APractical Discourse on somePrinciples of Hymn-SingingBy Robert Bridges1901

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APractical Discourse on somePrinciples of Hymn-SingingBy Robert Bridges

Reprinted from the Journal ofTheological Studies, October, 1899

Oxford: B. H. Blackwell, 50 & 51 Broad StreetLondon: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. 1901

The Author's thanks are due to the Editors of the Journal of TheologicalStudies, and to the Publishers, Messrs. Macmillan, for permission toreprint. 

APRACTICAL DISCOURSEON SOMEPRINCIPLES OF HYMN-SINGING

What St. Augustin says of the emotion which he felt on hearing the musicin the Portian basilica at Milan in the year 386 has always seemed to mea good illustration of the relativity of musical expression; I mean howmuch more its ethical significance depends on the musical experience ofthe hearer, than on any special accomplishment or intrinsic developmentof the art. Knowing of what kind that music must have been and how fewresources of expression it can have had, --being rudimental in form, without suggestion of harmony, and in its performance unskilful, itsprobably nasal voice-production unmodified by any accompaniment, --onemarvels at his description, 'What tears I shed at Thy hymns and canticles, how acutely was my soul stirred by the voices and sweet music of Thy Church! As those voices entered my ears, truth distilled in my heart, and thence divine affection welled up in a flood, in tears o'erflowing, and happy was I in those tears[1]. '

St. Augustin appears to have witnessed the beginnings of the great musicof the Western Church. It was the year of his baptism when, he tells us, singing was introduced at Milan to cheer the Catholics who had shutthemselves up in the basilica with their bishop, to defend him from theimperial violence:

 'It was then instituted that psalms and hymns should be sung, after the manner of the Eastern Churches, lest the folk in the weariness of their grief should altogether lose heart: and from that day to this the custom has been retained; many, nay, nearly all Thy flocks, in all regions of the world, following the example[2]. '

What great emotional power St. Augustin attributed to ecclesiasticalmusic, and of what importance he thought it, may be seen in the tenthbook of the _Confessions_: he is there examining himself under the headsof the senses, and after the sense of smell, his chapter on the sense ofhearing is as follows:

 'The lust of the ears entangled and enslaved me more firmly, but Thou hast loosened and set me free. But even now I confess that I do yield a very little to the beauty of those sounds which are animated by Thy eloquence, when sung with a sweet and practised voice; not, indeed, so far that I am limed and cannot fly off at pleasure[3]: and yield though I do, yet these sweet sounds, joined with the divine words which are their life, cannot be admitted to my heart save to a place of some dignity, and I hesitate to give them one as lofty as their claim[4]. 

 'For sometimes I seem to myself to be allowing them undue honour, when I feel that our minds are really moved to a warmer devotion and more ardent piety by the holy words themselves when they are so sung than when they are not so sung; and when I recognize that all the various moods of our spirit have their proper tones in speech and song, by which they are, through I know not what secret familiarity, excited. But the mere sensuous delight, to which it is not fitting to resign the mind to be enervated thereby, often deceives me, whenever (that is) the delight of the senses does not so accompany the reason as to be cheerfully in submission thereto, but, having been admitted only for reason's sake, then even attempts to go before and to lead. Thus I sin without knowing, but afterwards I know. 

 'Then awhile, from too immoderate caution against this deception, I err on the side of too great severity; and sometimes go so far as to wish that all the melody of the sweet chants which are used in the Davidian psalter were utterly banished from my ears, and from the ears of the Church; and that way seems to me safer which I remember often to have heard told of Athanasius, archbishop of Alexandria, that he would have the lector of the psalm intone it with but a slight modulation of voice, so as to be more like one reading than one singing. And yet, when I remember my tears, which I shed at the hearing of the song of Thy Church in the first days of my recovered faith, and that now I still feel the same emotion, and am moved not by the singing but by what is sung, when it is sung with a liquid voice and in the most fitting "modulation, " then (I say) I acknowledge again the great utility of the institution. 

 'Thus I fluctuate between the peril of sensuous pleasure and the proof of wholesomeness, and am more inclined (though I would not offer an irrevocable judgement) to approve of the use of singing in the Church, that, by the pleasure of the ear, weaker minds may rise to the emotion of piety. Yet when it happens to me to be more moved by the music than by the words that are sung I confess that I have sinned (poenaliter peccare), and it is then that I would rather not hear the singer[5]. '

What would St. Augustin have said could he have heard Mozart's Requiem, or been present at some Roman Catholic cathedral where aneighteenth-century mass was performed, a woman hired from the Opera-Housewhooping the _Benedictus_ from the western gallery?

It is possible that such music would not have had any ethicalsignificance to him, bad or good. Augustin lived before what we reckonthe very beginnings of modern music, with nothing to entice and delighthis ears in the choir but the simplest ecclesiastical chant and hymn-tunesung in unison. We are accustomed to an almost over-elaborated art, which, having won powers of expression in all directions, has sosquandered them that they are of little value: and we may confidently saythat the emotional power of our church music is not so great as thatdescribed by him 1, 500 years ago. In fact if we feel at all out ofsympathy with Augustin's words, it is because he seems to over-estimatethe danger of the emotion[6]. 

There is something very strange and surprising in this state of things, this contrast between the primitive Church with its few simple melodiesthat ravished the educated hearer, and our own full-blown institutionwith its hymn-book of some 600 tunes, which when it is opened fills thesensitive worshipper with dismay, so that there are persons who wouldrather not go inside a church than subject themselves to the trial. 

What is the matter? What is it that is wrong with our hymnody? Even wherethere is not such rooted disgust as I have implied, there is a growingconviction that some reform is needed in words or music, or both. 

Assuming that the chief blame lies with the music (as, I think, mighteasily be proved), I propose to discuss the question of the music of ourhymnody, and I shall proceed on the basis of St. Augustin's principles: Iam sure that they would be endorsed by any pious church-goer who hadconsidered the subject, and they may be fairly formulated thus, _Themusic must express the words or sense: it should not attract too muchattention to itself: it should be dignified: and its reason and use is toheighten religious emotion. _

One point calls for distinction: Augustin speaks of his emotion on_hearing_ the hymns and canticles; he writes as if he had had no morethought of taking part in the music himself, than we have of joining inthe anthem at a cathedral; and this might lead to a misunderstanding; forthere is no doubt that these hymns were sung by the people: the story isthat the very soldiers who were sent to blockade the basilica, happeningto be themselves catholics, joined their voices in the stanzas which St. Ambrose had specially composed to disconcert the Arian enemy. 

The ecstasy of listening to music, and the enthusiasm of a crowd who areall singing or shouting the same hymn or song are emotions of quitedifferent nature and value. Now, neglecting the rare conditions underwhich these emotions may be combined, we shall, as we are speaking ofhymns, be concerned chiefly with the latter kind, for all will agree thathymns are that part of the Church music in which it is most desirablethat the congregation should join: and I believe that there would be lessdifference in practice if it were at all easy to obtain goodcongregational singing, or even anything that is worthy of the name. Itseems perhaps a pity that nature should have arranged that where thepeople are musical (as Augustin appears to have been) they would ratherlisten, and where they are unmusical they would all rather sing. 

Speaking therefore of congregational hymn-singing, and conceding, as Ithink we must, that the essential use of such music is to heightenemotion, then, this emotional quality being the _sine qua non_ (the musicbeing of no use without it), it follows that it is the primaryconsideration. If we are to have music at all, it must be such as willraise or heighten emotion; and to define this we must ask, _Whoseemotion?_ and _What kind of emotion?_

Let us take this latter question first, and inquire what emotions it isusual, proper, or possible to express by congregational singing of hymns. William Law, in his _Serious Call_, has an interesting, I may sayamusing, chapter on the duty of all to sing, whether they have any turnor inclination for it or no. All should sing, he says, even though theydislike doing so; and I think that what he affirms of private devotionapplies with greater force to public worship. It should satisfy the mostardent advocate of congregational singing, and it goes certainly to theroot of the matter. 

