hymnody

Poetic Aspects of Hymnody

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Hymns are essentially poems set to music. The following article describes the poetic qualities of hymn texts, defines several of the technical terms used to categorize hymns texts, and then discusses how hymn tunes need to be sensitive to the poetic qualities of the text. Studying the examples provided in this article will help the reader to better understand and use hymns for congregational singing.

Meter

For many people looking through a hymnal, the use of such letters as SM, CM, LM, CMD and strange numbers such as 77.77., 87.87.D, and 14 14. 4 7 8. are complete mysteries or at best intriguing puzzles. But for anyone seriously concerned with writing hymn texts or setting them to music, they are very important, for they are related to the thoughts and means of expression which are chosen consciously or unconsciously. Artists usually do things more by instinct than by cerebral machination; yet there is plenty of historical evidence to indicate that there are certain poetical rhythms that fit particular types of texts, for the poet has words, sounds, poetic devices, rhythms, and rhyme as tools. Combining these is no easy task, for as the great American poet Robert Frost indicated, writing poetry is like running easily in the harness.

Poetry is organized into “feet,” which indicates that poetry “walks” or “marches.” A “foot” consists of a group of two or more syllables with one accented and others not. In classical poetry the number of feet was counted. For example, iambic pentameter (a favorite of Shakespeare) was ten syllables arranged in five groups of feet of iambic movement. In hymns we count the number of syllables in a line, rather than the feet. The most common movement is iambic (\/ /), consisting of an upbeat followed by an accent. Thus it is called the rising foot, and this means that the mind is constantly being propelled forward to the final climactic accent on the last important word or syllable of the line. Trochaic (/ \/) is called the falling foot, with the accent first, then falling away to an un-accent on the second pulse. This means the poet must capture interest on the very first word. For example, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” gets your attention immediately. By adding an unaccented syllable to each of these (iambic and trochaic) we have anapaestic (/ \/ \/) or dactylic (\/ \/ /). Pure classical dactylic is rarely found because there are few English words that end with two unaccents (e.g., holiness). And anapaestic often begins with only one upbeat sound (e.g., “Immortal, Invisible,”), but it always ends with a final accent. The tripping triplet sounds of these meters is exuberant and infectious, with the feel of the dance. (For a discussion of other meters such as the sapphic, elegia, alcaic, cretic, and spondee, see Austin C. Lovelace, The Anatomy of Hymnody [Chicago: GIA Publications] 15, 16). For all practical purposes, most hymns will fall into the four basic patterns listed above.

To appreciate the importance of iambic movement, one need only look at the Scottish and English Psalters. There you will find only Common Meter, Short Meter, and Long Meter. Of these, Long Meter (88.88.) is the most ancient, having been used by Bishop Ambrose in the first hymns written using meter. Most LM texts tend to be related to praise or to stating lofty themes about God as Creator and Sovereign Lord. A study of Isaac Watts’s use of this meter will be helpful in understanding this form.

Common Meter (86.86.) is the workhorse of hymnody. It was most commonly used for psalm texts that tell a story. With its first eight syllables, it states the beginning of an idea, which is then completed in the second set of six syllables. It can be read in the sing-songy style of a small boy reciting poetry. When Common Meter is doubled (CMD) it becomes what is called “fourteeners”—the tempo is quick enough to make the 8 and 6 into a long line of 14 syllables. Since it flows along rapidly there are seldom words of more than two syllables, and most will be only one. This meter has been used most successfully for teaching and storytelling, and is called the ballad meter. Closely related to CM is 76.76.D. which ends lines 1, 3, 5, 7 with what is called a feminine ending (e.g., “The Church’s One Foundation”). It is less virile, and the need for double rhyming the last two syllables and using multi syllabled words tends to more obvious: foundation, creation, nation, salvation, tribulation, consummation.

Short Meter (66.86.) was once called the poulter’s measure because of the custom of giving 12 eggs for the first dozen, and thirteen or fourteen for the second. It is made up of two couplets, the first containing 12 syllables and the second 14. It has been used fewer times than LM and CM, because it demands that the poet state the thesis in six syllables, which can then be reinforced in the second line and developed in the last fourteen. Because of its abrupt directness, it is successful for exhorting and admonishing (e.g., “Come, Sound His Praise Abroad” and “Stand Up, and Bless the Lord.” Short Meter Double (SMD) was a favorite of Charles Wesley, his “Crown Him with Many Crowns” being an excellent example. Another fine one is George Matheson’s excellent use of paradox in “Make Me a Captive, Lord.” This meter poses many problems for a hymn tune writer. There is no space for verbosity or rambling melody. diademata is perhaps the most successful tune in this meter.

Since 8’ and 6’ are so basic to hymn writing, it is not surprising that there are many other combinations of the two. 66.66.88. was known as HM or Hallelujah Meter. F. Bland Tucker in his hymn for the family, “Our Father, By Whose Name,” added an extra 8, possibly to fit it to rhosymedre. The new United Methodist Hymnal (1989) lists twelve combinations of the two numbers.

Just as Common Meter Double (CMD) is sometimes reduced to 76.76. by having feminine endings in lines 1, 3, 5, 7, the meter of 87.87. is similar except that the feminine ending is in lines 2 and 4. “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” is the most famous example, but this meter has never been very widely used. However, German hymnody has been successful in 87.87.887., with its added line 6, having been developed from the music and texts of minnesingers.

