Handbook to the Mennonite HymnaryHostetler, Lester
Religion
Handbook to the Mennonite Hymnary
Hostetler, Lester
Hymns, English -- History and criticism; Mennonites -- Hymns -- History and criticism
d. _The Bay Psalm Book_, Boston, 1640. This was the first book printed
in English-speaking America. It was made to obtain greater literalness
to the Hebrew original than was found in the versions then in use. The
book reigned supreme among the English churches in New England for over
a century. Seventy editions of it were printed in America, the last in
1773. Eighteen editions appeared in England, and twenty-two in Scotland.
There were no tunes given it until 1698, then only 13, with the air in
the bass.
e. _The Scottish Psalter_, completed 1650. Special mention is made of
this version of the Psalms because it is the source of nearly all the
selections of metrical psalms which constitute Book Five of the
_Hymnary_. The number of versions and editions of psalms which appeared
on the Continent and in England were numerous and confusing, each
claiming its own special merits. Finally, in the interests of better
literary diction and greater unity in singing in the Scottish
Presbyterian churches, the General Assembly authorized a new version.
The result, after many years’ work, was the famous _Scottish Psalter_ of
1650 which remains the standard work in Scotland today.
There is a certain “dignified crudeness” in some of the literary
expressions but the psalms have long been learned in this version and
have become an important part of the religious training and experience
of millions of English speaking people, especially in Scotland.
The Scottish Psalter first appeared with words only. There were no notes
and no suggestions for melodies. The succeeding one hundred years were a
time of confusion. The tunes used were few in number, such as the
leaders had learned from various sources, and passed on to succeeding
generations by rote. The time came when better singing and better tunes
were demanded and gradually the psalter appeared with tunes. Early tune
versions put the melody invariably in the tenor. The latest edition,
printed in 1929, by the Oxford Press, contains the best Psalm tunes
which had gradually come into use, many of them arranged with
“Faux-bourdon” (wherein the congregation sings one or more verses to the
melody while the choir supplies the harmony), and “Descant” (a second
melody over that of the tune).
f. _The New Version_, Tate and Brady, London, 1696. This version
gradually supplanted the _Old Version_ of Sternhold and Hopkins, and
held its place in the worship of the church for 150 years. It was
adopted, in 1789, by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States and bound with the prayer book of that Communion.
The above versions are only a few of the large number of psalters that
were published by the Calvinistic churches on the Continent, in Great
Britain, and in America. The metrical psalms were designed for the
singing church. They were intended to restore song to the people in
their worship, serving in this respect a similar purpose to the chorales
in Germany.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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