In 2014 the New Room ran a hymnwriting challenge to celebrate the 275th anniversary of the New Room’s foundation in Bristol by John and Charles Wesley. The collection which is …
Read More →The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology – an update of John Julian’s A Dictionary of Hymnology was completed and published. It was edited by J.R. Watson and Emma Hornby, and published …
Read More →Singing the Faith was published in September 2011. It was the first hymnbook to be compiled by the Methodist Church since Hymns and Psalms. Both these hymnbooks are officially authorised …
Read More →The worship song ‘In Christ Alone’ is published as a result of a collaboration by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. The song quickly gained in popularity in the United Kingdom, …
Read More →‘Hark! the Herald angels sing‘ by Charles Wesley made another appearance in popular culture when it was sung during Episode 46 of the American animated sitcom series South Park. The …
Read More →American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey release an album entitled ‘Merry Christmas’ which has to date sold over 15 million copies making it the best selling Christmas album of all time. On …
Read More →Singer-songwriter Johnny Cash (1932-2003) released an album called ‘Johnny Cash Country Christmas’. On it there was a cover version of Charles Wesley’s hymn ‘Hark! The herald angels sing’.
Read More →Graham Kendrick (b. 1950) is well known as the author of many popular worship songs, for example ‘Meekness and Majesty’, ‘The Servant King’ and ‘Lead me to the Cross’. The …
Read More →David J. Evans (b. 1957) wrote and published ‘Be Still for the Presence of the Lord’, a hymn/worship song which has grown in popularity and now appears in many major …
Read More →Hymns and Psalms came out of a mandate from the Methodist Conference of 1979. The highly popular Methodist Hymn Book of 1933 served a good purpose, but the collection was …
Read More →Erik Routley (1917-1982) was one of the Christian church’s most prominent hymnwriters and hymnologists during the twentieth century. He worked tirelessly to promote hymns and hymn singing through his work …
Read More →The anthology of hymns Pilgrim Praise by Fred Kaan (1929-2009) has come to be regarded as a landmark for hymnody in the 20th Century. It contained fifty original hymn texts …
Read More →For centuries hymns have expressed praise for creation, and encouraged people to respect. Admire and marvel at the wonders and beauty of the natural world. Doreen Newport (1927-2004) was a …
Read More →‘Dance then, wherever you may be I am the Lord of the Dance, said He! And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be And I’ll lead you all in …
Read More →The composer Michael Brierley (b. 1932) was associated with the 20th Century Church Light Music Group. In 1960 he wrote a tune called CAMBERWELL for the words of the hymn …
Read More →It was around this time that the ’20th Century Church Light Music Group’ was formed through a collaboration of Geoffrey Beaumont (1903-1970) and Patrick Appleford (b. 1925). The group’s aim …
Read More →John Arlott (1914-1991) is not a name that is immediately associated with hymnody. He was nicknamed the ‘Voice of Cricket’ and he is well-known known for his contribution to the …
Read More →The BBC Hymnbook was intended for us in studio services and the Daily Service, and to allow listeners at home to follow hymns in broadcast programmes. According to the book’s …
Read More →Cyril Taylor (1907-1991) composed the hymn tune ABBOT’S LEIGH while he was stationed in Bristol during World War II. Taylor was the head of the BBC’s religious broadcasting department. He …
Read More →The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded to encourage the study and research of hymnody. In addition to this primary aim it also strives to promote a …
Read More →The Methodist Hymnbook of 1933 was the first collection of hymns published by the united Methodist Church. After the First World War negotiations began between the United Methodist Church, the …
Read More →Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926) is one of the 20th century’s foremost and prolific writers of hymn texts. He has authored in the region of 400 texts for hymns, many of …
Read More →The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada and was known initially as The Hymn Society Of America. It was given its present name in 1991. It is a …
Read More →The First World War came to an end on 11th November 1918 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The devastation and loss of life witnessed by Europe was …
Read More →In Egypt a papyrus parchment was discovered which has written on it the text and melody of a hymn praising the Trinity. It was later established that this is the …
Read More →This is the earliest date to which a hymn known as ‘The Prayer of St Francis’ can be traced. Although the hymn ‘Make me a channel of Thy peace’ is …
Read More →Cecil Spring Rice (1859-1918) had a career in the British diplomatic service. For the last six years of his life up to just before his death he was the British …
Read More →The roots of this hymn have been traced back as far as the 6th century AD. But it was only in 1905 when the original Old Irish text, ‘Rop tu …
