The publication of Ancient & Modern, the latest addition to the Hymns Ancient & Modern family, follows by only a few months the Methodist Church’s Singing the Faith and other new books for use by churches throughout the English-speaking world. These new resources provide opportunities and raise questions for church musicians.

Towards the end of the 20th century it was often said

that there would be few new hymn books in the 21st

century. Most of the major Christian churches and

sub-groupings had produced new books; the old

denominational and other divisions had become

less significant as people used songs and hymns from

different traditions; overhead transparencies and the

electronic availability of hymn texts (on the internet

or from computer programs) made the idea of a fixed,

printed book seem obsolete. Yet the flow of new books

has continued, with ever-higher editorial standards

and exciting contents.

DENOMINATIONAL AND ECUMENICALSome books consciously bridge denominational

boundaries. Canada led the way with The Hymn Book

of 1971 for Anglicans and the United Church of

Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists,

followed by Australia with The Australian Hymn Book

of 1977 which added Roman Catholics to the remit.

The Australian publishers crossed territorial boundaries

as well, issuing an international edition entitled

With one voice: a hymn book for all the churches. But in the

USA and the UK denominational books have flourished,

doubtless in part because their larger populations have

made books for particular sub-sections more viable.

Good denominational books reflect the particular

strengths of their tradition as well as embracing music

from the wider church. The 2005 fourth edition of

Church Hymnary certainly shows its Presbyterian roots,

not least in its initial section of 108 psalms in a variety

of musical versions, but also displays a breadth of

material from all over the world including many

short songs and longer items. It too has appeared

in an edition with a different title for use outside its

home territory: Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise. Although

the 1983 UK Methodist book, Hymns and Psalms, had

the subtitle ‘A Methodist and Ecumenical Hymn Book’,

its 2011 successor, Singing the Faith, prefers to be a

resource for the Methodist Church that ‘celebrates its

heritage and contains the best of modern hymnody’.

THE 21ST-CENTURY HYMN BOOKThese latest books have an outward appearance of

tradition – tradition – hardbound with cloth boards,

and the contents arranged liturgically and thematically,

supplemented by an array of useful indexes: continuity

rather than rupture. But there are distinctive

characteristics that unite them which would not have

been found (or to nothing like the same extent) in earlier

books. The world church is more strongly represented,

especially with songs from Latin America and Southern

Africa. There are more repeated, meditative songs and

chants from Taizé, Iona and other sources, sufficient in

the case of two of the books to justify their being grouped

into a separate section. Among new hymnody (i.e. with

linear direction of thought expressed within a consistent

metre) there are many texts that intercede in contemporary

language for life in the world today. If one adds syncopated

praise songs and other items that most of us would

loosely categorize as worship songs, probably over half

of these large books (all with over 800 items) is new or at

least feels new; the preface to Ancient & Modern states that

it has nearly 400 items not in Common Praise (the previous

Hymns A&M book). There is often more emphasis on the

individual worshipper (exemplified in the use of ‘I’ rather

than ‘we’). As well as the ‘invisible mending’ of old texts

that jar because of gender-specific or simply obsolete

terminology, there is a greater willingness to start

again with a translation of a foreign hymn or biblical

paraphrase and offer a new version rather than an

amended old version.

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ANCIENT & MODERNSo how does Ancient & Modern fit into this pattern?

The first thing to note is the title – it distinguishes

itself from its predecessors by the omission of the word

‘Hymns’, and justifiably, given the range of its contents.

Its predecessor, Common Praise, appeared only thirteen

years ago, but in comparison seems to belong to a

different era. Common Praise was a traditional hymn

book, very effectively consolidating the A&M tradition

with the best of the English Hymnal tradition plus a few

new items added to the mix, two by Graham Kendrick,

three by John Bell for example. Ancient & Modern has,

by contrast, 14 by Kendrick and no fewer than 33 by Bell.

One trend that the compilers seem to have resisted

is any concentration on the individual rather than

the corporate body of worshippers: Singing the Faith

and Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise have twice as many

first lines starting with ‘I’ (or ‘I’m’ or ‘I’ve’) than

Ancient & Modern.

