Favorite Lenten hymns

After starting this blog nine years ago — with 262 posts so far — only a few mention hymns for the first five weeks of Lent. (I did previously comment on appropriate hymns for Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday).

So as I did for Advent, Christmas (in 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015) and Easter, it seemed like a good time to provide an overview of the hymns available for Lent (including Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday).

I cross-referenced hymns from these periods from The English Hymnal (COE 1906), Hymnal 1940 (ECUSA) and Hymnal 1982 (ECUSA). I also matched the hymns from these lists to two Missouri Synod (LCMS) hymnals: The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) and Lutheran Service Book (2006).

Eleven hymn texts (twelve combinations) stood out. Because there’s such a small number, I found that I previously wrote about five of these texts.

Title	Tune	TEH	H40	H82	TLH	LSB	Remarks
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended	Herzleibster Jesu	70	71.1 *	158	143	439	Holy Week
All glory, laud, and honor	St. Theodulph	622	62	154	160	442	Palm Sunday
Forty days and forty nights	Aus der Tiefe	73	55	150			Early Lent
Lord Jesus, think on me	Southwell	77	417	641	320	610
Lord, who throughout these forty days	St. Flavian		59			*	Early Lent
O sacred head, sore wounded	Passion Chorale	102	75	168	172	449 *	Holy Week
Ride on, ride on in majesty	The King's Majesty		64.1	156			Palm Sunday
Ride on, ride on in majesty	Winchester New	620	64.2		162	441	Palm Sunday
The glory of these forty days	Erhalt uns, Herr	68.2	61	143			Early Lent
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?	Were You There		80	172		456	Holy Week
When I survey the wondrous Cross	Rockingham	107	337	474	175.2 *	426 *	Holy Week

* Another tune available

Three of the hymns (all with “forty days” in the title) are both written and commonly used for Ash Wednesday or the first Sunday in Lent. Two (“All glory, laud, and honor” and “Ride on, ride on in majesty”) are clearly written for Palm Sunday. Four are about the passion of Christ, which could be celebrated on Lent 5 (“Passiontide” in the 28 BCP) or any time in Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday or (when hymns are used) Good Friday. And in fact, these dates are when the these hymns are assigned by Hymnal 1940: Ash Wednesday, Lent 1, Lent 5, or Palm Sunday.

“…Ride on in majesty” has two tunes: Winchester New is preferred by the CoE hymnals (dating back to the 19th century Hymns Ancient & Modern), and (the considerably more difficult) King’s Majesty which was introduced in H40 and the only one kept by H82.

This is really a list of the top hymns: there are other hymns worth mentioning that weren’t quite as popular. I hope to publish a more complete list at some point in the future.

Near-perfect harmony

Today on Lent 1 we sang the #1 Lenten hymn, “Forty Days and Forty Nights.” #1 in that it is the first Lenten hymn in both The English Hymnal (#73) and first in Hymnal 1940 (#55) — as well as the second “Ash Wednesday and Lent” hymn in Hymnal 1916 (#123). Hymnal 1940 Companion says it’s been used in the CoE since Hymns Ancient & Modern and in PECUSA hymnals since 1874. It managed to survive the modernization urges in Hymnal 1982 (#150) and the New English Hymnal (#67). All use the same tune.

Hymn Text

All are derived from the same 1856 text by Rev. George Hunt Smyttan (1822-1870), as altered by Francis Pott. Although the US and UK version differ in the middle, they share the same first and last verses (5 in PECUSA, 6 in CoE).

From a catechetical standpoint, it’s hard to match this hymn for explaining to the new Christian (or newly-liturgical Christian) why we observe (celebrate seems the wrong word) the season of Lent:

Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.

Tune

Today, however I was struck by the music. The tune Heinlein (aka Aus der Tiefe) is taken from the Nürnbergisches Gesangbuch; Google suggests this is the only hymn from this songbook still being used. According to a German-language book on 17th-century Lutheran hymns (Lorbeer, 2012: 133):

Das Nürnbergisches Gesangbuch, das mir in einer Ausgabe von 1677 vorlag, war 1676 bei Christoph Gerhard und Sebastian Göbel erschienen. Trotz des offiziell klingenden Titels handelt es sich nicht um ein amtliches Gesangbuch, sonder verdankt such einer Initiative des Verlegers Sebastian Göbel, der schon vorher Gesang- und Gebetbücher herausgebracht hatte.

