A Practical Discourse on Some Principles of Hymn-Singing

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

Example is better than precept; and my own venture as a compiler of a hymn-book has made it possible for me to say much that otherwise I should not have said. In The Yattendon Hymnal, printed by Mr. Horace Hart at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, and to be had of Mr. Frowde, price 20s., will be found a hundred hymns with their music, chosen for a village choir. The music in this book will show what sort of a hymnal might be made on my principles, while the notes at the end of the volume will illustrate almost every point in this essay which requires illustration, besides many others. As a complement to this essay and for advertisement of the Hymnal I here give the prefaces of that book, which are as follows:–

PREFACE TO THE YATTENDON 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 the notes, and the few other old tunes which do not fall into either of the two above-mentioned classes, were included for the sake of their settings.

With respect to the vocal settings in four parts it may be said that, in the numerous cases in which such settings were not added by the composer of the melody, the editors have done their best to supply the want in a suitable manner, and with some attempt towards the particular qualities of workmanship upon which much of the beauty of the old vocal counterpoint depends; and this latter aim has also governed the composition of the six tunes not derived from old sources which have been included in the work.

This book is offered in no antiquarian spirit. The greater number of these old tunes are, without question, of an excellence which sets them above either the enhancement or the ruin of Time, and at present when so much attention is given to music it is to be desired that such masterpieces should not be hidden away from the public, or only put forth in a corrupt and degraded form. The excellence of a nation in music can have no other basis than the education and practice of the people; and the quality of the music which is most universally sung must largely determine the public taste for good or ill.

Since such information as might be looked for in an introduction is given in the notes at the end of the volume, there is nothing to add here but a list of the sources and composers in order of date, which should in the eyes 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-part compositions. Only two of these tunes are in the common books; one of them "The Ordinal" is always reset, the other "Canon," which is usually sung to Bp. Ken's evening hymn, is completely altered, the canon being put in a different position and the harmony changed. This tune is I believe correctly edited for the first time in the Y. H. and it is now thus sung at Wells Cathedral.

'Of the eight tunes by Orlando Gibbons, two only (and these altered both in rhythm and harmony) appear in the common books. All Gibbons' tunes are given 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 Yattendon Hymnal, which is published by Mr. Blackwell of Broad Street, Oxford, and may be bought for 1s. 6d.'

THE PREFACE TO THE NOTES

The origin of this book was my attempt, when precentor of a village choir, 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 the convenience of the choir, and also for the sake of the tunes by Jeremy Clark, which I had been at some pains to restore, and for the preservation of the tunes composed on our behalf by Professor Wooldridge.

My choice of music had so far been limited to tunes, for which suitable words were to be found in Hymns Ancient & Modern; but by the time that these first tunes were printed, I determined to continue the book free of this restriction, and, from whatever source, to provide words for tunes which I had hitherto been unable to use. I then became aware of a real cause 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. Having already translated some of the old Latin hymns for their proper melodies, I was thence led on to the more difficult task of supplying the greater need of these other tunes; the result being that over forty of these hundred hymns have english words newly written by myself. Almost all of these new hymns are in some sense translations, for even where an original hymn could not be followed in its entirety, as an old Latin hymn generally may be, there was usually a foundation to begin upon, and I never failed to find the music conditioning, dictating, or inspiring the remainder. I did not willingly engage in this, nor until I had searched word-books of all kinds; a fruitless labour, unless for the hope begotten thereof that my practice in versifying and my love for music may together have created something of at least relative value.

The unusual method which I was constrained to follow, that is of writing words to suit existing music, has its advantages. In some cases, as will be seen in the notes to the hymns, the musician, out of despair or even contempt for the doggrel offered to him, has composed a fine tune quite independent of the words to which it was dedicated22, and such tunes have been silent ever since they were composed: while even when a melody has been actually inspired by a particular hymn, the attention of the composer to the first stanza has not infrequently set up a hirmos, or at least a musical scheme of feeling, which, not having been in the mind of the writer of the words, is not carried out in his other stanzas23: indeed, as every one must have observed, the words of hymns have too often been written with insufficient attention to the conditions which a repetition of any music to every stanza must impose. To get rid of such discrepancies between words and music is advantageous to both, and although this treatment cannot of course be applied to english hymns,–which it is not allowable to alter, except in cases of glaring unfitness or absurdity, such as would if uncorrected cause the neglect of a good hymn24,–yet, where the hymn has to be translated from a foreign language, some reconstruction is generally inevitable, and it can follow no better aim than that of the mutual enforcement of words and music. And the words owe a courtesy to the music; for if a balance be struck between the words and music of hymns, it will be found to be heavily in favour of the musicians, whose fine work has been unscrupulously altered and reduced to dullness by english compilers, with the object of conforming it in rhythm to words that are unworthy of any music whatever. The chief offenders here are the protestant reformers, whose metrical psalms, which the melodies were tortured to fit, exhibit greater futility than one would look for even in men who could thus wantonly spoil fine music25.

