The Washington herald., 1909-04-04
BY GEORGE c. HENNING.


The practice, not only or singing hymns.
but OF singing them sntiphoaaIly. appears
: from a letter Of Piiny 90 Trajan at the
beginning Of the second century. Igna-
titus. who suffered martyrdom about A. d.
l07. was led by "a dream or vision OF
angels singing hymns 70 the Holy Trim
ity. TO introduce antiphonai singing into
the church at Antioch. from whence IL
spread quickly 10 other churches Al
though re have no evidence OF H. the
early music and hymns OF the church
and people we infer was By imprOvisa-
tio2s. and The music in minor keys as was
usual with rude peoples.
TertuIlian. In his description o. the
love feast Of his day Says. that after
washing hands. each man WAS invited 70
( lceme froward and sing to Gods praise
something either taken from the scrip
lures or of his own composition-s But
Paul OF Samosta. was deposed from his
I see OF Antioch for prohibiting the use of
hymns by u1.nep.-ed writers addressed
TO Christ
The private use OF such hymns by Chris
4 tians in the West may probably have
/ preceded their ecclesiastical use. for
/ Jerome. who was born about 80 A d.
says. IN his day those who went into the
feds might hear the plowman al his
haHeiujas, the mower al his hymns, and
! the vine-dresser singing David's Psalms.
3 But az the fourth council o5 Toledo,
A. D. $40. uninspired hymns were pro-
hibited in divine service.
The Ambroslan chant was first intro
duced into the Western church by s.
| Ambrose. about 3Ss A. b.. from the
Greek or Eastern church The Ambros-
ian chant was at first limited strictly 70
the performance ~ psalms and doxolo-
Eies. from an Apprehension Of the early
! fathers and bishops that hereticel doc
trines might creep into the services BY
the introduction Of original hymns. y.
/ Ambrose himself. however. introduced
into his service some original hymns. and
81. Augustine speaks with delight OF the
/ impression which the performance OF the
4 psalms and hymns there made upon him
These we're al sung TO the Amorosian
chants.
/ From time 10 time Uninspired hymns
were introduced into the service Of the
I.s,in church and subsequently eXpur-
gated. The hymns Of this church are
now pretty well defined by the ecclesiss-
ticaI authorities. ard are largely IN OF
translations from the original Latin.
/ A development OF hymnOdy at Constan-
tiople arose out OF the Arian controversy
Early in the fourth century. Athanasius
/ bss -abuked. not OILY the doctrine OF
Arms. but the light character Of certain
HYMNS by which ne had endeavored 10
make that doctrine popular. When St
John Chrystom was raised 10 the metro
politan see. A u. 3es. the Arias, who
were still numerous al Constantinople,
Thad no place OF worship within the walls.
brt they we're in the habit Of coming
! into the city az sunset on Saturdays
I Sundays. and other festivals. consregat-
ling IN places Of public resort where they
sang all night through antiphOnal songs
with Tefrains expressive Of Arlan ooc-
ltrines. Chrysostum organized in orposi-
ton a system OF nightly professional
/ HYMN singing. with circumstances Of GER
emoniaI pomp. Riots followed with
Y bloodshed on each side This led 70 Their
suppression by imperial edict- OF al pub
lie Ar!sn singing
In the sack Of Rome by Alaric- A D.
( 40. Gibbon relates that one Of the Goths
I found in the possession OF an aged virgin
splendid hoard OF massy plate. Of the
richest materials and the most curious
workmanship. Upon being told BY her
that these were the consecrated vessels
belonging 70 S.. Peter. he reported the
1 find to AIarie. who gave a peremptOTy
order that all the COnsecrsted vessels
should be transported 10 the Church OF
the APOSTLE This was done BY q detaCh-
ment or GOths. who bore aloft on their
heads the precious vessels: and the mar
tial shouts Of the barbarians were ming
ling with the sound OF religious psaimOdy
OF the multitude OF citizens that followed
We have little information Of the char
acter Of the music used in the early
church. II seems 20 have been species
OF plain song without definite notation.
As before mentioned. toward the close OF
the fourth century. Ambrose, Of Milan,
fearing the loss or the corruption OF the
venerable melodies which up 70 that time
had been preserved BY the church en-
deevored 20 restore them as nearly as
possible TO their primitive purity with
greater precision than had been previ-
ouslF attempted Two centuries later.
Pope Gregory the Great corrected and
improved the Aubrosian chant and estab-
Iished the GreEorfau chant. which Is now
the form used IN the Roman church,
except in the diocese Of Milan. where the
.AlfllTOSidh i ltctt4
The era OF metrical song may be traced
to the time OF Luther. and doubtless his
hymns did more 10 forward his doctrines
than his preaching. They were sung
everywhere-in the streets and fields. as
well as in the churches. IN the workshop
and in the palace. by children IN the cot
taEe and by martyrs on the scafoid.
Calvin. however. held 90 the idea that
whatever was sung In churches ought 10
be taken out OF the scriptures The sing
ing Of metrical hymns was frS intro
duced into England about the time OF
Elizabeth. though James First got the
credit Of version Of the psalms, the
work Of Sir William Alexander.
Metricsl forms first obtained 81 force /
about the time OF the rebeilior and dur
ing the Commonwealth. though this was
metricaI version Of the psalms. OF
which there were several The Long Par /
lament in connection with a committee /
Of the Kirk OF Scotland. after deIIbera- |
ton. adopted ROuse's version. which was /
published IN 1886 Long before this. how
ever. the General Assembly Of the Kirk 1
OF Scotland. in 1854 enjoIned the use OF Z