Colour Supplement

Articles by Christians around the world

Sunday 29 April 2007

 

Christ be our Light!

Alan Cook, Director of Music at St Andrew's, reflects on hymns in worship

 

 

Hymn Singing has been a central feature of worship since time began and they continue to express our prayer and praise to God. For the vast majority of the population hymns are their only contact with formal religion. Hymns are remembered from school assemblies, weddings, baptisms and funerals. Having been invited to speak to the United Reformed Church Musicians' Guild I have taken the opportunity to research a brief history of 'Hymns' and to share the following with you.

 

Gregorian Chant  

Please join me as we joumey back to the early church where hymns were sung to Gregorian Chant. These early hymn tunes were based on the chants of the Jewish Church and by the 6th Century AD many of them had developed into hymns which are still being used today. Here at St Andrew's on Maundy Thursday we sing during the Procession of the Sacrament “Now my tongue the mystery telling”  (Pange, lingua, gloriosi) and on Good Friday 'Sing my tongue the glorious battle’. Both hymns sung to the plainsong tune referred to as Mode III. Both listening and singing the chant conveys a sense of profound spirituality ‑ it speaks of peace, of purity and takes you into a realm of prayer, where God is to be found.

 

Hymns At The Reformation.

At the time of the Reformation in the 16th Century the reformers wanted the liturgy to be said in the vernacular. They also insisted upon hymns which could be understood and sung by the people, and they wished to get away from the plainchant hymnody. The reformers demanded that the new hymns should have a strictly scriptural basis. They began to introduce metrical versions of the psalms ‑ where the psalms were given a rhyme and rhythm and verse structure for example All people that on earth do dwell .  Many well‑known hymns originated in the German Protestant Church founded by Martin Luther. He saw the importance of good quality music as an essential part of church worship. Luther was very keen to establish choir schools to value and promote music in education.

 

In England hymn arrangements of the psalms were the main liturgical diet ‑ other hymns with their vague scriptural references were frowned upon. Worshippers became dissatisfied with these metrical psalms as they felt the texts were not the same quality as the Book of Common  

 

Prayer. It was the great Isaac Watts who began the reform of the congregational singing in England. He wrote many fine hymns which are still sung today: When I survey the wondrous Cross, is a good example of this. These examples start from the principle that texts should express the religious feelings of the people. This was a total turnaround from the previously‑held view that they should be scripturally based! Isaac Watts principle still holds today.

   

Hymns Come Of Age

It was John and Charles Wesley who early in the 18th Century set out to change worshippers' views of hymnody. They were not only the founders of Methodism, but they insisted that hymns, both words and music, should be written to stir the congregation, re‑enforce its religious emotions and play on the "feel good" factor. The great hymn And can it be that I should gain has the lines "my chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed thee."  The Wesleys made hymns the central feature of Methodist worship, and before long many people began to admire them for their hearty and fervent singing. In our own church there have been a number of hymn books which have been published to provide a resource for congregational singing ‑ both Ancient & Modem Standard and Revised editions ‑ The English Hymnal. These and many other publications have set out to provide a broad range of hymns including many of the plainsong melodies set to English texts. There have also been a number of 'Supplements' which have also been published to complement the traditional hymn  books which we have used for many years.

 

So What Of The Future

This is a question which I ask myself regularly as I continue my work as a Director of Music. I believe it is important that the music we use in our worship is kept under review. Here at St Andrew's we do use a broad range of musical styles but there is still more that can be introduced not just from 'Taize and Iona, but from churches covering a diversity of tradition and culture. I would like to thank the choir and music group for all that they give for the music ministry here at St Andrew's, also for the support received from many of you to me personally.

 

Finally

One of my favourite modem day composers is Bernadette Farrell ‑ a Roman Catholic musician who continues to provide words and music that have a beauty and expression which speaks of a deep desire not just for a personal spirituality but one which calls us to reach out and to get involved with the world and its needs. .

 

Many the gifts, many the people, many the hearts that yearn to belong.

Let us be servants to one another, Making your kingdom come.

Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts, Shine through the darkness.

Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.

 

I think these words speak a very powerful message as we prepare to begin a new chapter in the life of St Andrew's. Let's get on with it ‑ even before a new Vicar arrives!

 

Alan Cook

 

Alan is Director of Music at St. Andrew's Church Taunton

 

 

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