Perhaps not surprisingly, the modern era is more pluralistic in its styles of hymns and other congregational songs, as Christianity has further expanded in terms of denominational and non-denominational movements, as well as cultural developments from other countries where Christianity has flourished.
In this episode, we’ll highlight the Oxford Movement of the 19th century, which generated a recapturing of ancient Greek and Latin hymns, and Reformation hymns. Many iconic poetic translations of hymns were accomplished during this movement, as well as the offering the first hymnal that interlined the music and words in the fashion that most modern hymns do (Hymns Ancient and Modern). Another impactful moment came with the publishing of the 1906 English hymnal, which marked one of the few times an accomplished composer (Ralph Vaughan Williams) took part in such an endeavor. The result was a wealth of new tunes and fresh part-writing and harmonization that set a new standard in the music of hymns. We’ll look briefly tunes such “For All the Saints” (UMH 711) and “At the Name of Jesus” (UMH 168). Vaughan Williams also contributed a number of folk songs and incorporated many Welsh tunes into mainstream hymnody (FOREST GREEN, KINGSFOLD, CWM RHONDA, HYFRYDOL for examples).
Lastly, modern hymn writers sought to bridge the evangelical flavor of 19th century hymns with social concerns of the 20th century. One prime example is Fred Pratt Green, who upon his retirement as a British Methodist pastor, took up hymn writing. Among many of his excellent contributions are “When the Church of Jesus” (UMH 592), "Rejoice in God’s Saints" (UMH 708), and “When in our Music God is Glorified” (UMH 68).
No comments:
Post a Comment