A H I S T O R Y O F T H E OL D H U N D R E D T H P S A L M T U N E IT H P E N W S E CIM S. w; A L M . H AVE GA . W H . R E V . R . , , C T O F S T . N I C H O L A S A N D H Y C W C E T . R E O R , O N O RAR AN O N, O R S E R W IT H A PR E FAT OR Y N OT E V M A N R H T D D E J. W W G . BY R T . R . I I , F N E W Y ' B I S H O P O O R . N E W Y O R ' M N R O E A S O B T H R S . 1 8 5 4 . E nte ed accord in to A ct of Con r ss in the ar 1854 b r , g g e , ye , y M A S N B R T H E R S O O , ’ I S h e Y rk n the Clerk s Offi ce of the o ut ern D istrict of N w o . S T E R E O T Y P E D B Y P R I N T E D B Y T H O IflA S B . S M I T H , JO H N A . G R A Y V 916 V ilIiam Street. 87 Cliff S t . PR E FAT OR Y N O T E . H E R E no n T is probably musical compositio , with the exception of the ancient Ambrosian and G n n n n regoria to es , that has bee so u iver n n sally su g by worshippi g assemblies , as the Old n P m n and n n n Hu dredth sal Tu e , certai ly o e so familiar to the ear of Protestant communi It ties . has proved equally acceptable to the instructed and the uninstructed musical taste . W n in an n n n n he y co gregatio , through ig ora ce t n d or bad tas e , it has bee for a time lai aside to make way for more modern yet more feeble n n n n in tu es , it has bee take up agai , after the t ermission n n and , with i creased i terest ; as its n n n n and strai s have bee give out by the orga , fi n its rst to es raised by the choir or the clerk, f c n n and c devout af e tio s have bee roused, voi es which had been long silent have swelled the loud in chorus of praise . It has been known this iv PREFATORY NOTE . country from its first settlement . It was in all probability used by the earliest Church of E ng n n in V n and la d missio aries irgi ia , it was cer t ainly one of the songs of the Puritan fathers of ’ N ew E n n nc fi nd in A n gla d, si e we it i sworth s P m ‘ P sal s , the book of salmody which they u H n . It one bro ght from olla d was , therefore , of the tun es to which the wild forests in this new world were fi rst made vocal with the praise N r u nfin of GOd . o was its se co ed to the early . E uropean settlers ; its loftystrains were taught by them to the 1 nhabitants of theforest they found here ; it was sung by the new - made con n J n E and m verts of the missio ary oh lliot, the various mission ary settlements amongst the In d n ia s it may yet be heard . T hehistory of such a composition must b e a ' n n ot n t o the mu sician matter of i terest o ly , but to all who have the slightest taste for music al and to w ho m art, especially those take delight the service of song in the hOu se of the L ord . H av r l Mr . e ga has performed a most acceptable in He work his curious researches . has care nt u b n can fully hu ed p , pro ably, everythi g that i n n and be d scovered relati g to its origi , has E V PR FATORY NOTE . established its authorship as satisfactorily as W e n n c an n ow be done . thi k it will b e ge er ally conceded that W illiam Fran c must hereafter be entitled to the credit of comp osi ng this most Bu remarkable of all metrical tunes . t the result ’ H v r al h of Mr . a e g s researc es is perhaps of more practical importanc e considered with reference n . s to the form of the tu e This , it eems , has n c n and n n bee greatly ha ged , he ce the heavi ess , and e n n almost t dious ess , which sometimes atte ds r its performan ce . Oould its old rhythm be e ’ “ the tune l stored , would more ful y accord with the joyful character of the psalm by which it is c and not n alled, would fail to b e eve more pop ular and useful than heretofore . The most estimable author of this work , a n C E n n clergyma of the hurch of gla d , is well known in the U nited States as well as in E ng n his d evotion o f la d , for to the cause sacred music and no one in our day has contributed n h as d one t o the r evival more tha he g of. a t aste c for pure ec lesiastical melodies and harmonies. f ‘ H isg Old Church in L on ' d on is r obabl h kind , p y the best book of t e which ’ n , R n and has appeared si ce the days of ave scroft, O E vi PREFAT RY NOT . n W it is gradually doi g its work of reform . e m ’ “ learn fro Mr . Mason s Musical L etters from ” ’ H v r l A M . a e a s c broad , that r g views of chur h music are happily illustr ated in his ow n chur ch . “ ” “ M . n n n M . The cha ti g was do e , says r , by the n n and n n w as whole co gregatio , the respo di g between the occupants of the lower floor and those of the galleries ; but the song was un iver m en n and n n n b sal , , wome childre u iti g armo ’ 7 niou s voices The tun es to which the hymn s n were su g , he tells us , were of the old eccle siastical c in m rh thm lass , a si ilar v to that which Mr . H . has shown to b e the origin al Old n P n and of the Hu dredth salm Tu e, were “ un in s g a quick time , or as fast as propriety ” n n n W would allow the e u ciatio of the words . e “ further learn from him that there were but one or tw o interludes introduced in a psalm of fi v e 7 “ nz and n ot sta as that these were very short, n t w o n more tha about measures , or the le gth ” of the l ast lin e of a common metre tune That the evil custom which so extensively prevails in hi n n n n t s cou try , of lo g i terludes betwee the nz n and im sta as , alike foreig to the psalm the t e , and n l n ul u favorab e to devotio , sho d be abol PREFATORY NOTE . vii i shed and n n not , that the co gregatio should be kept standing to be amused by the tones of n and the orga , or by the skill of the performer, thus be disturbed or interrupted in their wor A ship , is most devoutly to be desired . pass ing cadence of a few chords connecting the nz m a ul n sta as y be usef , but more tha this is rather a hinderance than a help to the religious ff e ect of the psalmody . Happy will it b e for the Church when a more pure and devotion al style of song shall and and n be restored , the light powerless tu es now so often heard shall give way to those which are better adapted to awaken religious ’ n and in n feeli g , which are more accorda ce with n the dig ity of public worship . W e most cor ’ diall n H y comme d Mr . aver g al s interesting vol ume On the History of the Old Hundredth Psalm n one n n n Tu e, as mea s of promoti g a reformatio so much n eeded . N M A R H T N G . J O . W I W I N E W Y R ' A i 1 854 .