Long-time readers will understand why I carp on hymnody, and why I return to the subject now.
- Hymnals have been practical works of theology in churches in the modern era; hymnals shape our religious vocabularies.
- Unitarian Universalists are theologically plural — in theory anyway. So why is there a lone denominational hymnal? Even the British Unitarians have current choices and there are scarcely more of them that show up to General Assembly.
- The current (but not new; 1993) hymnal is a disaster for Christians, meaning Christians use it but have to supplement heavily; use extra-denominational hymnals; or (most commonly) use hymnals two or three generations old.
Add in my own conviction that such foundational ideas of worship need to be commonly controlled, liberally licensed or in the public domain and it’s clear that we need some options. But without deep pockets or a deep talent pool, the best I can offer is the bits and pieces I pick up along the way.
One of the most interesting projects I’ve found is the Open Hymnal Project, operated by Brian J. Dumont. It’s active, and what you will find there is a fine selection of public-domain Christian hymns — with a bent towards the Lutheran, which I hardly mind — downloadable as PDF or GIF scores, MIDI (and some MP3) sound files, and the ABC notation files that allow for adaptation. And this looks like a labor of love; there’s no evidence of a staff behind this work. And it’s so active that there’s a new (December 17) omnibus version that has come out since I started researching for this blog post. Thank you Mr. Dumont!
There is — and this pleases me — evidence of open-source software (particularly in how the file were originally edited and transformed for publication) and standards behind this work, my love of which coming from my belief in the liturgical commons.
Like the Hymns of the Spirit list yesterday, I’ve noted which of the hymns he’s worked on are on the Consultation on Ecumenical Hymnody list, below the fold, in bold.
Lastly, Mr. Dumont has created some derived resources, including a Lenten pack, a Christmas pack (topical, no?) and the most interesting, a service book for visitation. And there are MP3s which you can “put . . . on a cell phone or MP3 player with a little speaker when you visit the sick.” Brilliant.
Hymn | |
A Mighty Fortress | |
Abide with Me | |
Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended? | |
All Creatures of Our God and King | |
All Glory, Laud and Honor | |
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name | |
All My Heart This Night Rejoices | |
All People That on Earth Do Dwell | |
All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night | |
All Things Are Thine, No Gift Have We | |
Angels from the Realms of Glory | |
Angels We Have Heard on High | |
As with Gladness Men of Old | |
At Even, Ere the Sun Was Set | |
At the Name of Jesus | |
Away in a Manger | |
Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne | |
Blessed Jesus, At Your Word | |
Blest Are the Pure in Heart | |
Bread of the World, in Mercy Broken | |
Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light | |
Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning | |
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation | |
Come Down, O Love Divine | |
Come Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire | |
Come, Thou Almighty King | |
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus | |
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come | |
Come, Ye Thankful, Raise the Strain | |
Crown Him with Many Crowns | |
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind | |
Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness | |
Eternal Father, Strong to Save | |
Eternal God, Whose Power Upholds | |
Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round | |
Fairest Lord Jesus | As Beautiful Savior |
Faith of Our Fathers | |
Father Eternal, Ruler of Creation | |
Father, We Praise Thee Now the Night Is Over | |
Fight the Good Fight | |
For All the Saints | |
For the Beauty of the Earth | |
From All Who Dwell below the Skies | |
From Heaven Above to Earth I Come | |
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken | |
Go to Dark Gethsemane | |
God Moves in a Mysterious Way | |
God of Grace and God of Glory | |
God of Our Fathers | |
God the Omnipotent | |
Good Christian Men, Rejoice | |
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah | |
Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise | |
Hail Thee, Festival Day | |
Hail to the Lord’s Anointed | |
Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus | |
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing | |
Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face | |
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name | |
Holy, Holy, Holy | |
How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds | |
If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee | |
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise | |
In Christ There Is No East or West | |
In Heavenly Love Abiding | |
In the Bleak Mid-winter | |
In the Cross of Christ I Glory | |
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today | |
Jesus Shall Reign | |
Jesus, Priceless Treasure | |
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee | |
Joy to the World | |
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee | |
Judge Eternal, Throned in Splendor | |
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence | |
Let All the World in Every Corner Sing | |