Read More →Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) was born in Roby, Lancashire, United Kingdom. He was a Methodist minister, hymn writer, poet, playwright and translator, and one of the most influential figures in …
Read More →John Julian (1839-1913) published A Dictionary of Hymnology: Setting for the Origins of Christian Hymns of all Ages and Nations, which contained more than 40,000 entries. It was published in …
Read More →The Swede Carl Gustav Boberg (1859-1840) wrote a poem in 1885 in Swedish entitled O Store Gud which had nine verses, and published it for the first time in 1886. …
Read More →This is the year in which the hymn ‘And art thou come with us to dwell’ (still found in many hymnals today) first appeared in a collection of religious poetry …
Read More →This hymn resulted out of collaboration between Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) and Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908). Unusually, it seems as though the tune (composed by Knapp) was written first. It was …
Read More →Hymnbooks tend to come in versions which contain music and words, or words only. Up until the late nineteenth century, it was common practice to have words and music published …
Read More →In February 1862 the text of this famous hymn was first published in a magazine called Atlantic Monthly. The text was written by the American social rights activist Julia Ward …
Read More →A tune written by the composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) is adapted by William Cummings (1831 – 1915) to fit Charles Wesley’s words ‘Hark! the herald-angels sing’. This is …
Read More →In this year the hymn ‘In heavenly love abiding’ was first published in a collection entitled Hymns and Meditations. The collection was written and compiled by Anna Laetitia Waring (1823-1910). …
Read More →In 1848 a book was published entitled Hymns for Little Children. It contained a poem written by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) called ‘Once in Royal David’s City’. Mrs C.F. Alexander …
Read More →In 1847 Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) published a hymn called ‘Abide with Me’. This hymn was published in the 1861 Hymns Ancient and Modern in which it was paired with …
Read More →William Chatterton Dix – his second name refers to Bristol’s childhood prodigy poet, Thomas Chatterton – was born in Bristol in 1837. Although he moved away from the city to …
Read More →On 13th September 1827 Catherine Winkworth was born. Winkworth translated many German chorales into English, such as Nun danket alle Gott which is known in English as ‘Now Thank We …
Read More →Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892), one of the English languages poets, and Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland, was born on 6th August. His is well known for so many poems …
Read More →This is the name of a tune written by John Daniell (1788-1866). Daniell was organist and choirmaster at the Broadmead Baptist Church, which was one of the six non-Conformist congregations …
Read More →This hymn was written by John Newton (1725-1807), and was first published in a collection of Newton’s hymns called Olney Hymns. Although it was almost completely forgotten in the United …
Read More →‘Rock of Ages’ was written by Augustus Toplady (1770-1778). A popular story associated with the hymn is that Toplady wrote it while sheltering under a rock in Burrington Combe, North …
Read More →Samuel Wesley’s two most well-known hymn tunes today are RIDGE and DONCASTER, but during his lifetime he was a prolific writer of tunes. Many were composed for hymn texts written …
Read More →In this year William Williams (Pantycelyn) (1717-1791) published a collection of hymns entitled The Songs of those upon the Sea of Glass. In it was a hymn entitled Arglwydd, arwain …
Read More →John Wesley (1703-1791) included his ‘Directions for Singing’ in the publication Select Hymns which appeared in 1761. They were intended to guide the singing of congregations to render correctly hymns …
Read More →Charles Wesley Jr. was born Bristol in 1757 to Charles and Sally Wesley. He moved with his family to London in 1771, and there he continued his musical education by …
Read More →While in America John Wesley compiled a hymnbook called A Collection of Hymns and Psalms which has come to be known as the ‘Charlestown Hymnal’. The inspiration to compile this …
Read More →This popular hymn which appears is sung by many, especially at Christmas, was written by the so-called ‘Father of English Hymnody’, Isaac Watts. Watts paraphrased the Book of Psalms into …
Read More →Charles Wesley was born on 18th December 1707 in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. He is attributed (along with his brother John) as the co-founder of the Methodist movement, but is far …
Read More →Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was born into a Nonconformist family, and remained involved in the dissenting churches for all his life. Although very bright and a promising student, he was not …
Read More →At Christmas time many people sing ‘While shepherds washed their socks by night’ for fun, or even sometimes by mistake. The origin of the proper words for this carol dates …
Read More →Georg Friederich Händel was born on 23rd February. He was a famous composer in Germany and England, and was widely acclaimed as a master composer of many different forms popular …
