''Songs of Syon: A Collection of Hymns and Sacred Poems Mostly Translated from Ancient Greek, Latin and German Sources'' was produced by George Ratcliffe Woodward in 1904. In 1908, a new and enlarged edition was produced, with the title ''Songs of Syon: A Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Public and Private Use''. While the first edition had 201 items, this later edition had 431. Words and music were published separately. A third edition followed in 1910. A fourth edition, revised and enlarged, came out in 1923. This was primarily a reprint of the third edition, with musical errors corrected on the advice of Dr. Charles Wood. In a few cases, "finer melodies, or better harmonies, have been substituted."George Ratcliffe Woodward (1923), ''Songs of Syon: A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spirtitual Songs Set, for the Most Part, to Their Ancient Proper Tunes'', Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged, London: Schott. The

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

was described by the writer of Woodward's ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'' obituary as "the finest hymn book, both as regards words and music, ever produced in England." The tunes were categorised according to

Plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...

, metrical melodies of 13th-16th centuries,

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

tunes, Old English and Scottish

psalm 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 f ...

tunes of 16th–17th centuries, and old French psalm tunes of the 17th century. Two tunes by Wood were included as were four by Richard Wagner. Fifty harmonisations are by Woodward and thirty apiece by Wood and Palmer. 120 of the texts were drawn from the translations of J.M. Neale, with 140 translations and 20 new compositions by Woodward. Six sets of words came from the Yattendon Hymnal, with words by

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was an English poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...

Notes

Hymnals 1904 books 1904 in music 1904 in Christianity {{Music-publication-stub

See also

Notes