"HYMNS ANCIENT AND MODERN."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 33, 8 February 1905, Page 9

"HYMNS ANCIENT AND MODERN."

I ■ [ A REVIEW OF THE NEW EDITION. _____ j (By Dr. Thomas. Cfrganist of St. Mary's j Cathedral, in the "Church Gazette.") The first edition of ••Hymns A. and j M." came out in 1860: the mu*ic came j out shortly after by instalments. An , appendix was added in IS6S.; then a j revised and enlarged edition appeared in 1875. and further editions came out in 1889. The first thing that strikes us in the new edition in the absence of expression j marks and metronome signs. There , is no doubt that the expression marks have led to abu«e, and for this reason. apparently, the editors have thought it j advisable to omit them, but choristers j will miss them, and it will greatly add j to the labours of choirmasters. Perhaps j the metronome signs were Hv f . so Ufw>- j fill, as conditions a|ter so much in the different churches, hut in case doubt I arose as to ihe"pace of a tune, there j was something of a guide to fall back upon. In the new edition, a large nuuibi-r j of plain-song tunes are added, the j music of which is given in the original notation. To the antiquary these are valuable, but as far as tlie ordinary | chorister and choirmaster is concerned, j the old notation might just as well have i been left out. We naturally look to see how our old favourite tunes have fared in the j new edition. We sadly miss the fol- I lowing:—"At Thy Feet," '"Angels from | the Realms of Glory," "Creator of the ; World, to Thee." "By Precepts Taught." j "Lo. Now is Our Accepted Day." '"Ride On! Ride On in Majesty," Dykes. (We had always looked forward to the dignified majesty of this tune.l '"Now My Soul the Voice Upraising." "He Who Once, in Rbjhteoca Vengeance," "My God, 1 Love-Thee." "See the Destined Day Arise." "Forgive Them. O My Father." "Lord,. When Thy Kingdom Comes," Throned upon the Awful j Tree." "His are the Thousand Sparkling i Rills" (words and music). "The Lamb's. High Banquet." "Far Be Sorrow," "At the Lamb's High Feast we Sing." "The Day of Resurrection." "On the Resurrection Morning," "0 Voice of the Beloved." "Know Ye the Lord Doth Take Away?" 'TLet Our Choirs New Anthems Raise." "How Britrht These Clorious Spirits Shine!" "Shall We Not Love Thee?" "O Son of God. Our Captain of Salvation." ""We Saw Thee Not When Thou Didst Come." "Come. Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs,"' "To Thee, 0 Comforter Divine," "Sing Alleluia Forth in Duteous Praise," "They [Whose Course On Earth is O'er." "'Pleasant are Thy Courts Above-." "Hoi sanna to the Living Lord," "O Praise Our Great and Gracious Lord/ "'Sing Praises to God."' "O Lord, How Happy Should We Be:*' "Days and Moments Quickly Flying." "Stand Up. Stand Up For Jesus." '"Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow." "The I Roseate Hues of Early Dawn." "Saviour. i When in Dust, to Thee," "0 Jesus. E j Have Promised." "Jesu. Thou joy of Loving Hearts." "Hark. My Soul. It Is [ the Lord." "0 For a Thousand Tongues | to Sing," "When Morning Gilds the ; Skies," "Saviour, Blessed Saviour."' ', "Father of Mercies. God of Love," "Almighty God. Whose Only- Son," j "Around the Throne of God." "We Are j But Little Children Weak," "Fight the | Good Fight," "For Ever With the ! Lord," '"Forward Be Our Watchword," j "Tor all the Saints" (Barnby). Alternate tunes have sometimes been | added to old favourites; we wonder how j often the first tune of "Christian, dost j thou see them ?"' will be used, when j lakes' beautiful arid charming tune is ' No. 2. It is not as thoujrh the first tune ' had anything to recommend it; a grave . fault occurs at the end of the fourth line, j i.e.. a full cadence in the middle of the j tune. One wonders how such a tune could have been written in these days of ; progress! j "Lord, in this Thy mercy's day*" has an alternative. Let the reader compare : the old well-known one of Monk's with | the. miserable tune added, with its vaeil- , ; lating melody—B fiat. B natural. B flat— | in the first line. We ask here—Was another tune required? Monk's tune is beautifully written m every respect. The alteration of melody and harmony in "All glory, laud and honour" comes as a great surprise. The ne—r version is lifeless, and as this tune is used as a pro- ; cessional very often, the change is to be I regretted. ' An improvement has been made in | "Jesus lives"—a pause has been placed • over the second note. Another' tune j has been given to "And now, O Father."' j by Orlando Gibbons (17th cent-), which I makes nonsense of the words. To this ! hymn the tune of Gibbons is an ahsurdity: besides, the tune itself, with its 1 alternate major and minor harmonies I and halting effects, has no beauty. I The old tune of "Jesti, gentlest Savi--1 our," has been given to other words. j There is some music we hesitate to : separate from the words. This is a ease in point. "The voice that breathed o'er I Ederr" goes up to F sharp; yet the com- ! pliers have gone out of their way to I transpose tunes to lower keys that only j went to E originally. The new tune has nothing to recommend it. The alternative to "Now the labourer's task is j o'er" has nothing in it equal to the | pathos and beauty of the fifth and sixth j lines of Dykes' tune, with its plaintive I "Frtrher" and expressive "sleeping." • There is no feeling of rest in the new I tune. I The old tune of ""Through the night of | doubt and sorrow" has (as if in grief | and shorn of its harmoniesi bpen given ; tn a "grace." Surely the character of tire i tune does nor warrant itThe well-known tune to "Praise to the i Holiest" was not considered sufficient. ! and (probably) one of the most uncongregational turips in the book has been I a:ided to it. The musical phrases are I divided into 3x2x2x3 for the first and I seventh verses, and 3x3x3x3 for the j others. "We saw Thee not" has a sroesome 16th century tune, which we^venture to think nobody wiil ever take the trouble, to learn. The tune has its fullstop at the end of the second line; and no ending occurs iv the last line of the music! Stainers "There is a blessed home" has been taken away. "Jesus, where'er Thy people meet" hsrn a tune which accents the second syllable of Jesus instead of the first. "Stand j up. stand up for Jesus" has the old ; London Mission tune. I "Through the night of doubt and sorI row" i?. made into eifrht-line verses, and | Dr. Parry has written a time to it. The j first tuns of "Behold The Lamb of God" ■■ repeats "the Lamb.'' and therefore we | get the quotation altered, j The old tune of "Saviour, when- in dust to Thee" is much more singable than the new tune, and, we venture to think, more beautiful. Tune I. of "Come unto Me. ye weary," is hardly be used jvhile Dykes'