My copy of Ancient & Modern arrived in time for

me to have it by my side during Holy Week, looking

up each hymn or song and each day in the liturgical

index, and to ask how I might have used it to refresh

worship if it had been with me when planning the

music for each service. This article is not a review

of Ancient & Modern – that awaits the next issue of

Sunday by Sunday (66) – but the answer is that it would

have made a considerable difference in the range

Continuity rather than rupture: the hymn books of the 21st century have an outward appearance of tradition. >

of items that I would have considered and in the

quality of the musical arrangements. There are of

course several well-known books that offer a mix

of songs and traditional hymns, but none approaches

the sophistication of selection, subtlety of editing

and, frequently, inspiration of musical arrangement

that makes Ancient & Modern such a useful resource.

CHOOSING A HYMN BOOKThere are many musical differences in the treatment

of the same hymn in different books, most obviously

where there is a choice of tune. With the same tune

there can also be much variety and different people

will have different preferences for, say, in the case

of Bunessan the arrangements by John Barnard and

Noël Tredinnick in Ancient & Modern, by Paul Leddington

Wright in Singing the Faith or by David Evans in Hymns

of Glory, Songs of Praise. The same applies to keyboard

accompaniments of worship songs, normally more

suitable for organ in Ancient & Modern than in the

other books. Keys vary too: those that were particularly

low in Hymns Ancient & Modern New Standard reverted

to higher keys in Common Praise, but have sometimes

dropped back to a lower pitch in Ancient & Modern.

But no matter – an intelligent music leader will

compare versions in different books and use whichever

harmonization, accompaniment and key seems

most appropriate for their circumstances, including

instrumentalists and/or choir – it does not matter what

hymn book is being used by the congregation. The same

applies to chord symbols and to descants. My heart

has sunk at times hearing a choir sing every descant

that happens to be printed in the hymn book they are

holding – ‘death by descant’ as a member of the clergy

commented. Descants are good, however, and where

the previous Common Praise had comparatively few, the

new Ancient & Modern has an enterprising selection. Just

don’t sing them automatically because they are there:

pick and choose appropriately (and if you have chosen

a different key, check that the descant still works for

your singers in that key).

Musical considerations of course are important, but

not the first priority in choosing a hymn book, because

you yourself can mix and match different tunes and

different versions. So what does matter, if the book is to

encourage and stimulate a congregation is its worship?

Three things. Above all, the breadth of the selection of

hymns and songs. If a new item is already included in

the book that the congregation is holding, it is already

in a sense owned by them and much easier to introduce

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as a new piece than if it is handed out on a separate

sheet of paper. Even if you mostly sing only the latest

material that you learnt at the last Spring Harvest, a

printed book will open up a wider range of possibilities.

Congregations can read, and will read (and, surely,

think about and pray) the words of other songs and

hymns in the book, and be inquisitive about what they

sound like. Ancient & Modern has the subtitle ‘hymns and

songs for refreshing worship’ – it and Singing the Faith

and Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise will all do that, simply

by encouraging congregational singing of a far wider

range of pieces, presented in a way that encourages

them to be taken up and used effectively.

Congregations will read the words of other songs and hymns in the book, and be inquisitive.

The second thing that matters is the editing of the

words. You can replace the musical arrangements

if you wish, but the words in hymn books held by the

congregation are fixed. Compare carefully and check

that any changes to well-known words will inspire

and not alienate your particular congregation. Thirdly,

check presentation, including legibility and durability.

Legibility does not only mean size of print: more space

between lines and around the verses can contribute as

much. Choice of typeface also has an effect. Do you

want a melody-line edition? Is it important for you that

a large-print words edition is available? More difficult

to assess is durability of binding and cover, but if you

have used books from the same publisher, that may

suggest an answer. For congregational use I avoid

wire-o, comb or spiral binding. The binding becomes

bent on repeated use (even just putting away on shelves

and taking out again each week) and then the book

won’t open properly.

Once your congregation has the most appropriate

book in its hands, make sure that you or your worship

leader does not just rely on that book but compares

elsewhere the choice of tunes for established hymnody,

the keys and the musical arrangements. Personally,

working in what is at present a Common Praise church,

I check what is in New English Hymnal, in Hymns of Glory,

Songs of Praise especially for Iona material, and also in

the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal fifth edition with

its excellent arrangements by Donald Davison. You will

have your own favourites; the important thing is to refer

to a mixture, and keep on ‘refreshing worship’.

THE THREE MAIN QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN CHOOSING A HYMN BOOK1 Does the book satisfy your current needs, and also include a breadth of hymns and songs to provide variety and refresh the worship of your congregation?2 How have the words been edited, and will the editing inspire (or annoy) your congregation?3 Is the book legible, durable and available in suitable editions for your congregation?

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