Hymns having 10 syllables per line are quite common, with 10 10.10 10. being the most popular. It is interesting to note that most examples come from the nineteenth century and were written by ministers. (Does this mean that they tend to be long-winded?)

Among trochaic hymns the most common patterns are 65.65. and 65.65.D. (“Onward, Christian soldiers”), and all of the combinations of 7’s (77.77., 77.77.77., 77.77.D.). “For the Beauty of the Earth” is typical, with all of the lines being relatively short, and with one idea per line of poetry. Equally or more popular are the 87.87.D. hymns. A look at any metrical index will show a large number of these hymns, all of which are very familiar.

The rhythm of anapaestic (and dactylic) is infectiously exuberant, with its dancing movement in triplets. Wesley’s 55.55.65.65. use in “Ye Servants of God, Your Master proclaim” is a classic example. Some exotic combinations found in early American tune books are 5 5 5.11., 6 6 9.D., and 11 8.11 8. However, the most popular texts are put into four 11’, and the ultimate in dactylic treatment is “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in 14 14. 4 7 8.

An interesting study is to consider the use of mixed meters, where a hymn uses both iambic and trochaic (“Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above”). “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” looks and sounds like it is dactylic, but is actually trochaic—an anapaestic tune with a trochaic text. The most famous (and historical) of combined meters is found in the Sapphic (11 11 11.5.). The first three syllables of each line of poetry are dactylic, and then the poetry moves to trochaic for the rest of the line. A good example is the German hymn, “Ah, Holy, Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended.”

This is a very sketchy overview of the basic patterns with which poets begin to express their thoughts. The variety of meters is overwhelming. The new United Methodist Hymnal lists 195 different meters! And as if this were not enough, there is another category called irregular—which means that each hymn is different and can only be sung to its one given tune. In old books, such hymns were marked PM, which meant Peculiar Meter or Particular Meter.

One of the features of contemporary hymn writers is the large number of meters used. Fred Kaan of England, one of the jump-states of contemporary hymnody, has written in 86 meters. Timothy Dudley-Smith, an Anglican bishop, has used 87. Jaroslav Vajda (American) also has 86, while the greatest hymn-writer of this century, Fred Pratt Green of England, has used an amazing 124. Since only two of Brian Wren’s collections of hymns include a metrical index, it is difficult to determine how many meters he has used, but his later works seem to be more poems than hymns with exotic meters which are better read than sung.

Rhyme Schemes

In addition to the importance of the meter matching the material, there is also the matter of rhyming schemes that are aids to the memory. Spelling does not always determine rhyme, but it is sound that must be the same. There are eye rhymes, identities, false rhymes, almost rhymes, consonance (or off rhymes), and assonance. Rhymes may be in couplets (AABB), cross (ABAB), outer-inner (ABBA), internal rhymes (“above thy deep and dreamless sleep”), and other more complicated patterns, including no rhymes at all. The danger for a hymn writer is the temptation to let the necessity for rhyme determine the thought. A hymn may be admired for its poetry, but its true purpose is as a book of devotion for the people. Chapter 6 of Lovelace’s The Anatomy of Hymnody lists a variety of poetic devices which are further working tools of the poet.

Hymn Tunes and Poetic Texts

Just how is the composer affected by all this? In working on the Hymn Tunes Committee for the revision of the 1935 Methodist hymnal, our committee was in complete agreement that the tune pentecost in 3/4 time was not right for the text “Fight the Good Fight,” written in Long Meter. (Can you really fight in waltz time?) We looked at all sorts of tunes in this meter, such as duke street and truro, but they didn’t seem right. So we commissioned a tune called grace church, gananoque by the Canadian composer Graham George. While it is nicely crafted, it did not turn out to be a successful tune for congregational singing. It was this problem hymn that prompted the writing of The Anatomy of Hymnody (Chicago: GIA Publications). There were two problems: (1) the hymn begins with a choriambus, which forces the composer to have an accent on the first word “fight”, which is awkward in iambic meter. (2) Long Meter is the wrong one for admonishing—this should have been written in Short Meter. Years later I discovered that the only suitable tune for this text is deo gracis (The Agincourt Song) written in 3/4 with the possibility of using either upbeats or downbeats to fit the appropriate accents.

There are always problems for the composer with Long Meter, with its constant movement of 8 syllables per line of poetry. When does the singer have time to breathe? tallis’ canon, unless it is sung at a very moderate pace, leaves the singer breathless. old 100th probably has the most effective and successful solution to the problem by starting with a gathering note and ending each phrase with notes of double value, which gives a strong steady pulse and plenty of time for breathing. A study of any hymnal will reveal from 15 to 20 different rhythmic treatments of LM, including 3/4. germany in 3/4, which is sung to “Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life,” was arranged from Beethoven by William Gardiner of England, to begin with, a downbeat for phrases 1 and 2, with upbeats for 3 and 4, which gives variety and a powerful climax. Unfortunately, the new Presbyterian Hymnal (1990) has altered the original to begin all phrases with an upbeat, which defeats the purpose of the tune.

