Hymnology
   HOME





Hymnology
Hymnology (from Greek ὕμνος ''hymnos'', "song of praise" and -λογία ''-logia'', "study of") is the scholarly study of religious song, or the hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on choral and congregational song. It may be more or less clearly distinguished from ''hymnody'', the creation and practice of such song. Hymnologists, such as Erik Routley, may study the history and origins of hymns and of traditions of sung worship, the biographies of the women and men who have written hymns that have passed into choral or congregational use, the interrelationships between text and tune, the historical processes, both folk and redactional, that have changed hymn texts and hymn tunes over time, and the sociopolitical, theological and aesthetic arguments concerning various styles of sung worship. Hymnology is not an "-ology" in the usual sense of an independent discipline that has a proper set of concepts and critical vocabulary that must first be learned before prog ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


A Dictionary Of Hymnology
''A Dictionary of Hymnology'' (or, more completely, ''A Dictionary of Hymnology: Origin and History of Christian Hymns and Hymnwriters of All Ages and Nations, Together with Biographical and Critical Notices of Their Authors and Translators'') by John D. Julian, first published in 1892, was for over 100 years a standard historical reference for early Christianity, Christian hymns, with more than 40,000 entries. The work contains biographical and historical notes about the history of hymns and hymn writers. It is not a collection of hymn texts or hymn tunes, though brief quotations and references are included. Originally published in 1892 in London by John Murray (publishing house), John Murray and in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons, it was reprinted in 1907-1908 by John Murray, in 1957 by Dover Publications (in two volumes) and in 1985 by Kregel Publications. It was not revised after 1902, but remains an important source for early Christian hymns, such as Latin ones. Its ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hymn Tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain or chorus. From the late sixteenth century in England and Scotland, when most people were not musically literate and learned melodies by rote, it was a common practice to sing a new text to a hymn tune the singers already knew which had a suitable meter and character. There are many hymn tunes which might fit a particular hymn: a hymn in Long Metre might be sung to any hymn tune in Long Metre, but the tunes might be as different as those tunes that have been used for centuries with hymns such as '' Te lucis ante terminum'', on one hand, and an arrangement of the calypso tune used with '' Jamaica Farewell'', on the other. Hymnal editors Editors bring extensive knowledge of theology, poetry, and music to the process of compiling a new ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hymns
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' derives from Greek (''hymnos''), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns. Although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity, hymns are also a fixture of other world religions, especially on the Indian subcontinent ('' stotras''). Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures. Some of the oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts. Origins Ancient Eastern hymns include the Egyptian '' Great Hymn to the A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' derives from Greek language, Greek (''hymnos''), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns. Although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity, hymns are also a fixture of other major religious groups, world religions, especially on the Indian subcontinent (''stotras''). Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures. Some of the oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts. Origins Ancient Eastern hymns include th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hymnal
A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christian history); written melodies are extra, and more recently harmony parts have also been provided. Hymnals are omnipresent in churches but are not often discussed; nevertheless, liturgical scholar Massey H. Shepherd once observed: "In all periods of the Church's history, the theology of the people has been chiefly molded by their hymns." Elements and format Since the twentieth century, singer-songwriter hymns have become common, but in previous centuries, generally poets wrote the words, and musicians wrote the tunes. The texts are known and indexed by their first lines ("incipits") and the hymn tunes are given names, sometimes geographical (the tune "New Britain" for the incipit "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound"). The hymnal editors c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Hymnographer
A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditionally believed to have composed many of the Psalms. The term hymnodist, in the United States more than in other regions, broadens the scope to include the study of hymns. History Early Church and Middle Ages Many hymn writers in the early Church gained prominence and achieved canonisation. Saint John of Damascus ( or 676 – 749) was noted for his work as a hymn writer; some of the most popular English hymns which are translations of his works include ''Come ye faithful, raise the strain'', ''Let us rise in early morning'' and ''The day of resurrection'', all associated with the season of Eastertide and all translated by John Mason Neale. Most early hymnists were anonymous, so it is uncertain how many of them were women. Saint Hildegard of Bi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Erik Routley
