Loyal Lutheran Listeners Love Christmas Carols

On Friday, @IssuesEtc repeated their annual listener poll of favorite Christmas hymns and carols. Here I analyze in detail how the 20 songs selected map onto #Lutheran (and #Anglican) hymnody, as well as how this relates to the availability of recordings (a topic I discussed this month for Advent hymns).

The December 23 show demonstrated the skill of the show’s host, Pastor Todd Wilken, who soon begins his 25th year behind the microphone. He expertly merged 41 votes (from phone calls, email, Tweets and Facebook comments) for these pieces. But more generally, this episode is a masterful use of the radio (or MP3-delayed podcast) format, with brief (and mostly interesting) listener suggestions interspersed with playing recordings of the crowd favorites.

The Nominees

Formally entitled “What Is Your Favorite Christmas Hymn, and Why?” Friday’s two-hour show played 20 musical pieces. I looked each one up on Hymnary: Hymnary’s total of hymnals using the hymn (listed below) includes alternate translations. 

In alphabetical order (with the start times indicated), these 20 pieces were:

1. “All my heart this night rejoices” [01:26:40]: translated from “Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen” by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676); 267 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/all_my_heart_this_night_rejoices. 

2. “Angels we have heard on high” [00:39:10]: translated from “Les Anges dans nos Campagnes”, an 18th century French carol; 213 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/angels_we_have_heard_on_high. Performed by Solo Deo Cantorum.

3. “Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light” [00:52:40]: by Johann Rist (1607-1667); 55 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/break_forth_o_beauteous_heavenly_light. Performed by Robert Shaw Chamber Singers.

4. “For unto us a child is born” [01:13:55]: by G.F. Händel (1685-1759).  Performed by Bach Collegium Japan.

5. “From heaven above to earth I come” [00:58:30]: translated from “Vom himmel hoch” by Martin Luther (1483-1546); 147 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/from_heaven_above_to_earth_i_come_to_bea. 

6. “God rest ye merry gentlemen” [01:29:50]:, an 18th century English carol; 116 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/god_rest_ye_merry_gentlemen. Performed by King's College Choir.

7. “Hark the herald angels sing” [00:17:20]: by Charles Wesley (1707-1788); 1350 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/hark_the_herald_angels_sing_glory_to. Performed by King's College Choir.

8. “Joy to the world” [00:02:35]: by Isaac Watts (1674-1748); 1814 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/joy_to_the_world_the_lord_is_come. Performed by John Rutter & Cambridge Singers.

9. “Let our gladness have no end” [00:24:50]: translated from “Narodil se Kristus Pán”, 15th century Bohemian carol; 10 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/let_our_gladness_have_no_end. Performed by Children's Choirs of St. Paul Lutheran Church (Fort Wayne).

10. “Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming” [01:36:20]: translated from “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”, 16th century German carol; 106 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming. Performed by LPR Choir.

11. “O come, all ye faithful” [01:05:25]: translated from “Adeste Fidelis” by James Frances Wade (1711-1786); 924 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_all_ye_faithful_joyful_and_triump. Performed by King's College Choir.

12. “O Holy Night” [00:21:50]: translated from “Cantique de Noël” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877); 45 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_holy_night_the_stars_are_brightly_shin. Performed by Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

13. “O how Joyfully” [01:33:40]: translated from “O du Fröhliche” by Johann Daniel Falk (1728-1826); 129 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_du_frohliche_o_du_selige. Performed by Kapelle of Concordia University Chicago.

14. “O Jesus Christ, thy manager is” [00:47:55]: translated from “O Jesu Christ, Dein Kripplein Ist” by Paul Gerhardt; 7 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_jesus_christ_thy_manger_is. 

15. “Of the father's love begotten” [00:31:50]: translated from “Corde natus ex Parentis” by Prudentius (348-405+); 218 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten. Performed by Cantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.

16. “Praise God the Lord ye sons of men” [00:06:15]: translated from “Lobt Gott Ihr Christen” by Nikolaus Herman (c.1500-1561); 115 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/praise_god_the_lord_ye_sons_of_men. Performed by LPR Choir.

17. “Silent Night” [01:18:25]: translated from “Stille Nacht” by Joseph Mohr (1792-1848); 749 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/silent_night_holy_night_all_is_calm_all. Performed by Musica Sacra.

18. “What child is this” [00:44:45]: by W. Chatterton Dix (1837-1898); 197 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/what_child_is_this_who_laid_to_rest. Performed by Richard Proulx & The Cathedral Singers.

19. “What sweeter music” [01:44:15]: by Robert Herrick (1591-1674).  Performed by John Rutter & Cambridge Singers.

20. “Where shepherds lately knelt” [00:10:30]: by Jaroslav Vajda (1919-2008); 9 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/where_shepherds_lately_knelt_and_kept_th. 

Note that two are not actually hymns (and don’t appear in hymnals). One is “For until us a child is born,” the 12th movement from Part I (the Advent section) of Händel’s. The other is “What sweeter music,” a carol written by John Rutter (based on a 16th century poem) for the 1987 King’s College Cambridge Lessons & Carols service.

Of the 18 hymns, 7 were originally in German — perhaps not surprising for a radio show serving the main Lutheran denomination established by German immigrants to the U.S. Meanwhile, 2 were from French and 2 from Latin — all four of these are popular American carols, as are two of the German ones.

Performers

Some performers were announced, while in other cases Shazam identified the recording for me.

Not surprisingly, six familiar pieces were performed by professional caliber English choirs: King’s College Cambridge (3), John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers (2) and Richard Proulx and The Cathedral Singers (1). Four came from similar caliber American choirs, with one each by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Musica Sacra, Robert Shaw Chamber Singers and Solo Deo Gloria Cantroum, and one Japanese group (Bach Collegium Japan).

Five of the German Lutheran hymns were credited to US Lutheran performers, including elite choirs from Concordia Chicago and the Fort Wayne seminary. Three German hymns and one 20th century LCMS hymn were uncredited, but some sounded like the LPR Choir (credited with two performances).

Singing these Hymns at Christmas

To see how much these hymns could be sung by congregations — and to judge how “Lutheran” these hymns are — I looked at the latest hymnal of the largest U.S. Lutheran jurisdictions:

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006)
• Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod: Lutheran Service Book (2006)
• Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod: Christian Worship (1993)
• Evangelical Lutheran Synod: Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996)

For Anglican comparison, also searched the latest Church of England hymnal used in most English choral recordings (New English Hymnal), The Episcopal Church hymnal also used by ACNA parishes (Hymnal 1982), and the main hymnal of Continuing Anglicans (Hymnal 1940). (Note I am ignoring variations in tunes and text, which were a big deal for Advent hymns I examined earlier).