Writing a hymn tune suitable for congregational singing is one of the most difficult of all jobs, for the composer must try to be distinctive and neutral at the same time. The tune must be memorable after a few times of singing, but it must be able to stand up to repetition without losing its freshness. At the same time it must fit the scansion and mood of all stanzas, which usually have many different themes and moods. If the lines of poetry are short, there is not much room to get a musical idea moving very far. If the lines are long, there is the problem of keeping motion and life in a lot of notes. The balance of note values is important, as well as the choices of cadences. For example, a line with ten syllables is very difficult to write unless the composer breaks it down into two small parts, such as a 4 and a 6. (See old 124th.) The hymn “God of Our Life, Through All the Circling Years” (10 4.10 4.10 10.) by Hugh T. Kerr was written to be sung to sandon, which fits it nicely even if there is a static feel to the harmony. The Worshipbook (1972) tried to substitute the tune witmer by Richard D. Wetzel, which spun out 14 notes in each of the first two lines, and then floundered rhythmically for the last two, with no matching patterns. No wonder that Presbyterians refused to accept the change! 65.65.D. is an awkward meter, for the most obvious pattern is four quarters and two half notes, followed by four quarters and one whole note. The tune dies at the end of every two lines unless an oom-pah bass is used to cover the hole, as in St. Gertrude for “Onward, Christian soldiers.” But Ralph Vaughan Williams solved the problem for “At the Name of Jesus” by putting the tune in 3/2 with a magnificent rhythmic change for the last line which matches the climax of the melody.

So which is the more important: the text or the tune? I believe that they are equal, except that the text is more equal. We sing hymns because of what the words say, and if they are our thoughts we join in heartily and agree. However, if the tune does not give wings to the words and make them lyrical, they remain nothing but a poem. So in the long run, the tune turns out to be of ultimate importance, proving the biblical message that the last shall be first. It does pay to pay attention to the “anatomy of hymnody.”

English Hymnody to 1950

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Over a period of time, the writers of metrical psalms turned to fashioning free paraphrases of psalm texts. Eventually, in the seventeenth century, several English authors began to write hymn texts independent of the specific words of Scripture. Nineteenth-century fervor for hymn singing culminated with the publication of the most famous and influential of all hymnbooks, Hymns Ancient and Modern. The first half of the twentieth century witnessed growth in the study of hymnology, which led, in turn, to a variety of carefully planned hymnals that have had great influence to the present day.

Foremost among the early English hymn writers was Benjamin Keath (1640–1704). In 1668, he became the pastor of the Particular Baptist Church in Southwark. Then, as early as 1674, he published some hymns for use in his church—in particular, hymns written to be sung at the close of the Lord’s Supper. His second collection of 300 original hymns appeared in print in 1691 under the title Spiritual Melody. By this time those in favor of singing hymns each week prevailed over the opposing minority.

Similarly, another Baptist pastor, Joseph Stennett (1663–1713) of London began writing hymns to be used by his congregation at the service of the Lord’s Supper. In 1697, his significant collection of Hymns in Commemoration of the Sufferings of Our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, Compos’d for the Celebration of His Holy Supper appeared.

Isaac Watts

However, it was another pastor, Isaac Watts (1674–1748), who was to become the “Father of English Hymnody.” A Nonconformist, he felt no obligation to follow the Church of England ordinance that only the inspired psalms of scripture were to be sung in corporate worship services, a rule that was held in effect until 1821. Nor did he feel limited by the adherence of the Calvinists to the literal Scripture text.

In order to gain acceptance of his ideas, he published The Psalms of David imitated in the language of the New Testament in 1719. In this collection, he versified and paraphrased 138 psalms in hymn form. He had decided to treat the majority of these psalms using the three best-known meters—the common meter, long meter, and short meter. In this process, Watts strove for two primary goals: to interpret psalms in the light of Christ and to write in a language readily acceptable to those who would sing his paraphrases. His first goal was particularly well accomplished. This is evident to the careful reader who will compare any Watts paraphrase with the psalm text on which it is based. Compare, for example, the text, “Jesus Shall Reign,” with the text of Psalm 72, the stanzas of “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” with Psalm 90, “Joy to the World” with Psalm 98, and “Give to Our God Immortal Praise” with Psalm 136.

His contribution to hymnody is even more significant, beginning with his 1707 collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs. The 210 hymns of this collection appear under three headings: (1) hymns based upon Scripture, (2) hymns composed upon divine subjects, and (3) hymns for the Lord’s Supper. Subsequently, an additional 135 hymns were added in the 1709 edition. Among these was his model hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Here, he ideally combines objective realities and subjective sensitivities, expressing thoughts and feelings common to all Christians. This hymn and so many others by Watts are still in regular use throughout America. In fact, apart from Charles Wesley, it may well be that there are more hymns by Watts in current American hymnbooks than by any other single author.

There are ten hymns by Watts in the Psalter Hymnal (1987). The Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and The Presbyterian Hymnal (1990) each have thirteen. The Baptist Hymnal (1991) lists fourteen, The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) has fifteen. Seventeen are indexed in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982; there are eighteen hymns in The Worshiping Church (1990), and Rejoice in the Lord has an amazing thirty-nine!

The contemporaries of Watts who lived in his shadow are also represented in the collections of hymns used by various denominations today. Joseph Addison (1672–1719) is remembered by “The Spacious Firmament on High” and Joseph Hart (1712–1768) by “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.” Philip Doddridge (1702–1751) a pastor of the Congregational Church, had seven hymns in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 and eight hymns in the Reformed Church in America’s Rejoice in the Lord. The best known of these hymns might well be his jubilant Advent hymn, “Hark, the Glad Sound! The Saviour Comes.”

