Remonres,
My list is short, and is composed of hymns everyone is familiar with. Nothing new or esoteric here, although I have noticed a marked bent toward the sentimental…

All Creatures of Our God and King

Words: Francis of Assisi, circa 1225 (Cantico di fratre sole, Song of Brother Sun). He wrote this hymn shortly before his death, but it was not published for almost 400 years. Translated to English by William H. Draper for a children’s Whitsuntide festival in Leeds, England; first appeared in the Public School Hymn Book, 1919.
Music: Lasst Uns Erfreuen, Ausserlesene Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesäng (Köln, Germany: Peter von Brachel, 1623); harmony by Ralph Vaughan Williams in The English Hymnal (London: Oxford University Press, 1906), number 519

My Jesus, I Love Thee

Words: William R. Featherston, 1864; Featherston was only 16 years old at the time.
Music: Gordon, Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876

Abide With Me

Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1847.
Music: Eventide, William H. Monk, 1861

Be Thou My Vision

Words: Attributed to Dallan Forgaill, 8th Century (Rob tu mo bhoile, a Comdi cride); translated from ancient Irish to English by Mary E. Byrne, in “Eriú,” Journal of the School of Irish Learning, 1905, and versed by Eleanor H. Hull, 1912, alt.
Music: Slane, of Irish folk origin

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place

Words: Eliza E. Hewitt, in Songs of Joy and Gladness, 1891. Hymnals often show the author as Lidie H. Edmunds, Eliza’s pseudonym.
Music: Landås, André E. M. Grétry (1741-1813); arranged by William J. Kirkpatrick (1838-1921)

Praise My Soul the King of Heaven

Words: Henry F. Lyte, Spirit of the Psalms, 1834.
Music: Lauda Anima, John Goss, in Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book, third edition with new Appendix, by Robert Brown-Borthwick, 1869

Our Great Savior (Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners)

Words: J. Wilbur Chapman, 1910.
Music: Hyfrydol, Rowland H. Prichard, 1830

Nearer Still Nearer

Words & Music: Leila N. Morris, 1898

Hymn details pulled from www.cyberhymnal.org

dissidens,

Scott Aniol and I had worked on a very similar project to what you're suggesting here over. I was looking for a collection of hymns for the Saturday night dormitory devotions here at International Baptist College, and so, with help from the commentors, Scott assembled the following list of fifty hymns, which I compiled into a little booklet for our students. The booklet is already in need of revision (some of the hymns suffer from cyberhymnal.org's excessive political correctness), and I hope to have a new version out for the next school year.

If you release a pdf, will it have words and music? Mine was a simple Word document, but I'd love to have the music printed for these hymns.


1. A Mighty Fortress | EIN FESTE BURG
2. Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed | MARTYRDOM
3. All Creatures of Our God and King | LASST UNS ERFREUEN
4. All Hail the Pow’r of Jesus Name | CORONATION
5. Am I a Soldier of the Cross? | ARLINGTON
6. Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands | ROCKINGHAM
7. And Can It Be | SAGINA
8. Arise My Soul, Arise LENOX
9. Be Thou My Vision | SLANE
10. Be Still, My Soul | FINLANDIA
11. Before the Throne of God Above | WARRINGTON
12. Christ the Lord is Risen Today | EASTER HYMN
13. Church of God, Beloved and Chosen | BEECHER
14. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing | NETTLETON
15. Crown Him with Many Crowns | DIADEMATA
16. Depth of Mercy | INNOCENTS
17. God Moves in a Mysterious Way | DUNDEE
18. Hallelujah, What a Savior | MAN OF SORROWS
19. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing | MENDELSOHN
20. Holy, Holy, Holy | NICAEA
21. How Firm a Foundation | FOUNDATION
22. How Sweet and Awful is the Place | ST COLUMBA
23. How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds | ST PETER
24. Immortal, Invisible | ST DENIO
25. I Sing the Mighty Pow’r of God | ELLACOMBE
26. Jesus the Very Thought of Thee | ST AGNES
27. Jesus Thou Joy of Loving Hearts | QUEBEC
28. Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness | GERMANY
29. Jesus in His Heavenly Glory | STUTTGART
30. Jesus Priceless Treasure | JESU MEINE FREUDE
31. Join All the Glorious Names | DARWALL
32. Love Divine, All Loves Excelling | HYFERDOL
33. May the Mind of Christ My Savior | ST LEONARDS
34. O Sacred Head Now Wounded | PASSION CHORALE
35. O God Our Help in Ages Past | ST ANNE
36. O Father, Thou Whose Love Profound | ROCKINGHAM
37. O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing | AZMON
38. O Thou in Whose Presence | DAVIS
39. O Word of God Incarnate | MUNICH
40. O Worship the King | LYONS
41. Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven | LAUDA ANIMA
42. Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty | LOBE DEN HERREN
43. Rejoice the Lord Is King | DARWALL
44. Stand up and Bless the Lord | ST MICHAEL
45. The Church’s One Foundation | AURELIA
46. The King of Love My Shepherd Is | ST COLUMBA
47. The Sands of Time Are Sinking | RUTHERFORD
48. Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies | OLIVE'S BROW
49. Tis the Christ | O MEIN JESU, ICH MUSS STERBEN
50. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross | ROCKINGHAM