	Denomination	TEC	TEC	CoE	ELCA	LCMS	WELS	ELS
Seq	Text	H40	H82	NEH	ELW	LSB	CW	ELH
1	All my heart this night rejoices	32	545		273	360	37	115
2	Angels we have heard on high	42	96		289	368	63	116
3	Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light	25	91			378	44
5	From heaven above to earth I come				268	358	38	123 & 124
6	God rest ye merry gentlemen	40	105					126
7	Hark the herald angels sing	27	87	26	270	380	61	125
8	Joy to the world	775	100		267	387	62	138
9	Let our gladness have no end				291	381
10	Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming	17	81		272	359
11	O come, all ye faithful	12	93	30	283	379	55	133
14	O Jesus Christ, thy manager is					372	40	161
15	Of the Father's love begotten	20	82	33	295	384	35	181
16	Praise God the Lord ye sons of men							148
17	Silent Night	33	111	34		363		140
18	What child is this	36	115	40	296	370	67	145
20	Where shepherds lately knelt					369	54

No surprise that the Händel (#4) and Rutter (#19) choral pieces were not in hymnals, and only a small surprise that “O Holy Night” (#12) is not.

The big surprise was the absence of two German Lutheran hymns in the German hymnal: “O du Fröhliche” (#13) was not in any current hymnal, while “Lobt Gott Ihr Christen” (#16) was only in the hymnal of the (historically Norwegian) ELS (although both tunes were used elsewhere in recent Lutheran hymnals). Also, the hymn by 17th century Lutheran Pastor Jacob Rist (#3) with its Bach harmonization seems more popular among Episcopalians than Lutherans.

The Winner: a Favorite for 16 Centuries

Thirteen of the hymns were nominated by only one caller (or correspondent), including such perennial favorites such as “Angels we have heard on high” and “Silent night.” Three received two votes; those with more were

• 3 votes: ”Joy to the world” and “O come, all the faithful”
• 5 votes: “Hark the herald angels sing”

Most of the reasons for the votes were either because of what the text teaches, or strong personal memories or sentiments associated with the hymn.

With 11 votes, the landslide winner was “Of the Father’s love begotten,” a 4th century hymn by Prudentius that I blogged about in 2008 (based on an Issues Etc. discussion of the hymn by a LCMS seminary Professor Arthur Just) and 2010. Of course, I’m particularly excited because the hymn was introduced into the English-language repertoire by John Mason Neale, the great hymn translator of the 19th century.

What was particularly interesting were many of the comments by those who wrote to nominate the hymn. I tried to transcribe all 11 comments, but here are some excerpts:

• Elaine: “because of the transcendent beauty of the music and the lyrics”
• Joshua: “text and tune are beautiful, and a long part of the church’s history”
• Janet: “because I have always loved ancient melodies and texts”
• David: “it’s been sung by Christians since the fourth century”
• Jennifer: “the simplicity of the plainchant makes you focus on the fabulous lyrics which take you from the beginning of time to the end, full of the gospel message combined that with the age of the hymn and I love thinking about all the saints before who have sung the same words”
• Brandon: “I love the beautiful simplicity of that ancient hymn. It’s a joy to hear or sing — with or without accompaniment — yet the majesty of the lyrics can still awe.  And given its age I like how by singing it, the church unites across time and space in language to honor the birth of our savior.”

To me, this is the epitome of the argument for what I call “timeless hymns” and this hymn’s place at the front of the panoply of such hymns.

I realize that those who call and nominate a hymn are not a cross-section of a parish or denomination. Still, I think it suggests that the arguments that we have to dumb down worship to reach Christian worshippers are giving up much too easily.

References

• Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal, The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd ed. (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1951).
• Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrot, The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)
• Joel W. West, “Singing Together for the Advent of our Lord,” North American Anglican, December 22, 2022, URL: https://northamanglican.com/singing-together-for-the-advent-of-our-lord/

A most appropriate communion hymn

Today we sang one of my favorite communion hymns “Humbly I adore thee” — a timeless hymn (#204) from my favorite hymnal:

Humbly I adore thee, Verity unseen,
Who thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean;
Lo, to thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
Tranced as it beholds thee, shrined within the cloud.

Taste, and touch, and vision, to discern thee fail;
Faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.
I believe whate'er the Son of God hath told;
What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

O memorial wondrous of the Lord's own death;
Living Bread, that givest all thy creatures breath,
Grant my spirit ever by thy life may live,
To my taste thy sweetness never failing give.

Jesus, whom now veiled, I by faith descry,
What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny,
That thy face unveiled, I at last may see,
With the blissful vision blest, my God, of thee. Amen.

Anglican Versions of Adoro Devote

As I summarized back in 2007, the words in Hymnal 1940 were translated from the 13th century Latin text is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas (“Adoro devote, latens veritas”). It uses a tune that first appeared in Hymns Ancient & Modern in 1869; however, A&M had its own translation by Bishop J.R. Woodford — a translation (“Thee we adore”) later used in The English Hymnal (1906) and New English Hymnal† (1986).

All the American hymnas keep the A&M tune, termed Adoro Devote in the U.S. hymnals — even if (as noted earlier) there are differences in the rhythms. Here is the H40 version:

US Anglicans — Hymnal 1940, Hymnal 1982 and Magnify the Lord† — all use the ”1939” translation of Hymnal 1940. Among Lutherans, Lutheran Book of Worship (1978)†, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006)† and the Lutheran Service Book (2006)† all use versions of the A&M translation, while Lutheran Worship (1982) uses its own translation. All use the same tune.

† These are newer observations since the 2007 posting.

The Hymnal 1940 Companion actually credits its translation to an earlier source

The translation is that of the Monastic Diurnal, 1932, save for the first line which there read “Deity unseen,” following the Latin text commonly used prior to the research of Dom Wilmart [Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, I (1929)], ”Deity” missed the full subtlety of St. Thomas’ thought which uses “Verity” much as St. Ambroses earlier used “O God of truth.” … The Diurnal translation is but another stage in over a century of versions, all duly traced by [John] Julian [in his Dictionary of Hymnology].

Not surprisingly, Magnify the Lord (aka Book of Common Praise 2017) follows The Hymnal 1940, while Hymnal 1982 modifies verse 4.

One of the earlier translations mentioned by Julian is Hymnal Noted. Although originally by John Mason Neale (1818-1866), the only edition I found with this hymn is the posthumous 10th edition of 1889. Still, the passages comparable to the 1940 text look very familiar:

PROSTRATE I adore Thee, Deity unseen,
Who Thy Glory hidest, 'neath these shadows mean;
Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
Tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.

Taste, and touch, and vision in Thee are deceived,
But the hearing only, well may be believed,
I believe what e’er the Son of God hath told,
What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

Oh, Memorial wondrous of the Lord's Own Death,
Living Bread, that givest all His creatures breath;
Grant my spirit ever by Thy Life may live,
To my taste Thy sweetness never-failing give.

Jesu, Whom now veiled, I by faith, descry,
What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny;
That Thy Face unveiled, I at last may see,
With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee. Amen.

Today's Significance

This text was particularly moving under today’s circumstances. It was our family’s first Sunday back at church since our last visit together on March 15. On March 13 we got a confident message that “St. X is staying open” — but eight days later were told “Until further notice, St. X will be closed for Sunday services.” A week ago, the church resumed — though none of us could make it — and today continued under extreme social distancing regulations imposed by the state of California.

