Dear Lord, we give thanks for Hubert Parry

In doing my research this past year on Anglican parish hymn singing, I made up a list of litmus questions to ask music directors, all of which got at a tension in the American interpretation of English hymn-singing. One was “Hail thee, Festival Day!” — which is both the great Vaughan Williams tune from The English Hymnal and a difficult hymn to sing.

Another was using Repton for Whittier’s text “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.” When it was mentioned this month on our favorite Facebook group, my daughter had never realized that it was missing from the hymnal she grew up on (her dad’s favorite hymnal) but was instead a later addition.

Two years ago I blogged on this combination — one of five tunes used for this text by Anglican hymnals — because the music director at my current church loves Repton. It was only in the past month that I realized how rare — and recent — the pairing is. Hymnary lists the hymn text as appearing in 434 hymnals, with tune names for 134. Of these 134, only 23 list Repton.

Songs of Praise

The first example of this pairing was in Songs of Praise (1925), where it was the first tune of Hymn #481 in both SOP and Songs of Praise, Extended Edition (1933).

SOP had Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams as music editor, and Percy Dearmer as text editor. This hymnal is little known among Americans, but it was the key English hymnal between The English Hymnal (1906) and the New English Hymnal (1986). If you look at writing about 20th century British hymnody, the only other seminal hymn book during this period is the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols — with the same three editors.

Vaughan Williams and Dearmer had played the same roles in The English Hymnal, the most influential English hymn book of the 20th century. This is ironic, since (according to Wikipedia quoting a Dearmer biography) SOP was created by the two men (plus Shaw) because TEH was too “high church”. I don’t have direct knowledge of early 20th century COE politics, but clearly TEH was less high church than Hymns Ancient & Modern, which is undeniably among the most high church English-language hymnals of all time.

We could just take the editors at their word. Here is how the newer preface in SOPEE (1933) begins

When Songs of Praise was first published in 1925, the object to make, so far as then possible, a collection of hymns that should be national in character; and a hope was expressed in the Preface that the book might be of use to those who bear the responsibility of our national education.

The preface then elaborates on how the original SOP was adopted in British schools, and how the editors of SOPEE sought to incorporate their feedback in the revision.

Parry’s Tune Repton

This is what the hymnal companion to SOP (Songs of Praise Discussed, 1933) says about the tune

repton, by Sir Hubert Parry, is from his oratorio Judith (1888), where in Scene ii, a dialogue between Meshollemeth and a Child, it is sung by the former to the words beginning ‘Long since in Egypt’s plenteous land’. The tune is typical of the composer in its broad melody, and especially in the elliptical rhythm of the last three lines. In its present form it makes a fine, strong unison tune.

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) was the English composer who was an Oxford music professor from 1900-1908, succeeding John Stainer.  Unlike the other tunes, the lilting pastoral melody drives to a conclusion. Note that with Repton, the last phrase (“In deeper reverence praise”) is repeated but not with the other tunes (Rest, Nicolaus, Hammersmith).

The Parry-Whittier Combination

As elsewhere in SOP, the new tune for words previously in TEH retained the TEH text — in this case, the same five verses as TEH #383, beginning with

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.

The original text also continued in later hymnals through the 1980s.

The use of Repton in SOP was ignored by Hymnal 1940 (#435). The Hymnal 1940 Companion (pp. 270-271) says Whittier’s text was written in 1872, first published as a hymn in 1884, and first published in an ECUSA hymnal in Hymnal 1916. The H40C notes the second tune (Rest) was written for this specific text in the Congregational Hymnal (1887).

Cantate Domino, #922

However, the next three American hymnals did include Repton:

• Cantate Domino (#922), the 1979 Anglo-Catholic supplement to Hymnal 1940 (sequentially numbered from H40) that was prepared by the ESCUA diocese of Chicago. It has a simplified version of the SOP harmonization.
• Hymnal 1982 (#653), simplified to unison — with the accompaniment printed only in the organist accompaniment edition.
• Book of Common Praise 2017 (#602), with a slightly more complex version than the 1979 hymnal. This is the only edition not marked “unison”, with the implication the harmonization can be sung — but (as with much of BCP17) not all that singable by a congregation or unrehearsed choir.

The first three staves of the arrangement
in the New English Hymnal.

