hymns

hymns. Sacred poetry set to music has always formed part of Christian worship. At first OT texts, especially the Psalms, were used, but at an early date distinctively Christian compositions, e.g. the Magnificat, appeared, and what seem to be quotations from early hymns are found in various places in the NT. The use of hymns is mentioned by several of the early Fathers, and the ‘Phos Hilaron’ is among those dating from pre-Nicene times. From the 4th cent. hymns were employed not only to celebrate the Christian mysteries, but also to promote or refute heresy, e.g. in the Arian controversy. Although from the 5th cent. some Christians held that no words other than those of Scripture should be allowed in the liturgy, troparia (single-stanza hymns) are found in E. service books of the period; they were later joined together to form contakia and canons.

Latin hymns appear later than Greek, the real impetus coming from St Ambrose. Though only three hymns can certainly be ascribed to him, he laid down the line of development of Latin hymnody as simple, devotional, and direct, and it was through his influence that hymns became a recognized and integral part of the public worship of the W. Church. Although hymns were not admitted into the Roman Office until the 12th cent., the development came to be towards an ordered sequence for use at different times and seasons.

Throughout the Middle Ages hymns were written in the vernacular, but they were largely the work of those outside the main religious stream. With the Reformation the situation changed. Lutheranism had a wealth of new hymns written in German by M. Luther himself and later by P. Gerhardt. Calvinism, on the other hand, would tolerate nothing but the words of Scripture in its services; hence the Psalms were put into metrical versions (q.v.). In the C of E hymns virtually disappeared from the service-books, mainly it seems, because T. Cranmer lacked ‘the grace and facility’ to render Latin hymns well in English.

Modern hymn-writing and hymn-singing were mainly the creation of the 18th cent. A prominent part was taken by I. Watts, whose hymns were written to express the spiritual experience of the singer. They were followed by the works of John and Charles Wesley. The practice of singing hymns was encouraged by the Methodists and spread among the Evangelical party in the C of E. In America the Negro spirituals were a powerful factor in the Second Great Awakening of 1797–1805. By the early 19th cent. prejudice against the use of hymns in the C of E was dying, and R. Heber's collection of Hymns Written and adapted to the Weekly Church Services of the Year (1827) helped to break down the hostility to hymns outside Evangelical circles. A further influence in fostering the use of hymns came from the Oxford Movement; hymns of the ancient and medieval Church were employed to emphasize the antiquity and Catholicity of the Church. The publication of various collections of old and new hymns followed; the most widely used were probably Hymns, Ancient and Modern (1861) and The English Hymnal (1906). The 1980s saw a number of new C of E hymn books, including revisions of the two last named. Among RCs a demand for popular hymns in the 19th cent. was met by such writers as F. W. Faber. After the Second Vatican Council hymns became widely used at Mass, and are no longer confined to those by RC authors. Apart from the Quakers, all other English-speaking Churches have assigned an important place to hymns as being an integral part of Christian worship, rather than an adjunct to it. Over the years they have issued collections of hymns authorized for use in their own services, e.g. The Church Hymnary (1898) of the Scottish and other Presbyterians and The Baptist Church Hymnal (1900), and, like the C of E, have produced revisions and new books in recent years. There have also been hymnals compiled for particular types of community, such as schools, and a few non-denominational books, notably Songs of Praise (1925) and the Australian Hymn Book (1977), better known as With One Voice (1979). Some modern hymns make use of popular linguistic and musical idiom, but the traditional language of classical hymns is usually retained.