 'It is so right and beneficial to devotion, has so much effect upon our hearts, that it may be insisted on as a common rule for all persons; ... For singing is as much the proper use of a psalm as devout supplication is the proper use of a form of prayer: and a psalm only read is very much like a prayer that is only looked over.... If you were to tell a person that has such a song, that he need not sing it, that it was sufficient to peruse it, he would wonder what you meant, ... As if you were to tell him that he should only look at his food, to see whether it was good, but need not eat it.... You will perhaps say that singing is a particular talent, that belongs only to particular people, and that you have neither voice nor ear for music. 

 'If you had said that singing is a general talent, and that people differ in that as they do in all other things, you had said something much truer. 

 'For how vastly people differ in the talent of thinking, which is not only common to all men, but seems to be the very essence of human nature: ... Yet no one desires to be excused from thought because he has not this talent in any fine degree.... 

 'If a person were to forbear praying because he had an odd tone in his voice, he would have as good an excuse as he that forbears from singing psalms because he has but little management of his voice.... 

 'These songs make a sense (of) delight in God they awaken holy devotion: they teach how to ask: they kindle a holy flame.... 

 'Singing is the natural effect of JOY in the heart, ... And it is also the natural means of raising EMOTIONS OF JOY in the mind: such JOY AND THANKFULNESS to God as is the highest perfection of a divine and holy life. '

Now though I cannot feel the force of all Law's arguments nor easilybring myself to believe that a person who dislikes singing, and has noear for music, will readily find any comfortable assistance to hisprivate devotion from making efforts to hit off the notes of the scale;yet I feel that Law's position is in the main sound, and that he hascorrectly specified the emotion most proper to that kind of unculturedsinging which he describes: and though congregational psalm-singingnecessarily involves a greater musical capacity than that assumed inLaw's extreme case, and may therefore have a wider field, yet we maybegin by laying down that JOY, PRAISE, and THANKSGIVING give us the firstmain head of what is proper to be expressed, and we may extend this headby adding ADORATION and perhaps the involved emotions of AWE and PEACEand even the attitude of CONTEMPLATION. 

In such a subject as the classification of emotions as they may beexpressed by music of one kind or another, it is plainly impossible tomake any definite tabulation with which all would agree. The very namesof the emotions will, to different minds, call up different associationsof feeling. If any agreement could be arrived at, it would be at theexpense of distinction; and all that I can expect is to have mydistinctions understood, and in the main agreed with. And as I am mostready to grant to the reader his right to a different opinion on anydetail, I beg of him the same toleration, and that he will rather try tofollow my meaning than dwell on discrepancies which may be due to a faultof expression, or to a difference of meaning which he and I may attach tothe same word. 

With this apology in preamble, I will attempt to make some classificationof emotions as they seem to me to be the possible basis for musicalexpression in congregational singing. 

We have already one class: I would add a second, to include all the hymnswhich exhibit the simple attitude of PRAYER. 

A third class I would put under the head of FAITH. Examples of this classwill no doubt often cross with those of the first class, but they willspecify themselves as CELEBRATIONS of events of various COMMEMORATION, introducing a distinct form, namely NARRATION, which is a very proper andeffective form for general praise. 

Also this section will include all the hymns of BROTHERHOOD andFELLOWSHIP, and of SPIRITUAL CONFLICT, with the correlative _invitatory_and _exhortatory_ songs, as modified by what will be said later. 

Also, lastly, under this same head of Faith, the DOCTRINAL hymns, andprofessions of creed whether sectarian or otherwise, which, if thedefinition be taken widely, make a large and popular class, wellexemplified by the German hymns of the Reformation, or by those of ourWesleyan revival; strong with the united feeling of a small body, asserting itself in the face of opposition: concerning which we will notspeak further, except to recall the fact that this kind of enthusiasm wasnot absent from the causes which first introduced hymns into the WesternChurch. 

I believe that this is a pretty full list of all the attitudes of mindthat can be properly expressed by congregational singing; and if we turnto other emotions which are made the subject of church hymns, we shall, Ithink, see that they are all of them liable to suffer damage by beingentrusted to the rough handling of general vociferation. 

Such will be all hymns of DIVINE AFFECTION and YEARNING; all LAMENTS andCONSOLATIONS; all descriptions of spiritual conditions which implypersonal experience and feeling, as ABASEMENT, HUMILIATION, CONTRITION, REPENTANCE, RESIGNATION, SELF-DEVOTION, CONVICTION, and SATISFACTION. 

Here I feel that many readers will be inclined to dissent from what Isay, and as I shall not again recur to Law, I should like, in order toshow my meaning, to call up his extreme example of an unmusical personsinging in private devotion. If one pictures such a case as he supposes, is it not clear, whether one imagines oneself the actor or the unwillingauditor, that while such an exhibition of joy might perhaps pass, yet asimilar incompetent attempt to express any of the last-named emotionswould be only ridiculous? But between this single worshipper and thecongregation the incompetence seems to me only a question of degree;while in the far more considerable respect of the sincerity of thefeeling in the hearts of those expressing it, Law's singer has everyadvantage; indeed no objection on this score can be raised to him. Butnow suppose for a moment that he has _not_ the emotion at heartcorresponding to his attempt at song, and I think the differentiation ofmotives for congregational singing will seem justifiable. 

All these last-named emotions, --which I have taken from congregationalhymn-books, --and I suppose there may be more of them, --call for delicacyof treatment. A Lamentation, for instance, which might seem at firstsight as if it would gain force by volume, will, if it is realistic orclumsy, become unmanly, almost so as to be ridiculous, and certainlydepressing to the spirit rather than purifying. In fact while many of thesubjects require beautiful expression, they are also more properly usedwhen offered as inspiring ideals; and to assume them to be of commonattainment or experience is to degrade them from their supreme sanctity. But in thus ruling them unfit for general singing one must distinguishlarge miscellaneous congregations from small united bodies, in which amore intimate emotion may be natural: and as there is no exact line ofdistinction here, so there is no objection to the occasional and partialintrusion of some of these more intimate subjects into congregationalhymns. 

To this first question then, as to what emotions are fit to be expressedby congregational music, the answer appears to be that the more generalthe singing, the more general and simple should be the emotion and thatthe universally fitting themes are those of simple praise, prayer, orfaith: and we might inquire whether one fault of our modern hymn-booksmay not be their attempt to supply congregational music to unfittingthemes. 

To the next question, _Whose emotion_ is this congregational music toexcite or heighten? the answer is plain: It is the average man, or onerather below the average, the uneducated, as St. Augustin says theweaker, mind and that in England is, at least artistically, a narrow mindand a vulgar being. And it may of course be alleged that the music in ourhymn-books which is intolerable to the more sensitive minds was not putthere for them, but would justify itself in its supposed fitness for thelower classes. 'What use, ' the pastor would say to one who, on the groundof tradition advocated the employment of the old plain-song and theAmbrosian melodies, 'What use to seek to attract such people as those inmy cure with the ancient outlandish and stiff melodies that pleased folka thousand years ago, and which I cannot pretend to like myself?' Or ifhis friend is a modern musician, who is urging him to have nothing in hischurch but what would satisfy the highest artistic sense of the day, hisanswer is the same: he will tell you that it would be casting pearlsbefore swine; and that unless the music is 'tuney' and 'catchy' thepeople will not take to it. And we cannot hastily dismiss these practicalobjections. The very Ambrosian music which is now so strange to modernears was doubtless, when St. Ambrose introduced it, much akin to thesecular music of the day, if it was not directly borrowed from it: andthe history of hymn-music is a history of the adaptations of profanesuccesses in the art to the uses of the Church. Nor do I see that it canever be otherwise, for the highest music demands a supernatural material;so that it would seem an equal folly for musicians to neglect the uniqueopportunity which religion offers them, and for religion to refuse thebest productions of human art. And we must also remember that the art ofthe time, whether it be bad or good, has a much more living relation tothe generation which is producing it, and exerts a more powerfulinfluence upon it, than the art of any time that is past and gone. It isthe same in all aspects of life: it is the book of the day, the hero orstatesman of the hour, the newest hope, the latest flash of scientificlight, which attracts the people. And it must be, on the face of it, truethat any artist who becomes widely popular must have hit off, 'I know notby what secret familiarity, ' the exact fashion or caprice of the currenttaste of his own generation. 

