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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Woodward Hymnal” (1913) … Outrageously Rare!

Jeff Ostrowski · March 2, 2016

717 Songs of Syon Hymnal ESTERDAY I began a 5-part series hoping to convince readers to give $5.00 per month. You can access PART 1 by scrolling to the bottom; today is PART 2. At Watershed, we love to scan & upload rare hymnals. As usual, the following hymnal has never been available online—until today!

    * *  PDF Download • “WOODWARD HYMNAL” (613 pages)

There is confusion about this hymnal’s name. The official version is: “Songs of Syon: A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Canticles.” But Theodore Marier also published a hymnal called “Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Canticles.” To avoid confusion, some refer to this book simply as the WOODWARD HYMNAL.

GEORGE RATCLIFFE WOODWARD (d. 1934) was an Anglican priest who (I’m told) was a disciple of J. M. Neale. However, the vast majority of hymns in this book are English translations of Roman Catholic texts—from Latin, Greek, and other languages. Some are metrical, others are plainsong. Many are quite interesting. For example, consider how the 2nd verse of the AVE MARIS STELLA is rendered into English, wonderfully conveying the meaning of the original Latin:

715 Woodward


Fr. Matthew Britt (1872-1955)—a Roman Catholic benedictine priest—says this about Woodward:

WOODWARD, REV. GEORGE RATCLIFF, M.A. (b. 1848), was educated at Harrow, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He is the editor of the excellent hymnal, Songs of Syon, to which he contributed many translations from the Latin, Greek, and German. His translations from the Latin do not include any of the Breviary hymns. He is also the author of the widely known Cowley Carol Book.

Fr. Britt was quite impressed with an original translation Woodward made for the AVE MARIS STELLA. Incidentally, here’s what Fr. Britt says about the translators contained in his monumental work on hymns:

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS OF TRANSLATORS :

It is interesting to record here the religious affiliations of the translators whose hymns find a place in this volume. It will be observed from the biographies given above that among the Catholic translators fully one-half are converts. Among those classed as Anglicans the writer believes that all are of the High Church party.

CATHOLICS : Aylward, Bagshawe, Bute, Campbell, Caswall, Donahoe, Dryden, Faber, Garesche, Hall, Henry, Hunter-Blair, Husenbeth, Leeson, McDougall, MacCarthy, Newman, Oakeley, O’Hagan, Oxenham, Paul, Potter, Wallace, Walworth, and Wingfield. The translations in the Primers are all by Catholics.

ANGLICANS: Ball, Blacker, Blew, Chadwick, Chambers, Copeland, Courthope, Dearmer, Ellerton, Hort, Housman, Irons, Julian, Lacey, Littledale, Neale, Palmer, Riley, and Woodward. [The religious affiliation of Doran is not definitely known to the writer; he was probably an Anglican. Scott was nominally a Presbyterian with a leaning toward the Episcopal Church.]

This article is part of a series:

PART 1 • Simple SATB Kyrie by Guerrero

PART 2 • 1913 Woodward Hymnal … Outrageously Rare!

PART 3 • Rehearsal videos for Lenten Hymn

PART 4 • New Westminster Hymnal … For the first time ever!

PART 5 • Rehearsal Videos for Forty-Three (43) Pieces

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Soloists are dangerous in any church choir! Their voices frequently do not blend with those of the other singers to form a rich, integrated tone.

— Roger Wagner

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