Isaac Watts was also an amazing preacher. From the Lord Mayor down, they rarely missed a sermon by Watts at his Mark Lane Church. He was small (only five feet tall), sickly, and had suffered from smallpox. In spite of all his ailments, he wrote over 600 hymns, the greatest being "O God Our Help in Ages Past, Our Hope For Years To Come". It was written in 1714 shortly before the death of Queen Anne and at a time of extreme national anxiety about the succession to the throne. The tune “St. Anne” first appeared in 1708 and was probably composed by Dr. William Croft, organist of Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey. Sung by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during services aboard a British warship off Newfoundland in 1941, this powerful hymn has long served as a beacon of hope to a world in strife.

“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” was written by William Williams (1717-1791), who was to the Welsh what Isaac Watts was to the English. When young William gave his heart and life to Christ, he served two parishes in the Anglican Church for a time, but never was comfortable with the established, ritualistic church. For the next 43 years, he traveled on horseback 95,500 miles preaching anywhere to anyone who would listen. Once, he preached to a congregation of eighty thousand. He was weathered by the sun, soaked by rain, chilled by snow, and beaten by mobs. Though he suffered many hardships, he was affectionately known as the "sweet singer of Wales." Throughout Wales he was respected as a persuasive preacher, yet it is said that the chief source of his influence was his over 800 hymns, most of which have never been translated from Welsh. 1. Learn the tune. 2. Sing them as they are printed. 3. Sing all. “If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.” 4. Sing lustily and with good courage. 5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl. 6. Sing in time. Do not run before or stay behind. 7. Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually.

Charles not only wrote hymns, but preached in mining camps and prisons from Scotland to Wales. Charles' method of hymn writing was constant. Many were written on the back of a horse carrying him across the countryside. Like Williams and Wesley, many “circuit rider” preachers, as they were called, would push through such bad weather it became a common saying, "Nobody out but the crows and the Methodists." His most famous hymns are "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing", "Jesus Lover of My Soul", "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", and “And Can It Be”.

“O For A Closer Walk With God”, written on Dec. 9, 1769, is the work of William Cowper (1731-1800) (pronounced “Cooper”) who produced very fine Christian verse even though he spent a life of mental torment. His father was the chaplain to King George II. At the age of 21, he suffered bouts of melancholy and was eventually committed to an asylum in 1760.

Cowper befriended John Newton (1725-1807), who having also lived a hard life, saved Cowper from several suicide attempts. Newton’s mother died when he was 7 and at age 11 he went to sea with his father as a slave trader and grew to be a very godless young man. He was flogged as a deserter from the navy and for over a year lived himself as a slave in Africa. Reading Thomas a Kempis’ “The Imitation of Christ” and experiencing one stormy night at sea, steering a waterlogged ship in the face of death, became the events leading to his conversion at the age of 23. He later studied Hebrew & Greek and became ordained. His hymns include “Amazing Grace” and “May The Grace Of Christ My Savior”. In 1779, he and his friend, William Cowper, co-published a hymn book, the Olney Hymns. He wrote his own epitaph, as follows: JOHN NEWTON, Clerk Once an infidel and libertine A servant of slaves in Africa, Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Gospel which he had long laboured to destroy. He ministered, Near sixteen years in Olney, in Bucks, And twenty-eight years in this Church.

Other significant English tune books of the 18th century were Lyra Davidica (1708), John Arnold’s The Compleat Psalmodist (1741), John Wesley’s A Collection of Tunes…sung at the Foundery (1742), and Martin Madan’s A Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1769). There was some writing for three or four parts in these books, but basically they were intended for unison singing by the congregation. From the earliest printing until the mid-19th century, tune books contained either no text at all or just the first stanza; singers had to use a separate hymnal for the words.

In 1815, William Gardiner (1769-1853) published a collection of hymns called, “Sacred Melodies”. Having traveled extensively in his lifetime and being acquainted with several great musicians including, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, he sought, in this collection, to familiarize the people of England with the melodies of the great composers by wedding them to hymn texts.

