Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-05-26
About HYMN Books.

words and music, that II is no easy matter to |
reject We would not dare 70 say how many /
new collections have seen the light within year, |
but We have just laid down paper in which we
find mention Of two more, as just issued for the |
use Of the Baptist denomination. Bishop Hunt |
ington hiss one in preparation for the use OF the |
Episcopal congregations, which it is safe to IRE
dict will be, in its hymns at least model Of It's
kind. We think it likely that at this moment
there are ffty other gentlemen in the United
States amsssing printed material and soliciting
original contributions for work destined to be
the hymnal Of the sect to which they belong
And vet We are sure there is room for one
more perhaps there always will be We have
as yet, found no compilation which the minister
did no; feel disposed to edit afresh from Sunday
to Sunday, TO suit the needs Of his congregation,
or the exigencies Of his discour6es. Of course
this is done BY omissions. Not long since, we
were asked to sing the lst, 81, 9th and IN
stanzas Of certain psalm. In this case, the
half NAV have been better than the whole. BE
sides there was no very severe tax on the memo
~, as one had merely to observe that only the
odd stanzas we're to be taken. But songs Of four
and FIVE verses are cut down in the sane way,
and this, too, when the singing is to be done by
the whole audience Now there are some objec-
tons to this extemporary citing Of hymns In
the frst place. it requires some effort Of stten-
ton to remember that we are to skip the d snd
9th stsnzss So much of the minds power as
is exercised in keeping the place - is diverted
from the thought embodied in the hymn, and 80
from the worship, Of which the hymn is sup
posed to be the vehicle. Secondly, as a matter
Of fact, even members Of choirs, and still MORE
individuals in the congregation, frequently for
get Just what stanzas they are to g please omit,
and in consequence, two or three sets Of words
are often voiced At once, process that does not
greatly conduce 10 spiritual edlhcsuon.
And again, = true hymn, a composition worth
singing at all. lie & irholc. a true unit IL can no
more be divided without injuring than sonnet
can. Ii embodies but a single thought, aud so
treats it that, if not with every successive
verse, yet with each additional sianza, the
sentiment it would express and inspire is
progressively developed and intensified until 1t
finds its natural culmin alton in the final stanza.
We csu remember hymns so mutilaied IN the
re-eiiiug-and by doctors Of Divinity, too
that the poor remains Of them might as well
have been sung backward as forward, 20 utterly
were they evisceratei Of all sense and conference.
The very lines which served as stepping stone
from the first stsnzl to the last were ruthessly
cut away. with much the same effect on the life
and meaning OF the spiritual song itself, as If a
surgeon were to sunder the ligsture that binds
Chang and Eng together.
While upon this theme We msy as well advert |
to curious habit Of choirs and organisis ;
that, snely, Of interfering long pause or
iuterlude between tao ttanzas 20 intimately /.
Joined in sense that good reader would render /
them as enc continuous stanzs, withouts break. |
In these cases the sound allowed to override the
sense the words seem to be subsidiary to the /
music. This, we venture to say, ought not to |
be, in public worship. If the music does not /
help US to utter our prayers and praises together,
then it is nsught it has no place in the church.
Tedious interludes certainly contribute little TO
the devotional feeling of an audience which must
remain standing while the orgsnist is running
up and down his keyboard /; and they may be
pronounced downright impertinence, and worse,
when they so punctuste hymn that single
sentence is divided into three separate songs the
t1bject being divided from its predicate on the
one side, and from adyerbial clauses on the
other, by brief would they were slways brief
musical compositions which have no particular
relation to anything, in either the tune or the
hymn.
In what we have said above we have
had regard solely to congregational singing.
As to the choirs. We care much less if they
have to keep = sharp eye on the stanzA, especi-
slly called for 5 special occasion. But we could
spare page out Of the sermon could dispense
ofteuer With that old-iime tradition, the reading
Of the hymn. As also with the playing over fsmi-
liar tunes previous to the singing could allow
the inierluies to be shortened by two-thirds, and
even suffer the movements to be quickened till it
seemed really suited to the expression Of feelings
Of religious " and aspiration, rather than have
the four quatrsins shortened to three simply to
save time We who sit in the pews, do not
20 soon get tired Of singing, save when our ps-
tience is taxed by the slow movement Of the tune
or our muscles welried by waiting for the orgsn-
let to come back from his fights Of nothing