tune is. next to it. The syncopations in the second, fourth, and eighth lines will handicap it severely. The fourth line is too florid. Tune I. of "Lead, kindly Light" is almost 'commanding in the fourth line. Dykes caught the true expression in his gentle phrases. ""Lead Thou mc on." We miss the old tune to "0 Jesus. I have promised" that we sang at our Confirmation. The sixth and last lines of "the new tune are not devotional.! "Hark.- my soul, it is the Lord*' has a | new tune by Threlfall. The old favourite • will be missed. The tune given to , "Father of Mercies. God of Love" is abso- j, lutely frivolous- : •'Trumpet of God, sound high" may be-. come popular on account of its warlike qualities, but it verges on the Moody i and Sankey type: it will suit an openair missionary meeting better than the services of the Church. ""Thou to Whom , the sick and dying" has lost its popular tune. Every school boy and girl will wonder what has become"of "We are but little children weak." "'Rescue the perishing" is commonplace, and of the Moody and Sankey type. "Fight the good fight" and "For ever with the Lord" have lost their popular tunes, and they were so much enjoyed I We never thought the music to be good in either of these, but they were grand ows to sins; and if only the false relation in "Fight the good fight" (second line i could have been altered, for old acquaintance sake w:; would have liked | them in the collection; they would have done no barm. "Glory to the First-be-gotten" is not barred to the best advantage. The tune should begin on the first beat instead of the third; the word "'to" would be less accented. We must say the new book has given as great disappointment. , W. E. THOMAS-