WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
The Singing Church: The Hymns It Wrote and Sang cover

The Singing Church: The Hymns It Wrote and Sang

Chapter 274: Transcriber’s Notes
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

This practical study defines the congregational hymn and analyzes its poetic, scriptural, and musical requirements while weighing literary merit against devotional purpose. It traces common types and editorial changes, explains why hymns must suit mass singing, and outlines the impulses and objectives behind hymn writing and use. Chapters explore the roles hymns play in worship, spiritual formation, and communal expression, and offer concrete guidance for worship leaders and choirs on selecting, adapting, and employing hymns to enhance congregational participation, unity, and pastoral care without sacrificing clarity or singability.

O
O Christ, the Lord of heaven, to Thee218
O day of rest and gladness38, 84, 251
O God, beneath Thy guiding hand218
O happy band of pilgrims117
O happy day that fixed my choice179
(O happy home, where Thou art loved the dearest)145
O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden140
O Jesu Christ, mein schoenstes Licht140
O Jesu, meine Sonne145
O Jesus, our chief cornerstone59
O Jesus, sweet the tears I shed218
O Jesus, Thou art standing207
O little town of Bethlehem51, 68, 223
O love divine, how sweet Thou art235
O Love divine, that stooped to share221
O Love! how deep, how broad, how high59
O Love that wilt not let me go34, 80, 97, 208, 249, 268
O lux, beata Trinitas134
O Master, let me walk with Thee51, 224
(O Morning Star, how fair and bright)137
O most blessed Light divine124
O mother dear, Jerusalem164
O name, all other names above224
(O name than every name more dear)144
O Paradise, O Paradise206
(O sacred head now wounded)140
O Savior, precious Savior235
O selig Haus, wo man dich aufgenommen145
O splendor of the Father’s face121
O sussester der Namen all144
O Thou who driest the mourner’s tear200
O treuer Heiland, Jesu Christ145
O Word of God, incarnate207
O Word of truth! in devious paths114
O’er the gloomy hills of darkness190
Oft in danger, oft in woe203
Oh, could I speak the matchless worth79, 192, 235
Oh, for a closer walk with God196
Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing68, 235, 263
Oh, help us, Lord, each hour of need200
Oh, where are kings and empires now223
Oh, where shall rest be found202
Oh, worship the King, all-glorious above97, 203, 235, 251, 259
On the mountain’s top appearing201
On the wings of His love I was carried above36
One more day’s work for Jesus223
(One Shepherd and one fold to be)145
One there is above all others196
Onward, Christian Soldiers207, 251, 255, 263
Our God, our help in ages past171, 175, 186, 230
P
Pange, lingua, gloriosi125
Pass me not, O gentle Savior223
Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin83
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven204
Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore Him78, 235
Praise to the Holiest in the height205
(Praise to the Lord! He is King over all the creation)142
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire84, 202, 269
R
Return, O wanderer, to thy home216
Ride on, ride on in majesty75, 200
Rise, glorious Conqueror, rise61
Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings178
Rock of Ages, cleft for me64, 190, 239, 254, 255
S
Safe home, safe home in port117
Safe in the arms of Jesus223
Safely through another week196, 251
Salve, Caput cruentatum125, 140
Savior, breathe an evening blessing203
Savior, more than life to me223
Savior, sprinkle many nations223
Savior, Thy dying love224
Savior, who Thy flock art feeding219
(See from his head, his hands, his feet)271
See, the Conqueror rides in triumph38
Shepherd of tender youth109, 110
Shout the glad tidings, exultingly sing219
Sei getreu bis in den Tod90
Sieh, hier bin ich, Ehrenkoenig142
Simply trusting every day91
(Sleepers, awake, a voice is calling)137
Softly now the light of day219
Soldiers of the cross, arise207
(Something every heart is loving)141
Sometimes a light surprises48, 197
Sound the loud timbrel o’er Egypt’s dark sea200
(Sovereign Ruler, King Victorious)142
Stand up and bless the Lord60
Stand up, stand up for Jesus83, 222, 239
Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh223, 230
Summer suns are glowing207
Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear200, 232, 235
Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer91
Swell the anthem, raise the song212
T
Take me, O my Father, take me218
Take my life, and let it be207
The bird, the messenger of day122
The church’s one foundation84
The day is past and over115, 206
The God of Abraham praise189
The Head that once was crowned with thorns201
The heavens are not too high162
The indorsement of supreme delight36
The Lord is King, lift up thy voice204
The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know202
The Lord our God is clothed with might37, 198, 203
The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want154
The morning light is breaking91, 216, 263
The ransomed spirit to her home214
The rivers on of Babilon156
The roseate hues of early dawn206
The royal banners forward go122
The Savior bids thee watch and pray216
The Son of God goes forth to war199
The spacious firmament on high167
The spirit in our hearts219
The sun is sinking fast205
The voice that breathed o’er Eden201
Thee will I love, my strength, my tower140
There is a fountain filled with blood48, 60, 65, 197, 254
There is a green hill far away206, 271
There is an hour of peaceful rest214
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy83, 206
There’s sunshine in my soul245
They who seek the throne of grace213
Thou art the way, to Thee alone219
Thou hidden source of calm repose184
Thou wast, O God, and Thou was blest166
Thou, whose almighty word203
(Though love may weep with breaking heart)145
Through all the changing scenes of life155
Thy way, not mine, O Lord60
’Tis midnight, and on Olive’s brow59, 214
’Tis the day of resurrection206
To our Redeemer’s glorious name191
True-hearted, whole-hearted207
U
Unser Herrscher, unser Koenig142
V
Veni, Creator spiritus124, 134, 152
Veni, Redemptor gentium134
Veni, Sancte Spiritus124
Verzage nicht, du Haeuflein klein138
Vexilla regis prodeunt122, 124
Von Himmel hoch da komm ich her135
W
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme137
(Wait on the Lord)90
(Wake, awake, for night is flying)138
Waked by the Gospel’s joyful sound211
Walk in the light; so shalt thou know203
(Was there ever kindest Shepherd)206
Watchman, tell us of the night204
We are but strangers here61
We are living, we are dwelling223
We give Thee but Thine own207
We may not climb the heavenly steeps240
(We praise and bless Thee, gracious Lord)145
We would see Jesus, for the shadows lengthen223
Welcome, sweet day of rest60, 73
Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten138
When all Thy mercies, O my God167, 262
When I can read my title clear38
When I survey the wondrous cross38, 59, 79, 171, 176, 237
When marshaled on the mighty plain203
When morning gilds the skies205
When our hearts are bowed with woe200
When the roll is called up yonder245
When the weary, seeking rest208
Where cross the crowded ways of life87, 224
While shepherds watched their flocks by night155
While with ceaseless course the sun196
Who can behold the blazing light212
Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgenstern137
Work, for the night is coming83
Y
Ye holy angels bright164
Ye servants of God, your Master proclaims73, 263
Yet God’s must I remain161
Z
Zion stands with hills surrounded201
Zion, to thy Savior singing126