The Nürnberg hymnal, for which I have an 1677 edition, was published in 1676 by Christoph Gerhard and Sebastian Göbel. Despite the official sounding title, it does not constitute an official hymnal, but instead reflects an initiative of the publisher Sebastian Goebel, who had previously released song and prayer books.

Several sources say the tune is marked “M.H.,” which musicologists assume refers to Lutheran pastor Martin Herbst (1654-1681).

Oddly, although this clearly is a German Lutheran tune (written by the country vicar of a tiny English village), it doesn’t appear in any of the Missouri Synod (i.e. German-American) Lutheran hymnals from 1940-2006. I remember singing it for our Wednesday Lenten services during the year I was in the local LCMS choir, but I guess this was the one hymn I requested and won special (doctrinal) permission from the pastor for the choir to use it despite it not being on the approved LCMS list.

Harmony

While the tune is very familiar from decades of singing it, what struck me today was the harmony. Neither Hymnal 1940 nor Hymnal 1940 Companion credits the harmonization, but Hymnal 1982 and The Cyberhymnal attribute it to English composer William Henry Monk (1823-1889).

From my two years of music composition as a music minor decades ago, the D-minor harmony feels more 17th century than 19th century: not as complex as Bach, but definitely consistent with Baroque harmonies. Ignoring the passing tones, the bass line is a very straightforward I-V-I-V-II-V; I-IV-VII-III-VII-I-V-I. According to my copy of Piston (1987: 23), it follows the standard rules for root progressions dating back centuries.

I understand that 19th and 20th century music paved new ground by breaking these classic rules of harmony and counterpoint. However, as a layman singing in the pews — usually not knowing the week’s hymns until five minutes before the service starts — I really, really appreciate predictable harmonies and voice leading that lend themselves to sight-singing. Singing harmony for two or three hymns on Sunday morning is often the highlight of my day and one of the highlights of my week. I like to think that (in my own small way) is part of our broader congregation’s singing to the glory of God.

Lost Harmony

The trend for hymnal harmony has not been a good one. While Hymnal 1982 added a number of descants, it also deleted the harmony for numerous hymns (a tally I plan to make someday). Worse yet, the 21st century video projector churches (when for some reason they sing hymns) project only the words, not the music — privileging the choir (with their hymnals) over congregational singers who don’t have the inside scoop.

I realize that congregation singing dates (at best) 500 years to Luther, and in its modern incarnation 150 years to Hymns A&M and the post-Civil War US hymnals. Still, it’s not something that I think the church — or its musically minded members — should give up without a fight.

References

Lorbeer, Lukas. Die Sterbe-und Ewigkeitslieder in deutschen lutherischen Gesangbüchern des 17. Jahrhunderts. Vol. 104. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2012.

Piston, Walter with Mark Devoto. Harmony. 5th ed. Norton, 1987.

Lenten devotion: an end and a beginning

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
People The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Christians in the Western world celebrate the resurrection today (our Orthodox friends wait another week). It means several weeks of great Anglican (and other Christian) hymns celebrating the resurrection, starting with this morning’s service.

More selfishly for those who adopt a Lenten discipline, this marks the end of our self-denial and/or extra effort.

This year I went for a multi-part approach, which in retrospect was excessively complex — more Pharisaic (or medieval) than Anglican. On the denial side, I gave up chocolate — and ignored the Sunday loophole — which seemed more tough than usual this year. I went for meatless Fridays, as defined by the Roman Catholic Church.

On the extra effort, after the Lent 1 old testament lesson, I started out reading the old testament in Chronicles and Kings . But that fizzled out as I switched to a daily devotional by NT Wright entitled Lent for Everyone: Mark Year B. Beyond the tie to the liturgical calendar — illuminating the Sunday readings — the latter had the benefit that if I missed a day (as I did about once a week), there was pressure to do extra effort to get back on track.

I also attended the San Diego Anglicans Catechetical Academy (held Saturday mornings in Lent). At the 5th session, Fr. Lawrence Bausch of Holy Trinity — the most Anglo-Catholic priest in the SD deanery (if not the Diocese of Western Anglicans) — talked about having a rule of life. This would include more than just daily prayer, but also scripture reading and Christian meditation, including at bedtime (The day of our session, Dennis the Menace had a very relevant cartoon on bedtime prayer).