For more than two months, our family sang together in our TV room: on Palm Sunday, Easter and throughout Eastertide. Today was the first time we were singing together at church, and could hear the others of our church (and the choir) singing as well.

There is also the fact that I like plainsong, I like hymns that predate the fracturing of the Western church, this hymn is strongly associated with Hymnal 1940, and one I know well.

But finally, there was the connection to Aquinas. While our hymnal (and 21st century Anglicans) have a few hymns by Ambrose and Fortnatus, the reality is that Aquinas is one of the oldest hymnwriters of the undivided Western church. I always appreciate the continuity and certainty of singing the same timeless hymn that’s been sung for centuries by other Christians. This Sunday, with all the discontinuity and uncertainty in the world this year, it was particularly appreciated.

Hymns of our ancestors

This morning at church, our family sang the opening hymn, #483 from Hymnal 1940:

Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish;
Come to the mercy-seat, fervently kneel:
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure,
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
"Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure."

Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above;
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.

It is not a hymn I know well, but it is one that we’ve sung before. As my daughter sang soprano and I sight-read the (straightforward) bass part, I had a picture of my ancestors (or other American churchgoers) singing it back in the mid-19th century. (It is not in Hymnal 1982, but is in Magnify the Lord/Book of Common Praise 2017: #541).

The same words were in Hymnal 1916 (#388), the hymnal my mother and uncle would have used as teenagers growing up in a tiny Northern California farming town. My grandparents died when I was a kid, so I don’t know the religious practices of my family before then. It is also in Hymnal 1892 (#637), but does not appear to be in any PECUSA hymnals before that. It is not in the main CoE hymnals of 1861-present, including the New English Hymnal (1986).

Ecumenical Impact

Hymnary.org reports it is in 1960 hymnals, with a higher proportion of those of the late 19th century.

Beyond PECUSA, what is the pattern for other denominations?

• Presbyterian. The hymn is in The Hymnbook (1955) and The Hymnal (1933), so my dad might have sung it as a young man or when we attended Presbyterian churches in the 60s. It is also in US Presbyterian hymnals from 1843-1917, but not after 1955.
• Lutheran. The ELCA and its predecessors include the hymn in its latest hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), Service Book & Worship (1958),  American Lutheran Hymnal (1930), and hymnals in 1923 and 1918. The LCMS includes it in The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) and earlier 1918, 1912 and 1892 English-language hymnals.
• Methodist. The Methodist church seems to include it in most hymnals from 1843 to its latest United Methodist Hymnal (1989).

Authorship

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) a Dublin-born Catholic poet; as John Julian says in his Dictionary of Hymnology — echoed by the Hymnal 1940 Companion — “His connection with hymnody is confined to his Sacred Songs,” and that these songs were republished in hymnbooks “mainly in America”.

This text from Sacred Songs (1816) was modified by Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (1831) Thomas Hastings and Lowell Mason. Mason (1792-1872).was a famous American church musicologist who was president of Boston’s Handle and Haydn Society and founder of the Boston Academy of Music.

The tune Consolation by English composer Samuel Webbe (1740-1816), as published in 1792. The tune was arranged by Hastings and Mason for this text in their Spiritual Songs for Social Worship, and is the only tune I found used with this text. Given the dates, this is pre-Victorian 19th century English hymnody (text, arrangement and pairing).

Mason is the author of tunes or arrangements for 7 hymns in Hymnal 1940,, including those for “Nearer My God to Thee” and “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.” As with Consolation, I find his harmonies quite singable: perhaps they were written for an earlier time when accompaniment was more rare, or at least congregational singers had less formal music training than in the latter half of the century. Or perhaps it was before the Romantic era dissonances of the late 19th century classical composers.

No matter what the reason, it seems like the harmonizations from the 18th century to mid-19th century — the era Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn — are more approachable for sight-reading by amateur singers like myself.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas Carols

Today was both the 12th day of Christmas, and the last service of Christmastide. As with most Anglican churches, our music director had to schedule something from the Christmas section of the hymnal — after using many of the best known hymns on Dec. 24 (two services), Dec. 25 and Dec. 29 (1st Sunday after Christmas). As we prepare for 353 days without Christmas carols until the afternoon of December 24, three pieces of music this music stood out.

Sussex Carol

My daughter was thrilled that the offertory anthem was the David Willcocks arrangement of the Sussex Carol (”On Christmas night all Christians sing"). She is a huge King’s College fan, and after listening to the 100 Years of Nine Lessons and Carols for the past year, she has the melody, words and many of the descants memorized (particularly those of Willcocks and Philip Ledger). Although I have a number of recordings of this carol, the Willcocks is instantly recognizable on the third verse, the first of two verses with a descant: the boy sopranos are soaring over the top with choral colorings that accentuate the harmonies (but have little to do with the words).

Hymnary says this carol is found in 39 hymnals

• Lutheran (ELCA): Lutheran Worship (1978), Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2008)
• Presbyterian Church USA: Glory to God (2013)
• Southern Baptist Convention: the unofficial Celebrating Grace (2010), more progressive than the official Baptist Hymnal (2008)

As far as I can tell, these do not list descants in the main hymnal (but sometimes these have auxiliary descant books). However, the Willcocks arrangement with descant is in his Carols for Christmas.

Of the Father’s Love

Beyond the King’s favorite, my heart was gladdened that two of the three hymns were by John Mason Neale, the great Victorian hymn translator (and subject of my first music publication). The communion hymn was “Of the Father’s love begotten.” (H40: 20; H82: 82). This hymn was the subject of one of my first posts on this blog, back 11 years ago.

The text (at the end of the 4th century) by Prudentius. The Neale translation of “Of the Father sole begotten” first appeared in his 1851 Hymnal Noted. According to my 2018 paper in The Hymn, it was the 4th most popular hymn in 20th century US hymnals of the 105 texts and tunes in Hymnal Noted.

The Latin text (“Corde natus ex parentis”) was intended as a Christmastide evening hymn, and the tune (Divinum mysterium) was listed by Neale as a 13th century melody. The initial verse was later changed to “Of the Father’s love begotten” by H.W. Baker for  Hymns Ancient & Modern.

Hymnal Noted had 6 verses, but H40 only has 5 (H82 has only 4). The English Hymnal (#613) has 9 and the New English Hymnal (#33) has 7, but both use a later translation by R.F. Davis (“Of the father’s heart begotten”).

My favorite verse today — one I hadn’t noticed before — is V4 in H40:

Thee let old men, thee let young men,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart is music bring,
Evermore and evermore!

It has significant modifications from Neale’s V5

Thee let age, and Thee let manhood,
Thee let choirs of infants sing;
Thee the matrons and the virgins,
And the children answering:
Let their modest song re-echo,
And their heart its praises bring,
Evermore and evermore.

Even so, there are two reasons I like it. First, it suggests the true joy of singing to the gift of the Christ child from God the Father. Second, it alludes to an antiphonal or responsive style of singing — 1000+ years before Neale and the Victorian choirs — which is a wonderful image of continuity for such a timeless hymn.

We closed out this unison hymn with a descant written by our music director that (AFAIK) is only sung at our church.