Remonres,

Sorry, I didn't notice until after I commented that this was your post, not dissidens's. I didn't intend to address the wrong person.

My apologies.

Jerusalem the Golden.

Slight off topic, but perhaps Dissidens would offer a crash course in classical recordings before the Barnes & Noble May buy-two-get-one free CD sale ends?

An introductory lesson was given earlier, but it was lost in the crash of '07. Perhaps a recap or even a new post is in order?

I bought 3 Arvo Part cds and 3 John Tavener cds because of that deal...

Michael not a problem at all, my screen name often gets confused for Remonstrans Administration as opposed to just plain ole me.

Well, I will definitely be striving for the music as well as the lyrics. I'm not entirely clear on the legalities and don't want to get anyone in trouble so depending on which side of the public domain it falls on I will make as much available as I can.

Howdy all:

I'm just ducking in here from the Eagle (CO) public library. The little session window at the top of my screen is ticking away the allotted time on this computer.

I do like the Riley/Aniol list of 50. Just off the top of my head (and to show I am still engaged), I would add The God Of Abram Praise.

It is not really in keeping with Remonres' request, but I'll offer this in passing. As wonderful as all of Bach's music is, there are artists of the first rank who recognize that the golden heart of all his works are his cantatas (and their chorales). They are not immediately useful for congregational singing, and I don't want to change the purpose of this list, but as long as unk mentioned Jerusalem The Golden [the long version of which I think should always be under the devotional Bible on the bedstand], I can think of few other collections of works that would go as far to amend our judgments as to what is good.

I can't think of many better ways to enrich hall devotions and prepare real worshippers than thoughtful readings of these chorales.

As for Notli, I've not been entirely happy with my attempts at introducing people to the CD market. But I have a long drive ahead of me and I will give some thought to something more helpful.

From Semper V’s I second:

Be Thou My Vision
Praise My Soul the King of Heaven
All Creatures of Our God and King


The Aniol/Riley list also has many that I would have suggested. Here are others:

Holy God We Praise Thy Name (Franz, trans. Walworth) GROSSER GOT
Ye Servants of God (Wesley) HANOVER
The God of Abraham Praise (Olivers) LEONI
Come Thou Almighty King (Anon.) ITALIAN HYMN
Jehovah, Let Me now Adore Thee (Crasselius, trans. Winkworth) DIR DIR JEHOVAH
God Himself is Present (Tersteegen) ARNSBERG
O Gladsome Light (2nd-3rd c. Anon.) (NUNC DIMITTIS (Bourgeois)
O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright (Ambrose) PROPER SARUM
We Rest on Thee (Cherry) FINLANDIA
Of the Father’s Love Begotten (Prudentius trans. Neale & Baker) DIVINIUM MYSTERIUM
Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming (Anon. trans. Baker) ES IST EIN’ ROS’
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Liturgy of St. James) PICARDY
Around the Savior’s Lofty Throne (Kelly) (I like it to FAIRHILL, but that is not its usual tune and it is still “protected”)
Psalm 63 (Trinity Psalter) ST COLUMBA

And of course anything by Ron Hamilton.


Since it is always easy to pile work on someone else, I like some the annotation Semper V offered. A paragraph with background information for some/all songs you include could add to the appreciation of the collection. Also, more Psalms would be nice, but they are strangely unfamiliar to use "Authority of the Bible" Baptists. There must have been a day when our fathers decided Scripture was authoritative for life, but not worship. Anyway... I am most familiar with the Trinity Psalter published by Crown & Covenant. It is especially useful for me becasue it uses many familiar hymn tunes. All that to say if there is interest, I would love to see a good portion of Psalms.

If this takes off, and the annotation suggestion seems approvable I would be more than willing to offer some assistance.

Great idea. I hope this bears fruit.

Speaking of Psalms...

A few years ago we had a discussion about singing/chanting the Psalms and a reader offered some material that would give me instruction on how to do this. Unfortunately, I never received the material - they had too much on their plate and weren't able to get to it (a condition I can relate to).

I'm still interested in learning this. Does anyone have any material they could forward or perhaps a book they would recommend? I know there are a number of Traditions that practice this so I'm not really sure where to begin or look.

