NOTES from Our Director of Music

Ken Selinger

FEBRUARY 2010

I was asked a while ago what the word or phrase was that is noted in our Sunday bulletin to the right of the hymn titles. I quickly answered, “Oh, that’s the hymn tune.” While the reply answered the question, I’ve since thought about whether it was complete enough of a response. So here goes a little lesson in what I’ll call “Hymn Tune 101.”

All of our hymns are indexed by a tune name as well as by author, arranger, source, and musical meter. You can find some of that information at the bottom of the hymn page, with additional acknowledgements listed in the rear Indexes of the hymnbook. One hymn tune can have multiple texts. For example, the tune “Duke Street” might be familiar as I Know That My Redeemer Lives! That tune might have been inspired by the eight verses that Samuel Medley had already composed. (Yes, Medley was his last name and he wrote over 230 hymns.) This popular tune also eventually became the setting for two of Isaac Watts’ texts, Jesus Shall Reign and Give to Our God Immortal Praise! It has always been regarded as a “sturdy and much loved tune” and was the setting for various texts sung during the Billy Graham Crusades in the 1950s. I found at least 30 other authors writing to this melody and appearing in other hymnbooks.

The tune “Duke Street” has been attributed to John Hatton who is said to have known Samuel Medley and composed it in 1710. Little is known about Hatton other than that he lived on Duke Street in St. Helen’s, Lancaster, England, and that his funeral was conducted at the Presbyterian chapel there.

There are times when the writer of the verses also composes the music. They often name or index their hymn tune by words from the text, the name of a loved one, or perhaps the town or region in which it was written. Sometimes a song writer is inspired by a biblical text, some poetry, or prose. You will also notice in the acknowledgements that many of the tunes we sing have been composed by a different author than writer of the text.

Our new ELW worship book has many new texts written by a number of contemporary authors to traditional hymn tunes such as “Duke Street.” While not all hymn tunes meet the definition, these are some of the attributes that are considered important:

·         It must be suitable for singing

·         Musical style generally considered to be suitable for devotional use in public Christian worship

·         Singable by a group

·         Usable with minimal instrumental accompaniment

For the early church, a successful “hymn tune” was like a folksong and sung by rote rather than from a book. It was sung as heard rather than as composed and written down. One of the first things that I noticed in our new ELW was how many of the familiar tunes now have new and/or revised texts set to them. There are a number of hymn tunes written in the 1700s that now have a text composed in the last 25 years. Through a familiar melody, the writer has found new ways of speaking to our culture.

So that concludes our brief lesson and makes my reply more complete.

SOUND SYSTEM VOLUNTEERS…

We’re still looking for volunteers to operate and monitor our new sound system. It is not difficult and definitely does not require someone with technical expertise. You just need to stay alert during the service (no daydreaming) and have a good ear. We need individuals for both the 8 and 10:30 services. Please contact me @ kselinger@ccivideo.com so we can setup an orientation session. Our more experienced operators will let you sit with them to get comfortable with the system. We hope to establish a schedule that would ask you to serve only once every three months.