Good Christian Men Rejoice

We closed with the familiar “Good Christian men, rejoice!”. It was first published in 1853 by Neale and Thomas Helmore in Carols for Christmastide.  As Neale’s preface explains, the texts (except for Good King Wenceslas and Toll! Toll!) are free translations from the 16th century Swedish Lutheran Piae Cantiones (available online in a 1910 reprint). In Neale’s book, “Good Christian Men” is listed as “perhaps 14th century.” Our hymnal (H40)— like the original text — includes only three verses: at a normal tempo, the carol seems like it’s over almost as soon as it’s begun.

The 1853 book included Helmore’s adaptation of medieval tunes for each carol — in this case, the instantly recognizable In Dulce Jubilo. The harmonization in Hymnal 1940 is credited to Hymnal 1916 (#549), from the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA (PECUSA).

Interestingly, the harmonization was done by Winfred Douglas. In 1916, the name might not have meant much, but twenty years later, he had edited and published Hymnal 1940. Unlike Hymnal 1916 and 1906's The English Hymnal, H40 contained a section with settings of mass and daily office chants for regular, congregation-sung chanting. The hymnal thus played a key role in 20th century American hymnody by introducing (or re-introducing) to the world many plainchant settings, adaptations and harmonizations.


Hymnary says this carol in 197 hymnals. This total includes the gender-neutered variant “Good Christian friends” that was introduced by the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, and then copied by Hymnal 1982 and subsequent Methodist, Presbyterian and even Catholic hymnals — as well as Celebrating Grace.

Alas, the 1853 book held an influence far past its modern-day holdings: it’s not on the British, Oxford or Cambridge libraries, and WorldCat lists only one copy, in the Royal College of Music. No copies have been scanned by Archive.org or Google Books, but all the texts are included in the posthumous 1914 Collected Hymns, Sequences and Carols of John Mason Neale.

Thomas, John, Jean and John

I previously wrote about the quintessential “doubting Thomas” hymn, “O sons and daughters let us sing” (H40: 99; H82: 206). The English translation by John Mason Neale (of the Latin text “O Filli et Filiae”) was first published in his Medieval Hymns and Sequences (1851).

For the first Sunday after Easter, the doubting Thomas passage (John 20:19-31) is found in Years A,B and C of the Revised Common Lectionary as it was in the one year lectionary of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. The 1549, 1559 and 1662 BCP only read John 20:19-23, which has the fearful disciples in a locked room and Jesus showing his hands, but not Thomas satisfying his doubts.

However, I said little about the author of the original Latin text, Jean Tisserand. Little is known about him, other than he was a Franciscan monk, founded a women’s order, and died in Paris in 1494. His text is his most enduring legacy.

Even more mysterious is the origin of the tune, appropriately dubbed O Filli et Filiae, of which the oldest extant source is a Paris publication from 1624. The Hymnal 1940 Companion (1951, p. 74) says

The tune, O fillii et filiae, is probably the original contemporary melody since none other has been used with the text.

Thirty years later, the Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship (p.236) concluded essentially the same thing

O FILLI ET FILIAE belongs to this text and probably is contemporary with it.

Thus, I think it’s safe to say this is one of the oldest pairings of text (translated into the vernacular) with its corresponding tune. (The likely prize-winner is the plainsong Lord’s prayer, which is believed to be from the patristic era.)

As I’ve argued before, a central part of our Christian heritage is not just the teachings and beliefs of the church, but also the liturgy and music used to catechize those beliefs. Let us hope that the Church keeps Friar Tisserand’s contribution for another 500 years.

Rev. John Mason Neale, D.D. (24 Jan 1818 – 6 Aug 1866)

On Wednesday, I gave a campus ministry talk on the influence of J.M. Neale, adapted from my recent research. Below is the handout I distributed to the students.

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Born to Cornelius and Susanna Good Neale; named for Puritan cleric and hymn writer John Mason (1645–94). Cornelius was ordained a Church of England priest in 1822 and died in 1823. J.M. married Sarah Webster in 1842; three children: Agnes Neale, Vincent Neale, Mary Sackville (Neale) Lawson.

Cofounder of Cambridge Camden Society, later the Ecclesiological Society; from 1841-1866 co-editor (with Benjamin Webb) of its journal, The Ecclesiologist.

In 1846, he became warden of Sackville College, an almshouse in East Grinstead, but was inhibited by the local bishop from 1848-1860 for his “Puseyite” tendencies. In 1855, he founded the Society of St. Margaret, a women’s religious order that trained nuns to minister to the poor, which, after relocating to East Grinstead in 1856; his daughter Agnes was later its Mother Superior.

Died in 1866 at Sackville College, and buried 10 Aug 1866 in St. Swithun Churchyard, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

Hymns

A great and mighty wonder All glory, laud, and honor Alleluia, song of gladness, Art thou weary, art thou languid Brief life is here our portion Christ is made the sure foundation Christian! Dost Thou See Them Come, ye faithful, raise the strain Draw nigh and take the Body of the Lord Fierce was the wild billow For thee, O dear, dear country Good Christian men, rejoice Holy Father, thou hast taught me Jerusalem the golden, Jesus, name all names above Jesus, the very thought is sweet Lift up, lift up your voices now Now that the daylight fills the sky

O come, O come, Emmanuel O happy band of pilgrims O Lord of hosts, Whose glory fills O sons and daughters, let us sing O thou who by a star didst guide O Thou, Who through this holy week O what their joy and their glory must be O wondrous type! O vision fair Of the Father's love begotten Safe home, safe home in port That Easter day with joy was bright The day is past and over The day of Resurrection The day, O Lord, is spent The Royal Banners forward go The world is very evil To the name that brings salvation

References

• “J.M. Neale,” Hymnary.org, URL: https://hymnary.org/person/Neale_JM
• J.M. Neale, A Few Words to Church Builders (Cambridge: Cambridge Camden Society, 1841), URL: https://archive.org/details/fewwordstochurch00camb
• J.M. Neale and Benjamin Webb, The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments (London: T.W. Greene, 1843), URL: https://archive.org/details/symbolismchurch00webbgoog
• Eleanor A. Towle, John Mason Neale, DD: A Memoir (London: Longmans, Green, 1907), URL: https://archive.org/details/johnmasonnealeme00towl
• James F. White, The Cambridge Movement: the Ecclesiologists and the Gothic Revival. (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1962).
• Barry A. Orford, “Music and Hymnody” in Stewart J. Brown, James Pereiro, and Peter Nockles, eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Oxford Movement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 376-386.
• J. West, “Neale’s Hymnal Noted and its Impact on Twentieth-Century American Hymnody,” The Hymn, 69, 3 (Summer 2018): 14-24.
• J. West, “How Cambridge and John Mason Neale Continued the Oxford Movement,” Forward in Christ 11, 4 (October 2018): 18-20, URL: http://bit.ly/FIC-Neale-2018

Singing ancient Easter testimonies

Theologically, Easter is the greatest Christian feast, the culmination of the Christian year. It is also a great opportunity for mission, since it's one of the two Sundays where C&E Anglicans (or Catholics or Lutherans) will darken the church doors.

