Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Best Hymnal Ever Printed?

Jeff Ostrowski · January 4, 2018

UPPOSE YOU ASK the following question: “What was the greatest hymnal ever produced?” Be prepared for a fight. You’re going to have defenders of Hymns Ancient & Modern. You’re going to have defenders of the New Westminster Hymnal. You’re going to have people who love the New English Hymnal. You’re going to encounter supporters of Ted Marier, Cyr de Brant, and others—because there are many great hymnals.

The following should also be considered:

* * PDF • THE HYMNARY (665 pages) —38.8MB

It’s an Anglican hymn book ¹ (edited by William Cooke & Benjamin Webb) but many of the texts were written by Catholic priests.

* * PDF Download • HYMN INDEX

Although the book carefully avoids mentioning this, it contains many English translations of Roman Catholic hymns, such as “Pange lingua gloriosi” and “Mundus effúsis redémptus.”

We’ve currently collected about 200,000 pages of hymnals as part of our creation work for the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.

If you like this book, stay tuned—because soon I’ll release an even more impressive hymnal (which you have never heard of) from the early 20th century that comprises 1,200 pages!

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 Approximately 99% of the scanned books we upload are created by us; but in this particular case, the book was scanned by ARCHIVE.ORG. By the way, Benjamin Webb is known for several hymn translations, such as O Love, How Deep, How High, How Broad (“O amor quam ecstaticus”) and Sing We Triumphant Hymns of Praise (“Hymnum canamus gloriae”).

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

Myth Re: Johann Sebastian Bach

Some musicologists try to make a “splash” by saying that Bach was totally forgotten when he died—remembered only as an organ virtuoso—and that his sons were more famous than he was. Such an idea is indefensible. It is true that musical styles changed in 1750AD—but this is normal. Musical styles change constantly; e.g. much of the repertoire of Hofmann and Rachmaninov was considered “garbage” toward the end of their lives. But those who carefully study the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Liszt, Hans von Bülow, Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin, and countless others realize that Bach was revered. It’s true that his music was seldom played in public, but music by “dead composers” was generally speaking not played in public until approximately the middle of the 19th century.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Arthur Friedheim, Franz Liszt’s Secretary

Arthur Friedheim (d. 1932) has a very poor reputation as a pianist, and Liszt rejected him several times before finally accepting him as a pupil, yet the Liszt recordings he left are quite good—especially considering the transgressions by other Liszt pupils. Friedheim must have been an amazing musician; twice he was asked to become conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1898 + 1911) but he declined both times. Circa 1912, Friedheim was recording Chopin’s “Funeral March” but the record ran out, so he simply stopped in the middle of the piece. Things sure have changed! Pianists no longer stop in the middle of pieces, although Cortot would sometimes abridge pieces to make them fit on records (cf. Chopin’s Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brilliante).

—Jeff Ostrowski

“A blast from the past”

Consilium document (“Instantibus Pluribus”) to presidents of the national liturgical commissions, on norms for translation of the Graduale Simplex, dated 23 January 1968: “The types of chant in the Graduale Simplex may be adapted to the style of music and song typical of individual peoples. But any sort of secular or profane melody is excluded.”

—Jeff Ostrowski