After Fr. Bausch’s session, I stand convicted of being a part-time Christian. The faith is not just for Sundays or even Lent, but 365 days a year. In my case, having a daily routine for 6 weeks isn’t going to work — I need a daily routine for 52 weeks so that it becomes routine. So this is my intention from Lent 2015 — and hopefully it won’t be used to pave that road to Hades.

Finally, I used the season as an excuse to visit other parishes beyond my own: 7 parishes in the 47 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter. More on that later.

Ancient Penitence

For the first time in many years, I began Ash Wednesday with a service and the imposition of ashes. (In previous years, the only service I could attend was at night but this year it was the other way 'round).

One advantage of doing it early is that it makes fasting until service pretty easy. (Just to avoid this loophole, I had bread for lunch and held off on a real meal until dinner). Another (dis)advantage is facing the world with a smudge on my forehead.

To prepare for any conversations, I tried to do a little research on the practice. In my Oxford History of Christian Worship, it mentions Ash Wednesday only twice. In one, it speculates that a penitential Lent began in the late 4th century and the 46 days (pushing it back to Wednesday) was common “before the late fifth century.” (P. 118) It also mentions Ash Wednesday as a time of penitence, established by the late 4th century in the Gelasian Sacramentary. This oldest extant Roman missal mentions scheduling Ash Wednesday (p. lxxiv in the 1894 English edition) but not ashes.

Fortunately, I was also watching my favorite podcast, Issues Etc., and their Monday show included a discussion of the topic. The third segment was entitled “Does the Season of Lent Have Pagan Origins?” and was a 25 minute interview with Pastor Joseph Abrahamson of Clearwater Lutheran Parish, a group of LCMS churches in Minnesota. (Highly recommended for anyone contemplating the meaning of Lent).

The gist of the interview was to summarize his research for the article “Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies — Ash Wednesday and Lent,” published earlier this month online on the Steadfast Lutherans website. Pastor Abrahamson had much better information than the learned scholars from my liturgical library.

Here’s the money quote:

St. Athanasius, who led at the Council of Nicea to defeat Arianism—a denial of Christ being truly God and man in one person—was a bishop in Alexandria, Egypt. He wrote annual Festival letters to the Church as they prepared to celebrate Easter. In the year 331 he wrote in order to encourage his congregations in Egypt to keep the Lenten fast for 40 days. Athanasius directs the readers to many Scriptural examples and exhortations to moderation, self-control, and fasting for repentance, Athanasius gives several Bible examples of the 40 day fast, especially of Christ’s 40 day fast...

He continues

That this was practiced in Rome and elsewhere is seen in St. Athanasius’ letter from the year 340 A.D. when he returns from a meeting of pastors/bishops from all around the world, and he encourages his own congregations to continue in the same practice of the 40 day Lenten fast as does “the rest of the whole world.”

So for my Christian (particularly low church) friends, I’d say that Lent was practices at least as early as 331, as old as the Council of Nicaea (325) and older than the final Nicene Creed itself (381). For my non-Christian (or unknown) friends, I’d give a simple punchy statement: “Ash Wednesday was already the norm by 340 A.D.”

Abrahamson is not very helpful on the ash question itself: the name is known, but the imposition of ashes is not explicitly mentioned. He recites various examples of why ashes were a common form of penitence in the Old Testament, but no smoking gun.

Thus armed, I walked out to a variety of meetings at work today, dreading the awkwardness but reminding myself that we need to live our beliefs (and not leave our light under a basket). Among my coworkers, one Christian said she wished she could go to service today but probably couldn’t; another talked about his dilemma as a moderate Presbyterian as the PCUSA splits into its traditionalist and loony left contingents. Several others recognized the significance but didn’t otherwise comment. Only two people said “you have something on your forehead,” one of whom was corrected by another person in the same meeting: “It’s Ash Wednesday.”

Perhaps the most interesting discussion was with a Jewish woman in her 30s who (to the later distress of her mother) had ashes imposed in her parochial school kindergarten: it’s her oldest religious memory. We talked briefly about penitence: it was a rare chance at work to highlight Judeo-Christian commonalities in an increasingly secular culture.

We (Jew, Christian, Muslim, atheist) are all imperfect, sinful beings following down the millennia-old path of our spirtual forebears, Adam and Eve. As the priest quoted Genesis this morning as he imposed the ashes: “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Good Good Friday hymn

Tonight I ended Lent the same way it began — by worshiping at the local LCMS parish that I once attended. (Due to a schedule mixup, we missed the service at our Anglican parish.)