The Oxford Movement (the high church movement of the early and mid 19th century) gave a boost to the writing and use of hymns. Composers such as John B. Dykes (“Holy, Holy, Holy (NICAEA)”, “Eternal Father Strong To Save”, “Lead Kindly Light”) in the mid-19th century started writing hymn tunes with four-part harmony. These were introduced in Hymns Ancient and Modern (several editions spanning 1861-1950) edited by Sir Henry Baker (1821-77), vicar of Monkland, near Leominster, who contributed many original hymns and translations from the Latin. It was a collection of 273 hymns, the most famous hymnal in the world, designed to correlate with the Book of Common Prayer. Also included were Wm. Monk’s (1823-1889) DIX (For The Beauty of the Earth) and Jos. Barnby’s (1838-1896) LAUDES DOMINI (When Morning Guilds The Skies). It changed the character of hymn singing to what we know today, adopting a style of printing the tunes and texts together. Its’ contents represent the mainstream of English hymnody throughout the rest of the 19th & into the 20th centuries.

“ O Worship the King, All Glorious Above” is the work of Sir Robert Grant (1785-1838) a British lawyer. In 1818 he became a Member of Parliament, Privy Councilor in 1831, Judge Advocate General in 1832, and was knighted in 1834. He then returned to India to be Governor of Bombay. This is one of the few hymns that have survived from a group of Victorian and Edwardian Members of Parliament who were also hymn writers.

(Note: The hymn tune always follows the lead of the words of the hymn. The composer never knows where his or her tune will show up. Mendelssohn, Vaughan Williams, Beethoven, Schubert and Bach have all had their melodies show up as hymn tunes; examples are “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” by Henry van Dyke set to Beethoven’s tune “Ode To Joy” from his “Ninth Symphony”; “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” by John Newton to a melody by F. J. Haydn, and Vaughan Williams’ "For All the Saints", written in 1854. In other instances, hymn tunes such as "Old 100th" or "Old 124" are named after the Psalm to whose meter the melody was originally attached.)

In America, the Puritans brought Psalm tunes from England, published them in 1640, printing 1700 copies of the first book printed in the colonies, the Bay Psalm Book, supervised by Richard Mather.

This was followed by James Lyon’s Urania (1761), Francis Hopkinson’s A Collection of the best Psalm Tunes… to which are added some Hymns and Anthems; the greater part of them never before printed in America (1764; on plates engraved by Paul Revere).

The Anglican Church was the established church in the new American colonies but with the outbreak of the Revolution, bringing about the complete separation of church and state, the disestablishment of the Anglican Church ended its power of taxation, leaving the church in poverty. Peter Pelham was organist for 43 years at the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, VA, now completely restored and part of the Episcopal Diocese of S. Virginia.

In the South, the Negro spiritual became an affirmation of faith and hope with the black slaves. Slavery was an important issue facing the church in the South and most slaves were allowed to meet for Christian services. Rural slaves used to stay after the regular worship services, in churches or in plantation “praise houses”, for singing and dancing. Some also had meetings in secret places (“camp meetings” or “bush meetings”), because of their need to meet with one another and share their joys, pains and hopes.

In some rural meetings, thousands of slaves gathered, listened to itinerant preachers and sang spirituals for hours. In the late 1700s, they sang the precursors of spirituals, which were called “corn ditties”. (“Swing Low Sweet Chariot“, “Were You There”, “Let Us Break Bread Together”, Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho”, “Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen”, “When The Saints Go Marching In”, “Go Tell It On The Mountain”, “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”, “There Is A Balm In Gilead”, “Lord, I Want To Be A Christian”, ‘Lonesome Valley”, “Amen”)

Many lyrics had double meanings comparing spiritual with earthly, for example they would refer to “my home” or “Sweet Canaan, the Promised Land”. The “country” was on the northern side of the Ohio River that they called “Jordan”.

Some religious sects, such as the Ephrata Cloister Community and the Shakers also produced original music, which, however, failed to have lasting influence on American hymnody or music in general. One Shaker melody, “Simple Gifts”, became well-known when it was used by the composer Aaron Copland in his ballet Appalachian Spring (1944).

