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Not necessarily, but I think it really has been overdone so far as to have become the official hymn of police and fire department funerals (played on bagpipes (!) of course).
I agree it's been overdone but I still like it. It's just something about the tune that makes me like it
That last comment made me think of some hymns which are ruined by being set to a particular tune. The first that comes to mind is "The Church's One Foundation" which had an alternate setting to Wesley's "Aurelia" in the hymnal that was used in my childhood. The other setting was rarely used (except when someone wished to show off their aptitude for reading shape notes) because no one liked it.
Likewise the Episcopal hymnal has more settings for the Gloria, Agnus Dei, and Nunc Dimittis than any other hymnal I know of. Some are good, some tolerable, and some clunky or ugly.
That last comment made me think of some hymns which are ruined by being set to a particular tune. The first that comes to mind is "The Church's One Foundation" which had an alternate setting to Wesley's "Aurelia" in the hymnal that was used in my childhood. The other setting was rarely used (except when someone wished to show off their aptitude for reading shape notes) because no one liked it.
Likewise the Episcopal hymnal has more settings for the Gloria, Agnus Dei, and Nunc Dimittis than any other hymnal I know of. Some are good, some tolerable, and some clunky or ugly.
Are there hymns of that tradition which you don't particularly care for?This thread makes me appreciate the Orthodox hymnody, which tends to be more than a millenia in age. The Triodion, Pemtecostarion, Octoechos and Menaion are the grandest of hymnals.
Are there hymns of that tradition which you don't particularly care for?
No.
Take a look at this remarkable hymn for Christmas Matins:
‘Christ is born, give glory! Christ comes from heaven, go to meet him! Christ is upon earth, be exalted! Sing to the Lord all the earth; and all you peoples raise the hymn with joy, for he has been glorified’.
Ruined through transgression, the one made in God’s image became wholly subject to corruption, fell stumbling from a better and divine life. Him the wise Creator now refashions, for he has been glorified.
The Creator, seeing humanity that he had made with his own hands perishing, bowed the heavens and came down; but he took its whole being from a divine, pure Virgin, being made truly flesh; for he has been glorified.
Wisdom, Word and Power, Son of the Father and his Radiance, Christ God, unknown to the powers beyond the world and to those on earth and having taken human nature, won us back again; for he has been glorified.
Another Canon, in Iambics, by Monk John, having an Acrostic in elegaic couplets:
With songs of eloquence these hymns proclaim
God’s Son for mortals’ sake on earth now born,
Abolishing the world’s grim miseries.
But, King, deliver preachers from these pains.
Ode 1. The same Tone. The Irmos.
‘Of old the Master who works wonders saved a people,
‘Turning the wat’ry waves of the sea into dry land;
‘And now he has been born of his own will from a Maiden,
‘Establishes a path for us to mount to heaven.
‘We glorify him, equal by essence to Father and to mortals’.
Clearly prefigured by the bush unburned
A hallowed womb has borne in it the Word,
God mingled with a mortal form, who now
Frees Eve’s unhappy womb from bitter curse
Of old. Him now we mortals glorify.
A star to Magi clearly showed the Word
Who was before the sun and yet he came
To make an end of sin, in a poor cave:
You, the compassionate, in swaddling clothes.
With joy they saw you, mortal man and Lord.
Is that a translation?No.
Take a look at this remarkable hymn for Christmas Matins:
‘Christ is born, give glory! Christ comes from heaven, go to meet him! Christ is upon earth, be exalted! Sing to the Lord all the earth; and all you peoples raise the hymn with joy, for he has been glorified’.
Ruined through transgression, the one made in God’s image became wholly subject to corruption, fell stumbling from a better and divine life. Him the wise Creator now refashions, for he has been glorified.
The Creator, seeing humanity that he had made with his own hands perishing, bowed the heavens and came down; but he took its whole being from a divine, pure Virgin, being made truly flesh; for he has been glorified.
Wisdom, Word and Power, Son of the Father and his Radiance, Christ God, unknown to the powers beyond the world and to those on earth and having taken human nature, won us back again; for he has been glorified.
Another Canon, in Iambics, by Monk John, having an Acrostic in elegaic couplets:
With songs of eloquence these hymns proclaim
God’s Son for mortals’ sake on earth now born,
Abolishing the world’s grim miseries.
But, King, deliver preachers from these pains.
Ode 1. The same Tone. The Irmos.
‘Of old the Master who works wonders saved a people,
‘Turning the wat’ry waves of the sea into dry land;
‘And now he has been born of his own will from a Maiden,
‘Establishes a path for us to mount to heaven.
‘We glorify him, equal by essence to Father and to mortals’.
Clearly prefigured by the bush unburned
A hallowed womb has borne in it the Word,
God mingled with a mortal form, who now
Frees Eve’s unhappy womb from bitter curse
Of old. Him now we mortals glorify.
A star to Magi clearly showed the Word
Who was before the sun and yet he came
To make an end of sin, in a poor cave:
You, the compassionate, in swaddling clothes.
With joy they saw you, mortal man and Lord.
Is that a translation?
Is that a translation?
I would like that. Even if it may sound better in a foreign language, I would prefer the English so that I could worship according to the theology.By the way, if you have Apple Music, I can link you to several recordings of the above in English and other languages. It can sound quite different depending on whether its in Byzantine, Slavonic or another style of chant.
I would like that. Even if it may sound better in a foreign language, I would prefer the English so that I could worship according to the theology.
It's fairly common for those of us in liturgical or otherwise hymn-oriented churches to complain about bad worship music in the modern Praise and Worship genre. But let's be fair, it's not exactly like every hymn we sing is a gem.
On Sunday one of the hymns we sang was Will You Come and Follow Me
Will you come and follow Me, The Summons. a Christian song of following a calling from God - YouTube
My opinion? Blech!
Firstly, I'm just not a fan of singing "in the voice of God/Jesus". Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the basic sentiment of this song--Christ's call for His Church to go out into the world. But it seems like a really strange thing for us to be singing on Sunday morning. It'd work better as a folk tune around a campfire.
What exactly is going on when we sing something like this? Are we reminding God that He called us to do good in the world, why?
So I'm officially putting this on my "hymns I can do without" list.
What are some of your least favorite hymns? And why?
Note: A hymn is distinct from a praise chorus. Hymns are a set of lyrical stanzas all set to the same meter. If between verses there's a repeated chorus, it's a praise chorus rather than a hymn. Hymns don't have to be old, this one I've mentioned from what I looked up was written in 1987, and a hymn I really do love, In Christ Alone, was written in 2001.
And just to rile up some feathers, I have a theological bone to pick with How Great Thou Art (and is it really a hymn if it has that repeated refrain?), it's that final stanza:
"When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then *I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, My God, how great thou art!"
You might think, "Well, what's wrong with that?" The issue here, I think, is perhaps subtle. It's not the joy of Christ's coming, it's "And take me home". Here this song has laid out the glory of God in His creation, the beauty of the stars in the heavens, the terrible thunder, the fields and woods and birds. And then, at the end it's, "God take me from this world!"
It's that escapist theology that managed to trickle down into Western Christianity within the last couple hundred years, away from God's condescension to rescue and restore the world, to God is taking us out from the world to live away from the world in the sweet by-and-by.
-CryptoLutheran
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