And this is so true that it must be admitted that it is not always theuneducated man only whose taste is hit off. In the obituary notices ofsuch men as Gladstone and Tennyson the gossip will inform us, rightly orwrongly, that their 'favourite hymn[7]' was, not one of the greatmasterpieces of the world, --which, alas, it is only too likely that intheir long lives they never heard, --but some tune of the day: as if inthe minds of men whose lives appealed strongly to their age there must besomething delicately responsive to the exact ripple of the common tasteand fashion of their generation. 

All this makes a strong case: and it would seem, since our hymn-music isto stir the emotions of the vulgar, that it must itself be both vulgarand modern; and that, in the interest of the weaker mind, we mustrenounce all ancient tradition and the maxims of art, in order to be intouch with the music-halls. 

This is impossibly absurd; and unless there is some flaw in our argument, the fault must lie in the premisses; we have omitted some necessaryqualification. 

The qualification which we neglected is this, that _the music must bedignified_, and suitable to the meaning; and we should only have wastedwords in ignoring what we knew all along, if we had not, by so doing, brought this qualification into its vital prominence, and at the sametime exposed the position of those who neglect it, and the real reason ofthe mean condition of our church music. 

The use of undignified music for sacred purposes may perhaps be justifiedin exceptional cases, which must be left to the judgement of those whoconsider all things lawful that they may save some. But if from themission service this licence should creep into the special service, andthen invade every act of public worship, it must be met with an edict ofunscrupulous exclusion. Not that it can be truly described as thus havingcrept in in our time. It is always creeping, it has flourished in specialhabitats for four or five hundred years, and before then there is thehistory of Palestrina's great reform of like abuses. If in our time inEngland we differ in any respect for the worse, it is rather in theuniversal prevalence of a mild form of the degradation, which is perhapsmore degrading than the occasional exceptional abuses of a more flagrantkind, which cannot hide their scandal but bring their own condemnation. 

There is indeed no extreme from which this abuse has shrunk; perhaps theworst form of it is the setting of sacred hymns to popular airs, whichare associated in the minds of the singers with secular, or even comicand amatory words[8]: of which it is impossible to give examples, becausethe extreme instances are blasphemies unfit to be quoted; and it is onlythese which could convey an adequate idea of the licence[9] The essenceof the practice appears to be the production of a familiar excitement, with the intention of diverting it into a religious channel. 

But, even in the absence of secular or profane association, congregational singing, when provoked by undignified music, such as maybe found in plenty in our modern hymn-books, may be maintained withoutthe presence of religious feeling, out of mere high spirits, or as wesay, 'in fun, ' and may easily give rise to mockery. I have witnessedexamples enough in proof of this, but if I gave them it might be thoughtthat I wished to amuse profane readers[10]. And though such extremedisasters may be exceptional outbursts, yet they are always but justbeneath the surface, and are the inevitable outcome of the use ofunworthy means. The cause of such a choice of means must be either anartistic incapacity to distinguish, or a want of faith in the power ofreligious emotion when unaided by profane adjuncts. What would St. Augustin have ruled here, or thought of the confusion of ideas, which, being satisfied with any expression, mistakes one emotion for another?

The practical question now arises. We know the need; how is it to besupplied? We require music which will reach the emotions of uneducatedpeople, and in which they will delight to join, and in which it shall beeasy to join: and it must be dignified and not secular. If we condemn andreject the music which the professional church-musicians have suppliedwith some popular success to meet the need, what is there to take itsplace? Of what music is our hymn-book to be constructed, which shall beat once dignified, sacred, and popular?

The answer is very simple: it is this, _Dignified Melody_. Good melody isnever out of fashion; and as it is by all confession the seal of highmusical genius, so it is that form of music which is universallyintelligible and in the best sense popular; and we have a rich legacy ofit. What we want is that our hymn-books should contain a collection ofthe best ecclesiastical and sacred hymn-melodies, and _nothing butthese_, instead of having but a modicum of these, for the most partmauled and illset, among a crowd of contributions of an altogetherinferior kind; the whole collection being often such that if anill-natured critic were to assert that the compilers had degraded andlimited the old music in order to set off their own, it would bedifficult to meet him with a logical refutation. 

The shortest and most practical way of treating this subject will be togive some account of the sources from which the music of such a hymn-bookas I propose would be drawn. I will take these in their chronologicalorder. First in order of time are the Plain-song melodies. 

I have already stated the ordinary objection to these tunes, that theyare stiff and out of date. Now it may be likely enough that they willnever be so universally popular in our country as the fine melodiesinvented on the modern harmonic system, yet the idea that they are notpopular in character, and that modern people will not sing them, is amistake; there is plenty of evidence on this point. Nor must we judgethem by the incompetent, and I confess somewhat revolting aspect in whichthey were offered to us by the Anglo-gregorianists of thirty years ago, apresentment which has gone far to ruin their reputation; they are betterunderstood now, and may be heard here and there sung as they should be. They are of great artistic merit and beauty; and instead of consideringthem _a priori_ as uncongenial on the ground of antiquity, we shouldrather be thinking of them that they were invented at a time when unisonsinging was cultivated in the highest perfection, so much so that a largenumber of these tunes are, on account of their elaborate and advancedrhythm, not only far above the most intelligent taste of the minds withwhich we have to deal, but are also so difficult of execution that thereare few trained choirs in the country that could render them well. To thesimpler tunes, however, these objections do not apply: in fact there areonly two objections that can be urged against them, and both of thesewill be found on examination to be advantages. 

The first objection is that they are not in the modern scale. Now as thisobjection is only felt by persons who have cramped their musicalintelligence by an insufficient technical education, and cannot believethat music is music unless they are modulating in and out of some key bymeans of a sharp seventh;--and as the nature of the ecclesiastical modesis too long a subject, and too abstruse for a paper of this sort, even ifI were competent to discuss it;--I shall therefore content myself bystating that the ecclesiastical modes have, for melodic purposes (whichis all that we are considering), advantages over the modern scale, bywhich they are so surpassed in harmonic opportunities. Even such athoroughgoing admirer of the modern system as Sir Hubert Parry writes onthis subject, that it 'is now quite obvious that for melodic purposessuch modes as the Doric and Phrygian were infinitely (_sic_) preferableto the Ionic, ' i. E. To our modern major keys[11]. And it will be evidentto every one how much music has of late years sought its charm in modalforms, under the guise of national character. 

The second objection is their free rhythm. They are not written in barredtime, and cannot without injury be reduced to it. 

As this question affects also other classes of hymns, I will here say allthat I have to say, or have space to say, about the rhythm of hymn-tunes;confining my remarks generally to the proper dignified rhythms. 