As America became a melting pot of immigrants, many hymn tunes of Appalachia found their roots in Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folk tunes. (“There Is A Fountain” (text by Wm. Cowper), “Be Thou My Vision”) The specific genre of American folk idiom to develop out of “white spirituals” of sorts became known as “Southern Gospel” music. This has been (and still is) epitomized by the (4-part male) “Gospel Quartet” and the (mixed voice) “family singers”. (“The Stamps Quartet”, “The Cathedral Quartet”, “The Florida Boys”, “The Speer Family”, “The Happy Goodman Family”)

The Sacred Harp, an oblong songbook first published in 1844 by B.F. White and E. J. King contained music printed in “patent notes” (fasola notation), where the shape of the note head indicates the syllables FA , SOL , LA , and MI . The repertory includes psalm tunes, fuging tunes, odes and anthems by some of the first American composers (1770-1810), and also settings of folk songs and revival hymns (1810-1860). (“Wondrous Love”, “Come, All Christians, Be Committed”) The tune “New Britain” (originally a plantation melody entitled "Loving Lambs") was one of the first “shape-note” tunes from another collection “Virginia Harmony” (1831) to start appearing in “standard” hymnals in around 1955. (It was actually the Billy Graham crusades in the 1950’s that helped release that tune from the Tennessee valleys.)

In 1850, Joseph Funk (1778-1862), a Mennonite from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, brought out the first of 20 editions of “Genuine Church Music”, later renamed “Harmonia Sacra”. The Mennonite tradition still holds to acapella singing in worship today. One leading composer of hymn tunes in New England was Lowell Mason (1792-1872), writing over 1600 religious works (“My Faith Looks Up To Thee”, “Safely Through Another Week”,”O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing”). Working as a bank clerk most of his life, he pursued music on the side. His early work was repeatedly rejected by publishers until the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston finally, in 1821, accepted a collection of psalm tunes, based on Wm. Gardiner's "Sacred Melodies," (compiling of works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven) and adding to them tunes of his own composition. This led to a career change, becoming music director in various churches. He excelled to the point of eventually receiving a doctorate in music from Yale. He is known as both the “father of public school music” and “the father of American church music”. He was the first music teacher in an American public school in Boston, MA; in 1833 he founded the Boston Academy of Music, and in 1838 he became superintendent for the Boston school system. He pioneered the training of choirs, congregations and leaders in American churches. His “Carmina Sacra” collection (with its’ subsequent 13 editions from 1841-1860) sold more than 600,000 copies.

By 1800 more than 130 hymn collections had been published along the east coast of the US.

In 1800, major revivals that eventually reached into almost every corner of the land began at opposite ends of the country; called the “Second Great Awakening” in New England and the “Great Revival” in Kentucky. The most prominent innovation produced by the Kentucky revivals was known as the “camp meeting”. These revivals were organized by Presbyterian ministers, who modeled them after the extended outdoor "communion seasons," used by the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, which frequently produced emotional, demonstrative displays of religious conviction. In Kentucky, the pioneers loaded their families and provisions into their wagons and drove to the Presbyterian meetings, where they pitched tents and settled in for several days. When assembled in a field or at the edge of a forest for a long meeting, they transformed the site into a camp meeting. The revivals that swept the Kentucky camp meetings were so intense and created such gusts of emotion that their original sponsors, the Presbyterians, as well the Baptists, soon repudiated them. The Methodists, however, adopted and eventually domesticated camp meetings and introduced them into the eastern United States, where for decades they were one of the evangelical signatures of the denomination.