Read More →On 21st March Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach. He is one of the most prolific composers of music of all eras. He wrote cantatas, concerti, passion oratorios, organ …
Read More →This hymn is most often sung at Passiontide. Its appearance in many modern day hymnbooks is testament to its appeal as a meditation on the passion and death of Christ. …
Read More →In English this hymn is known by various titles: ‘Wake, awake, for night is flying!’, ‘Wake, O wake! With tidings thrilling’ and ‘”Sleepers, wake!” A voice astounds us’ are a …
Read More →A collection of songs known as Piae Cantiones (‘Pious Songs’) was published in Sweden. It was a collection of 74 Latin texts, all popular sacred and a few secular songs …
Read More →Metrical Psalms were favoured by followers of Jean Calvin, mainly because they were vernacular versions of Biblical texts, and so were close to the originals. In England, they were favoured …
Read More →The Bohemian Brethren (also known as Unitas Fratrum – ‘United Brethren’ – or the Moravians) are attributed with producing the first Protesant hymnbook in 1501. The Brethren were started in …
Read More →Martin Luther (1483-1546) is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in church history. His objection to many of the Roman Catholic church’s teaching, doctrines and practices led …
Read More →Bianco da Siena an Italian mystical-poet was born. During his lifetime he wrote well over 100 hundred religiously-inspired poems. He initially worked as wool carder but later entered a religious …
Read More →St Francis of Assisi – a famous Christian saint who lived in Italy – wrote his hymn Altissimu omnipotente (‘Canticle of the Sun’) in the last year of his life. …
Read More →Thomas Aquinas was born in Roccasecca, a town in Italy which lies between Rome and Naples. Aquinas is regarded as one of the Christian church’s greatest theologians, but he has …
Read More →Stephen Langton (c.1150-1228) was an Archbishop of Canterbury. During his life he came into conflict with King John, and spent many years in exile because of this. King John’s reign …
Read More →The year in which Fulbert of Chartres is thought to have been born. There is no definitive source confirming where he is born, but he is most closely associated with …
Read More →Cædmon, who was born around the year 670, was an obscure shepherd at Whitby Abbey, Northumbria, until he composed his famous hymn to God the Creator. The famous story of …
Read More →Aldhelm, who it is thought was born around the year 639, is regarded as one of most important literary and ecclesiastical figures of Britain before the Norman Conquest. He was …
Read More →Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus was born in 530 in Venetia, Italy. During the early part of his life he travelled widely, studied in Ravenna, and then journeyed to Gaul through …
Read More →Ambrose of Milan (340-397) is known as a ‘Doctor of the Church’, a title accorded to people who have made a significant contribution to the church through their lives and …
Read More →On 24th April, 387 Augustine of Hippo was baptised by Ambrose of Milan in Milan Cathedral, Italy. This occasion has traditionally been associated with the composition of Te Deum Laudamus …
Read More →Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was born on 13th November. He was born in Thagaste which today is known as Souk Ahras in Algeria, but then was part of Roman Africa. …
Read More →Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348-c.413) – also known simply as Prudentius – was a poet who lived most in Northern Spain. Believed to have been born in Caesaraugusta (known today as …
Read More →Phos Hilaron (also known as ‘Hail, Gladdening Light’) was written sometime between 290 and 300 AD. Its first mention is found in the Apostolic Constitutions, which makes it the earliest …
Read More →One of the earliest references to hymnody comes from the writings of Origen (c. 185-c.265). Origen was one of the Christian church’s early martyrs. He was persecuted by the Roman …
Read More →The text and tune and this hymn are both well known since they first appeared together in English Hymnal (published 1906). Ralph Vaughan Williams – editor of English Hymnal – …
Read More →The origins of Christian hymnody lie in the hymnody and musical practices of the Jewish faith. But while hymnody is most often associated with the Christian church, there are also …
Read More →During the 7th century BC the first of the ‘Homeric Hymns’ were written. This is a collection of 33 hymns of praise to the gods of Greek mythology written by …
Read More →One of the most notable examples of hymnody from Ancient Greece is a collection of six hymns written by Callimachus, a poet and scholar, who lived most of his life …
Read More →The Greeks were not the only ancient civilization in which a tradition of texts addressing praise to deities developed. Nearly 800 years before the examples mentioned above were written, followers …
Read More →Examples also exist from the civilization of Ancient Egypt. The Pharoah Akhenaten, who died between 1336 and 1334 BC, wrote a hymn addressed to the Aton: the sun disc deity. …
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