The Wesleys

The two brothers, John (1703–1791) and Charles (1707–1788) Wesley, were inseparable. From their days at Oxford and the Holy Club, John, the great organizer, had the support of his younger brother Charles, “the first Methodist.” Together they boarded the Simmonds in 1735 and sailed for America, John to serve as a missionary to Native Americans, and Charles to serve as personal secretary to the Governor of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe.

During a storm at sea, John was deeply impressed by the conduct of the twenty-six Moravians traveling with them. While the English cried out in fear of being drowned, the Moravians—men, women, and children—calmly prayed and sang hymns. So impressed with their confident faith, John eagerly began his study of the German language and earnestly sought to translate their hymns into English. After his return to England, he journeyed to Hernhut where he made the acquaintance of the founder of the Moravian Church, Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf (1700–1760), himself a hymn writer. Back in London, John pursued an association with the Moravians there.

However, while John was still in America, he edited the first hymnal to be published in America, including in it some of his own translations of Moravian hymns. This Charles Town book of 1737 was entitled A Collection of Psalms and Hymns. A second collection was printed in London in 1738. In 1739, the Wesley brothers began their cooperative work of compiling hymnals, a work that was to include some fifty-six publications within fifty-three years. The culminating book was the famous and influential work of 1780, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists. Arranging hymns according to Christian experience instead of by the church year, they placed Charles’ “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing My Great Redeemer’s Praise” first. More than two centuries later, this same hymn was accorded the honor of being the first hymn in The United Methodist Hymnal (1989).

This hymn is at once personal, evangelical, and scriptural. The nine stanzas, printed in 1780, were selected from eighteen stanzas previously written in 1739 “for the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion.” The original text begins with the words “Glory to God, and praise and love”. However, the stanzas in the 1780 collection were rearranged and are, in reality, stanzas 7–10, 12–14, 17 and 18 of the original work. The first line echoes the words of Moravian Peter Bohler to Charles: “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise him with them all.” The song was likely sung to the tune birstall at the time of its publication.

This and other music that the Wesleys used in their open-air meetings and field preaching was collected in the 1742 Foundry Collection, named after the main Methodist meeting house in London, an abandoned foundry. Only a few psalm tunes from the music editions of the New Version were included. Only four years later, in 1746, their friend, J. F. Lampe (1703–1751), the London bassoonist and composer, issued a collection of twenty-four tunes. And later in 1753, another friend, Thomas Butts, published a complete collection of all of the tunes used by the Methodists at that time. John Wesley compiled an additional collection of tunes in 1761, which appeared ten years later in a second edition.

The tunes were popular in character and were sung at a lively tempo. Old tunes were refashioned and made to sound contemporary. And whereas the older psalm tunes were communal music in which everyone sang the melody together in unison, the new tunes, written out as melody and bass, were better suited for a soloist with accompaniment. They were the ideal vehicle to accompany the evangelical preaching of the two brothers and their associates. They were tuneful, catchy melodies adapted from the opera entertainments heard in London at that time. The Beggar’s Opera and other light operas cast in a more simple style than the Italian operas of the day provided the reservoir which the Methodists tapped for new materials. This adapted music had instant appeal.

Contemporaries of the Wesleys

An early associate of the Wesleys, the evangelistic preacher George Whitefield (1714–1770), is still represented in the current United Methodist Hymnal by his alteration of Charles Wesley’s Christmas song, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” as is John Cennick by his table grace, “Be Present at Our Table, Lord.” Moreover, the work of Augustus Toplady (1740–1778) is signaled by the popular song, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me.” Toplady, one of several Calvinist preachers who with Whitefield were a part of Lady Huntingdon’s (1764–1865) “Connexion,” was appointed one of her chaplains. Although she wrote no hymns herself, she encouraged a number of hymn-writing friends in their efforts and promoted the publication of their works. Edward Perronet (1726–1792) had already left the Wesleys when he wrote “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” William Shrubsole, the composer of the tune Miles Lane used for the hymn, was the organist of one of the chapels established by Lady Huntingdon.

The Olney Hymns

Within the Church of England, the ban on hymn singing in worship services continued. Only psalm-singing was allowed. However, the evangelical influence grew within the ranks of the clergy, and hymn singing was permitted at meetings held outside the sanctuary. Beginning with publications issued in 1760 by Martin Madan (1725–1790) and in 1767 by Richard Convers, new texts became available. However, it was not until 1779 that a truly significant book appeared. That book was Olney Hymns by John Newton (1725–1807) and William Cowper (1731–1800). The two men lived close by each other in the village of Olney, where Newton was the Church of England curate. Together they prepared hymns for the meetings held in the “Great House,” which included weekday services, children’s activities, and prayer meetings.

Cowper is still remembered for his hymns, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” “O For a Closer Walk with God,” and “There Is A Fountain Filled with Blood.” Newton, who at one time had been employed in the slave trade, is remembered by his autobiographical hymn, “Amazing Grace,” the most popular of all hymns in America. He was also the author of “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds” and “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.”

During the transition period which followed the publication of the Olney Hymns, James Montgomery (1771–1854) wrote the Christmas favorite, “Angels From the Realms of Glory,” and Thomas Kelly (1769–1855) wrote, “The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns.”

