![Hymnals](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Hymnals.png)
A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
s, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in
congregational singing
Congregational singing is the practice of the congregation participating in the music of a church, either in the form of hymns or a metrical Psalms or a free form Psalm or in the form of the office of the liturgy (for example Gregorian chants). ...
. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christian history); written melodies are extra, and more recently harmony parts have also been provided.
Hymnals are omnipresent in churches but they are not often discussed; nevertheless, liturgical scholar
Massey H. Shepherd once observed: "in all periods of the Church’s history, the theology of the people has been chiefly molded by their hymns."
Elements and Format
Since the twentieth century, singer-songwriter hymns have become common, but in previous centuries, generally
poets
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
wrote the words, and musicians wrote the tunes; the texts are known and indexed by their first lines ("incipits") and the
hymn tunes
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...
are given names, sometimes geographical (the tune "New Britain" for the incipit "
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...
, how sweet the sound"). The hymnal editors curate the texts and the tunes, they may take a well-known tune and associate it with new poetry, or edit the previous text; hymnal committees are typically staffed by both poets and musicians. Some hymnals are produced by church bodies and others by commercial publishers.
In large denominations, the hymnal may be part of a coordinated publication project that involves several books: the pew hymnal proper, an accompaniment version (e.g. using a ring binder so that individual hymns can be removed and sit nicely on a music stand), a leader's guide (e.g. matching hymns to
lectionary
A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evang ...
readings), and a hymnal companion, providing descriptions about the context, origin and character of each hymn, with a focus on the poets and composers.
Service music
In some hymnals, the front section is occupied by service music, such as doxologies, three-fold and seven-fold amens, or entire orders of worship (
Gradual
The gradual ( la, graduale or ) is a chant or hymn in the Mass, the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, and among some other Christians. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because it was once chanted ...
,
Alleluia
Alleluia (derived from the Hebrew ''Hallelujah'', meaning "Praise Yahweh") is a Latin phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of ...
, etc.). A section of
responsorial psalms may also be included.
Indexes
Hymnals usually contain one or more indexes; some of the specialized indexes may be printed in the companion volumes rather than the hymnal itself. A first line index is almost universal. There may also be indexes for the first line of every stanza, the first lines of choruses, tune names, and a metrical index (tunes by common meter, short meter, etc.). Indexes for composers, poets, arrangers, translators, and song sources may be separate or combined. Lists of copyright acknowledgements are essential. Few other books are so well indexed; at the same time, few other books are so well memorized. Singers often have the song number of their favorite hymns memorized, as well as the words of other hymns. In this sense, a hymnal is the intersection of advanced literate culture with the persistent survival or oral traditions into the present day.
History
![Kancional Jistebnicky](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Kancional_Jistebnicky.jpg)
Origins in Europe
The earliest hand-written hymnals are from the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
in the context of
European Christianity, although individual hymns such as the ''
Te Deum
The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...
'' go back much further. The
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
in the 16th century, together with the growing popularity of
moveable type
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...
, quickly made hymnals a standard feature of Christian worship in all major denominations of Western and Central Europe. The first known printed hymnal was issued in 1501 in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
by
Czech Brethren (a small radical religious group of the
Bohemian Reformation
The Bohemian Reformation (also known as the Czech Reformation or Hussite Reformation), preceding the Reformation of the 16th century, was a Christian movement in the late medieval and early modern Kingdom and Crown of Bohemia (mostly what is no ...
) but it contains only texts of sacred songs.
The
Ausbund
The ''Ausbund'' ("Paragon" in German) is the oldest Anabaptist hymnal and one of the oldest Christian song books in continuous use. It is used today by North American Amish congregations.
History
The core of the ''Ausbund'' is based on fifty- ...
, an
Anabaptist
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
hymnal published in 1564, is still used by the
Hutterites
Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...
, making it the oldest hymnal in continuous use. The first hymnal of the Lutheran Reformation was ''
Achtliederbuch
The First Lutheran hymnal, published in 1524 as ''Etlich Cristlich lider / Lobgesang und Psalm'' (Some Christian songs / canticle, and psalm), often also often referred to as the Achtliederbuch (Book with eight songs, literally Eightsongsbook), was ...
'', followed by the ''
Erfurt Enchiridion
The ''Erfurt Enchiridion'' (enchiridion, from grc, ἐγχειρίδιον, hand book) is the second Lutheran hymnal. It appeared in 1524 in Erfurt in two competing editions. One of them contains 26 songs, the other 25, 18 of them by Martin Lut ...
''. An important hymnal of the 17th century was ''
Praxis pietatis melica
''Praxis pietatis melica'' (''Practice of Piety in Song'') is a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger. The hymnal, which appeared under this title from 1647 to 1737 in 45 editions, has been described as "the most ...
''.