THE SINGING CHURCH
The Hymns It Wrote and Sang
By EDMUND S. LORENZ

To this author the hymn is not a dry abstraction but an experience of intense reality—of those realities (as of God, Christ, sin, salvation, divine care, eternal life) to which human hearts have responded throughout the ages. His study makes full recognition of the personal elements in hymn development. The singers whose vision of spiritual things is fresh and keen stand out in every age, expanding the permanent content of church hymnody.

Here is indeed a book which will set the Church to singing once more, in an effort to proclaim a new awareness of the presence of God—that same awareness which stirred the composers of our greatest hymns. Dr. Lorenz makes visible to us the golden stairway of great hymn writers, shining at every level of its ascent with the glory of the Christian faith.

THE CONTENTS

Introduction. PART I: The Character of the Hymn. Chapters: What Is a Hymn? The Purpose and Value Of Hymns. The Literary Aspect of Hymns. The Emendation of Hymns. The Content of the Hymn. The Gospel Hymn.

PART II: History of the Development of the Christian Hymn. Chapters: Apostolic Origin and Development. The Post-Apostolic Hymn. The Greek Hymnody. The Latin Hymnody. Luther and the German Hymn. The Later German Hymnody. Metrical Psalmody. The English Hymn before Watts. Isaac Watts and His Period. The Wesleys and Their Era. Hymns in the Church of England. American Hymnody.

PART III: Practical Hymnology. Chapters: The Study of Hymns. The Practical Use of Hymns. The Selection of: Hymns. The Announcement and Treatment of Hymns. Epilogue.

The study is pre-eminently thorough both in literary analysis and in historical research. The altogether practical treatment illuminates the whole field of hymnology and its values.


THE SINGING CHURCH
The Hymns It Wrote and Sang
By EDMUND S. LORENZ

This book merits the careful study of the minister, the choir master, the organist, and others who wish to vitalize public and private worship by an intelligent use of our Christian hymnody.

The book is at once scholarly and practical. No other treats so informatively and yet so interestingly:—

(1) The religious and musical heritage of the hymn writers in the Greek, the Latin, the German, the English, and the American epochs;

(2) The outstanding personalities who made valuable and permanent hymnological contributions in those epochs;

(3) The occasions and emotional crises out of which many great hymns were born;

(4) The critical standards by which hymns may be adjudged great.

No less important is the closing section of this impressive study, Practical Hymnology. Here Dr. Lorenz discusses the ways and means of utilizing the hymn in achieving a new awareness of the presence of God.


Edmund S. Lorenz, LL.D., Mus.Doc., became interested in church music very early in life, and helped himself through the years of his academic and seminary training (at Otterbein University, the United Brethren Seminary, and Yale Divinity School) by writing gospel songs and editing various songbooks. After two years in the ministry and a year as president of Lebanon Valley College, where at the beginning of the second year overwork brought on a complete collapse, he turned again to music. In 1890, he began the business known as Lorenz Publishing Company.

Dr. Lorenz has had many years of experience as editor of Sunday-school Songbooks, church hymnals, and choir magazines. This experience and his years of close contact with the work of the Church have given him a peculiar qualification for the writing of services, choir cantatas, sheet music solos, organ compositions, and songbooks. He has written many books, such as Practical Church Music, Church Music—What a Minister Should Know about It, Music in Work and Worship, Practical Hymn Studies. At home and abroad, he has been in wide demand as a lecturer on church music.

COKESBURY PRESS NASHVILLE TENNESSEE
Publishers of Cokesbury Good Books

Transcriber’s Notes

  • Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
  • Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
  • In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.
  • Collated Table of Contents against headings in the text; removed the reference to the (nonexistant) Chapter XV section VI and renumbered subsequent sections.