The form and size of the book were determined by the type, chosen because it was the only one that I could find of any beauty; and I wished that my book should in this respect give an example, and be worthy both of the music and its sacred use26. Moreover a book from which two or three singers can read is more convenient in the choir than a multiplicity of small books; and the music being in full score, its intention cannot be mistaken: for it must be understood that most of these tunes are set in the manner proper for voices, but unsuitable for the piano or other keyed instrument; and the book is intended to encourage unaccompanied singing. A choir that cannot sing unaccompanied cannot sing at all; and this is not an uncommon condition in our churches, where choirs with varying success accompany the organ. A proper manner of sustained singing, and the true artistic pleasure that should govern it, will never be obtained until these conditions are reversed.

There is one novelty which I am responsible for introducing, namely the four-part vocal settings of certain early plain-song melodies. The later plain-song tunes, such as No. 44, are, I suppose27, as fit for this treatment as any other tunes of the same date; but in the case of the earlier melodies, which were composed before the invention of any complete system of harmony, it is generally agreed that they should be sung in unison, in fact the more elaborate of them cannot be sung otherwise. To give four-part settings of any of these early tunes calls therefore for an explanation, which I will give as briefly as possible.

When these tunes are sung, they are usually accompanied, and this implies a harmonic treatment. Now the best harmonic treatment which they can have is the Palestrinal, because that was the earliest complete system, and therefore the nearest to their time, and also because we may rely on the truth of its interpretation of the modes for the reason that Palestrina had never heard any music that was not modal. A modern musician, if he attempts to go back beyond Palestrina, must draw on his imagination, and while his aim must be to produce something artistically and technically less perfect than Palestrina's system, his work, when it is done, will carry neither authority nor conviction.

If then we take Palestrina's harmonic interpretation of the modes, it seems to me that there can be no objection to giving vocal parts to the simpler hymns. If it is preferred to sing them in unison, the modal settings will be a guide to the accompanist. But it is my opinion that such settings as I offer will really please, and they may possibly do something to bring these tunes, which have a unique, unmatchable beauty, into favour with choirs that dislike the effort and waste of unison singing. These settings offer no difficulty of execution all; that is necessary is that the under voices should know the melody: and though this is not generally thought requisite in a modern hymn, it is asking nothing extra of a choir that would sing the plain-song tunes; for even if they are sung in unison, they must first be known by heart (otherwise their rhythmical freedom, which defies notation, and is indispensable to their beauty, cannot be approached), and when once a choir has got thus far, the under parts, being phrased with the melody, will easily follow it. An explanation of the notation of these settings is given in the note to Hymn 29. Congregational singing of hymns is much to be desired; but, though difficult to obtain, it is not permissible to provoke it by undignified music. Its only sound musical basis is good melody: good melodies should therefore be offered to the people, such as it has been the object of this book to bring together; and they should have as much freedom and variety of rhythm as possible. If some of the good melodies are, owing to their wide compass or other difficulty, unfit for congregational singing, this is an advantage; because neither are all hymn-words equally suitable. Most of the words in this book are suitable for congregational singing; some are not. A hymn-book which is intended entirely for congregational use must be faulty in one of two ways; either it will offer for congregational singing hymns whose sacred and intimate character is profaned by such a treatment, or it will have to omit some of the most beautiful hymns in the language: but congregations differ much, not only with regard to the music in which they are capable of joining, but also as to the sort of words which best express their religious emotion.

In the following notes the left-hand side of the page is given to the words, the right to the music of each hymn: in the latter column will be found full information as to the text of the music, the source whence it is derived, &c., together with a careful account of every departure that has been made from the originals. It is hoped that this will not only be of general interest, but that it may inspire confidence in the text of the book, and ensure the reception which its authority demands. For the text of the music, and all the statements in the notes, I am responsible; excepting those portions of the notes which are therein assigned to their proper authorities, and in these I am responsible for the correctness of the quotations and references, in which I have done my best to secure accuracy. I owe much to the kindness of Mr. W. Barclay Squire at the British Museum; I have also to thank Mr. Godfrey Arkwright for the loan of some rare books, and Dr. Chas. Wood of Cambridge for two settings and occasional reading of music proofs; in which latter task I gratefully record the help of Mr. J. S. Liddle and Dr. Percy Buck. To Mr. Miles Birket 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 the information concerning them which is given in the following notes: it is due to the generosity with which they put their learning and judgement at my disposal that I am able to offer these tunes with the same confidence as the rest of the book. Professor Wooldridge, having co-operated with me throughout, has allowed his name to appear on the title page.

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.