Hymnals in Early America
Market forces rather than denominational control have characterized the history of hymnals in the thirteen colonies and the antebellum United States; even today, denominations must yield to popular tastes and include "beloved hymns" such as
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...
and
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a Christian hymn written by the pastor and hymnodist Robert Robinson, who penned the words in the year 1758 at the age of 22.
Tunes
In the United States, the hymn is usually set to an American folk tune ...
, in their hymnals, regardless of whether the song texts conform to sectarian teaching.
The first hymnal, and also the first book, printed in
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...
, is the
Bay Psalm Book
''The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre'', commonly called the Bay Psalm Book, is a metrical psalter first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was the first book printed in British North America. The psa ...
, printed in 1640 in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
, a
metrical Psalter
A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a verse translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonisatio ...
that attempted to translate the
psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
into English so close to the
original Hebrew that it was unsingable. The market demand created by this failure, and the dismal nature of Calvinist "lining out the psalms" in general, was served by hymnals for
West gallery singing imported from England.
William Billings
William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School.
Life
William Billings was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of 14, t ...
of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
took the first step beyond West Gallery music in publishing ''The New-England Psalm-Singer'' (1770), the first book in which tunes were entirely composed by an American. The tune-books of Billings and other
Yankee tunesmiths
Yankee tunesmiths (also called the First New England School) were self-taught composers active in New England from 1770 until about 1810. Their music was largely forgotten when the Better Music Movement turned musical tastes towards Europe, as in ...
were widely sold by itinerant singing-school teachers. The song texts were predominantly drawn from English
metrical psalms
A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a verse translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonisatio ...
, particularly those of
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...
. All of the publications of these tunesmiths (also called "First New England School") were essentially hymnals.
In 1801, the tunebook market was greatly expanded by the invention of
shape notes
A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material type.
A pl ...
, which made it easier to learn how to read music.
John Wyeth
John Wyeth (1770–1858) was a printer in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who is best-known for printing ''Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second'' (Harrisburg, PA: 1813), which marks an important transition in American music. Like the original ...
, a
Unitarian printer in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
, who had apprenticed in Boston during the emergence of the First New England School, began to publish tunebooks in 1810 in German and English for various sectarian groups (but not Unitarians). He saw a virgin market in the Methodist and Baptist
revival movement
Christian revivalism is increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect. This should be distinguished from the use of the term "revival" to refer to an evangelis ...
. Singing in these
camp meetings
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...
was chaotic because multiple tunes were sung simultaneously for any given hymn text. Since he
lacked musical training, Wyeth employed
Elkanah Kelsey Dare
Elkanah Kelsey Dare (15 January 1782 – 26 August 1826) was a Mid-Atlantic schoolteacher, composer of music, and Presbyterian minister. He was among the first American composers who published music in shape notes.
Life
Elkanah Kelsey Dare was bo ...
to collect tunes and edit them.
Wyeth's Repository of Music, Part Second (1813) included 41 folk tunes, the first printed in America. This was also the birth of the "folk hymn": the use of a folk tune, collected and harmonized by a trained musician, printed with a hymn text. "Nettleton," the tune used in North America to sing "Come Thou Font" (words written in 1758), first appeared here.
Southern Shape Note Hymnals (Tunebooks)
![New Britain Southern Harmony Amazing Grace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/New_Britain_Southern_Harmony_Amazing_Grace.jpg)
Southerners identified with folk hymns of Wyeth's 1813 ''Part Second'' and collected more: the titles of
Kentucky Harmony
The ''Kentucky Harmony'' is a shape note tunebook, published in 1816 by Ananias Davisson. It is the first Southern shape-note tunebook.
The first edition of the ''Kentucky Harmony'' was 140 pages and contained 143 tunes. Davisson released four m ...
(1816) of
Ananias Davisson
Ananias Davisson (February 2, 1780 – October 21, 1857) was a singing school teacher, printer and compiler of shape note tunebooks. He is best known for his 1816 compilation ''Kentucky Harmony'', which is the first Southern shape-note tunebook. ...
, the ''Tennessee Harmony'' (1818) of Alexander Johnson, the
Missouri Harmony
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
(1820) of Allen D. Carden. and the
Southern Harmony
The ''Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion'' is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker, first published in 1835. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern hymnals and sha ...
(1835) of
William Walker drew attention to the fact that they contained regional folk songs for singing in two, three, or four parts. A new direction was taken by
B. F. White with the publication of the
Sacred Harp
Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tune ...
(1844): whereas others had gone on to produce a series of tunebooks, White stopped at one, then spent the rest of his life building an organization, modeled on church conventions, to organize singing events, with the result that the ''Sacred Harp'' continues as a living tradition to the present. The other tunebooks eventually yielded to denominational hymnals that became pervasive with the development of railroad networks, with the exception of the ''Southern Harmony,'' for which there is an annual singing in
Benton, Kentucky
Benton is a home rule-class city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The current mayor of this city is Rita Dotson. The population was 4,756 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County.
