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A hymn tune is a melody to which a hymn is sung. For example, the hymn, "O for a thousand tongues to sing" is sung to AZMON, RICHMOND, and other hymn tunes. Names of hymn tunes are spelled in capital letters. Lists of hymn tunes can be found near the end of most hymnals, along with lists of composers and other source materials. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure. ...

Performance

Typically, as part of worship services in churches and synagogues, hymn tunes are sung by congregations, accompanied by organ, piano, guitars, or other instruments. Some hymn tunes are sung in unison, and others are sung in parts. It is common for a congregation to sing the hymn tune in unison while a choir sings in four parts: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. A descant is sometimes sung by sopranos during selected verses. Descant or discant can refer to different things in music; A form of medieval music where one person sang a fixed melody, and others accompanied with improvisations. ...

History

Prior to the Reformation, liturgical hymn were sung in Latin by priests and choirs. Congregational singing started within the Calvinist movement and later spread to other groups. During the decade 1791-1800, more than 8,000 hymn tunes were printed in Great Britain and between 7,000 and 8,000 were printed in the United States; during the decade 1801-1810, about 11,000 hymn tunes were printed in Great Britain, while more than 15,000 were printed in the United States. The total number of hymn tunes published with English-language texts with publications during from 1535 up to and including 1820 is recorded as 159,123. The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ...

In modern hymnals, hymn tunes are usually printed along with the hymns themselves. However, many early hymnals consisted of texts only. The early Methodist movement provides an example. The co-founders, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, published several text-only collections, culminating in A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists, in 1780. John Wesley published tune books separately, culminating in Sacred Harmony, in 1780. In 1786, with the fifth edition of the text-only Collection, Wesley indicated at the head of each hymn the tune to which he intended it to be sung. Among the tunes in Sacred Harmony that are still in use are DERBY, HELMSLEY, and SAVANNAH.

Among twentieth-century developments were the publishing of The English Hymnal in 1906, under the music editorship of Ralph Vaughan Williams, increased inclusion of ethnic hymn tunes, increased use of guitar accompaniments, and increased inclusion of descants in hymnals. Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM (October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958) was an influential English composer. ... Descant or discant can refer to different things in music; A form of medieval music where one person sang a fixed melody, and others accompanied with improvisations. ...

References

• Raymond F. Glover, ed., The Hymnal 1982 Companion, four volumes, The Church Hymnal Corporation, New York, 1990.
• Franz Hildegrandt and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Works of John Wesley, volume 7: A Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called Methodists, Oxford University Press, 1983. Includes Appendix J: Wesley's Tunes for the Collection, 1786.
• John Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology, 2 vols., Dover Publications, New York, 1957.
• Nicholas Temperley, The Hymn Tune Index: a Census of English-language hymn tunes in printed sources from 1535 to 1820, four volumes, Oxford University Press, 1998.
• D. DeWitt Wasson, Hymntune Index and Related Hymn Materials, three volumes, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 1998.