The Methodist circuit rider in America, who ministered to the most remote, inhospitable parts of the country, was one of the most familiar symbols of the "evangelical empire" in the United States. The easy-to-sing & learn “gospel song” was born out of the Revival and Camp Meeting movements of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Evangelistic teams, pioneered by D.L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908), were instrumental in spreading these. As a young man, Ira Sankey served in the Civil War. He often helped the un- it chaplain and led his fellow soldiers in hymn singing. After the war, he joined the IRS, and also worked with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). He became well known as a Gospel singer, and eventually came to the attention of evangelist Dwight L. Moody. The two men met at a YMCA convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, in June, 1870. Some months later, Sankey attended his first evangelistic meeting with Moody, and resigned from government service shortly thereafter. In October 1871, Sankey and Moody were in the middle of a revival meeting when the Great Chicago Fire began. The two men barely escaped the conflagration with their lives. Sankey ended up watching the city burn from a rowboat far out on Lake Michigan. Sankey composed about 1,200 songs in his lifetime. Some of his hymns include, “Blessed Redeemer”, “Faith Is The Victory”, “Under His Wings”, “A Shelter In The Time Of Storm”, and “There’ll Be No Dark Valley”. From 1895 to 1908, he was president of the Big- low and Main publishing company. He went blind from glaucoma the last five years of his life, and must have found a kindred spirit in his friend and music making partner, Fanny Crosby. It had been said that “Sankey’s hymns while written to religious words, were made attractive by many secular contrivances… a circus quickstep, a Negro sentimental balled, a college chorus, and a hymn all in one…”

Phillip P. Bliss (1838-1876) from Clearfield Co. PA, a self-taught musician from a poor family, wrote hundreds of hymns, only a few of which are remembered today. (“My Redeemer”, “Jesus Loves Even Me”, “Halleluiah! What A Savior”, “Dare To Be A Daniel”, “Whosoever Will”, “Wonderful Words Of Life”, “Almost Persuaded”, “By And By”, “The Light Of The World Is Jesus”) In 1869, he teamed up with D.L. Moody and worked with him for many years. Some of Bliss’s hymns, such as “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning”, were based on Moody’s sermon illustrations.

Daniel Webster Whittle (1840-1901) was named after American politician Daniel Webster. Whittle reached the rank of major in the American Civil War, and for the rest of his life was known as “Major” Whittle. During the war, Whittle lost his right arm, and ended up in a prisoner of war camp. Recovering from his wounds in the hospital, he looked for something to read, and found a New Testament. Though its words resonated with him, he was still not ready to accept Christ. Shortly after, a hospital orderly woke him and said a dying prisoner wanted someone to pray with him. Whittle de- murred, but the orderly said, “But I thought you were a Christian; I have seen you reading your Bible.” Whittle then agreed to go. He recorded what took place at the dying youth’s bed side: “I dropped on my knees and held the boy’s hand in mine. In a few broken words I confessed my sins and asked Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that He did forgive me. I then prayed earnestly for the boy. He became quiet and pressed my hand as I prayed and pleaded God’s promises. When I arose from my knees, he was dead. A look of peace had come over his trou- bled face, and I cannot but believe that God, who used him to bring me to the Savior, used me to lead him to trust Christ’s precious blood and find pardon. I hope to meet him in heaven.” After the war, Whittle became treasurer of the Elgin Watch Company in Chicago, Illinois. In less than 10 years, though, he entered the evangelism field. During this period, he worked with musicians Phillip Bliss and James McGranahan. His daughter May Moody also wrote music for some of his lyrics. His hymns include “The Banner of the Cross”, “Christ Liveth in Me”, “The Crowning Day”, “I Know Whom I Have Believed”, “Moment by Moment”, and “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing”.

James McGranahan (1840-1907) had the rare gift as an extremely talented singer with a promising career in opera. Phillip Bliss wrote a letter to him to encourage him to use his talent for the Lord; to “stop whetting the scythe and strike into the grain to reap for the Master”. A week later, due to Bliss and his wife being killed in a train accident, McGranahan met Major Whittle and dedicated his life to Christian service. He wrote the tunes to “The Banner of the Cross”, “Christ Returneth”, “The Crowning Day”, “My Redeemer”, “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing”, and the text and tune to “Go Ye into All the World”.

Robert Lowry (1826-1899) attended the University at Lewisburg (later renamed Bucknell University), where he became a professor of literature. He was ordained as a Baptist minister and pastored at West Chester, Pennsylvania; Bloomingdale Baptist Church, New York City; Hanson Place Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York; First Baptist Church, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; and Park Avenue Baptist Church, Plainfield, New Jersey. He also worked as a music editor at the Biglow Publishing Company. He wrote about 500 Gospel tunes including “Low In The Grave He Lay”, “Nothing But The Blood”, and “Shall We Gather At The River”.