History
Benton was founded in 1 ...
to the present day, and Walker's
Christian Harmony
''The Christian Harmony'' is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker. The book was released in 1866 (1867 according to some sources). It is part of the larger tradition of shape note singing.
Origin
William Walker was born i ...
, published in 1866, with the first convention organized in 1875 (43 all-day singings in 2010); the ''Kentucky Harmony'' was republished in altered form as the
Shenandoah Harmony The Shenandoah Harmony is a 2013 republication of the works of Ananias Davisson (1780–1857) and other composers of his era, in the format used by modern shape note singing groups. Although a number of new shape note tune books were compiled and ...
in 2010, reviving the world of predominantly minor key melodies and unusual tonalities of Davisson's work.
The Better Music Movement in the Industrialized North
In the North, the "
Better Music Boys," cultivated musicians such as
Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known ...
and
Thomas Hastings who turned to Europe for musical inspiration, introduced musical education into the school system, and emphasized the use of organs, choirs, and "special music." In the long term this resulted in a decline of congregational singing. On the other hand, they also composed hymns that could be sung by everybody. Mason's ''The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music'' (1822) was published by the
Handel and Haydn Society of Boston while Mason was still living in
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
; nobody else would publish it. This never became a denominational hymnal but was well-received by choirs. Mason's famous hymns, which were also included in Southern tunebooks, appeared later editions or publications: Laban ("My soul, be on thy guard;" 1830), Hebron ("Thus far the Lord hath led me on," 1830), Boylston ("My God, my life, my love," 1832), Shawmut ("Oh that I could repent! 1835") Bethany ("
Nearer, My God, to Thee
"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because t ...
", as sung in the United States) (1856).
''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' appears in England
In England, the growing popularity of hymns inspired the publication of more than 100 hymnals during the period 1810–1850.
The sheer number of these collections prevented any one of them from being successful.
In 1861, members of the
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
published
Hymns Ancient and Modern
''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' is a hymnal in common use within the Church of England, a result of the efforts of the Oxford Movement. The hymnal was first published in 1861. The organization publishing it has now been formed into a charitable ...
under the musical supervision of
William Henry Monk
William Henry Monk (16 March 1823 – 1 March 1889) was an English organist, church musician and music editor who composed popular hymn tunes, including "Eventide", used for the hymn "Abide with Me", and " All Things Bright and Beautiful". H ...
,
with 273 hymns. For the first time, translations from languages other than Hebrew appeared, the "Ancient" in the title referring to the appearance of
Phos Hilaron
''Phos Hilaron'' ( grc-x-koine, , translit=''Fόs Ilarόn'') is an ancient Christian hymn originally written in Koine Greek. Often referred to in the Western Church by its Latin title ''Lumen Hilare'', it has been translated into English as ''O Gl ...
, translated from Greek by
John Keble
John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, was named after him.
Early life
Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...
, and many hymns translated from Latin. This was a game-changer. The ''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' experienced immediate and overwhelming success.
Total sales in 150 years were over 170 million copies.
As such, it set the standard for many later hymnals on both sides of the Atlantic.
English-speaking Lutherans in America began singing the metrical translations of German chorales by
Catherine Winkworth
Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Lut ...
and
Jane Laurie Borthwick
Jane Laurie Borthwick (9 April 1813, Edinburgh, Scotland; 7 September 1897, Edinburgh, Scotland) was hymn writer, translator of German hymns and a noble supporter of home and foreign missions. She published under the pseudonym: H. L. L. (Hymns fro ...
, and rediscovered their heritage. Although closely associated with the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, ''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' was a private venture by a committee, called the Proprietors, chaired by
Sir Henry Baker.
See also
*
List of Chinese hymn books
This is a list of Chinese Christian hymn books. One such list was compiled by Rev. Donald MacGillivray, D.D., a Protestant Christian missionary in Shanghai with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission in 1911:Christian Literature Society for China (1912 ...
*
List of English-language hymnals by denomination
Hymnals, also called hymnbooks (or hymn books) and occasionally hymnaries, are books of hymns sung by religious congregations. The following is a list of English-language hymnals by denomination.
Liturgical churches
See note below.
Anglican
...
*
Hymnody of continental Europe
Hymnody in continental Europe developed from early liturgical music, especially Gregorian chant. Music became more complicated as embellishments and variations were added, along with influences from secular music. Although vernacular leisen and ver ...
References
External links
*
SDA Hymnal online
* — Extensive database of hymns and hymnology resources; incorporates the Dictionary of North American Hymnology, a comprehensive database of North American hymnals published before 1978.
*
SDA Hymnal Songs
*
Hymnology
Christian terminology
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