In the second half of the century, Repton was the preferred tune of most Anglican hymnals:

• Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada
(1971), #249
• Australian Hymn Book with Catholic Supplement (1977), #519 (2nd tune)
• New English Hymnal (1986), #353, with the same harmonization as SOPEE
• Common Praise (2000), #411, with a simplified harmonization

Despite the longstanding respect for Whittier’s text, later hymnals rewrote the text to serve their sociopolitical goals. The aggressive inclusivity in 1995 of The New Century Hymnal by the United Church of Christ bowdlerizes Whittier’s opening phrase as “Dear God, embracing humankind.”

Meanwhile, the 1998 English Common Praise twists it to become “Dear God, compassionate and kind.” The harmonization is the same as the subsequent 2000 edition of Common Praise with the original words.

Conclusions

This is a clear case where the original (arguably most authentic) tune has become obsolete — the revised pairing 40 years later (by Vaughan Williams and/or Shaw) has become the new standard. Sometimes the adoption of a new tune is (arguably) an inferior choice, but — according to the consensus of music directors that I interviewed for my study — this is clearly a better choice.

References

Percy Dearmer, Songs of Praise Discussed, London: Oxford, 1933.

Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw, eds., Songs of Praise, London: Oxford, 1925.

Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw, eds., Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition, London: Oxford, 1933.

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, Cantate Domino: Hymnal Supplement G-2264, Chicago: GIA, 1979.

New English Hymnal, London: Canterbury Press, 1986.

The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd rev. ed., New York: Church Pension Fund, 1951.

Evangelical worship at ACNA Synod

Over the weekend, I spoke to several people who attended the ACNA’s Provincial Synod. (It would be a national synod but the ACNA includes both the US and Canada). From a musical standpoint, the general opinion was that first service was the most blended, the last was almost as blended, and the middle two services were all praise band all the time.

The service took place at Christ Church Cathedral Plano (née Christ Church Plano), the largest ACNA parish, which provided the sanctuary, instruments and musicians.

Liturgy

A major focus of the service (and conference) was celebrating the ACNA’s new 2019 Book of Common Prayer, intended to replace the 1979 Book of Common Prayer that ACNA clergy used originally in The Episcopal Church and in the first years of the ACNA. The first printing of the prayer book was provided to all who registered for the conference.

According to the 24-page worship booklet (which I scanned), the service began with the liturgy task force (led by retired Abp. Bob Duncan) presenting the new prayer book.

The service then continued with the “Renewed Ancient Text,” the ACNA’s modified version of the 1979 Rite II service. This is the most commonly used Eucharist in the ACNA, which should not be a surprise given that most clergy (and parishes) were using it when they left the ACNA.

Music

From the worship booklet, I wrote down the set list of all the music:

• Call to Worship [i.e. prelude]: “Jesus Shall Reign” on piano, setting by Ted Cornell
• Processional: “Come, Christians, Join to Sing,” commissioned for the occasion by CCP: words by CH Bateman (1813-1889), setting by John Wasson [b. 1956]
• Songs of Praise: 
• “Living Hope,” words and music by Phil Wickham and Brian Johnson, © 2017
• “Who You Say I Am,” © 2017 Hillsong Music
• Offertory Anthem: “The Church’s One Foundation,” words by S.J. Stone, tune by S.S. Wesley, setting by Dan Forrest [b. 1978], with verses 1,4 sung by the choir & congregation
• Sanctus [no Benedictus]: © 2005 by Christ Church Plano
• Communion Music:
• Agnus Dei (Requiem): words public domain, music by Mark Hayes [b. 1953]
• “Just as I Am,” [opening verse by Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871], ©2009, words and music by William Bradbury, Charlotte Elliott, Travis Cottrell, Sue C. Smith and David Moffitt
• “Take My Life and Let it Be” with chorus/bridge by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio [c. 2003]
• Closing Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” words by Henry van Dyke (1852-1933), music Ode to Joy by Beethoven, harmonized by Johnnie Carl (1947-2004)
• Postlude: “Toccata” from Symphonie No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42 by Charles-Marie Widor

So overall the music combined modern adaptations of traditional hymns with 21st century praise music, concluding with a single organ postlude.

Peter Toon’s Last Days

Even before I started seminary studies, it was clear that Peter Toon was one of the leading (if not THE leading) liturgical theologians in the Anglican church of the late 20th century. At seminary, I learned that all his many works are available for free download at the New Scriptorium website.

Toon died in 2009. But last month the blogger at Wannabe Anglican reported on a sermon about Toon at Pusey House, Oxford. The guest preacher was Fr. Tony Noble, who administered last rites to Toon. At the time, Noble was the rector of what was then the most Anglo-Catholic parish in the Diocese of San Diego — All Saints San Diego — which was where many of the local A-C priests did their curacy.