Thus it's not surprising that most churches schedule good hymns for Easter, as our Anglo-Catholic church did this morning, and at the blended service at daughter's college parish. And of course -- next to Christmas — there is the embarrassment of riches: 18 hymns (some with multiple tunes) in The English Hymnal, 17 hymns (three with multiple tunes) in Hymnal 1940, and 33 hymns (7 with multiple tunes) in Hymnal 1982.

Still, today I was struck that all four of the hymns sung at our Anglo-Catholic church were derived from Latin and Greek texts that trace back to  the pre-Reformation undivided church. I was also struck — not surprisingly given the original sources — the debt we owe to John Mason Neale for being able to sing them today.

Procession: Hail thee festival day! (H40: 86; H82: 175)

We sang all nine verses, alternating (as written) between women and men. It is based on the 6th century Latin text, “Salve festa dies,” by Venantius Honorius Fortunatus (b. 530-600/609), making it one of the oldest hymns in Anglican hymnody.

The texts have been translated multiple times since the 16th century. This version begins with Hymn 624 of The English Hymnal (1906) with the now-familiar tune Salva festa dies by music editor Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Hymnal 1940 Companion credits the H40 version to Hymn 389 of Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition (1931). While SOPEE alternates between the two tunes, the idea of alternating verses between women and men seems to have originated with H40.

Gradual: The Day of Resurrection (H40: 96.1; H82: 210)

We sang three verses to the first tune, the middle verse in harmony; Hymnal 1982 also lists a descant. The 8th century Greek text is by St. John of Damascus.. Our hymnals use the translation by John Mason Neale from his Hymns of the Eastern Church (1862), a text that entered the ECUSA hymnary with its Hymnal 1874. The tune Ellacombe is from an 18th century German Catholic hymnal.

Communion: At the Lamb's high feast we sing (H40: 89; H82: 174)

Although I've sung this before, somehow I never really appreciated it. The Latin text is from the Roman Breviary created for Urban VIII (pope 1623-1644), but can be traced back to the 6th century text “Ad cenam Agni providi.” The 1850 translation is by Robert Campbell.

It is uniquely suited as the Easter communion hymn, and as the first of the four verses explain:

At the Lamb's high feast we sing
praise to our victorious King,
who hath washed us in the tide
flowing from his pierced side;
praise we him, whose love divine
gives his sacred Blood for wine,
gives his Body for the feast,
Christ the victim, Christ the priest.

Even better, is the 17th century tune Salzburg (best known for “Songs of thankfulness and praise” H40: 53). I enjoyed singing the middle two verses of the four-part harmony by J. S. Bach, a harmonization that in my book is hard to beat.

Recessional: Jesus Christ is Risen today (H40: 85; H82: 207)

As I texted our daughter this morning, the 1st commandment of Anglican hymn selection is to end on an upbeat tune. At Easter time, this seems eminently well suited.

For the recessional, we sang all four verses: 2nd and 3rd in harmony, 4th unison with descant. Hymnal 1982 also lists a descant from the 1950 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern.

The 14th century text, Surrexit Christus hodie, has been translated multiple times since 1708. The H40 hymnal companion attributes the current version of the tune to a compilation by John Wesley and the final addition to the text to Charles Wesley.

10 "best" hymns

In “I'm fed up with bad church music” — a Facebook group that I belong to — someone posted this morning a link to a blog posting provocatively entitled “The 10 Greatest Hymns of All-Time.” The author is a Toronto non-denominational pastor, so the list was surprisingly traditional:

1. And Can It Be? by Charles Wesley
2. A Mighty Fortress by Martin Luther
3. All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name by Edward Perronet.
4. Oh, For a Thousand Tongues by Charles Wesley.
5. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts.
6. How Firm a Foundation by an unknown author.
7. Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber.
8. It Is Well With My Soul by Horatio Spafford.
9. Abide With Me by Henry Francis Lyte.
10. Amazing Grace by John Newton.

It’s actually a pretty good list, with many non-controversial choices. But if we are judging the entirety of a hymn (as he states he is) and not just the lyrics, then IMHO Wesley’s “Love Divine” (to the stately tune Hyfrydol) would displace his first-choice of Wesley hymns (to the forgettable tune Sagina).

It was actually his list of runners-up that was a little more controversial:

There are so many more that could easily have been on this list: “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” “For All the Saints,” “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” “Rock of Ages,” “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, “Take My Life and Let It Be,” “In Christ Alone,” and on and on.

It seems to me that any such list has to exclude Christmas and Easter, because it would be easy to make a list of 10 greatest Christmas or Easter hymns. “Crown Him with many crowns” seems like it belongs in this list.

But “In Christ Alone”? Is this a hymn that has survived (let alone will survive) the test of time? Even if I were going to pick a 21st century praise hymn, this doesn't belong on a list of hymns that are “universal and timeless”. Every performance I’ve heard (including one at a consecration) it came across as a sappy pop song rather than a hymn of praise. From the CCLI list — and excluding hybrid remakes (like “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)”) — I would similarly exclude “How Great is Our God” (which is the exemplar of a 7-11 song). Perhaps “10,000 Reasons” or “Blessed Be Your Name,” but I would leave the final choice to the CCM fan on the top 10 committee.

So in the end, any list like this is a subjective one. The only objective way to measure “best” would be to look at a large population of selection over time — such as those hymns that were published in the broadest range of hymnals, either over many decades or among recent compilations.

I have been building a database of Anglican hymns (in Anglican hymnals); certainly Oremus has this list for the lyrics, but confirming which tunes are published where takes a little more work.

When was a hymn written?

For several years, I have been contemplating the question: When was a hymn “written”? The original (and ongoing) impetus have the promos on Issues Etc. for their wonderful Internet radio station, Lutheran Public Radio, that promises “hymns from the second century; hymns from the 12th century” and so on.

But when was a hymn actually written? There are discrete steps of writing a hymn:

1. Writing the verses
2. Translating, selecting and editing the verses
3. The tune
4. Adapting and arranging the tune, including the setting the rhythm and organizing the verses and (possibly) a refrain
5. The harmonization, including (in the last century) adding a descant

There is also the question of when are these first combined: the tune and verses may be old but when were they first sung together?

Beyond the written hymn, there are the choices of how it is performed, which could include

1. Tempo
2. Voices
3. Accompaniment

These are questions I still don't have an answer to, so I expect to update this posting over the life of this blog.

Revised December 28, 2015

Music unites us — and divides us

On Sunday, the opening and closing hymns at the church we visited were “Glorious things of thee are spoken” (H40: 385) and “Songs of thankfulness and praise” (H40: 53). Everyone knew the hymns, we sang together, and we were united in song.

Hymns provide not just a unity in place, but in time. Yes, as a music minor I would probably have loved the respective tunes: Austria (tune by Haydn) and Salzburg (harmonized by Bach). More importantly, they are songs I have sung countless times over the decades — as a chorister, a young adult and now in middle age.