Erik Reginald Routley ( ; 31 October 1917, Brighton, UK – 8 October 1982, Nashville TN) was an English Congregational churchman, theologian, musician, and prominent hymnologist. Career His nearly 40 books on theological thought and music of the Christian church are renowned. Raised in Brighton in a Congregational family, he spent his formative years at Lancing College in West Sussex. In 1936, he received an exhibition to Magdalen College, Oxford, and afterward ministerial training at Mansfield College, Oxford. Ordained in 1943, Routley held pastorates in Wednesbury and Dartford before returning to Mansfield in 1948 as Chaplain, Lecturer, Librarian, and Director of Music. In 1953, he was named to the Mackennal Chair of History. It was during these years that he became visible as an historian and hymn expert. He was also Chaplain of the Oxford Congregationalist Society and left a significant positive imprint on those he worked with. He joined the Hymn Society of Great Britain an ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rock Of Ages (Christian Hymn)
"Rock of Ages" is a popular Christian hymn written by the Reformed Anglican minister Augustus Toplady. History The first four lines for the first version of the first verse were published in '' The Gospel Magazine'' in October 1775. The first publication in full was in the March 1776 edition, with a revised first verse and three more verses. A slightly further revised version was published in July 1776 in Toplady's hymnal ''Psalms & Hymns for Public and Private Worship''. There is a popular story most hymnologists do not believe about the origin of this hymn text that started 122 years after publication of the hymn text by a letter published in the ''Times'' of London, 3 June 1898 from Dean Lefroy of Norwich, together with one from Sir W. H. Wills on the same matter. The burden of Lefroy’s correspondence is based on a claim made by Sir W. H. Wills regarding the origin of this hymn. Wills' claim asserted that Toplady drew his inspiration from an incident in the gorge of Bur ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending
"Lo! He comes with clouds descending" is a Christian hymn by Charles Wesley (1707–1788), based on an earlier hymn, "Lo! He cometh, countless Trumpets" by John Cennick (1718–1755). Most commonly sung at Advent, the hymn derives its theological content from the Book of Revelation relating imagery of the Day of Judgment. Considered one of the " Great Four Anglican Hymns" in the 19th century, it is most commonly sung to the tune Helmsley, first published in 1763. Text The text has its origins in a hymn "Lo! He cometh, countless Trumpets" by John Cennick published in his ''Collection of Sacred Hymns'' of 1752. This was substantially revised by Charles Wesley for publication in ''Hymns of intercession for all mankind'' of 1758. Some hymnals present a combination of the two texts. The content of the text and particularly the title are derived from Revelation chapter 1, verse 7, which tells of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In the 19th century it was considered one of the " Gre ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek Dark Ages, Dark Ages (), the Archaic Greece, Archaic or Homeric Greek, Homeric period (), and the Classical Greece, Classical period (). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athens, fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and Ancient Greek philosophy, philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Homeric Greek, Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek. From the Hellenistic period (), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regar ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is an English Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection ''Hymns and Sacred Poems''. The carol, based on , tells of an angelic chorus singing praises to God. As it is known in the modern era, it features lyrical contributions from Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, two of the founding ministers of Methodism, with music adapted from "Vaterland, in deinen Gauen" of Felix Mendelssohn's cantata ''Festgesang'' (''Gutenberg Cantata''). Wesley had written the original version as "Hymn for Christmas-Day" with the opening couplet "wikt:hark, Hark! how all the wikt:welkin, Welkin (heaven) rings / Glory to the King of Kings". Whitefield changed that to today's familiar lyric: "Hark! The Herald Angels sing, / 'Glory to the new-born King. In 1840—a hundred years after the publication of ''Hymns and Sacred Poems''—Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type, and it is music from this canta ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today", "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and "Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending". Wesley was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, the son of Anglican cleric and poet Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1735), Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna Wesley, Susanna. He was a younger brother of Methodist founder John Wesley and Anglican cleric Samuel Wesley (the Younger), Samuel Wesley the Younger. He was the father of musician Samuel Wesley (composer, born 1766), Samuel Wesley and the grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley. He was educated at Oxford University, where his brothers had also studied, and he formed the "Holy Club" among his fe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]