Posted on 06/02/2014 1:42:10 AM PDT by markomalley
One of the more prominent features of Protestant denominations over the decades was hymn singing. Get in your time machine go back 50 years, to any Protestant denomination, and you would find every member of the congregation on their feet, hymnal in hand, singing quite loudly, even harmonizing the old familiar hymns: Onward Christian Soldiers….Amazing Grace….When the Roll is called up Yonder….More About Jesus….Praise God from Whom All Blessing Flow!
Catholics congregations were rather different. Low Masses in Latin were common where there was little or no singing. High mass featured complex music that a trained choir largely handled. And the few hymns the Catholics did know quite well, were generally not sung with the gusto anywhere near that of the Protestants.
I’ll admit, I’m a big fan of the metrical hymns of the Protestant tradition. One of the regrets I have is that, in the years just after the Second Vatican Council when vernacular songs were permitted, was that we did not borrow more heavily from the English and German traditions of hymns.
Hymns are stately, easy to learn, and have memorable melodies. They were also metrical, which meant that they were sung to a steady beat and almost never had the complicated rhythms of many modern church songs. Congregations have a hard time singing syncopated rhythm (a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected which make part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat).
Many of the old Protestant hymns, especially those from the English tradition, are actually magnificent translations of the Latin hymns of the ancient Catholic Church. Many of them also beautifully paraphrase the Psalms. As such, their themes were biblical, and richly theological.
A beautiful example of this is the English translation of a verse from the beautiful Hymn by St. Ambrose (Veni Redemptor Gentium):
Thy cradle here shall glitter bright,
and darkness breathe a newer light;
An endless light that shines serene,
Where twilight never intervenes.
And there is this line from the well-known English him For all the Saints:
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long;
Steels on the ear a distant triumph song
and hearts are brave again and arms are strong
Alleluia!
One final example is from the grand hymn O Worship the King:
Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.
I love to sing and listen to these old hymns, I love to play them at the organ.
But lo and behold, it seems the old hymns are dying out, even in many of the Protestant denominations, especially those of the Evangelical sort. Paradoxically, many of the old mainline Protestant denominations which are theologically and morally very liberal are one of the few places where the old hymns are still sung. Many of the Evangelical denominations which adhere more closely to biblical teachings and morality are now using Christian contemporary music which seems to have largely replaced the old hymns.
But most Christian contemporary music, is really music to listen to more, than to sing, and certainly is not designed to be sung by a large group of people.
Here are some excerpts from a recent article article at the Holy Soup Blog by Thom Schulz: (I add a few remarks of my own in plain red text)
Looking around the church last Sunday I noticed that the majority weren’t singing….That’s been the case for years now–in churches large and small. What used to be congregational singing has become congregational staring…. (Looks and sounds like a average Catholic Congregation)
What happened to the bygone sounds of sanctuaries overflowing with fervent, harmonizing voices from the pews, singing out with a passion that could be heard down the street? I suspect it’s a number of unfortunate factors.
Increasingly, the church has constructed the worship service as a spectator event….It seems it’s paramount for church music to be more professional than participatory. The people in the pews know they pale in comparison to the loud voices at the microphones. (Yes this is certainly the case in most megachurches which are even built like theaters and many of the services look more like a production than a worship service.
[Further] The musicians’ volume is cranked up so high that congregants can’t hear their own voices, or the voices of those around them, even if they would sing. So they don’t sing. What would it add? The overwhelming, amplified sound blares from big speakers, obliterating any chance for the sound of robust congregational singing. Yes, I learned this as an organist, that if I played too loud, people stopped singing. The singing of the faithful needs to be supported and accompanied, not drowned out and overwhelmed. In some Catholic parishes volume from musicians and even lectors and preachers is a problem too where even smaller church structures have massive PA systems that overload the listeners rather than enhance their listening).
Sometimes people refrain from singing because the songs are unfamiliar, hard to sing, or just cheesy…I long for an environment that evokes my real heartfelt vocal participation. As stated above it is really rather difficult to get a larger congregation to sing syncopated music. Clear metrical music is better if congregational participation is desired. Just because some song by a soloist sounds nice doesn’t mean its easy to sing. I get the impression that a lot of Catholic contemporary music is really written for soloists and then forced on the congregation who vote with their mouth which stays shut during the song. All the wild flaying of a cantor’s arms doesn’t really change the situation either. If something is singable for a congregation, the wild gesticulation of the lady cantor is not needed.
At any rate, I’ll just conclude again by saying that I favor metrical hymns for congressional singing and there is a noble history of some five hundred year on which to draw. There are some nice Gregorian Hymns too. I know the combos is bound to find more than a few comments about ditching hymns too and sining the Introit, gradual, etc. But honestly the number of parishes that can accomplish that reasonably are few. Further, even if a trained schola exists in your parish, the topic here is conjugational singing. Sadly, that reality seems to be disappearing even in the denominations which once resounded with hymns and enthusiastic singing by most of the congregation. Its too bad really.
I’m interested in your experience of congregational singing. I find in most parishes that less than 20% even make a pretense of singing. My own congregation is a bit of an exception since we use a lot of Gospel hymns and music that are very easy for the congregation to sing; lots of refrains and memorable melodies. What of your parish?
I call it “Seven-Eleven Music,” seven words repeated eleven times.
Watch for further changes in the lyrics of hymns. Just recently in church we sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Instead of “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,” the words had been changed to “let us live to make men free.”
To each is own.
Our minister loves the new music but admits that he needs to talk to the music director about adding some traditional music to the singing.
I choose to wait outside until the drums and electronic noise portion of the program is concluded.
While there are some excellent praise and worship songs, we have to be aware that even praise music can become an idol. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, if the ‘medium’ (praise music) BECOMES the ‘message’ (Jesus), rather than the means to communicate the message, it becomes idol worship, as the music becomes the focus, rather than Jesus; a very subtle difference and one easily crossed over.