In all modern musical grammars it is stated that there are virtually onlytwo kinds of time. The time-beat goes either by twos or some multiple oftwo, or by threes or some multiple of three, and the accent recurs atregular intervals of time, and is marked by dividing off the music intobars of equal length. Nothing is more important for a beginner to learn, and yet from the point of view of rhythm nothing could be moreinadequate. _Rhythm is infinite. _ These regular times are no doubt themost important fundamental entities of it, and may even lieundiscoverably at the root of all varieties of rhythm whatsoever, andfurther they may be the only possible or permissible rhythms for a moderncomposer to use, but yet the absolute dominion which they now enjoy overall music lies rather in their practical necessity and convenience (sinceit is only by attending to them that the elaboration of modern harmonicmusic is possible), than in the undesirability (in itself) or unmusicalcharacter of melody which ignores them. In the matter of hymn-melodies anunbarred rhythm has very decided advantages over a barred rhythm. In theformer the melody has its own way, and dances at liberty with the voiceand sense; in barred time it has its accents squared out beforehand, andmakes steadily for its predetermined beat, plumping down, as one may say, on the first note of every bar whether it will or no. Sing to any one aPlain-song melody, _Ad coenam Agni_ for instance, once or twice, and thenCroft's 148th Psalm[12]. Croft will be undeniably fine and impressive, but he provokes a smile: his tune is like a diagram beside a flower. 

Now in this matter of rhythm our hymn-book compilers, since theseventeenth century, have done us a vast injury. They have reduced allhymns to the common times. Their procedure was, I suppose, dictated bysome argument such as this: 'The people must have what they canunderstand: they only understand the simple two and three time: _ergo_ wemust reduce all the tunes to these measures. ' Or again, 'It will beeasier for them to have all the tunes as much alike as possible:therefore let us make them all alike, and write them all in equalminims. '

Both these ideas are absolutely wrong. A hymn-tune, which they hastilyassume to be the commonest and lowest form of music, actually possessesliberties coveted by other music[13]. It is a short melody, committed tomemory, and frequently repeated: there is no reason why it should submitto any of the time-conveniences of orchestral music: there is no reasonwhy its rhythm should not be completely free; nor is there any _a priori_necessity why any one tune should be exactly like another in rhythm. Itwill be learned by the ear (most often in childhood), be known and lovedfor its own sake, and blended in the heart with the words which interpretit: and this advantage was instinctively felt by those of our earlychurch composers who, already understanding something of the value ofbarred music, yet deliberately avoided cramping the rhythms of theirhymn-tunes by too great subservience to it[14]. One of the first dutiestherefore which we owe to hymn-melodies is the restoration of their freeand original rhythms, keeping them as varied as possible: the Plain-songmelodies must be left unbarred and be taught as free rhythms, and allother fine tunes which are worth using should be preserved in theiroriginal rhythm; because free rhythm is better, and its variety is good, and because the attraction of a hymn-melody lies in its individualcharacter and expression, and not at all in its time-likeness to othertunes. This last idea has been a chief cause in the degradation of ourhymns. 

I may conclude then that the best of these simpler Plain-song tunes arevery fit for congregational use. They should be offered as pure melody infree rhythm and sung in unison: their accompaniment must not be entrustedto a modern grammarian. It is well also to use most of them in theirEnglish form, the _Old Sarum Use_ as it is called; which happilypreserves to us a national tradition, in the opinion of some expertsolder and more correct than any known on the continent; and if thedifferences in our English version are not due to purity of tradition, they will have another and almost greater interest, as venerable recordsof the genius of our national taste. These Plain-song tunes have probablya long future before them; since, apart from their merit, they areindissolubly associated with the most ancient Latin hymns, some of whichare the very best hymns of the Church. 

The next class of tunes[15] is that of the Reformation hymns, English, French, and German, dating from about 1550 to some way on in theseventeenth century. The chief English group is known as _Sternhold andHopkins' Psalter_, which was mostly of eight-line tunes. This book wasvirtually put together in Geneva about 1560, and antiquarians make muchof it. If stripped, however, of its stolen plumes and later additions itis really an almost worthless affair, the true history of it being asfollows. A French musician named Louis Bourgeois, whom Calvin broughtwith him to Geneva in 1541, turned out to be an extraordinary genius inmelody; he remained at Geneva about fifteen years, and in that timecompiled a Psalter of eighty-five tunes, almost all of which are of greatmerit, and many of the very highest excellence. The splendour of hiswork, which was merely appreciated as useful at the time, was soonobscured, for immediately on his leaving Geneva, the French Psalter wascompleted by inferior hands, whose work, being mixed in with his, loweredthe average of the whole book enormously, and Bourgeois' work was neverdistinguished until, quite lately, the period of his office wasinvestigated and compared with the succeeding editions of his book. Nowthe English refugees compiled their 'Sternhold and Hopkins' at Geneva, inimitation of the French, during the time of Bourgeois' residence, andtook over a number of the French tunes; though they _mauled these mostunmercifully_ to bring them down to the measure of their doggerel psalms, yet even after this barbarous treatment Bourgeois' spoilt tunes werestill far better than what they made for themselves, and sufficient notonly to float their book into credit, but to kindle the confusedenthusiasm of subsequent English antiquarians, whose blind leadership hashad some half-hearted following. But if these French tunes, and thosewhich are pieced in imitation of Bourgeois, be extracted from thisEnglish Psalter, then, with one or two exceptions, there will remainhardly anything of value[16]. 

To leave the English tunes for a moment and continue the subject, weshall practically exhaust the French branch of this class by saying thatour duty by them is to use a great number of Bourgeois' tunes, _restoringtheir original form_. They are masterpieces which have remained popularon the continent from the first; thoroughly congenial to our nationaltaste, and the best that can be imagined for solemn congregationalsinging of the kind which we might expect in England. The difficulty isthe same that beset the old original psalter-makers, i. E. To find wordsto suit their varied measures. But this must be done[17]. These tunes indignity, solemnity, pathos, and melodic solidity leave nothing to desire. 

The English eight-line tunes of Sternhold and Hopkins we may then, withone or two exceptions, dismiss to neglect; but among the four-line'common' tunes which gradually ousted them, there are about a dozen ofhigh merit: these being popular still at the present day require nonotice, except to 32 insist that they should be well harmonized in themanner of their date, and generally have the long initials and finals ofall their lines observed. They are much finer than any one would guessfrom their usual dull presentment. Their manner, as loved and praised byBurns, is excellent, and there is no call to alter it[18]. 

Contemporary with this group there is a legacy of a dozen and more finetunes composed by Tallis and Orlando Gibbons, the neglect or treatment ofwhich is equally disgraceful to all concerned. 

As for the German tunes of the Reformation, attempts to introduce theGerman church-chorales into anything like general use in England havenever, so far as I know, been successful, owing, I suppose, to adifference in the melodic sense of the two nations. But some few of themare really popular, and more would be if they were properly presentedwith suitable words; and it should not be a difficult task to providewords even more suitable and kind than the original German, which seldomobserves an intelligent, dignified and consistent mood. These choralesshould be sung very slow indeed, and will admit of much accompaniment. Bach's settings, when not too elaborate or of impossible compass in theparts, may be well used where the choir is numerically strong. He hasmade these chorales peculiarly his own, and, in accepting hisinterpretation of them, we are only acquiescing in a universal judgement, while we make an exception in favour of genius; for as a general rule(which will of course apply to those chorales which we do not use inBach's version), all the music of this Reformation period must beharmonized strictly in the vocal counterpoint which prevailed at the endof the sixteenth century; since that is not only its proper musicalinterpretation, but it is also the ecclesiastical style _par excellence_, the field of which may reasonably be extended, but by no meanscontracted. It is suitable both for simple and elaborate settings, forhymns of praise or of the more intimate ideal emotions, and in a resonantbuilding a choir of six voices can produce complete effects with it. Thebroad, sonorous swell of its harmonious intervals floods the air withpeaceful power, very unlike the broken sea of Bach's chromatics, which, to produce anything like an equal effect of sound, needs to be powerfullyexcited. 

It is necessary to insist strongly on one caution, viz. That grammar isnot style, and settings which avoid modernisms are not for that reason afair presentation of the old manner. Nothing is less like a fine work ofart than its incompetent imitation. And this practically exhausts, as faras I am aware, the material which this period provides. 

