Supplement to 1940 Hymnal Approved
Diocesan Press Service. December 4, 1974 [74340]
RICHMOND, Va. -- The familiar tune for "Joy to the World" will be available in Episcopalian hymnals by next Christmas (1975), along with 66 other alternate hymns and tunes which the hymn committee of the Standing Commission on Church Music has approved for a 1975 supplement to the Hymnal 1940. The committee met at St. Paul's, Richmond, Nov. 15-16.
The committee hopes the new 50-page supplement will be bound into all copies of the Hymnal 1940 published after the middle of 1975, when the present stock is expected to run out. The Church Hymnal Corporation would also print separate copies of the supplements, suitable for placing in the back of hymnals already in use.
Hymn committee members are also working on a report concerning a new hymnal for the 1980's, to be presented to the 1976 General Convention. They are generally agreed that one is needed "musically and theologically," but how badly, and whether the church can afford the cost, are serious questions.
"The cost of a hymnal in the 1980's may be enormous," one member said. It would almost certainly demand a full-time staff coordinator and a tremendous amount of effort, not to mention the cost of new printing and new books. "We're not really sure the people are thinking through all the things that might be involved. "
The research comes out of a resolution which went through the last General Convention, calling on the Standing Commission to "prepare a report on a revised hymnal, for submission to the next General Convention."
The hymn committee is tentatively planning to poll diocesan liturgical and music commissions to ask how satisfactory they find various aspects of the present hymnal.
The new supplement will include a number of familiar hymn tunes which were left out of the 1940 Hymnal, such as the tune for "Joy to the World," and one for "Joyful, Joyful, We adore Thee. " It will include settings for the Benedictus Qui Venit, which has come into common use in the church, new tunes for canticles, eight repointed canticles, and three plainsong canticle settings. There will also be three early American hymn tunes, and the committee has commissioned five well-known American composers to come up with new tunes for five hymns which they feel need them.
Present when the hymn committee met in Richmond were the Ven. Frederic P. Williams (Indianapolis), chairman of the Standing Commission on Church Music; the Rev. Marion J. Hatchett (Sewanee) ; Raymond Glover (Richmond) ; Franklin Coleman (Kent School, Connecticut); Alec Wyton of New York City, the commission's coordinator; and Judi Brown, Wyton's assistant.