It reminded me of my days in their choir, particularly the good days when we got to sing Bach and other traditional four part harmonies. Out of The Lutheran Hymnal, we sang “Jesus, I will ponder now” — something I’ve never heard in a ECUSA/Anglican service but was very familiar from my LCMS period.

My former section partner drafted me to the choir to help him with another local favorite — “God so loved the world” by John Stainer.

However, the musical highlight of the Tenebrae service was the hymn I consider the quintessential Good Friday hymn: “O sacred head now wounded.” It was sung in between passion lessons as the candles were extinguished.

The original 12th century Latin text (Salve caput cruentatum) is attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, but the hymn owes its origins to the German Lutheran reformers: a German adaptation by Paul Gerhardt, the melody (Passion Chorale) by Hans Leo Hassler (1601).

Despite its Lutheran bonafides, it’s also a familiar tune among Anglicans. Oremus lists the hymn as being in all the major Anglican hymnals: Hymns Ancient and Modern, The English Hymnal, Songs of Praise and New English Hymnal in England, Hymnal 1916, Hymnal 1940 and Hymnal 1982 in the US, as well as hymnals from Ireland, Canada and Australia.

The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) uses their own harmonization while ironically the Anglicans seem to use the Bach harmonization (with many more passing notes). The Lutheran Service Book (2006) lists both harmonization.

The other major difference is in the German to English translation. Hymnal 1940 (#75) and Hymnal 1982 (#168) use an English translation by Robert Seymour Bridges that begins:

O sacred head, sore wounded
Defined and put to scorn.
O kingly head, surrounded,
with mocking crown of thorn.

while the American Lutherans use an unattributed translation from the TLH that’s slightly different:

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down.
How scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.

I’ve sung both so at this point both seem OK. A more serious difference is that the Lutherans keep all 10 verses, while the ECUSA hymnals only keep 4 and 5 respectively (a rare example of where H82 is an improvement). Alas, the LSB drops down to 4 verses for Bach and 7 verses for the TLH harmonization.

Still, it’s hard to imagine a hymn more appropriate for Good Friday. It would be a “must sing” hymn for Good Friday if I were a Continuing Anglican music director, just as it is at this LCMS parish. The only other hymn that comes to mind is the Negro spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” (H40: #80) which we used as an anthem one year at this LCMS parish.

Update Saturday 3:30 p.m.: Catching up on Issues Etc., I found that on Friday it broadcast an interview with Pastor Will Weedon on this very hymn. Quoting Dr. C. Matthew Philips of Concordia U Nebraska, Pastor Weedon attributes the Latin text to Arnulf of Louvain, a 13th century poet and abbot.

A quick search on Google Scholar reveals a 2005 article that says:

Gerhardt could still use medieval models for his hymnody, including Arnulf of Louvain, whose 'Salve caput cruentatum' lies behind the well-known 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden' ('O sacred head surrounded').

Bernard, Paul and Bob

Due to work commitments, I couldn’t go to my regular parish for our noontime Good Friday service. So I ended Lent where I started it, at the LCMS parish where I have numerous friends.

The main hymn was one of those recommended by The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) for Good Friday, “O sacred Head, now wounded,” based on a 1656 text by Paulus Gerhardt for the 1601 tune Passion Chorale by Hans Leo Hassler.

TLH (#172) has 10 verses translated by various sources, but this is also listed as a Passiontide, Holy Week or Lenten hymn in all my Anglican hymnals:

• The 19th century Hymns Ancient & Modern (#97, #111 depending on the edition) has three verses of “O Sacred Head, Surrounded” translated by H.W. Baker
• The English Hymnal, 1906 (#102) has 5 verses translated by “Y.H.”
• Hymnal 1940 (#75) has four verses translated by Robert (Seymour) Bridges
• Hymnal 1982 (#168) has these four verses, plus an (altered) translation of the fifth verse by James Waddell Alexander
• New English Hymnal, 1986 (#90) has five verses translated by Bridges

TLH and A&M have their own harmonizations, while the others use the harmonization by J.S. Bach.

The Cyberhymnal has 11 verses translated by Alexander (plus the MIDI). With the Bridges translation, Oremus follows the four verses of Hymnal 1940, starting with the words I recall from my childhood:

O sacred head, sore wounded,
defiled and put to scorn;
O kingly head surrounded
with mocking crown of thorn:
What sorrow mars thy grandeur?
Can death thy bloom deflower?
O countenance whose splendor
the hosts of heaven adore!