The next class will be made up of our Restoration hymns, by Jeremy Clark, Croft, and others who added to the succeeding editions of the metricalPsalms. If there are not many in this class, yet the few are good; andClark must be regarded as the inventor of the modern English hymn-tune, regarded, that is, as a pure melody in the scale with harmonicinterpretation of instrumental rather than true vocal suggestion. Histunes are pathetic, melodious, and of truly national and popularcharacter, the best of them almost unaccountably free from theindefinable secular taint that such qualities are apt to introduce, andwhich the bad following of his example did very quickly introduce in thehands of less sensitive artists. They are suitable for evening services. 

After this time there followed in England, in the wake of Handel, adegradation of style which is now completely discredited. Diatonic flow, with tediously orthodox modulation, overburdened with conventionalgraces, describe these innumerable and indistinguishable productions. Andjust as the old tunes were related to the motets and madrigals, so arethese to the verse-anthems and glees of their time. These weak ditties, in the admired manner of Lord Mornington, were typically performed by thegenteel pupils of the local musician, who, gathered round him beneath thelaughing cherubs of the organ case, warbled by abundant candlelight totheir respectful audience with a graceful execution that rivalled theweekday performances of _Celia's Arbour_ and the _Spotted Snakes_. Goodtunes may be written at any time, for style is independent of fashion;but there are very few exceptions to the complete and unregretteddisappearance of all the tunes of this date. 

We have then nothing left for us to do but to review the material whichthe revival of music in the last fifty years has given us in the way ofhymns. 

This last group divides naturally into two main heads; first therestoration of old hymns of all kinds, with their plain, severer manner, in reaction against the abused graces; and secondly the appearance of avast quantity of new hymns. 

Concerning the restoration of the old hymns, we cannot be too grateful tothose who pointed the right way, and, according to their knowledge andthe opportunities of the taste of their day, did the best that theycould. But, as our remarks under the heads of Plain-song and Reformationhymns will show, this knowledge, taste, and opportunity wereinsufficient, and all their work requires to be done afresh. 

We are therefore left to the examination of the modern hymns. In place ofthis somewhat invidious task, I propose to make a few remarks on thegeneral question of the introduction of modern harmony intoecclesiastical music, with reference of course to hymns only. It cannotescape the attention of any one that the modern church music has for onechief differentiation the profuse employment of pathetic chords, theeffect of which is often disastrous to the feelings. 

Comparing a modern hymn-tune in this style with some fine setting of anold tune in the diatonic ecclesiastical manner, one might attribute thesuperiority of the old music entirely to its harmonic system; but I thinkthis would be wrong. 

It is a characteristic of all early art to be _impersonal_[19]. As longas an art is growing, artists are engaged in rivalry to develop the newinventions in a scientific manner, and individual personality is notcalled out. With the exhaustion of the means in the attainment ofperfection a new stage is reached, in which individual expression isprominent, and seems to take the place of the scientific impersonalinterest which aimed at nothing but beauty: so that the chief distinctionbetween early and late art is that the former is impersonal, the latterpersonal. 

Turning now to the subject of ecclesiastical music, and comparing thusPalestrina with Beethoven or Mozart, is it not at once apparent thatPalestrina has this distinct advantage, namely, that he seems not tointerfere at all with, or add anything to, the sacred words? His earlymusical art is impersonal, what the musicians call 'pure music'; and ifhe is setting the phrases of the Liturgy or Holy Scriptures, we are notaware of any adjunct; it seems rather as if the sacred words had suddenlybecome musical. Not so with Mozart or Beethoven; we may prefer theirmusic, but it has interfered with the sacred words, it has, in fact, added a personality. 

It must of course be conceded that this gives a very strong if notlogically an almost unassailable position to those who would confinesacred music to the ecclesiastical style. But it seems to me ridiculousto suppose that genius cannot use all good means with reserve anddignity; and if the modern church music will not stand comparison inrespect of dignity and solemnity with the old, the fault must rather liein the manner in which the new means are used, than in the meansthemselves; nor would I myself concede that there is no place in churchfor music which is tinged with a human personality; I should be ratherinclined to reckon the great musicians among the prophets, and tosympathize with any one who might prefer the personality of Beethoven (asrevealed in his works) to that of a good many canonized seers. What islogical is that we should be careful as to what personality we admit, andsee that the modern means are used with reserve. 

Now if we examine our modern hymn-tunes, do we find any sign of thatreserve of means which we should expect of genius, or any style which wecould attribute to the personality of a genius? Let any one in doubt trythe following experiment: copy out some 'favourite tune' in the 'admiredmanner' of the present day, and show it to some musician who may happennot to know it, and ask him if it is not by Brahms; then see how he willreceive any further remarks that you may make to him on the subject ofmusic. 

These new tunes are in fact, for the most part, the indistinguishableproducts of a school given over to certain mannerisms, and might beproduced _ad libitum_, as indeed they are; just as were the tunes of theLord Mornington school before described: and though the composers andcompilers of these modern tunes would be the first to deride the explodedfashion, their own fashion is more foolish, and promises to be asfugitive[20]. 

I have said very little in this essay on the words of hymns. I willventure to add one or two judgements here. _First_, that in thePlain-song period, words and music seem pretty equal and well matched. _Secondly_, that in the Reformation period, and for some time onwards, the musicians did far better than the sacred poets, and have left us aremainder of admirable music, for which it is our duty to find words. _Thirdly_, that the excuse which some musicians have offered for thesentimentality of their modern tunes, namely, that the words are sosentimental, is not without point as a criticism of modern hymn-words, but is of no value whatever as a defence of their practice. Theinterpretative power of music is exceedingly great, and can force almostany words (as far as their sentiment is concerned) into a good channel. 

And if music be introduced at all into public worship it must be mostjealously and scrupulously guarded. It is a confusion of thought tosuppose that because--as St. Augustin would tell us--it is not a vitalmatter to religion whether it employ music or not, therefore it can be oflittle consequence what sort of music is used: and the attitude ofindifference towards it, which has seemed to me to be almost a point ofcorrect ecclesiastical manners, must be the expression of a convinceddespair, which, in the present state of things, need not surprise. Devoutpersons are naturally afraid of secular ideals, and shrink from thenotion of art intruding into the sanctuary; and, especially if they havenever learned music, they will share St. Augustin's jealousy of it; andit is the more difficult to remove their objections, when what they areinnocently suffering in the name of art curdles the artist's blood withhorror, and keeps him away from church. The artist too, to whom we mightlook for help, is the _rara avis in terris_, and, in regard to hissympathy with the clergy, would often be thought by them to deserve therest of the hexameter; but it is really to his credit that he is loth tomeddle with church music. Its social vexations, its eye to the market, its truckling to vulgar taste and ready subservience to a dominantfashion, which can never (except under the rarest combination ofcircumstances) be good;--all this is more than enough to hold him off. Where then is the appeal? _Quis custodiet_?