At the same time, some of my friends at another church were singing “Holiness.” At other praise band services, Christians were undoubtedly singing “Majesty,” “Shine Jesus Shine” or “Shout to the Lord”. While these song do not provide the continuity across generations or centuries of classic hymns, they do provide unity within a parish that learns and loves them.

Last month I attended a church planting workshop in the ACNA deanery of San Diego. Of the 30 or so people there, from what I know of their respective parishes, at least 25 worship each Sunday with some form of praise music — whether as the predominant style, or as part of a “blended” worship. Whether they chose this style — or the rector chose it as part of a conscious strategy to be more contemporary and welcoming to the culture — it is what they are used to.

During our two days, we did two morning prayer and one evening prayer services from the ACNA trial use liturgy. In using the ACNA liturgy over the past two years, it is my impression that the ACNA is a slightly less radical modernization than is Rite II of the 1979 prayer book. Perhaps more importantly, the differences between Rite I and II (and ACNA) are less dramatic in morning prayer than in Holy Communion.

So together, we were saying the same (mostly familiar) words, and had unity in worship, belief and purpose. This is exactly the reason Cranmer created the Book of Common Prayer.

However, if I went to their parishes — and I have been to many in the past year — I would feel like an alien or at least an outsider. Younger people who grew up on praise chorus music would feel alienated listening to Bach, Crüger, Vaughan Williams — or even Sullivan.

So at the risk of (re)stating the obvious, the Worship Wars between traditional and contemporary styles are more about the music, and less about the words. Some Anglo-Catholic leaders that I know and respect say they could give up their “thees and thous,” but that is a subject for another post.

However, I think there is a third point of difference if not division between the traditionalists and modernists: the process. When it comes to modernizing efforts, is the updating a one-time event that happens once every 400-500 years? Or is it an ongoing process — whether due to an ideology of modernization, change or quest for relevance — or a publisher’s business model of planned obsolescence?

One-time changes can and do happen, as when Luther, Cranmer and Vatican II shifted from Latin to the vernacular. These changes create disruption, but still allow continuity across generations and the centuries. Conversely, a belief in constant change – whether of liturgy or music — means that what we learned as children will obsolete by the time we escort our own children (or grandchildren) into the pews.

The TEC is committed to an ongoing process of change. The Continuing Anglicans and the REC have indicated their rejection of this ongoing process of change. For the broader ACNA, the jury is still out.

The sacred and the mundane

My family was recently visiting a (Catholic) medieval gothic cathedral in Europe, when it turned out it was time for the weekly organ concert. I stopped to listen, and was pleased to see (from the program afterwards) that the final two pieces were, in fact, by J.S. Bach. The organ was obviously the finest in town and for miles around.

Alas, less than 10% of the audience was under 40. That's probably true for most churches in Europe — and many I’ve seen in the U.S., too.

Still, it reminds me of a time — less than a generation ago — where church music was something unique. In the medium-sized church (ca. 200 ASA) in the medium-sized town (perhaps 80,000) where we worshipped, the best organist in town was at our church. I’d hazard to say that 4 of the 5 best organists in town were at our church. And the church where I grew up in a big city, the organist (and choir director) had one of the best music jobs in town.

We also had the best organ in town. It was nothing compared to the organ we visited (which apparently still has pipes from the 16th to 18th centuries), but it was obviously better than any organ that anyone had at home.

Today, children and young adults don’t listen to organ music or even classical music in general. Most churches play CCM because they believe that’s what people want, and it’s certainly plausible to conclude that few people are breaking down the door demanding organ music.

The problem is, the praise band is not set apart from the world — it is not only in the world, but (except for the J-word) it’s more or less of the world. Not only is the sound comparable to what you’d hear on the radio or in a bar, but (with one exception) the praise bands I’ve heard aren’t as good (even as the band in the corner dive bar.)

So instead of church music that is the awe-inspiring, sacred, set apart from the world — such as the Messiah or a great organ concert — what we have today is the profane of the ordinary life of the world (to use Durkheim’s formulation). And this profane (i.e. ordinary) music is rather mundane.

I’m not sure I have an answer here, but this seems like yet another reason why many of my most Anglican friends are — as the Episcopal and Anglican denominations teeter around them — skipping Catholicism and heading straight to the Orthodox faith. The liturgy is not my cup of tea, but (like the theology) has retained a millennial-old emphasis of being set apart, of being organized around the holy mysteries, rather than adapting and bending to the contemporary culture.

Ephemeral Orthodox worship

As an Anglo-Catholic, when I thought of Catholic worship I thought of Latin, profound reverence, bells & smells. These guys (and they’re all guys) still hold to tradition with a capital T as part of a strong central authority and a continuous line back almost 2,000 years.

Alas, I found out that since Vatican II, American Catholics are almost as likely to have a sappy praise band as the average liberal Protestant denomination, and only slightly less likely than the average nondenom evangelical church. In fact, when flipping channels in my car radio to EWTN last month, I heard the same sappy CCM praise hymn that I recognized from my rare (but sometimes unavoidable) visits to Evangelical Rite II Anglican services. Yes, Pope Benedict hopes to restore some sanity to the RCC, but I think even his goals are modest.

Well, I thought, at least there’s the Orthodox. Ever since defecting from Anglicanism to swim the Bosphorus, JLeebcd has been signing the praises (sometimes literally) of his new denomination — while attacking the contradictions of his former denomination with the vengeance of a true convert. To listen to Mr. Leebcd, the Orthodox faith was Paradise Found, the one True Church preserving the historic traditional liturgy.

One of the links he’s been sending me has been to Ancient Faith Radio — chief propaganda ministry for the Antiochian Orthodox Church, sort of an online-only version of EWTN (or Issues Etc.). Perhaps the most prominent discussion of hymns and liturgy at the site are the podcasts of Father John Finley in a series called “Singing the Triumphal Hymn.” I checked out a few podcasts before realizing that the AOC is also afflicted with the CCM disease.

The autobiographical series traces the journey of Fr. Finley from his childhood and college upbringing as an Oklahoma Baptist to the AOC by way of the Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission. His podcast biography says that he is “with the Missions and Evangelism Department of the Antiochian Archdiocese,” but doesn’t say what authority or role he wields.

In particular, I learned the most about Fr. Finley (if not the AOC) from his initial podcast in November 2008 entitled “Music to My Ears,” apparently reading from a 2003 article he wrote for Again Magazine, a defunct publication from Concillar Press.

After talking about his various praise compositions — first for evangelicals and then for the AEOM and AOC — about four minutes before the end Fr. Finley explicitly stated his thesis demanding contemporary hymns tied to the contemporary culture:

Whenever the subject of changing or modifying or developing the music is discussed, it seems that someone will always say. “We’re Orthodox, we don't change.”

Then I can certainly understand this statement when spoken in reference to the canon of the Holy Scriptures, the creeds, the doctrines of the faith, the structure of the services, and so on. But when we consider church art, this attitude relegates the artist — whether a musician or an icongrapher or an architect — to the role of scribe.

He argued it was essential for the church to encourage artists to continually develop new forms of expressing devotion through these arts:

The only alternative is to stagnate in the preservation of what might be called “museum quality music,” reducing the church's artistic relevance in society to that of a curator.