“One phenomenon connected with American congregational song of the latter part of the 19 th century was the gospel song. Many of its texts were closely connected with the doctrine of salvation by grace, and their content sometimes seems to be an irritatingly priggish assumption of Christian superiority. Both as literature and as music they plumbed the depths of commonness, but nevertheless their influence extended beyond the confines of the revival meeting into the regular services of the church. The tunes were pallid imitations of popular songs, always using a refrain that in practice was frequently sung several times between stanzas.” - Oxford Dictionary of Music

Of course, the English hymn of this time was still the traditional strophic verse, much more respected by the musicologists than the gospel song. One very talented English hymnist of this period who is prominent in our hymnals was the daughter of a hymnist, William Havergal, and also baptized by a hymnist, John Cawood. Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) was a bright but short lived light in English hymnody. She was reading by age four, and began writing verse at age seven. She learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and memorized the Psalms, the book of Isaiah, and most of the New Testament. Her works include “Take My Life And Let It Be”, “God Will Take Care of You”, “I Am Trusting Thee”, “I Gave My Life For Thee”, “Like A River Glorious”, “True Hearted Wholehearted”, and “Who Is On The Lord’s Side?”. On her tombstone was inscribed the Scripture verse she claimed as her own: “The blood of Je- sus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Although Frances J. “Fanny” Crosby (1820-1915) was blinded by an incompetent doctor when she was six weeks old, she was unquestionably the most prolific hymnist of all time, writing around 9,000 hymns. During her lifetime she was one of the best known women in America. (“All The Way My Savior Leads Me”, “Blessed Assurance”, “He Hideth My Soul”, “Blessed Redeemer”, “Near The Cross”, “Redeemed, How I Love To Proclaim It”, “Rescue The Perishing”, Tell Me The Story Of Jesus”, “To God Be The Glory”) About her blindness she said, “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”

Many of the tunes to Fanny Crosby’s hymns were written by her close friend, Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908), who also wrote the tune to “The Cleansing Wave”. Phoebe’s mother, Phoebe W. Palmer, who was a well known 19th Century “evangelist” involved with the “holiness movement”, wrote the words. Phoebe Knapp and Fanny Crosby were both members of the John Street Methodist Church in New York City.

Julia Ward Howe was visiting a Union Army camp along the Potomac River in 1861 and was so taken with the soldiers singing “John Brown’s Body” that the very next day she penned “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” to that tune. She said, “I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.” During the Civil War, many believers were postmillennial in their eschatology, believing that they were at that time ushering in God’s kingdom on earth and this hymn was their postmillennial “theme song”!

“Onward Christian Soldiers” by Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) was written as a hymn in 1864 for children to march from town to town during school festivities. The hymn found the perfect tune, St. Gertrude, by Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame). Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932) wrote many hymns and even more hymn tunes (“Since Jesus Came Into My Heart”, “As A Volunteer”, “Brighten The Corner Where You Are”). “Glory For Me” was “inspired” by an expression of Ed Card, Superintendent of the Sunshine Mission in St. Louis, who ended all of his prayers with “… and that will be glory for me!”

Gabriel wrote the tune to “All Hail To Thee, Immanuel”, the text of which was written by D. R. Van Sickle in 1910. Van Sickle, a blatant non-believer, wrote the song to prove that one doesn’t have to be a Christian to write a Christian song. However, God in His great patience turned the tables on him. Years later, Van Sickle was sitting in a service where a choir sang his hymn. He came under conviction and gave his heart to Christ!

Homer Rodeheaver (1880-1955) joined the evangelistic team of Billy Sunday in 1909. (“Sail On”, “Then Jesus Came”) He continued to popularize the “gospel song” in the crusades of 1909-1935. Sunday's famous ten-week New York Campaign in 1917 saw over 98,000 people come forward to accept Christ and a love offering of over $100,000 which he gave to the Red Cross and other World War I charities. These early 20th century singers emphasized even more the informality of the gospel meetings through the influence of ragtime and early jazz influences, Rodeheaver sometimes playing the trombone in meetings as well as singing. The Rodeheaver Co. was the leading publisher of gospel songs at this time.