The unwillingness of the clergy[21] to know anything about music might begot over if the music could be set on a proper basis; and in the presentlack of authority and avowed principles, it would be well if such of ourcathedral precentors and organists as have the matter at heart wouldconsult and work together with the purpose of instructing pastors andpeople by the exhibition of what is good. This is what we might expect ofour religious musical foundations, which are justifying the standingcondemnation of utilitarian economists so long as the stipendiaries arecontent indolently to follow the fortuitous traditions of the books thatlie in the choir, supplemented by the penny-a-sheet music of the commonshops. In the Universities, too, it should be impossible for anundergraduate not to gain acquaintance with good ecclesiastical music, and this is not ensured by an occasional rare performance of half a dozenold masterpieces which are preserved in heartless compliment toantiquity. It is to such bodies that we must first look for help andguidance to give our church music artistic importance: for let no onethink that the church can put the artistic question on one side. There isno escape from art; art is only the best that man can do, and his second, third, fourth or fifth best are only worse efforts in the same direction, and in proportion as they fall short of the best the more plainly betraytheir artificiality. To refuse the best for the sake of somethinginferior of the same kind can never be a policy; it is rather anuncorrected bad habit, that can only be excused by ignorance; andignorance on the question of music is every day becoming less excusable;and the growing interest and intelligence which all classes are nowshowing should force on religion a better appreciation of her most potentally. Music being the universal expression of the mysterious andsupernatural, the best that man has ever attained to, is capable ofuniting in common devotion minds that are only separated by creeds, andit comforts our hope with a brighter promise of unity than any logicoffers. And if we consider and ask ourselves what sort of music we shouldwish to hear on entering a church, we should surely, in describing ourideal, say first of all that it must be something different from what isheard elsewhere; that it should be a sacred music, devoted to itspurpose, a music whose peace should still passion, whose dignity shouldstrengthen our faith, whose unquestioned beauty should find a home in ourhearts, to cheer us in life and death; a music worthy of the fair templesin which we meet, and of the holy words of our liturgy; a music whoseexpression of the mystery of things unseen never allowed any triflingmotive to ruffle the sanctity of its reserve. What power for good such amusic would have!

Now such a music our Church has got, and does not use; we are content tohave our hymn-manuals stuffed with the sort of music which, merging thedistinction between sacred and profane, seems designed to make theworldly man feel at home, rather than to reveal to him something of thelife beyond his knowledge; compositions full of cheap emotional effectsand bad experiments made to be cast aside, the works of the purveyors ofmarketable fashion, always pleased with themselves, and always to bederided by the succeeding generation. 

Example is better than precept; and my own venture as a compiler of ahymn-book has made it possible for me to say much that otherwise I shouldnot have said. In _The Yattendon Hymnal_, printed by Mr. Horace Hart atthe Clarendon Press, Oxford, and to be had of Mr. Frowde, price 20_s. _, will be found a hundred hymns with their music, chosen for a villagechoir. The music in this book will show what sort of a hymnal might bemade on my principles, while the notes at the end of the volume willillustrate almost every point in this essay which requires illustration, besides many others. As a complement to this essay and for advertisementof the Hymnal I here give the prefaces of that book, which are asfollows:--

[1]_Confess. _ ix. 6. 

[2]_Ibid. _ ix. 7. 

[3]This is perhaps rather a quality proper to the sensation. 

[4]'Et vix eis praebeo congruentem [locum]. ' which might only mean 'I cannot find the right place for them. '

[5]_Confess. _ x. 13. 

[6]St. Augustin does not allow that a vague emotion can be religious; it must be directed. Few would agree to this. 

[7]I assume 'favourite hymn' to mean a sung hymn. The interest of the record must lie in its being of a heightened emotion of the same kind as that described by St. Augustin in his own case, _What tears I shed_, &c. 

[8]It was not an uncommon practice on the Continent (say from 1540 to 1840), to print books of hymns to be sung to the current secular airs; and the names or first lines of these airs were set above the hymn-words as the musical direction. M. Douen, in his _Clément Marot et le Psautier Huguenot_, vol. I, ch. 22, has given an account of some of these books; and any one who wishes to follow this branch of the subject may read his chapter. He does not notice the later Italian _Laude Spirituali_, which might have supplied incredible monsters to his museum. 

[9]Besides, the main fault of these books, from which we should have to quote, is the _association_ of the music, and this is really an accident, the question before us being the _character_ of the music; so that we should require musical illustration, for though the common distinction between sacred and secular music is in the main just, yet the line cannot be drawn at the original intention, or historical origin of the music: the true differentiation lies in the character of the music, the associated sentiment being liable to change. If we were to banish from our hymn-books all the tunes which we know to have a secular origin, we should have to part with some of the most sacred and solemn compositions; and where would the purist obtain any assurance that the tunes which he retained had a better title? In the sixteenth century, when so many fine hymn-melodies were written, a musician was working in the approved manner if he adapted a secular melody, or at least borrowed a well-known opening phrase: and since the melodies of that time were composed mainly in conjunct movement, such initial similarities were unavoidable; for one may safely say that it very soon became impossible, under such restrictions, to invent a good opening phrase which had not been used before. The secular airs, too, of that time were often as fit for sacred as profane use; and if I had to find a worthy melody for a good new hymn, I should seek more hopefully among them than in the sacred music of our own century. 

[10]I may give the following experience without offence. When I was an undergraduate there was a song from a comic opera by Offenbach so much in favour as to be _de rigueur_ at festive meetings. Now there was at the same time a counterpart of this song popular at evensong in the churches: it was sung to 'Hark, hark, my soul. ' I believe it is called _L'encens des fleurs_. They seemed to me both equally nauseating: it was certainly an accident that determined which should be sung at worship and which at wine. 

[11]_The Art of Music_, by C Hubert H. Parry. London, 1893, 1st edit. P. 48. 

[12]And give Croft the advantage of his original rhythm, not the mis-statement in _Hymns Ancient and Modern_, No. 414. 

[13]It would be very damaging to my desire to convince, if I should seem to deny that the mistaken practice of these hymn-book compilers was based on the solid ground of secular common-sense. If anything is true of rhythm it is this, that the common mind likes common rhythms, such as the march or waltz, whereas elaboration of rhythm appeals to a trained mind or artistic faculty. I should say that the popularity of common rhythms is due to the shortness of human life, and that if men were to live to be 300 years old they would weary of the sort of music which Robert Browning describes so well--

 'There 's no keeping one's haunches still, There 's no such pleasure in life. '

 But hymn-melodies must not be put on that level. It is desirable to have in church something different from what goes on outside, and (as I say in the text) a hymn-tune need not appeal to the lowest understanding on first hearing. The simple free rhythms, too, are perfectly natural; they were free-born. 

[14]I need only instance Orlando Gibbons' tune called 'Angels. ' The original is a most ingenious combination of rhythms; and its masterly beauty could not be guessed from the inane form into which it is degraded in _Hymns Ancient and Modern_, No. 8. 

[15]I omit, for want of space, mention of the late Plain-song melodies (which would give a good many excellent tunes); and, for want of knowledge, the Italian tunes. 

[16]Comparing the English with the French Genevan Psalter, I do not think my judgement is too severe on our own. It had a few fine tunes original to it; best of all the cxxxvii (degraded in _Hymns Ancient and Modern_). This is of such exceptional beauty that I believe it must have been written by Bourgeois for Whittingham. Next perhaps is lxxvii (called 81st in _H. A. M. _), the original of which, in Day, 1566, is a fine tune, degraded already in Este, 1592, which version _H. A. M. _ follows: it is said to have come from Geneva. Besides these, xxv and xliv, which are the only other tunes from this source in _H. A. M. _, are very favourable examples, and I do not think that they will rescue the book. Nor can I believe that these old English D. C. M. Tunes were ever much used. They are too much alike for many of them to have been committed to memory, while all the editions which I happen to have seen are full of misprints, and the four-line tunes which drove them out were early in the field, and increased rapidly. 

[17]When one turns the pages of that most depressing of all books ever compiled by the groaning creature, Julian's hymn-dictionary, and sees the thousands of carefully tabulated English hymns, by far the greater number of them not only pitiable as efforts of human intelligence, but absolutely worthless as vocal material for melodic treatment, one wishes that all this effort had been directed to supply a real want. E. G. The two Wesleys between them wrote thirteen octavo volumes, of some 400 pages each, full of closely printed hymns. One must wish that Charles Wesley at least (who showed in a few instances how well he could do) had, instead of reeling off all this stuff, concentrated his efforts to produce only what should be worthy of his talents and useful to posterity. 

[18]If old tunes are modernized out of a fine rhythm, a curious result would be likely to come about; viz. That modern tunes might be written in the old rhythm for the sake of novelty, while the old were being sung in the more modern way for the sake of uniformity. 

[19]This fact is of course generally recognized. The explanation in the text is one which was elaborately illustrated by the Slade Professor at Oxford, in his last course of lectures on painting. 