This candid egocentrism is appalling on so many level: the urgency of continually messing with the liturgy — as witnessed by the many faithful — is driven by the need for self-expression by a handful of self-nominated (or politically connected) artists.

I certainly agree with one part — the stuff that’s survived for centuries is “museum quality” and the stuff from the last 20 years is not. Fr. Finley sang some of his music and the most charitable thing that could be said is that it’s good for American Orthodox praise music. Unlike Sister Toolan’s greatest hit, I don’t think these 20th century contributions will survive (except in archives) into the 22nd century.

It’s ironic that the AOC (like JLeebcd) proclaim their message as one of “Ancient Faith,” while the American Orthodox church suffers from the same desire to chase the contemporary culture as their Roman brethren. To quote my comments on contemporary Catholic worship 19 months ago on this blog:

But, overall, the hymn choices seemed to alternate between lounge singer and bad campfire music. So not timeless (as in the centuries of Catholic heritage), not chosen from the best of the past 50 years of modern Christian music, and not even the sort of professionally composed CCM that might be heard on a praise music radio station.

(I was inspired to reuse this earlier passage by the praise of Vicar Josh Osbun.)

To respond to Fr. Finley (Baptist to Orthodox) and Mr. Leebcd (Episcopalian to Orthodox), I pull out my trump card — religion writer Terry Mattingly — who is Baptist-to-Episcopalian-to-Orthodox (AOC). He has frequently criticized the efforts by Christians to chase the culture, first with his book Pop Goes Religion and then with various appearances on the Issues Etc. (Lutheran) radio show. Like me, he strongly favors timeless hymns rather than the transient and contemporary ephemera of modern praise music.

Let me close with two quotes from his Issues Etc. interviews:

How many of us will be singing songs that our parents and grandparents sang? (March 19, 2006)

So is there anyone in the church older than Boomer rock? Are there any ties that bind this congregation to the church of the ages? It would seem not. (Nov. 11, 2007)

Great Three in One Hymn

For most Americans, today is the middle of a three-day weekend that marks the unofficial beginning of summer. For some Americans — and even some church services — it is the 143rd Memorial Day, first observed at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868,  but since 1971 observed as a Monday holiday.

But for Anglicans (and perhaps other liturgical Protestants), it is Trinity Sunday, the last major feast before Ordinary Time, which occupies nearly half the year. In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the  Sundays of Ordinary Time (sort of a permanent “low” Sunday) were designated as the “1st Sunday after Trinity” etc., but it seems with the 1979 prayer book and others following the RCL the formulation has shifted to use “propers” to work back from Advent 1.

I must admit that my theology of the Trinity is weaker than a lot of other core doctrines, if for no other reason that it’s only indirectly covered in the Bible. In the King James version, the phrase “Holy Ghost” is mentioned 89 times (all in the New Testament), but the word “Trinity” cannot be found in anywhere.

As a boy, my understanding of the Holy Trinity came from two main sources. One source was all the times that we said “Father, Son and Holy Ghost,” whether in the Doxology (“Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”) or the creeds. In those days,  we celebrated Morning Prayer we said the Apostles Creed (said to date to 2nd century Rome), while those Sundays with communion had the Nicene Creed (definitively dated to 325/381 A.D.) All of these list the three members of the Trinity, but again don’t use the “T” word.

Instead, my childhood definition of the Trinity came every Trinity Sunday with one of the most majestic entrance hymns of the entire year, Hymn #266:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

I think it was fair to say that this stanza was the source and extent of my knowledge of the Trinity up until my confirmation. The tradition continues to the next generation, as it was one of the first (non-Christmas) hymns learned by my eldest, and we both sang it with gusto this morning.

The words were written by an English vicar, Reginald Heber, who later died while serving as Bishop of Calcutta. As with so many other great English language hymns, it owes its current form to the 1861 Hymns Ancient & Modern, with the tune Nicae written by John Dykes for this purpose.

The perfect match of both are called out by the Hymnal 1940 Companion, which reports that Heber’s words have been reproduced unaltered in the American hymnal since the 1874 edition. The companion also notes

Testimony to the genius of Dykes is that the fact that not a note of either tune or harmony has since been altered.

Hymnal 1982 (#362) reproduces all four verses with one modification to verse 3. The original “Though the eye of sinful man” has become “though the sinful human eye,” one of the least objectionable of the many PC alterations in this hymnal.

Two other thoughts on the hymn. Doesn’t it seem odd that a hymn about the Trinity has four verses? One of my rare agreements with H82 is that if you have to drop a verse, the 2nd is the most expendable, because the third verse (“Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee”) also seems like a central part of imparting the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Also, unlike many other hymns, the final verse is as powerful as the first. Although the message is almost identical to the opening verse, were I to skip the final verse — due to a choir recessional, ushering duties, or a clueless music director — the hymn and Trinity Sunday itself would seem incomplete:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Although the hymn is relatively recent by Christian standards, I think both the message and the perfect integration of the music (as noted by Hymnal 1940 Companion suggests this is one of our timeless hymns. Hopefully it will remain a well-known congregation hymn for generations to come, and not just enjoyed at a few English cathedrals with well-trained choir schools

Oldest Christian B-side

Back when I was growing up, teenagers still bought their new music on 45 rpm disks. The artist (or record company) would pull some sort of hot song from the new album and put it on the front of the 45, and then fill the back (the “B-side”) with something else that was unlikely to be a hit. (Occasionally, they underestimated the potential of the B-side and the buyer got two good songs for the price of one.)

Normally when Christian musicians think of the Christian poet Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-c. 413), we think of his incomparable Christmas song, Corde natus, or, as translated by J.M. Neale:

Of the Father’s Love begotten

Ere the worlds began to be,

He is Alpha and Omega,

He the Source, the Ending He,

Of the things that are, that have been,

And that future years shall see,

Evermore and evermore!

But during Epiphany, we get a second Prudentius hymn:

O sola magnarum urbium

Maoior Bethlem, cui contigit

Ducem salutis caelitus

Incorporatum gignere

Today, we don’t sing it in the Latin, but as “Earth has many a noble city,” hymn #48 in Hymnal 1940 (or #127 for those who use Hymnal 1982). [Conjubilant with Song also blogs on this hymn during this Epiphany season.]

The text was translated by Edward Caswall. As with “Of the father’s love,” both Hymnals use the version from Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861). Somehow the 1982 crew resisted the temptation to bowdlerize the text (perhaps because the M-word was absent.)

Of course, this is not really a B-side. Ignoring the lack of 120V AC and phonographs in the 5th century, the tune for both hymns is an anachronism — in this case, the ever-popular Stuttgart (1715) attributed to C.F. Witt. (Although Stuttgart is better known for the Advent favorite “Come thou long expected Jesus,” it was actually introduced to Anglicans with this hymn in Hymns Ancient & Modern.)

Still, it’s a fun mental exercise to think of how Prudentius gave us the words to these two timeless hymns, and how a 5th century entrepreneur might have packaged them for the faithful to enjoy together.