C. (Charles) Austin Miles (1868-1946) attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1892, he left his short career as a pharmacist and wrote his first gospel song. Some of his familiar gospel songs are “A New Name in Glory”, “Dwelling in Beulah Land”, “If Jesus Goes With Me”, “In The Garden”, and “Still Sweeter Every Day”. He once said, “It is as a writer of gospel songs I am proud to be known, for in that way I may be of the most use to my Master, whom I serve willingly although not as efficiently as is my desire.”

Haldor Lillenas (1885-1959) emigrated from Norway to America as a child. He attended Deets Pacific Bible College in Los Angeles, California (later renamed to Pasadena College); studied music at the Siegel-Myers School of Music in Chicago, Il- linois; and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Olivet Naza- rene College. In 1924, he founded the Lillenas Music Company (later taken over by the Nazarene Publishing Company), and worked as an editor there for 20 years. Haldor married Bertha Mae Wilson, a songwriter like himself. He and Bertha were elders in the Church of the Nazarene. Hal- dor traveled as an evangelist, and then pastored several churches from 1914-1924. In his lifetime, he wrote some 4,000 hymns, and supplied songs for many evangelists. His well known songs include “Wonderful Peace”, “The Bible Stands”, and “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”. Bentley DeForest Ackley (1872-1958) showed musical talent early, learning the melodeon, piano, coronet, clarinet and piccolo as a boy. After moving to New York City in 1888, he began playing the organ in several churches. In 1907, he joined the Billy Sunday-Homer Rodeheaver evangelism team as secretary-pianist, and traveled with them for eight years. As a composer and editor with the Rodeheaver Company, he wrote over 3,000 Gospel tunes. He wrote “By and By”, “I Walk With The King”, “In The Service of the King”, and “Joy In Serving Jesus”.

Bentley’s younger brother, Alfred Henry Ackley (1887–1960) received musical training from his father in New York City and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and became a great cello player. After gradu- ating from Westminster Theological Seminary in Maryland, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1914, and pastored in Wilkes-Barre and Elmhurst, PA, as well as in Escondido, CA. For a few years he worked with evangelist Billy Sunday, and also served as assistant pas- tor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA. He wrote some 1,500 religious and secular songs, and was associated with the Rodeheaver music company. John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Sacred Music degree. His hymns include “He Lives”, “In The Service of the King”, “Jesus Is The Joy of Living” and “Wonderful”.

Since the late 1950’s, John W. Peterson has composed over 1100 individual songs including “It Took A Miracle”, “Over The Sunset Mountains”, “So Send I You”, “Springs Of Living Water”, “Heaven Came Down”, “Jesus Is Coming Again”, and “Surely Goodness And Mercy”.

He was president of the sacred music publishing company, “Singspiration” for over ten years. The 1960’s saw the resurgence of the modern cantata as we know it in our churches today, strongly due to Peterson’s over 34 contributions including “Night Of Miracles”, “Born A King”, “No Greater Love”, “King of Kings”, “Carol of Christmas”, and “Down From His Glory”. The 1960’s “Jesus Movement” spawned a sort of “Christian pop culture”, which later would include what we know as “Contemporary Christian Music” (CCM). Dominated by charismatic thinking, most of the song writers in this vein succumbed to mimicking the pop music of the day in an attempt to “reach people where they’re at”, a sentiment born out of the soteriological viewpoint of the purpose of man.

A few songs managed to become “mainstream” as choruses. One example of this would be Peter Scholtes’ “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”.

In the late 60’s and early 70’s on one hand, Broadway capitalized on the Jesus Movement by producing “rock opera” heresies such as “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Godspell” and spiritual themes were popping up in secular music (The Byrd’s “Turn, Turn, Turn” & “Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky”)…

…but for good reason, these were not taken seriously by mainstream evangelicalism!

