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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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“Those who teach Latin must know how to speak to the hearts of the young, know how to treasure the very rich heritage of the Latin tradition to educate them in the path of life, and accompany them along paths rich in hope and confidence.”

— Pope Francis (7 December 2017)

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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.

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