Communicating, preserving and celebrating the faith

Today’s RCL (Year B) epistle (and the subject of part of the sermon) was James 5:13-20. It touched me, because it bears directly on the purpose of Anglican music — and this blog.

The first verse of the passage by St. James is quite clear:

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

This really crystalized my thinking about the essential question: why do hymns matter? It’s a question I’ve been trying to answer since I started this blog — I intuitively knew that hymns play a crucial role in worship, but I couldn’t articulate why.

Today, I think I have a clear answer. As with other elements of corporate (shared) liturgy, hymns serve three purposes:

• To communicate the faith. Before Gutenberg, Christians didn’t have personal Bibles and learned the faith from liturgy. Even today, children (and perhaps casual Christians) learn their earliest and perhaps most lasting theological lessons from hymn lyrics (a crucial reason why the words matter.)
• To preserve the faith. Regular readers know of my devotion to timeless hymns and the continuity they provide to the faith across the millennia. Our oldest hymnal dates from the 6th century, with written music perhaps 500 years later. Such continuity is part of conveying an eternal in our eternal Father.
• To celebrate the faith. Ever since I can remember, the part I most enjoy about Sunday — what gets me out of bed and out of the house (usually) on time — is singing the hymns. I go not to listen to a performance, but to be part of the corporate worship.

Borrowing from the Hebrews, clearly hymnody dates back to the church’s beginning. St. Paul wrote to the church at Colossus:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Or, as I sang in college from Mendelssohn’s 2nd Symphony (“Lobgesang” or Hymn of Praise):

All that hath life and breath, sing to the Lord.

Which brings this back to the purpose of this blog. The sermon was (in part) about the final sentence of the passage from St. James:

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

I now believe that this blog (and the research it represents) will be my own personal ministry as a Christian, perhaps for my remaining days. I didn’t start this blog to win points on Judgement Day (if that’s even possible), but to share what I learn as part of my own search for deeper understanding.

I’ve been terribly gratified by the the observations and feedback from readers over the past 30 months, and hope that this dialog will continue.

Kyrie eleison

On Sunday, we were back at our home parish again for Trinity V. As with our first visit to this parish, the liturgy and music captured what was best about the high church Episcopal worship of our childhood — enough to make us forget about the foolishness being promulgated this week by the TEC as it prepares to leave the Anglican Communion to form its own new religion.

It was our first Sunday back since before Pentecost — six weeks gone due to travels, a confirmation, college graduation and a youth sporting event. Apparently the choir was off for Trinity IV (4th of July weekend), so everyone was in good spirits to have the great liturgical music back.

I certainly enjoyed singing the harmony on the closing hymn, #564 (Lyons, as arranged by J. Michael Haydn). With gusto (too much gusto for my wife) I belted out the closing phrase in the closing stanza, sung with ritardando for emphasis: “[The soul that to Jesus has fled for repose] … I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.” However, despite this rousing finish, this was not the most moving aspect of the familiar (yet long-separated) 1928 BCP liturgy.

Actually, the highlight was the plainchant (service music). Our music director likes to rotate the plainchant based on the season. In the Sundays after Trinity — what our rector calls “normal time” — we are using the oldest plainchant in the hymnal, the Latin chant that predates the Reformation and the creation of the Church of England and the vernacular mass (with the 1549 BCP) in the 16th century.

As far as I can tell — and I need further study — Hymnal 1940 may be the first Episcopal (or perhaps Anglican) hymnal to include a choice of service music: I could not find it in my three English hymnals — Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861), The English Hymnal (1906) or Songs of Praise Enlarged Edition (1931) — nor in the PECUSA Hymnal 1916.

According to Hymnal 1940 (and the Hymnal 1940 Companion), our hymnal has four settings of the chant for Holy Communion:

1. by John Merbecke, hymns #701-707, arranged and published in 1549-1550 in Booke of Common Praier Noted;
2. by Healey Willan, #708-713, composed in 1928 by the Canadian composer and choirmaster;
3. by George Oldroyd, #714-718, written by the Yorkshireman in 1938; and
4. by the anonymous "Fourth Communion Service", hymns #719-724, attributed to a variety of ancient or medieval sources.

I’ve never (ever) heard the Oldroyd used in 40+ years of PECUSA/Anglican attendance. I grew up with the Willan, perhaps because the choir director of our high church PECUSA parish wanted to emphasize how hip he was. While the Willan is among the best 20th century music in Hymnal 1940 (or 1982), in my opinion it’s still third to the two settings used by Anglicans for more than 400 years.

The historic Merbecke setting is worth a posting in and of itself. Today I want to concentrate on the anonymous medieval setting we used Sunday, based on the earlier (pre-BCP, pre-COE, pre-Reformation) Latin settings of the Catholic church:

719. Kyrie
720. Credo
721. Sanctus
722. Pater Noster
723. Agnus Dei

(On Sunday, we did not sing #724, the 15th century Sarum Rite Gloria. At our Schism I parish — like a LCMS and a TEC parish where I used to attend — the preferred Gloria the “Old Scottish Chant,” hymn #739; the Hymnal Companion calls it a setting that has been popular in America since its publication in 1809.)

Let me quote from the Hymnal Companion and its explanation of the “Fourth Communion Service”:

719
The Kyrie, which attains, both in mastery of music form and in beauty of conception, the highest level of perfection reached by mediaeval melodic music, is a 12th century development of a setting at least 100 years older in its original form.

720 Credo
This is the ancient and all but universal melody of the Creed…
…
722 Pater Noster
This traditional music of the Lord's Prayer is uneqionatinably part of our oldest musical inheritance. … It is almost identical with a Hebrew cantillation of Zechariah 2:10 … Thus it may very well be a musical tradition from the primitive Judaeo-Christian communities.

723 Agnus Dei
This setting is a 13th century version of an earlier tenth century melody.

Certainly the Credo and Pater Noster — which appear to be the most commonly used tunes at American Anglo-Catholic parishes — have a unique place in the modern American hymnal. They are shared across time and place — with other centuries, other Christian denominations, a common and timeless bond in our fragmented, schismatic and sinful world.

When I returned to PECUSA (not yet TEC) as a young man, I found the corporate worship of these two chants (plus the spoken Confession) to be the most moving part of the Communion service. These three places are still the points which often pull me back out of my reverie, to remember the whole point of our Sunday worship.

However, I have to agree with the committee that authored the Hymnal 1940 and its Companion. As a plainsong chant, among all the available communion services the Kyrie reflects “the highest level of perfection,” crafted by some unknown composer(s) some 900 years ago during the High Middle Ages.

The Kyrie is even more moving when sung (as written) antiphonally, as is the Agnus Dei. We have a small choir, but at some point I would like to persuade our music director to attempt it, as this simple gesture (reflecting the intentions of some long-lost church musician) increases the impact of this timeless melody.

Update: C.W.S. correctly notes the role of H40 editor Charles Winfred Douglas in reviving plainsong in the hymnal. In fact, this 4th setting in H40 is credited by Hymnal 1982 to Douglas himself, as composing or at least adapting it in his 1915 composition Missa Marialis.

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.