Comments on: Hymn tune mixup overdue

By: Philocrites

Philocrites — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:02:56 +0000

Okay, I confess: I love “The day thou gavest” to St Clement. The Episcopal monks here in Cambridge sing it a cappella each night for Compline, and it has wonderful moving lines for all four parts. Of all the Victorian tunes to pick on, this one has the least to object to. There’s almost no chromaticism and no long pauses. And how can a waltz be funereal anyway?

By: roger butts

roger butts — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 02:25:49 +0000

Scott, seriously, how do you know all this stuff?

By: Dan Harper

Dan Harper — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 00:37:40 +0000

Hey, shape note hymns online, some with MIDI files and printable scans of original pages!

Southern Harmony:
http://www.ccel.org/w/walker/sharm/

Sacred Harp (and old edition, not the edition currently in print):
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/svy:@field(DOCID+@lit(harpT000))

Links to many more resources:
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/resource/chap01.html

By: Dan Harper

Dan Harper — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 00:11:39 +0000

I love your list of tune sources. When I think about it, those are pretty much the sources I would head to first. But maybe expand shape note tunes to include a wider range of folk tunes, e.g., I found this wonderful Appalchain folk tune for “Hold On,” in F# Phrygian (minor with a flatted fifth) that I’m really tempted to use in worship. Seems like there are also some Black pre-Gospel folk tunes that could be useful.

I do remember that Unitarian Universalism in North America had multiple hymnals when I was a kid (in the 1960’s). In my home church we had Hymns for the Celebration of Life (the “blue hymnal”) and Hymns of the Spirit (the “red hymnal”) in the pews; the children’s chapel used “We Sing of Life,” which was really a multi-generational hymnal. By about 1970, the Los Angeles church put out “How Can We Keep from Singing” (sometimes known as the “yellow hymnal,” depending on which edition you had), but it was too politically leftwards-leaning for my home church. That made four hymnals circe 1970! I still draw from all these hymnals upon occasion — e.g., the blue hymnal’s version of “America the Beautiful” for Memorial day, Christmas carols from the red hymnal, second verse for “Simple Gifts” in the yellow hymnal, etc.

I had high hopes for the hymnal supplement, “Singing the Journey,” but it really isn’t worth buying. It’s really a hymnal for music directors of big churches. There are songs in there that are pretty good, but I already have most of those written out as lead sheets, meaning one hymn doesn’t spread out over 4-6 pages as in the hymnal supplement with its overly complex arrangements.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:05:30 +0000

I can confirm that the vast majority of Unitarian services I’ve attended, in fact ALL Unitarian services, have been jam packed with terrible hymns - terrible in the sense you have this organ whining on and the generally small congregation mumbling through (except for the odd old dear who gets really into it). Hymns of Faith and Freedom (the red book) is the more Christian leaning book but its very Victorian - and the other ‘green book’, the less Christian hymn book, isn’t much better either in my opinion. Apparently there is also a ‘blue book’ which is even more archaic…

I’ve attended a services at a variety of different churches of different denominations - the most uplifting was an evangelical Baptist - Anglican service at St Toms in Sheffield, UK. This church is one of the fastest growing in the UK and I don’t think all the young people & students who attend are necessarily going for the theology - they go because the service is based on a format and music style that at times is very meditative and other times very lively… but the point is its spiritual, enjoyable and well put together.

I’m not into charismatic-style worship with jumping around and clapping (which St Toms sometimes borders on) but its much better than the tired, stale worship within British Unitarianism.