The Nineteenth Century

The new literary style of the nineteenth century was established by Reginald Heber (1783–1826). Consecrated as Bishop of Calcutta in 1823, he died only three years later. His work, Hymns, Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year, was then published posthumously. It included the familiar text, often placed first in hymnals of the past, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!” The romantic style is also evident in Charlotte Elliott’s (1789–1871) “Just As I Am” and Robert Grant’s (1779–1838) “O Worship the King.” The musical style changed as well. Harmonic enrichment of the melodies became the distinguishing characteristic of English congregational music.

The Oxford Movement. The Oxford Movement was originally known as the “Tractarian Movement” because of the numerous tracts or pamphlets written between 1833 and 1841 by John Henry Newman (1801–1890), John Keble (1792–1866), and others. It all began in 1833 when Keble preached his famous “Assize Sermon” in the church of St. Mary in Oxford. His public stand against national apostasy came to be printed and widely distributed, serving to rally a response in the Church of England to the growing influence of evangelicalism.

This response included bold attempts at the reformation of the worship services of the Church of England and a renewed interest in reviving the ideals of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. With great respect for the sacraments, the clergy of the church began to counteract the obvious abuses seen in worship services. They also nurtured personal piety. Moreover, with the re-examination of the Book of Common Prayer, the liturgical hymn gained prominence. Whereas the evangelical hymn of personal experience had been read and sung at home and sounded in the fields and meeting houses, the new hymns (which followed the church year), were designed for corporate worship within the sanctuary. Of particular interest was John Keble’s collection of hymns, The Christian Year (1827).

Much of the repertoire was resurrected from the past and was the work of translators of Greek, Latin, and German Hymns. From John Mason Neale’s Translations of Medieval Hymns and Sequences, modern hymnbook editors have retained the Advent song, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” the Christmas chant, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” and the Palm Sunday hymn, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”. From Edward Caswell’s (1814–1878) 1849 collection of translations, Lyra Catholica, many still sing “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”, and from Catherine Winkworth’s 1855 edition, Lyra Germanica, several hymns have been preserved: “If You Will Only Let God Guide You,” “Now Thank We All Our God”, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” and the two great chorale texts, “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” and “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying.”

All of this laid the groundwork for the amazing success of Hymns Ancient and Modern. Although the Church of England had not authorized a hymnal (and would not until 1921), the wide acceptance of this English companion to the liturgy influenced congregational singing in profound ways. Fully 131 of its 273 hymns were by English men and women and were already in use. Another 132 were translations of Latin hymns and another ten of German hymns. The first edition, under the guidance of Henry Williams Baker, was published in 1860. The next year the music edition was released, having been edited by William Henry Monk (1823–1889). For the first time, text and music were printed together. And although sales records were destroyed in the war years of 1939–1945, it is estimated that 150 million copies of this hymnal have been sold. Since the first editions in the 1860s, a variety of editions and revisions of Hymns Ancient and Modern has been issued, including the 1969 supplement 100 Hymns for Today (London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1969).

The new hymns called for appropriate music, and it was decided by the musicians who formed the committee that new tunes needed to be written. Speaking in the musical language of Victorian England, John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876) contributed Nicaea (“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”) and Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879) composed regent square (“Angels from the Realms of Glory”). Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842–1900) contributed St. Kevin (“Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain”), George Job Elvey (1816–1893), st. george’s Windsor (“Come Ye Thankful People Come”), Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876), aurelia (“The Church’s One Foundation”); and W. H. Monk contributed the more than 16 tunes and harmonizations which are now in the Hymnal 1982, one of the most familiar tunes being eventide (“Abide With Me, Fast Falls the Eventide”).

During the remainder of the century, efforts in evangelism accompanied by enthusiastic singing increased in England, Scotland, and Wales. The singing generally was focused on the hymns of Watts, Wesley, and Newton. Then in 1873, the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) and his song leader, Ira D. Sankey (1840–1908), introduced the gospel song of America to the English populace. About this time Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane’s (1830–1869) beloved song, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” and Joseph Parry’s (1841–1903) tune Aberystwyth (“Jesus, Lover of My Soul”) became well known.

The Twentieth Century. The two most influential hymnbooks of the first quarter of the twentieth century, The English Hymnal (1906) and Songs of Praise (1925) set new textual and musical standards for congregational singing. The scholarly effort that editor Percy Dearmer (1867–1936) brought to these outstanding collections was appreciated by the cooperating musicians. The 1906 hymnal is famous because of the efforts of music editor Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) to improve the quality and variety of its hymn tunes. His search took him to the wealth of British folk song which he both recorded and adapted. One highly successful merger was the tune forest green and the text “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” In addition, his own original tunes, Sine Nomine (“For All the Saints”) and down Ampney (“Come Down, O Love Divine”) have continuously increased in popularity. The 1925 collection followed the lead of The English Hymnal but contained more adventurous music that was written or selected by Martin Shaw (1875–1958) and his brother Geoffrey (1879–1943).

In addition to new tunes, a number of new texts came into common usage during the first half of the century. In 1906, Canon Henry Scott Holland (1847–1918) of St. Paul’s in London, and author of only one hymn, penned “Judge Eternal, Throned in Splendor.” In the same year, Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) contributed “O God of Earth and Altar” to The English Hymnal. In 1908, “In Christ, There is No East or West” by John Oxenham (1852–1941) was borrowed from Bees in Amber. Finally, in 1931 Jan Struthers (1901–1953) wrote the inspiring text, “Lord of All Hopefulness.”

