May 2008
Some Reflections on Hymns and Songs	Show Menu

This is an abbreviated version of an illustrated talk given at the 'Living Worship' Course in Dublin in February 2008.

by Donald Davison

Variety in hymnody

The remarkable variety of our hymnody soon becomes evident if one leafs through, for example, the fifth edition of Church Hymnal (CH5). Take the provenance of hymns. The enormous diversity of sources (whether we describe it in historical or denominational terms) bears eloquent witness to the universality of the Christian faith and its development over two millennia.

Or consider modes of address. Despite the dictionary definition of a hymn as 'a Christian song of praise sung to God', many hymns are not addressed direct to God, but recount what God has done in creation, for sinful humankind, for us as individuals. Others focus on ourselves—our doubts and fears, our sense of sin, our hope of forgiveness and final salvation, the joy and assurance that faith can give -and may be addressed to our own souls or to our fellow-worshippers. If there is a common thread to be discerned, it is the possibility of reconciliation between God— Creator, Redeemer and Life-giver — and his sinful creatures. Thus hymns tend to be grounded in real human emotion and experience, reflecting in particular our yearning for something more permanent and satisfying beyond our everyday life. That is one reason why hymns have a strong residual appeal to the public at large, even to those who rarely, if ever, go to church.

Hymns can also linger in the memory because of their sheer poetic qualities. Traditional hymns exhibit a remarkable variety of metre (see a metrical index of tunes) and of rhyme (study the line indentations in texts), and the greatest hymns attain a perfection in both aspects which seems quite unforced.

What makes a 'good' hymn? John Wesley termed his 1780 hymn collection 'a little body of experimental and practical divinity' — it was for those who practised religion and attempted to reflect their religious experience. Hymn-singing enables members of a congregation to unite in articulating their common belief and their religious aspirations. Many hymns express these things better than we could ever hope to do ourselves. Surprisingly, even if we have some private reservations about a hymn's sentiments or theology, we can still benefit from singing it with others. The true quality and 'success' of a hymn can be judged only by assessing the degree to which the worshipping community are built up in faith by sharing their belief, religious experience and spiritual aspiration as they sing it. That's why the selection of hymns is so important!

Selecting hymns

A service can be marred by a lack of care and insight in selecting the hymns. Whilst the final responsibility for the choice of hymns lies with the clergy, a wise rector will try to consult regularly with the organist, perhaps even delegating the task of hymn selection. There is much merit in the rector and organist choosing the hymns together: this reduces personal bias, promotes a spirit of mutual respect and trust, and ensures that the hymns are fully integrated into the planning of services. In any event, it is important to make full use of available resources.

Some hymn resources

Get to know your hymnbook really thoroughly, e.g. in CH5 you should carefully digest the General and Musical Prefaces and be fully at ease with the book's credal structure. Make full use of the indexes. In CH5, the Credal Structure of Contents lists, for each category in the credal structure, hymns that have connections with that category but appear elsewhere in the book. In contrast, the Index of Themes and Subjects lists hymns under various headings that do not appear in the credal structure. The Index of Biblical References (though necessarily far from complete) is very useful for finding connections with the readings and the sermon, while the Metrical Index of Tunes is invaluable for exploring whether it is possible to sing a relevant hymn to a tune more familiar than that printed (or suggested) with it.

Study the background and relevance of each hymn considered. For CH5, consult Companion to Church Hymnal (Columba Press 2005) which I wrote with Bishop Edward Darling. As well as extensive notes on individual hymns, this has a chapter on the development of Hymnody in the Church of Ireland, advice on hymn selection and the role of the organist, and useful Indexes.

In choosing hymns, the liturgical context is of central importance. When the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) is followed, each service becomes a distinctive act of worship which is strongly 'coloured' by the Scripture readings, and the hymns should above all reflect upon and reinforce the 'Word of the Lord'. To study thematic strands and interconnections, it is useful to acquire The Word of the Lord (for the Church of Ireland) (Canterbury Press), which gives the readings in their liturgical order. The C of I Gazette's Liturgical Notes are also helpful. Valuable resources which suggest hymns for the first (principal) service include: Bishop Darling's Sing to the Word (now on a CD), the RSCM's quarterly publication Sunday by Sunday, and Sing His Glory (Canterbury Press), while for the second service there is Sunday by Sunday (Canterbury Press).

