HAT HAS GARNERED attention for the Brébeuf Hymnal has been our inclusion of contemporary material by distinguished composers and poets. Many hymns were commissioned specifically for the Brébeuf Hymnal.
But the Brébeuf Hymnal has so much more.
For example, this book contains ancient English hymn translations never before revealed. 1 For obvious reasons, the committee does not want the research tables released—but I have obtained permission to share a brief example with you:
* * PDF • EXAMPLE of a “Research Chart”
Notice how the Roman Catholic translation from 1598AD closely matches the literal translation:
Creating a metrical translation like that—which was designed to be sung to the same plainsong melody as the Latin version—is incredibly difficult. I will provide more information about the brave Catholic who created that translation another day.
Very soon, the Brébeuf Hymnal will be sent off for final proofreading. The work of half a decade—finally!—has entered the final stages of production. Laus Deo!
NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1 Much of what we’ve discovered cannot be placed in the book because there simply isn’t enough room. This is rather frustrating, because the research tables with which I was involved required hours of painstaking work to create. However, at the end of the day, we only included that which was the most excellent—nothing but the very best.