Let Us with a Gladsome Mind | |
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates! | |
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming | |
Look Ye Saints, the Sight Is Glorious | |
Lord Jesus, Think on Me | |
Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing | |
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling | |
Make Me a Captive, Lord | |
May the Grace of Christ Our Savior | |
New Every Morning Is the Love | |
Not Alone for Mighty Empire | |
Now Thank We All Our God | |
O Come, All Ye Faithful | |
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | |
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing | |
O Gladsome Light | |
O God of Earth and Altar | |
O God, Our Help in Ages Past | As Our God, Our Help In Ages Past |
O Holy City Seen of John | |
O Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts | |
O Little Town of Bethlehem | |
O Lord of Heaven and Earth and Sea | |
O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright | |
O Perfect Love, All Human Thought Transcending | |
O Sacred Head Surrounded | As O Sacred Head, Now Wounded |
O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright | |
O Worship the King | |
O Ye Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing | |
Of the Father’s Love Begotten | |
On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry | |
Open Now the Gates of Beauty | |
Praise God from Whom All Blessing Flow | |
Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens | |
Praise to the Living God | As The God of Abraham Praise (variant hymn) |
Praise to the Lord | |
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven | |
Ride On, Ride On in Majesty | |
Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name | |
Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless | |
Silent Night | |
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above | |
Son of God, Eternal Savior | |
Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer | |
Strong Son of God, Immortal Love | |
Sun of My Soul | |
Take My Life and Let It Be | |
The Church’s One Foundation | |
The Day of Resurrection | |
The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended | |
The Duteous Day Now Closeth | As Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadow |
The First Nowell | As The First Noel |
The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns | |
The King of Love My Shepherd Is | |
The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns | |
The Lord Will Come and Not Be Slow | |
The Strife Is O’er | |
There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy | |
This Is My Father’s World | |
Thou Art the Way, to Thee Alone | |
Thou Whose Almighty Word | |
Through All the Changing Scenes of Life | |
Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying | |
Watchman, Tell Us of the Night | |
We Gather Together | |
We Plow the Fields and Scatter | |
Were You There? | |
What Child Is This? | |
When All Thy Mercies, O My God | |
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross | |
When Morning Gilds the Skies | |
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life | |
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks | |
Ye Servants of God | |
Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones |
Scott — I don’t know if you’ve seen this web site:
http://www.smallchurchmusic.com/
It’s a useful resource for smaller congregations who don’t have a pianist or organist. It’s also useful for smaller UU fellowships who also lack keyboard players (many of the grey hymnal melodies can be found here as well).
A close friend who found herself in charge of leading congregational singing in her small East Texas UU fellowship has used the church music web site listed above along with recorded music suggestions from the UUA CLF to have about 50 different UU grey hymnal instrumental accompaniments on hand for worship. All she has to do is create a playlist in iTunes or other mp3 software and burn a CD for the sound technician to use.
Universalist minister Kenneth Patton pioneered the concept of a “loose-leaf hymnal” at the Charles Street Meeting House in the 1950s, using the then-cutting edge technology of mimeograph printing. Today, we should be using today’s cutting edge technology — music notation software, which can output a MIDI file, which can be manipulated in software like GarageBand to sound like piano, organ, guitar, etc., which can then be played as accompaniment, or as a tool for teaching hymn tunes.
Music notation software is the key component, though. Once I learned how to use it (and the learning curve is somewhat steep), I started creating hymn inserts on a regular basis, adapting new words to familiar tunes, or introducing completely new hymns and tunes to the congregation. Right now, for example, we’re playing with the idea of singing Old 100th at every worship service, but with varying words — today, for example, we sang Christmas words by H.W. Longfellow to Old 100th. Next step — using variant versions and harmonizations of Old 100th, e.g., modern form, original version, shape note version, a contemporary version by UU composer Susan Conant, etc.
From the denominational perspective, what I’d like to see is an online resource with tons of downloadable hymns, available at no charge for public domain works and for a modest licensing fee for copyrighted works. Perhaps the so-called teal hymnal will be the last printed hymnal we ever see. Instead, from here on out, we could go with an updated version of Patton’s looseleaf hymnal.