It is a mistake to choose a particular hymn solely because it is popular, well-known or rousing. Much better that it should be directly relevant to one or more of the readings or reinforce the thrust of the sermon. In any case, each hymn should make a positive contribution to worship (ask 'If we left it out, would the service be the poorer?'). Err on the side of too few hymns rather than too many.

At the Eucharist, the gradual (*) hymn provides an excellent opportunity for connecting with the RCL, since it can either point back to the Second (New Testament) reading or forward to the Gospel: either way, there is a real enhancement of the liturgy. But the readings of the day should also inform the choice of gathering, offertory and dismissal hymns, as well as meditative hymns during the administration.

(*) See note about the ‘gradual’ hymn below.

Organist and choir

The whole hymn-singing experience can be ruined by an insensitive or incompetent organist, and organists should use all their skills to promote good congregational singing. But also, when a choir is present, the attitude of the choir-members to hymn-singing is crucial. There can be other opportunities during a service for a good choir to make its own special contribution to worship. But, like the organist, the choir's primary objective during the singing of hymns must be to encourage the congregation's wholehearted participation. This has to be said plainly because one sometimes observes a considerable ambivalence in this area. And to provide this strong leadership, I believe that there should be considerably more use of unison singing (this applies to chanted psalmody as well!).

Worship songs

Worship songs are now widely used - indeed in some churches they have a considerably higher profile than traditional hymns. The music of earlier songs from the 1970s and 80s was relatively unsophisticated and the texts were largely drawn from scripture (sometimes rather awkwardly): we included some in Irish Church Praise. But by the time I was editing CH5 in the late 90s, a much wider range of songs was available. Generally these had original texts (though with strong scriptural connections), while the music was often rhythmically quite complex and therefore not so easy for the congregation. Many more recent songs are better accompanied by a praise band, or at least by a couple of guitars or a piano. It is difficult to make them 'work' on the organ, and I try to dissuade organists from trying!

Worship songs are especially valuable in informal worship, particularly when a substantial time is set apart for praise. They have a strong appeal for young people, and many of their texts, far from being banal or repetitive, are thought-provoking expressions of real spirituality.

However, I do have some concerns. Sometimes, when the singing is led by a praise band and one or more singers, the congregation's participation appears limited — perhaps because of over-amplification (a common fault), the music's rhythmic complexity or unfamiliarity. But it is regrettable if the congregation ends up playing a relatively passive role.

Mixing contemporary songs with traditional hymns in liturgical worship requires great care, so as to avoid a 'patchwork quilt' effect in which the traditional and contemporary elements jostle uncomfortably with each other. The less complex songs tend to be the more effective in a specific liturgical context.

However, my principal concern is that in some churches traditional hymns have been largely replaced by worship songs. If we abandon the traditional hymn repertoire entirely, we shall lose a precious part of our spiritual heritage. It is up to church musicians to devote such attention to the preparation, singing and playing of traditional hymns that these will continue to be recognised as an indispensable part of our Church's worship.

Donald Davison is director of music at St John's Church, Malone, Belfast. He was music editor of Church Hymnal 2000 and is a consultant to the Liturgical Advisory Committee.
donald.davison@ntlworld.com.

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KNOW YOUR LITURGY

Question: What does the term gradual refer to?

Answer: The Gradual (Latin: graduale, sometimes called the Grail) is a chant in the Roman Catholic Tridentine Mass, sung after the reading or singing of the Epistle and before the Alleluia and Gospel. The Gradual is believed to have been so named because it was sung on the gradus (= step) of the altar or perhaps while the deacon was mounting the steps of the ambo for the reading or singing of the Gospel.

In the Anglican tradition, the description gradual refers to the hymn or other item sung after the Epistle and before the Gospel (BCP 1662/1926) or between the second reading and the (Alleluia and) Gospel (BCP 2004).

Question: And now, please explain Tridentine.

Answer: Tridentine refers to the city in Northern Italy, Trento and to the Council of Trent that met there at intervals between 1545 and 1563. The council of bishops sought to agree action to counter the impact of the Reformation. One of the outcomes was a revision of the mediaeval liturgical books. The Tridentine Latin Mass then became the norm throughout the Roman Catholic Church for 400 years until it was replaced by the liturgical reforms of Vatican II. Use of the Tridentine Mass was discouraged for the next 40 years but restrictions on its use were finally removed in 2007 and in Dublin, an official chaplaincy for supporters of the Tridentine Liturgy is now based in St Kevin's Church, Harrington Street.

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