Greek and Latin Hymnody

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The very word hymn comes from the Greek hymnos, which means a song of praise to a god or hero. Adapting this pagan practice for their own use, early Christians wrote many hymns that have become models for hymn writers over the centuries. The hymns of both early Greek and Latin Christians are represented in the most recent American hymnals by the inclusion of five to eighty selections. These hymns reflect the faith and thought of many of the most well-known early Christian leaders and theologians.

Early Greek Hymnody

The Christian hymn of the New Testament church and the early church was distinctively a song of praise to Christ as God. This fact has been verified in the well known letter of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan in which Pliny, speaking of the Christ followers, states that “they were accustomed to come together on a regular day before dawn and to sing a song alternately to Christ as a god” (M. Alfred Bishsel, “Greek and Latin Hymnody,” in Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, l981], 4).

Moreover, the Apostolic Constitutions of the fourth century mention a number of Greek hymns for morning and evening services. One such liturgical morning hymn was an expansion of the Greater Doxology, with one stanza which was later included in the Te Deum. And one of the evening hymns combined the opening of Psalm 113, a paraphrase of the Gloria in Excelsis, and the text of the Song of Simeon. Another Greek hymn found in the liturgies of Clementine, St. Mark, St. James, and St. John Chrysostom and which is still sung today is the Trisagion (Thrice Holy Hymn) based upon the opening verses of Isaiah 6. Of particular importance to early Christians was the hymn Doxa Patri, which is identical to the Latin Gloria Patri—“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.” This Trinitarian statement came to be used in both Greek and Latin liturgies in order to give a Christian interpretation to the reading and singing of psalms.

This first period of Greek hymnody took place during the time of St. Clement of Alexandria, who lived from about a.d. 170 until about a.d. 220. His work combined the ideals of Greek poetry and Christian theology. An example from this period, which is still in common usage, is the devotional song “Lord Jesus, Think on Me”, written by Synesius (c. a.d. 375–c. 414 ). The most familiar song of the Liturgy of St. James of Jerusalem is the Christmas hymn “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent.” Another hymn that is still sung at evening services is “O Gladsome Light” (Phos Hilaron), composed by an anonymous poet of the Alexandrian School.

During the second period of Greek hymnody (the most brilliant period) St. John of Damascus (c. a.d. 670–c. 780) was the leading writer of Greek canons. Each canon consisted of nine odes (eight in actual practice), and each ode consisted of from three to twenty stanzas. It was not until the nineteenth century that St. John of Damascus’ brilliant poems were translated into English. After twelve years of work, John Mason Neale, the first and leading translator of Greek hymns, published in 1862 his collection, Hymns of the Eastern Church. In that book we find “The Golden Canon” or “Canon for Easter Day,” which is still sung today on Easter Sunday.

Latin Hymnody

The number of hymns in current American hymnals representing the development of the Latin hymn ranges from five to eighty. The earliest of these hymns were written after the Council of Nicaea (a.d. 325) and the adoption of the Nicene Creed. They became the means of combating Arian theology, which was propagated in the sermons, poems, and hymns of Arius of Alexandria, who had been excommunicated from the church by the Council of Nicaea.

One early hymn writer was St. Hilary, the Bishop of Poitiers (c. a.d. 310–366), who became familiar with the singing of hymns by Greek Orthodox believers during his four-year exile in Asia Minor. Upon his return to Poitiers he immediately began to write hymns in a decided effort to combat false doctrine and to reinforce Trinitarian theology.

It was also the goal of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (a.d. 341–397) to use hymn singing to combat Arianism. Sensitive to the need for immediate acceptance of the hymns, he chose the popular folk rhythm, long meter form. This, too, followed the practice of hymn singing in Eastern churches. His work is represented in a number of contemporary hymnals by the Trinitarian hymn, “O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright.”

Another prolific writer of Latin hymns was the lawyer Prudentius (a.d. 348–413). He, too, was determined to fight Arianism and to present the Orthodox doctrine of the two natures in Christ. In his retirement, he devoted much of his time and energy to the writing of spiritual songs in Rome. Many Christians know and love his magnificent Christmas hymn, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.”

During the succeeding centuries there appeared other accomplished Latin poets. Fortunatus (a.d. 530–609), later Bishop of Poitiers, wrote four hymns still in current usage. “The Royal Banners Forward Go” and “Sing My Tongue” are often sung during Lent. His two Easter hymns are the lengthy “Welcome Happy Morn” and the triumphant “Hail Thee Festival Day.” The familiar Palm Sunday text, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor,” was the work of Theodulph of Orleans (c. 760–821), a student of Prudentius. The hymn of the Holy Spirit, “Come Holy Spirit, Our Souls Inspire,” has been attributed to Maurus (d. 856). And finally, one morning hymn by St. Gregory (540–604), “Father, We Praise Thee,” also is also incorporated in some contemporary hymnals.

In the latter part of the Middle Ages a number of monasteries that exerted an enormous influence on religious life throughout Europe for some three hundred years were established. The most influential leader at the beginning of this important movement was Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1091–1153). In his own lifetime, some 162 monasteries were established, and within the next eighty-five years the number rose to five hundred. The chief emphasis of Bernard’s texts was his own personal cry for holiness. The highly reflective and deeply devotional character of these texts is quite evident in a thoughtful reading of “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” “Jesus the Very Thought of Thee,” and “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts,” subjective prayers arising out of his personal relationship with the Savior.