AFA hymns? Personally, I find that they have such power and are Scripture based and convey the words of Scripture. With many praise songs, not so much.
We have seen United Church of Christ Hymnals. You should see the lyrics in songs such as ‘America’. It is all about the ‘Americas’ meaning North and South. Many of the hymns have had the lyrics changed.
At our Independent Christian Church we use old and new. We hit the middle ground years ago after a bit of struggle. I don’t worry too much about those not singing because you can only lead a horse to water. We all have our strengths. Our primary problem is a severe lack of folks under 40. Using contemporary music in our area has not been a draw for any of the churches of the younger set.
Perhaps the crux of many Protestant celebrations is the praising of the Lord through song.
O God O Lord of Heav’n and Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBomcCQmwgk
The parish I attend sings this with gusto and at a faster pace than in this video. Young and old alike. My family and I would be hard pressed if we ever had to move, becuase it is a rare thing to find a parish that considers the Word of God first, and leaves human preferences in the dust where they belong
Unfortunately, many Evangelical churches have gone that way. At Centre Street Church, they have four services each weekend. The Saturday and Sunday evening services are ‘contemporary’, while the 9:00AM Sunday service is more traditional, though the choir does not always sing at this service, but the worship team sings traditional hymns when the choir is not signing. The 11:00AM service is a mix of contemporary and traditional music. The sermon is the same at all four services.
It is rare to see a large choir in a more ‘liturgical’ service, though many UCC, Anglican (US=’Episcopalian’) and Lutheran churches do have choirs of some kind. As for me, I am blessed to sing in a men’s interdenominational choir of 60+ members from 12 denominations and 30+ churches in Calgary. We sing once each month at different churches around Calgary and usually perform both a Christmas and Spring Concert. The unfortunate thing is that interest in choirs is shrinking. I am 53 years of age and I am one of the ‘kids’ in the choir. The Choir’s name is the Master’s Singers. It is not in reference to age, rather, to sing for the glory of our Master, Jesus. Here are couple of links to the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpp65b77hOU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akRu77RVuRk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT4AAZHAaD4
All other ground is sinking sand!
Our church’s 11am service is very traditional with that “old time” religion and music. Very formal, somber even at times, more “respectful” I think.
Our early service, 8:30am, has always been more contemporary, to include, more recently, instruments and “drop down screen” accompaniments, with an A/V guy off to the side. A lot of skill and talent go into the service, without a doubt. But, I prefer the later service.
Several years back, a new green-covered hymnal was introduced and used almost exclusively in the early service. The wife didn’t appreciate my humor when I nicknamed it the “Yahni Hymnal”. Dull, boring, repetitive...the book, not my humor.
A few years ago, a teenage girl was talking excitedly about the megachurch that she attended. But when I asked if it had an organ, her face went blank. I quickly realized that she had never heard of an organ. Most likely, the only sacred music she had ever heard was “praise” music.
I am a shape note singer and although Southern Gospel developed from shape note the two are very different. Shape note is polyphonic (from the Baroque think 1650 AD) but Southern Gospel is not, it is organized as chords which are presented in sequence.
Shape note is sung is at very loud levels and can be very raw even with great singers. The polyphony is not particularly predictable and you have to be attentive to the written music.
Southern Gospel is simplification of shape note and is really predictable. For many voice parts you can phone it in.
I dislike Southern Gospel although it gets much more interesting if you disregard the written harmonies and create melodies which enhance the main melody.
I also think that contemporary Christian music is terrific. I came to Jesus through CCM and we know that many others have had the same experience because we many, many emails which testify to that fact.
Now let me put on my flame suit and wait for the Southern Gospel Beserkers to attack. Lol.
Christian pop is distracting during Mass but I love it driving around town. My granddaughter and I crank it up and sing along. That has to be good.
I will add that our whole congregation sings and do so very well. They also stand early in the music and rock God’s house.
The pastor at the First Methodist Church in Fullerton, Calif., who is Korean, also chooses great Protestant songs for our services. Yesterday, we closed the service with William Cornell's "Wonderful Peace" (1889). Songs by the great hymn writers Charles H. Gabriel, Fanny Crosby, Daniel Towner, William Howard Doane and others can also be heard at our services.
The music in the OCP is getting better. We sing “old time” hymns at daily Mass.
Why should the money go to some of these OCP lyricists and composers when they have come out as gay, or attend a Protestant church.
What I’m talking about is a report that is filed weekly so that the composers and lyricists get their two cents (or whatever the royalty is) for each time the song is performed.
Where I go has gone modern with a visual screen instead of a book. Unfortunately the A/V person working the screen seems to get us off on the wrong verse quite often.
I still Prefer the old book hymns and my personal favorite is anything by THE CHUCKWAGON GANG.
Have faith. The OCP has changed quite a bit, and I think you know I have been one of loudest complainers. The cover is different. Some of the Hurd, Haugen, Schutte, etc junk isn’t in it any more. More and more chant is being printed in it.
Talk with your own priests and choir directors. Hymns are part of the worship — not a performance.
Off my soap box.
The old hymns also served as popular music and were sung frequently outside of church. Contemporary Christian has re-established that role.
The drum kit in our church is used at only the Spanish Mass. Don’t judge too readily.
I agree with the author that a lot of songs now being used in church are rather sappy, and not very inspirational.
As a Catholic I always heard about the wonderful singing in Protestant congregations. I am sad to read that this is not so true anymore.
In my Catholic church, the people do sing, but not with a great enthusiasm UNTIL we are offered up an old song such as ‘Holy God We Praise Thy Name’. When people are familiar with a song and the tune, they usually participate with gusto.
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