This is a pretty influential and popular hymn, but it’s more than just that. TLH credits this as

Based on the Latin
Bernard of Clairvaux, 1153, asc.

Bernard (1091-1153) was a monk in the Cistercians order (the order that brought us the Trappists.) There are brief biographies in CCEL and Wikipedia, and a longer biography in the New Advent Encyclopedia; STEM quotes the biography from Julian's Hymnology.

The Center for Church Music has a brief discussion of the hymn, which begins:

"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" is based on a long medieval poem attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, 'Salve mundi salutare'. This poem talks about Christ's body, as he suffered and hung on the cross. It has seven sections, each addressing a part of Jesus' body-his feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and head. Our hymn is a translation of the seventh section 'Salve caput cruentatum', focused on Jesus' head.

The original Latin text can be found in the 1874 book Sacred Latin Poetry, as published online by Google Books. I haven’t checked Gerhardt’s translation, but clearly there is some disagreement of the English translation of the German translation of the Latin text, even before the “improvements” in late 20th century.

Still, as with other timeless hymns, there’s something magical about thinking that today’s observance of Good Friday was tied across the generations to earlier Christians, all through a 850-year-old text and 400-year-old tune. I pray that it remains in the worship into the 4th millennium.

Note: the hymn is also the subject of a commentary by the blog “Hyfrydol. Discuss.” (Love that title) and Mia Himnareto.

What's the smudge?

When I was in college I acquired two albums of Christian musicals. Godspell was better Gospel and (IMHO) better music. The more successful (but less enjoyable) musical succeeded as spectacle — but today Jesus Christ Superstar is perhaps best remembered as the third work (and first megahit) of the 20th century genius, Baron Lloyd-Webber. One of his more bombastic songs was “What’s the buzz”.

I was reminded of the song when three times this afternoon I was asked (in effect) “what’s the smudge” on my forehead. I decided beforehand to just say “Ash Wednesday”. I would have been unprepared to answer, if I hadn’t read (LCMS member) Mollie Hemingway’s post last night:

At my last newspaper job, my colleagues loved celebrating Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, last day before (Western) Lent). A favorite co-worker, from New Orleans, of course, would bring in a King Cake and we would feast. Some people would wear beads, etc. And then the next day when I came to work with ashes on my forehead, dozens of people would ask me what that was for. I never quite understood celebrating Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday without Ash Wednesday being the next day.

Among those who didn’t ask (and so presumably knew what was going on) were those with Italian or Irish names, who I thus assume either were Catholic or had Catholic relatives. This got me to thinking.

I’ve gone to Ash Wednesday services at Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran churches. (Of course, it’s also observed at continuing Anglican parishes). My Orthodox friends, of course, observe Ash Wednesday — even if not on the same calendar.

But who else observes the day? The fasting? The imposition of ashes? Among liturgical Christians (as Mrs. Hemingway calls us), there may not be that many others. It’s controversial among Presbyterians. Ironically, after being part of the 1662 BCP praised by John Wesley was restored to (U.S.) Methodist liturgy through their postmodern prayer book.

Will Ash Wednesday survive in Protestant worship? It’s clearly there in the 1662 BCP and thus presumably in AMiA’s 21st century update. But interestingly, it makes not mention of the imposition of ashes (because it’s assumed, or because it’s a rejection of the Catholic church)?

Still, ashes and midweek devotionals seem like an Anglo-Catholic thing. I guess next year I need to got to an AMiA or other “low church” Anglican to see what they do.

We didn’t have hymns at today’s noontime service. But one of those called out for today is my favorite Lent hymn — the first Lenten hymn in the 1940 Hymnal, #55:

Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled

The 17th century tune from Nürnbergisches Gesangbuch is even better than the 19th century words.

BTW: Easter is early this year (March 23); according my 1928 BCP (p. liii), only one year in the past 200 years had an earlier Easter: March 22, 1818. However, Ash Wednesday that year was Feb. 4 (because Ash Wednesday is a day later on Leap Years).

Update: On Wednesday, the LCMS radio show Issues Etc. had a very interesting discussion in the last half of the first hour of the show. Host Todd Wilken talked about the origins of Lent, Ash Wednesday and the imposition of ashes with Dr. Paul Grime, a new faculty member at the LCMS seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

An extended (but parallel) exposition of the meaning of Ash Wednesday can be found in Touchstone magazine, which reprints a March 2004 column by editor David Mills. (H/T: The Continuum).