In contrast to the devotional focus of these hymns, Bernard of Cluny’s 3,800-line poem, “Jerusalem the Golden,” spoke out against the many evils of his time. The thirteenth century is represented also by Saint Francis of Assisi’s hymn of praise, “All Creatures of Our God and King.” Three other Latin hymns still widely known and treasured are the Advent prayer “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” the Christmas hymn “O Come All ye Faithful,” and the Easter song, “O Sons and Daughters.”

The Setting of Hymns in the Greco-Roman World

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Singing hymns to deity was an established practice in the Greco-Roman world long before the emergence of Christianity. Christian hymns differed from pagan hymnody, however, in celebrating a redemptive historical event; they have a “prophetic” quality.

With Stephen and those who followed him, the early Christian mission reached out to offer its message to those who lived in Greco-Roman society. In that world, the singing of hymns to the deities of contemporary religious cults was already an established practice. The use of hymns in corporate and private worship in that culture went back a long way, but it reached its high point at a time when the finest and most sensitive spirits in late classical civilization were becoming conscious of their need for “salvation.” The immediate occasion was the onset of pessimism and despair caused partly by Greek science, which offered a naturalistic explanation of the universe, and partly by Eastern astrology, which placed a vast distance between human beings and the gods Homer and Hesiod had described. A valiant attempt to relate the traditional deities to human life was made as an answer to belief in impersonal fate or chance or iron necessity. These terms imply that human life is at the mercy of cosmic forces alien to humans.

New Testament examples of hymnic prayer are quite different, as they center on the basic idea of “remembering” construed in a dynamic way (drawn from Old Testament worship, which celebrated Yahweh’s mighty acts) and carried over into the new Israel and its worship. The events of the “new Exodus” were similarly rehearsed and recalled in a dramatic retelling. At this point, we are touching on the shift in an understanding of New Testament canticles that focus on Christ’s saving achievement. Unlike the earlier species of “messianic psalms,” these hymns seem to have been newly created as spontaneous utterances of gifted, Spirit-filled members of the community (1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:18–20; Col. 3:16–17), who may be further identified as prophets. If this title is accurate, it suggests that their role was one of instruction and exhortation (paraklēsis), according to 1 Corinthians 14:3. Their ministry was intended to build up the congregations and to do so in one specific regard, namely to ward off erroneous teaching by a positive statement, at services of worship, of how the faith was to be understood and applied with particular reference to Christ’s redeeming mission.

We find several extensive pericopes in Paul where, on lexical, stylistic, and contextual grounds, we may well suspect that he has taken over and set into the flow of his epistolary correspondence these preformed liturgical passages. The more obvious examples in the Pauline corpus are Philippians 2:6–11, Colossians 1:15–20, and 1 Timothy 3:16, though the list can be considerably enlarged. Extending the survey to include, along with Paul, the rest of the New Testament, M. Hengel speaks of “a dozen Christological texts originating within a fifty to sixty year period (a.d. 40–100).” After that terminal point at the close of the century, there are several well-known references tocarmina Christi or “Hymns to Christ” in Pliny, the Letters of Ignatius, and the Odes of Solomon (an early Christian “hymnbook”). Interestingly, by the time of Justin, in the mid-second century, the flow of such compositions has apparently been checked.

Christological Psalms

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Early Christian hymnody was influenced by the tradition of psalm singing in the temple. The hymns of the New Testament church served both a doxological and an apologetic function.

Introduction

In a useful series of essays titled “Modern Issues in Biblical Studies,” published in Expository Times a generation ago, one notable contribution was “The Evidence in the New Testament for Early Creeds, Catechisms, and Liturgy” (Expository Times 71 [1960]: pp. 359–363). Professor G. W. H. Lampe’s far-ranging essay was prescient in several ways. For instance, it accurately pinpointed the direction in which liturgical and ecumenical studies were moving as, in the following decades, they have sought to build on a firm biblical base in such controversial practices as baptism, the Eucharist, and the role of Mary, the Lord’s mother. Lampe’s survey also paid tribute to the gains accruing to New Testament study from an application of the principles of form criticism. More recent interest in the traditional history and the redaction criticism of the New Testament liturgical passages has produced a spate of articles and books on the setting of the New Testament churches at worship. A valiant attempt has been made—with some measure of success—to press back behind the canonical New Testament documents to the pulsating life of the worship congregations in which these pieces of literature first took shape.

The aim of this study is to take up one aspect of recent research that stands at the meeting point of New Testament academic study and the liturgical interest that is shared not only by professional liturgiologists but equally by ministers and by all who have a concern for a more adequate expression of the church’s praise of God. The center of our interest is the age-old practice of singing hymns.

What kind of precedent is there for that part of our worship in which all the participants are directly involved? Geoffrey Wainwright’s comment (in Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life, [New York: Oxford University Press, 1980], p. 200) expresses a judgment that can hardly be disputed:

Singing is the most genuinely popular element in Christian worship. Familiar words and music, whether it be repeated response to biddings in a litany or the well-known phrases of a hymn, unite the whole assembly.

The concern posed by the following discussion asks two questions: (1) Granted the church meetings in New Testament times included the use of religious song, can we trace a line of development from one “type” of hymn to other specimens? and (2) What was the “catalyst” that led to the creation of new forms of hymns in the New Testament period, specifically the hymn directed to the praise of Jesus Christ as exalted Lord and ruler of creation?