[20]There is one point which I cannot pass over. It has become the practice in modern books to put marks of musical expression to the words, directing the congregation when to sing loud or soft. This implies a habit of congregational performance the description of which would make a companion picture to the organ gallery of 1830. It seems to me a practice of inconceivable degradation: one asks in trembling if it is to be extended to the Psalms. It is just as if the congregation were school-children singing to please a musical inspector, and he a stupid one. 

[21]It must be due to unwillingness that comparatively so few of our clergy can take their part in the service when it is musical. Village schoolmasters tell me that two hours a week is sufficient in a few months to bring all the children up to a standard of time and tune and reading at sight that would suffice a minor canon. 

PREFACE TO THEYATTENDON HYMNAL

Among the old melodies which it is the chief object of this book to restore to use, some will be found which will be quite new to the public, while others will be familiar though in a somewhat different form; and since the sources whence all the tunes are taken are well known, and have been already largely drawn upon by the compilers of Psalters and Hymnals, any melody which is new in this book may be considered as having been hitherto overlooked or rejected, while in the alternative case it is to be understood that the original cast of the melody has at some former time been altered (frequently to suit the English common metre to which it was not at first conformable), and is now restored. 

The plain-song tunes, of which an account is given in the preface to thenotes, and the few other old tunes which do not fall into either of thetwo above-mentioned classes, were included for the sake of theirsettings. 

With respect to the vocal settings in four parts it may be said that, inthe numerous cases in which such settings were not added by the composerof the melody, the editors have done their best to supply the want in asuitable manner, and with some attempt towards the particular qualitiesof workmanship upon which much of the beauty of the old vocalcounterpoint depends; and this latter aim has also governed thecomposition of the six tunes not derived from old sources which have beenincluded in the work. 

This book is offered in no antiquarian spirit. The greater number ofthese old tunes are, without question, of an excellence which sets themabove either the enhancement or the ruin of Time, and at present when somuch attention is given to music it is to be desired that suchmasterpieces should not be hidden away from the public, or only put forthin a corrupt and degraded form. The excellence of a nation in music canhave no other basis than the education and practice of the people; andthe quality of the music which is most universally sung must largelydetermine the public taste for good or ill. 

Since such information as might be looked for in an introduction is givenin the notes at the end of the volume, there is nothing to add here but alist of the sources and composers in order of date, which should in theeyes of musicians go far to justify this attempt. 

SYNOPSIS OF THE MUSIC IN ORDER OF DATE

PLAIN-SONG MELODIES, Sarum use, nine, Nos. 29. 30. 31. 32. 47. 48. 49. 75. 86. Ambrosian, two, Nos. 91. 100. Later plain-song, two, Nos. 44. 45. HEINRICH ISAAC, 1490, one tune, Nos. 82 & 83. From the Strasbourg Psalter, before 1540, two, Nos. 37. 72. German of same date, one, No. 16. LOUIS BOURGEOIS, 1550, thirteen, Nos. 3. 19. 20. 27. 58. 64. 67. 70. 74. 77. 79 & 80. 88. 99 & see 66 & 84. CHRISTOPHER TYE, 1550, one, No. 15. From Crespin's Psalters, circ. 1560, three, Nos. 41. 84. 89. THOMAS TALLIS, 1560, seven, Nos. 2. 14. 54 & 55. 59. 68. 78. 98. From the French Genevan Psalter, after 1560, one, No. 92. A setting by CLAUDE GOUDIMEL, 1565, No. 88. English, 16th cent, four, Nos. 39. 53. 66. 87. Two settings by GEO. KIRBY, 1592, Nos. 39. 53. A setting by J. Farmer, 1592, No. 87. A setting by Rd. ALLISON, 1599, No. 84. Italian, 16th cent. , one, No. 1. HANS LEONHARD HASSLER, 1600, one, No. 62. THOS. CAMPION, 1613, one, No. 36. ORLANDO GIBBONS, 1623, eight, Nos. 23. 24. 25. 28. 35. 38. 56. 94. HENRY LAWES, 1638, one, No. 73. JOHANN CRUEGER, 1640, four, Nos. 41. 57. 93. 97. English & Scotch, 1600-1650, seven, Nos. 10. 40. 50. 51. 60. 63. 71. German, 17th cent, two, Nos. 69. 90. JEREMY CLARK, 1700, nine, Nos. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 21. 61. 81. 95. WILLIAM CROFT, 1710, four, Nos. 34. 43. 52. 76. English, 18th cent. , four, Nos. 12. 26. 33. 65. J. S. BACH, eight settings, mostly of earlier melodies, Nos. 13. 57. 62. 80. 83. 85. 90. 97. Seven new tunes by H. E. W. , Nos. 4. 11. 17. 18. 22. 46. 96. 

NOTE

'The seven tunes by Tallis are all transcripts of his original four-partcompositions. Only two of these tunes are in the common books; one ofthem "The Ordinal" is always reset, the other "Canon, " which is usuallysung to Bp. Ken's evening hymn, is completely altered, the canon beingput in a different position and the harmony changed. This tune is Ibelieve correctly edited for the first time in the Y. H. And it is nowthus sung at Wells Cathedral. 

'Of the eight tunes by Orlando Gibbons, two only (and these altered bothin rhythm and harmony) appear in the common books. All Gibbons' tunes aregiven in the Y. H. With his own bass, the inner parts being supplied. 

'There is a complete list of the music in the word-book of the YattendonHymnal, which is published by Mr. Blackwell of Broad Street, Oxford, andmay be bought for 1_s. _ 6_d. _'

THEPREFACE TO THE NOTES

The origin of this book was my attempt, when precentor of a villagechoir, to provide better settings of the hymns than those in use. 

When I gave up my office, I printed the first twenty-five hymns for theconvenience of the choir, and also for the sake of the tunes by JeremyClark, which I had been at some pains to restore, and for thepreservation of the tunes composed on our behalf by Professor Wooldridge. 

My choice of music had so far been limited to tunes, for which suitablewords were to be found in _Hymns Ancient & Modern_; but by the time thatthese first tunes were printed, I determined to continue the book free ofthis restriction, and, from whatever source, to provide words for tuneswhich I had hitherto been unable to use. I then became aware of a realcause for the absence of most of these tunes from the common hymnals:_there were no words of any kind to which they could be sung_. Havingalready translated some of the old Latin hymns for their proper melodies, I was thence led on to the more difficult task of supplying the greaterneed of these other tunes; the result being that over forty of thesehundred hymns have english words newly written by myself. Almost all ofthese new hymns are in some sense translations, for even where anoriginal hymn could not be followed in its entirety, as an old Latin hymngenerally may be, there was usually a foundation to begin upon, and Inever failed to find the music conditioning, dictating, or inspiring theremainder. I did not willingly engage in this, nor until I had searchedword-books of all kinds; a fruitless labour, unless for the hope begottenthereof that my practice in versifying and my love for music may togetherhave created something of at least relative value. 

The unusual method which I was constrained to follow, that is of writingwords to suit existing music, has its advantages. In some cases, as willbe seen in the notes to the hymns, the musician, out of despair or evencontempt for the doggrel offered to him, has composed a fine tune quiteindependent of the words to which it was dedicated[22], and such tuneshave been silent ever since they were composed: while even when a melodyhas been actually inspired by a particular hymn, the attention of thecomposer to the first stanza has not infrequently set up a hirmos, or atleast a musical scheme of feeling, which, not having been in the mind ofthe writer of the words, is not carried out in his other stanzas[23]:indeed, as every one must have observed, the words of hymns have toooften been written with insufficient attention to the conditions which arepetition of any music to every stanza must impose. To get rid of suchdiscrepancies between words and music is advantageous to both, andalthough this treatment cannot of course be applied to englishhymns, --which it is not allowable to alter, except in cases of glaringunfitness or absurdity, such as would if uncorrected cause the neglect ofa good hymn[24], --yet, where the hymn has to be translated from a foreignlanguage, some reconstruction is generally inevitable, and it can followno better aim than that of the mutual enforcement of words and music. Andthe words owe a courtesy to the music; for if a balance be struck betweenthe words and music of hymns, it will be found to be heavily in favour ofthe musicians, whose fine work has been unscrupulously altered andreduced to dullness by english compilers, with the object of conformingit in rhythm to words that are unworthy of any music whatever. The chiefoffenders here are the protestant reformers, whose metrical psalms, whichthe melodies were tortured to fit, exhibit greater futility than onewould look for even in men who could thus wantonly spoil fine music[25]. 