Toon was a theologically conservative evangelical, so not an Anglo-Catholic by any means. For him, the 1662 was the pinnacle of the BCP — which is why he was the first to do a modern language version of this, the all-time bestselling prayer book. For Toon and others,  the American (or English) 1928 would be a little too Anglo-Catholic.

Noble begins his story as follows:

I first met Peter Toon about 12 years ago, when I was Rector of All Saints, San Diego. I knew of him as an evangelical scholar, writer & defender of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

It was a Saturday night & my phone rang. The voice said, “Is that Fr Noble?”. I replied, Yes. “I understand that you use Rite 1 with catholic additions.........how close to the Prayer Book are your Services?”, he asked. I said that the 8 am Mass was mostly from the Prayer Book.

Next morning Peter & his wife, Vita, attended the 8 am Mass. he introduced himself & I felt quite honoured that such a notable evangelical had attended my church. They continued to attend faithfully every Sunday. Thus began a pastoral relationship which became a friendship.

In addition to the insight into this influential theologian and his final days, it also touches on the nuances of the differing liturgical preferences with Anglicanism. These nuances of preferences (or beliefs) go beyond the more familiar dimensions, which are usually thought of modern vs. traditional theology, and contemporary vs.  Elizabethan language. In some ways, they were the disputes over the BCP (and liturgy and worship) that were the main tension in the Anglican church for the first 400 years of the BCP, before the tumult of the last 50 years.

Difficult Pentecost-al hymnody

Among the canon of Pentecost, many invite the Holy Ghost to come like “Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire” and “Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove.” Of these my favorite is “Come down, O love divine,” to the Vaughan Williams tune Down Ampney.

We did the latter today for communion and the singing was strong. However, there were also two other hymns from Hymnal 1940 that were much harder.

Hail Thee, Festival Day

Regular readers know this (H40: #107) is my favorite Whitsunday hymn, and not just because it’s my wife’s favorite hymn for the Easter, Ascension and Pentecost season or because it’s Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 2nd greatest hit.

However, consistent with my recent music studies, today I tried to pay attention to how others were reacting to it. A few thoughts:

• Consistent with the rest of the day — and previous visits here and elsewhere — the women were stronger than the men; more of them sang, and they sang more loudly. I’m guessing that among those under 50, more women had formal music training.
• The men were essentially the choir and one former choir member (me) until the clergy and acolytes processed in the building.
• The men’s part is (as always) objectively harder than the women’s part with the triplet rhythm.
• Across the three verses, each verse was stronger than the previous one.

The difficulty people were having was surprising, because a) there were more than 100 people in the building; b) they have been singing this hymn once or twice a year for more than a decade.

From my research at six Episcopal/Anglican parishes in Texas, according to music directors and congregation members, this is one of the hardest hymns in the canon. (St. Patrick’s Breastplate being the other, because it is very long).

Objectively, it is a difficult hymn for any small or medium sized parish to sing without choir support.

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come!

I don’t recall singing this hymn (H40: #109.1; H82: #226) before: It is a 12th century Latin text (translated by Caswall) set to an 11th century plainsong melody:

Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come!
And from Thy celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Thou Father of the poor!
Come, Thou Source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!

Thou, of comforters the best;
Thou, the soul's most welcome Guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessèd Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of Thine,
And our inmost being fill!
Where thou art not, man hath naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour Thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess Thee, evermore
In Thy sevenfold gifts descend;
Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them Thy salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.

The Hymnal 1940 Companion says the original text was first printed in 1200, but likely written in the late 12th century and “has always been associated with Whitsuntide.” It reports that the translation is that of Hymns Ancient & Modern, based on Caswall’s 1849 translation, and that its first use by ECUSA was in Hymnal 1892.

It says the tune Golden Sequence “is the traditional melody associated with the Latin text, although probably somewhat older than the text.” According to Hymnary.org, while the text is found in 55 hymnals, the tune is found in only 11 hymnals, including Hymnal 1916, 1940 and 1982 of ECUSA, the 1986 New English Hymnal, and the 3rd and 4th edition of the Worship Roman Catholic hymnal published by GIA.

Our choir sang it antiphonally by half verse, as marked; the Amen is marked “Full choir,” implying that it’s expected to sung only by the choir. I have visited a few congregations that might be able to sing this, but clearly not without some practice. There’s a YouTube video of the piano part, but the other videos (including one commercial recording) seem to be of the other tune, Veni Sancte Spiirtus by Samuel Webbe, a conventional 18th century tune that (to my ears) sounds almost Victorian.