The Earliest Christian Hymnody

We may begin with the earliest report we have of Christian hymns (1 Cor. 14:26): “everyone has a hymn.” Paul’s word (psalmos) has an unusual connotation, since it could be misunderstood by Greek-speaking people as a special form of musical composition, and yet it would be familiar to readers of the Septuagint who would recognize it as the heading given to many psalms. The suggestion, recently made by Martin Hengel (“Hymn and Christology,” Studia Biblica, 3 [1978], pp. 173–197), is that psalmos would be understood in its non-Greek, therefore Jewish, background. If Paul’s term is deliberately chosen, it would indicate a contribution to Corinthian worship in religious song, which was based on the Hebrew Psalter.

The origin of the church on its Jewish side made it inevitable that the first followers of the risen Jesus, themselves Jews by birth and tradition, would wish to express their devotion in a way to which they were accustomed. But did the synagogue pattern of worship include the use of religious song? The evidence is difficult to interpret, and it is safest to conclude that psalm-singing was confined to the temple and its choirs, while the Palestinian synagogues adopted a severely didactic form of worship based on a sequence of prayers, Scripture lections, homily, and confession of Israel’s faith.

This distinction may well have held for Palestinian Judaism or at least for Judaism in its orthodox center at Jerusalem. But clearly the practices of sectarian groups at Qumran, and among the Therapeutae according to Philo, did include a celebration in song shared by all the community members. In the world of the Jewish Dispersion, the Hellenistic synagogues were more open to this type of worship. It may be, as Hengel suggests, that the excluding of hymns from the orthodox synagogues was a response to the use of hymns among groups the Pharisees judged to be heretical.

The evidence of the Lucan canticles (Luke 1:46–55, the Magnificat; Luke 1:68–79, the Benedictus; Luke 2:14, the Gloria in Excelsis; Luke 2:29–32, the Nunc Dimittis), certain hymnic fragments in the book of Revelation (Rev. 15:3–4), and the early scenes recorded of the Jerusalem church support the conclusion that messianic psalms were being sung in the Jewish-Christian circles that treasured these compositions. The purport of these compositions was partly celebratory but chiefly apologetic and formed part of the theodicy by which the early Christians sought to justify their conviction that God was sovereign in their affairs despite the suffering and opposition they were called on to endure (Acts 4:24–31). The theme of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in their day linked these messianic pietists with the Qumran covenanters, with the obvious difference that the Jewish Messianists held firmly to the belief that the promised Messiah had come and that his name was Jesus of Nazareth. His sufferings had issued in a triumphant vindication by God (Acts 2:32), attested by Davidic oracles and by their own experience as witnesses. And now Jesus of Nazareth was exalted as head of a messianic community in which alone salvation was offered as a present reality (Acts 2:37–42; 4:10–12).

The Theme of Christ’s Victory

From the early speeches in Acts we may conclude that the leading theme of both their proclamation and worship relating to the understanding of Jesus’ mission was his rejection and vindication, and to illustrate this nexus the proof text appealed to was Psalm 118:

The stone the builders cast aside
Is now the building’s strength and pride. (Ps. 118:22)

The continuance of the theme of victory in Psalm 118:26 apparently found its way into early liturgies as an acclamation heralding the triumphant return of the Messiah, based on his entry into the Holy City (Mark 11:9 and parallels), but soon the text came to be associated with his Parousia in glory. The evidence for the latter idea is the Aramaic prayer call marana tha, “our Lord, come!” found in 1 Corinthians 16:22 and Didachē 10:6. The division of the letters in the original term maranatha so as to yield the translation just given is all but conclusively proved by some recent discoveries from Qumran’s Cave 4 (dated in the Middle Aramaic period). A fresh look at 1 Corinthians 16:22 by J. A. Fitzmeyer in light of Qumran material recently published not only establishes that the Aramaic watchword means “our Lord, come!” but “gives evidence of a veneration of Jesus by early Jewish Christians as the ‘Lord,’ as a figure associated with Yahweh of the Old Testament, even as one on the same level with him, without saying explicitly that he is divine” (J. A. Fitzmeyer, To Advance the Gospel: New Testament Studies [New York: Crossroad, 1981], p. 229). Thus the contention that the earliest believers invoked the risen Jesus as Lord and awaited his return in glorious power rests on a firm linguistic basis.

Yet it was not appropriate to relate his glory to his pretemporal existence (his “preexistence”) or his future lordship at the end of the age. The earliest Christology had a vision of the Easter triumph of the crucified Jesus and its immediate afterglow in his being exalted to the Father’s presence, whence the blessedness of the new age of messianic salvation flowed down to those men and women who in turn were caught up to share his present reign.

Thus one specimen of “religious song” was patterned on the Old Testament Psalter and expressed conscious tribute to the messianic types already available for the fulfillment of Israel’s hope for a coming savior. He was hailed as Jesus of Nazareth, who, after the humiliation of rejection and death, was now raised to his Father’s presence where he enjoyed the divine glory (Acts 7:56). He will come again from his seat at the right hand of God to consummate God’s purposes (for Israel), and in the meanwhile—and it may be as a prelude to his advent—he was invoked to “come” and visit his people who “broke bread” as a sign of their joyful participation in the new age of the messianic banquets soon to be spread and shared (based on Isa. 25). Such examples of psalms applied to Christ may well be accurately called “messianic” tributes, or “Christ psalms.”