On the other hand, Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser were major influences by taking the overall format of the cantata popularized by John Peterson and, by using a folk rock style, creating what became known as the “Youth Musical” (“Tell It Like It Is”, “Natural High”). Several of Carmichael’s songs had also become popular, such as “He’s Everything To Me”, “A Quiet Place”, “The New 23rd”, and “Love is Surrender”. He formed his own recording label, Light Records. Kaiser is best known for his songs, “Pass It On” (from “Tell It Like It Is”) and “Oh How He Loves You And Me”. Andre Crouch epitomized what was emerging as contemporary Black gospel music. Some of his songs that have become well known and are included in some of today’s hymnals are “My Tribute”, “Soon And Very Soon”, “Through It All” and “The Blood Will Never Lose Its’ Power”.

Bill & Gloria Gaither had a strong influence during the 1970’s contributing songs such as “The King is Coming”, “Because He Lives”, “Let’s Just Praise The Lord”, “Something Beautiful”, “I Am A Promise”, and “He Touched Me”. They were among the first mainstream southern gospel song writers to branch out or “cross-over” into contemporary (rock) idioms with more of a “country” feel. (“The Imperials”, “The Gaither Vocal Band”)

“Contemporary Christian Music” continues to mimic the latest trends in the world’s music and video productions, infiltrating into today’s evangelical churches to the point where denominational and doctrinal differences have given way to “worship styles” as being the primary criteria in church distinctives.

As a response to this increasing worldly direction that evangelical Christianity was taking, a few organizations dedicated themselves to keeping worship music pure from it. One of these, Majesty Music, was founded by Dr. Frank Garlock, head of the music department of Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. Ron Hamilton of Majesty Music has a children’s ministry, “Patch The Pirate”, from which have come many choruses used in our churches today.

A Christian camping ministry centered in North Carolina, The Wilds also publishes music of a nature more separated from current trends. Praises I & II are compilations of some contemporary choruses and gospel songs by Mac Lynch of The Wilds as well as Frank Garlock, Ron Hamilton and others of Majesty Music in keeping with a more conservative style.

In defense of the use of worldly “Christian” music, many today often quote Martin Luther as saying, “Why should the devil have all the good music (tunes)?” It may be noted that this quote is more of an exhortation for the Church to produce such a quality of excellence in its’ music that even the world will regard it as superior; rather than a need to ape the world’s poor quality of music – which would bring us back to the state of music in the Reformation – or even the 2 nd & 3rd centuries for that matter - when the best music in the world was being produced by the church of Jesus Christ. Most mainline denominations today publish their own hymnals (e.g. “The Lutheran Book of Worship” & “The Methodist Hymnal”) and they mostly contain hymns dating before 1900. Most music publishers offer non-denominational hymnals as well. Following are brief descriptions of hymnals available today:

Living Hymns – Better Music Publications, 1972 - only general and topical indexes - emphasis on gospel songs of the early 1900’s

Hymns For The Living Church – Hope Publishing Co., 1974 - first to include Scripture reference with each hymn

The Singing Church – Hope Publishing Co., 1985 - Scripture reference for all hymns - “large qty. of spirituals, American folk hymns, contemporary “Scripture songs”, a few choral classics”. - “tunes have been carefully chosen for their appeal to congregations…”

The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration – Word Music, 1986 - 2 editions: (1) KJV, (2) NIV, NAS, NKJV - good indexes - worship sequences - orchestra parts

Worship His Majesty – Gaither Music Co., 1987 - emphasis on praise songs (Bill & Gloria Gaither!)

The Worshipping Church – Hope Publishing Co., 1990 - “hymn services” - emphasis on “praise songs”

Sing To The Lord – Lillenas Publishing Co., 1993 - good indexes (Scripture, tunes, metrical, authors, topics) - worship sequences (arranged in medleys with narration/scripture readings) - orchestral part books

The Celebration Hymnal – Word Music, 1997 - all features of its’ predecessor (“The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration” - see above) - a little more emphasis on contemporary songs

The Majesty Hymnal – Majesty Music - pastors polled for top 100 hymns to be included - includes gospel songs “by godly composers” - “doctrinally sound music and scripturally sound texts” Hymnology Bibliography

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