The form and size of the book were determined by the type, chosen becauseit was the only one that I could find of any beauty; and I wished that mybook should in this respect give an example, and be worthy both of themusic and its sacred use[26]. Moreover a book from which two or threesingers can read is more convenient in the choir than a multiplicity ofsmall books; and the music being in full score, its intention cannot bemistaken: for it must be understood that most of these tunes are set inthe manner proper for voices, but unsuitable for the piano or other keyedinstrument; and the book is intended to encourage unaccompanied singing. A choir that cannot sing unaccompanied cannot sing at all; and this isnot an uncommon condition in our churches, where choirs with varyingsuccess accompany the organ. A proper manner of sustained singing, andthe true artistic pleasure that should govern it, will never be obtaineduntil these conditions are reversed. 

There is one novelty which I am responsible for introducing, namely thefour-part vocal settings of certain early plain-song melodies. The laterplain-song tunes, such as No. 44, are, I suppose[27], as fit for thistreatment as any other tunes of the same date; but in the case of theearlier melodies, which were composed before the invention of anycomplete system of harmony, it is generally agreed that they should besung in unison, in fact the more elaborate of them cannot be sungotherwise. To give four-part settings of any of these early tunes callstherefore for an explanation, which I will give as briefly as possible. 

When these tunes are sung, they are usually accompanied, and this impliesa harmonic treatment. Now the best harmonic treatment which they can haveis the Palestrinal, because that was the earliest complete system, andtherefore the nearest to their time, and also because we may rely on thetruth of its interpretation of the modes for the reason that Palestrinahad never heard any music that was not modal. A modern musician, if heattempts to go back beyond Palestrina, must draw on his imagination, andwhile his aim must be to produce something artistically and technicallyless perfect than Palestrina's system, his work, when it is done, willcarry neither authority nor conviction. 

If then we take Palestrina's harmonic interpretation of the modes, itseems to me that there can be no objection to giving vocal parts to thesimpler hymns. If it is preferred to sing them in unison, the modalsettings will be a guide to the accompanist. But it is my opinion thatsuch settings as I offer will really please, and they may possibly dosomething to bring these tunes, which have a unique, unmatchable beauty, into favour with choirs that dislike the effort and waste of unisonsinging. These settings offer no difficulty of execution all; _that isnecessary is that the under voices should know the melody_: and thoughthis is not generally thought requisite in a modern hymn, it is askingnothing extra of a choir that would sing the plain-song tunes; for evenif they are sung in unison, they must first be known by heart (otherwisetheir rhythmical freedom, which defies notation, and is indispensable totheir beauty, cannot be approached), and when once a choir has got thusfar, the under parts, being phrased with the melody, will easily followit. An explanation of the notation of these settings is given in the noteto Hymn 29. Congregational singing of hymns is much to be desired; but, though difficult to obtain, it is not permissible to provoke it byundignified music. Its only sound musical basis is good melody: goodmelodies should therefore be offered to the people, such as it has beenthe object of this book to bring together; and they should have as muchfreedom and variety of rhythm as possible. If some of the good melodiesare, owing to their wide compass or other difficulty, unfit forcongregational singing, this is an advantage; because neither are allhymn-words equally suitable. Most of the words in this book are suitablefor congregational singing; some are not. A hymn-book which is intendedentirely for congregational use must be faulty in one of two ways; eitherit will offer for congregational singing hymns whose sacred and intimatecharacter is profaned by such a treatment, or it will have to omit someof the most beautiful hymns in the language: but congregations differmuch, not only with regard to the music in which they are capable ofjoining, but also as to the sort of words which best express theirreligious emotion. 

In the following notes the left-hand side of the page is given to thewords, the right to the music of each hymn: in the latter column will befound full information as to the text of the music, the source whence itis derived, &c. , together with a careful account of every departure thathas been made from the originals. It is hoped that this will not only beof general interest, but that it may inspire confidence in the text ofthe book, and ensure the reception which its authority demands. For thetext of the music, and all the statements in the notes, I am responsible;excepting those portions of the notes which are therein assigned to theirproper authorities, and in these I am responsible for the correctness ofthe quotations and references, in which I have done my best to secureaccuracy. I owe much to the kindness of Mr. W. Barclay Squire at theBritish Museum; I have also to thank Mr. Godfrey Arkwright for the loanof some rare books, and Dr. Chas. Wood of Cambridge for two settings andoccasional reading of music proofs; in which latter task I gratefullyrecord the help of Mr. J. S. Liddle and Dr. Percy Buck. To Mr. MilesBirket Foster I owe the three trios by Jeremy Clark, and to the Revs. W. H. Frere and G. H. Palmer the text of the plain-song melodies, and theinformation concerning them which is given in the following notes: it isdue to the generosity with which they put their learning and judgement atmy disposal that I am able to offer these tunes with the same confidenceas the rest of the book. Professor Wooldridge, having co-operated with methroughout, has allowed his name to appear on the title page. 

[22]No. 28 is a good example of this. See also No. 98. 

[23]No. 57 is a good example. The line _Du bist mein, und ich bin dein_, corresponds in stanza 2 with _Wenn die Welt in Trümmer fallt_, and in stanza 4 with _Elend, Noth, Kreuz, Schmach und Tod_. Again in No. 77 the opening phrase, _Mon Dieu, mon Dieu_, of the twenty-second psalm needs music which conditions the other stanzas severely. Again the weak apologetic latter half of the German hymn _Herzliebster Jesu_, No. 42, is irreconcilably out of the key with the pathetic grief of the beginning. Cases in which caesuras and grammatical breaks are inconsistent are numberless. 

[24]See note to Hymn 90. Other english hymns altered for practical purposes in this book are Nos. 19, 35, 51, last verse of 52, 66, 94, and 96. 

[25]I give illustrations of these words in notes to Hymns 27, 54, 58, 63, 68, 84, and 98. 

[26]The cheapness is not the direct cause of the ugliness of our common hymn-books, nor is their ugliness the cause of their cheapness. If many copies of a book are sold, they can be sold cheaply; if only a few, then the initial expense, which is much the same whether the book be beautiful or ugly, must be shared between those few buyers and the author. But thus it comes about indirectly for cheapness to be the cause of meanness and ugliness, because in a larger market there is greater indifference to artistic excellence of all kinds, and from habit a preference for what is inferior. In a large edition this book could be sold as cheaply as another. 

[27]I state here once for all that in musical matters I offer my opinion with becoming humility. 

ADVERTISEMENT

THE YATTENDON HYMNAL. 

Edited by Robert Bridges and Professor H. Ellis Wooldridge. Containing 100 hymns and 4 voice-parts. Printed at the Oxford University Press, 1899. May be obtained of Henry Frowde, Oxford Warehouse, Amen Corner, London, E. C. , or through any bookseller. Price, 4to boards, 1. A few copies of the Folio, price 4, are still to be had. 

THE WORD-BOOK OF THEYATTENDON HYMNAL, Which contains a full list of the music, and is called, _THE SMALL HYMN-BOOK, _

may be had of B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, or through anybookseller. Price 1_s. _ 6_d. _

Oxford: Horace Hart, Printer to the University