• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Richard Terry’s Hymnal in PDF and paperback

Veronica Brandt · September 6, 2014

Old Westminster Hymnal HE OLD WESTMINSTER HYMNAL was the only collection of hymns authorized by the hierarchy of England and Wales back in 1912. Coming out of years of suppression the Catholic Church in England was still finding her feet.

Persecution can make saints, but can also foster a ghetto mentality where intellectual virtues are disparaged. After surviving on cut down devotions, the prospect of full, sacred liturgical worship may have appeared too strong or foreign.

R. R. Terry burst onto the scene with the drive to revive Gregorian chant and polyphony. Then, as now, hymns were more popular – as R R Terry writes:

“Of all forms of Church music, the one which seems to have wielded an influence out of all proportion to its intrinsic worth is the vernacular hymn.” – On music’s borders by R R Terry (Unwin 1927)

His Westminster Hymnal marked a more scholarly approach to hymnody. The compiler searched out the authentic tunes for each piece, sometimes giving a range of tunes to choose from. The Musical Editor’s Preface goes through a few of the more glaring examples of the decay of hymn tunes. It is well worth reading even just as a snapshot of music in England at the time.

Maybe the last word can go to the Right Reverend Bishop of Newport who wrote the main preface. After noting the number of hymns included is 250, he continues:

The tunes have been in part selected and in part composed by Mr R R Terry, Mus.D., Organist and Choirmaster of Westminster Cathedral, who has also written and edited the harmonies. This eminent musician has here presented the public with a work of great originality and distinction, for which he is entitled to the thanks of the Catholic Church in English-speaking countries. The Hymns are what we have been accustomed to, but the musical setting is, on the whole, far more scientific and satisfying than anything that has hitherto appeared. There can be no doubt that it will conduce very much to the devotion and decorum of extra-liturgical worship and popular services to have one common manual of Hymns, which at once offers a suitable variety and prevents the undesirable introduction of amateur efforts and unedifying novelties.

      * *  PDF: Old Westminster Hymnal (mostly 1912)

      * *  Old Westminster Hymnal in paperback (crown quarto, 432 pages)

      * *  Spiral bound (letter, 432 pages)

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Hymnbooks Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. I don’t know a more gorgeous ENTRANCE CHANT than the one given there: Misericórdia Dómini Plena Est Terra.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Easter
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. The English adaptation matches the authentic version (Misericórdia Dómini), which is in a somber yet gorgeous mode. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • “Repertoire for Weddings”
    Not everyone thinks about sacred music 24/7 like we do. When couples are getting married, they often request “suggestions” or “guidance” or a “template” for their musical selections. I created this music list with repertoire suggestions for Catholic weddings. Please feel free to download it if you believe it might give you some ideas or inspiration.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

To the extent that the new sacred music is to serve the liturgical celebrations of the various churches, it can and must draw from earlier forms — especially from Gregorian chant — a higher inspiration, a uniquely sacred quality, a genuine sense of what is religious.

— Pope John Paul II (June 1980)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Entrance Chant” for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
  • “Sanctus XVIII” • Peculiar-Yet-Haunting Accompaniment (Sent To Us)
  • Chants That Crowds Roar With Burning Hearts
  • “Music List” • 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
  • Cardinal Prevost (Pope Leo XIV) “Privately Offered the TLM in His Private Chapel”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.