A Practical Discourse on Some Principles of Hymn-Singing Part 3

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 a.s.signed 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. G.o.dfrey 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 t.i.tle page.

[22]No. 28 is a good example of this. See also No. 98.

[23]No. 57 is a good example. The line _Du bist mein, und ich bin dein_, corresponds in stanza 2 with _Wenn die Welt in Trummer fallt_, and in stanza 4 with _Elend, Noth, Kreuz, Schmach und Tod_. Again in No. 77 the opening phrase, _Mon Dieu, mon Dieu_, of the twenty-second psalm needs music which conditions the other stanzas severely. Again the weak apologetic latter half of the German hymn _Herzliebster Jesu_, No. 42, is irreconcilably out of the key with the pathetic grief of the beginning. Cases in which caesuras and grammatical breaks are inconsistent are numberless.

[24]See note to Hymn 90. Other english hymns altered for practical purposes in this book are Nos. 19, 35, 51, last verse of 52, 66, 94, and 96.

[25]I give ill.u.s.trations of these words in notes to Hymns 27, 54, 58, 63, 68, 84, and 98.

[26]The cheapness is not the direct cause of the ugliness of our common hymn-books, nor is their ugliness the cause of their cheapness. If many copies of a book are sold, they can be sold cheaply; if only a few, then the initial expense, which is much the same whether the book be beautiful or ugly, must be shared between those few buyers and the author. But thus it comes about indirectly for cheapness to be the cause of meanness and ugliness, because in a larger market there is greater indifference to artistic excellence of all kinds, and from habit a preference for what is inferior. In a large edition this book could be sold as cheaply as another.

[27]I state here once for all that in musical matters I offer my opinion with becoming humility.