The Story of the Hymns and Tunes

This volume surveys the origins, authorship, and musical settings of many well-known hymns and tunes, arranging entries by themes such as praise, devotion, missionary work, revival, Sunday school, patriotism, sailors', Welsh and field hymns, festival pieces, and consolation. It offers biographical sketches of hymn writers and composers, historical context for texts and melodies, and notes on musical form and usage. The narrative mixes anecdote and analysis to trace how particular words and tunes evolved, how doxologies and metrical versions emerged, and how hymns were adopted in worship, and it is supplemented by portraits and thorough indexes of names, tunes, and hymns for reference.