Great song suggestions. Keep them coming. I will begin compiling this weekend. It will be interesting to see how much I already possess and how many I will need to search out.

Been working on this as a blog project for some time.

Remonres, in addition to the wonderful suggestions already made, I would add "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" (HYFRYDOL) and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (VENI EMMANUEL).

It would also be nice to include all of the verses for these hymns and not merely those commonly chosen for our hymnals. It often seems that the hymnals choose to leave out the strongest verses.

If I can be of any help in constructing FINALE files for these hymns, please let me know. PDF files could easily be made and transmitted from the FINALE document.

During the hymn vetting process, may I suggest the compilation of a companion booklet composed exclusively of those hymns which lend themselves to Advent?

[A hungry soul’s] "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (VENI EMMANUEL) and [Riley / Aniol’s] “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” | MENDELSOHN could serve as a starter kit.

A straightforward Christmas hymn booklet would be a great blessing - a welcome departure from the syncretism has long engulfed the season.

Dave:

Thanks for reminding us, I haven't completely forgotten you but I must confess to having let you slip my mind.

I did like your list the last time I visited.

http://hymnophile.wordpress.com/

Of the 70 recommended hymns I have sheet music for all but the following 16:

Jehovah, Let Me now Adore Thee (Crasselius, trans Winkworth) DIR DIR JEHOVAH
God Himself is Present (Tersteegen) ARNSBERG
O Gladsome Light (nd-rd c Anon) (NUNC DIMITTIS (Bourgeois)
O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright (Ambrose) PROPER SARUM
We Rest on Thee (Cherry) FINLANDIA
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Liturgy of St James) PICARDY
Around the Savior’s Lofty Throne (Kelly) (I like it to FAIRHILL, but that is not its usual tune and it is still “protected”)
Psalm 63 (Trinity Psalter) ST COLUMBA
Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands | ROCKINGHAM
Before the Throne of God Above | WARRINGTON
Church of God, Beloved and Chosen | BEECHER
How Sweet and Awful is the Place | ST COLUMBA
Jesus in His Heavenly Glory | STUTTGART
O Father, Thou Whose Love Profound | ROCKINGHAM
Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies | OLIVE'S BROW
Tis the Christ | O MEIN JESU, ICH MUSS STERBEN

I'll begin scanning the ones I have. If anyone has these 16, I'd be interested in hearing from you. Once we have a working document we can flesh it out with additional lyrics and annotation.

Remonres, I have music that can be scanned for:

Jehovah, Let Me Now Adore Thee/DIR DIR JEHOVAH
O Gladsome Light, O Grace/NUC DIMITTIS
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence/PICARDY
Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies/OLIVE'S BROW

I have multiple copies of O Splendor of God's Glory Bright, albeit none with the hymn tune listed. (I have this to WAREHAM, SPLENDOR PATERNAE (Sarum Plainsong), and SOLEMNIS HAEC FESTIVITAS.)

I may be able to scan these and email a PDF file if you prefer that to snail mail. Let me know how I can help. I appreciate your work on this.

My God I Love Thee.

Sorry...I don't have a hymnal with me, so I don't have the name of the tune.

I would like to suggest 2 more:
Rock of Ages | REDHEAD (I like this tune better than the traditional TOPLADY)
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus | EBENEZER

To Thy Temple I Repair – Herrnhut
We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer, Creator – Kremser
Blessed Jesus, at Thy Word – Arnheim
Now Thank We All Our God – Nun Danket
The Church’s One Foundation – Aurelia
Before Jehovah’s Glorious Throne – Old Hundredth

O, I'm so glad that Dissidens suggested "We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer, Creator." It's a favorite of our family's, and I did not suggest it only because I assumed that it was relatively unknown. It was one of the very earliest songs that we taught our children.

Bear in mind, "relatively unknown" gives us the opportunity to introduce a time-tested work and still enjoy the benefits of freshness.

Hard to add much to what is here. If "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" is included, could a note be added that it can also be sung to the STUTTGART tune?

At the risk of opening myself to ridicule, I would include "Hallelujah, What a Savior" by the sometimes vilified Bliss (IMO the text and music are quite good, and quite different from much of what was produced during that era. Besides, anyone who finds a way to use a sub-dominant -> tonic ending for something other than a final "Amen" deserves a hat tip at least).

Also, I have loved "May Jesus Christ be Praised" (LAUDES DOMINE) since I was a child. There are evidently many verses not commonly included in the hymnbook for painfully obvious reasons (although the original probably sounds less trite than the translated line "My tongue shall never tire of chanting with the choir"), but the verses listed in the hymn books I've seen--esp. the first and last verses--are good. If it doesn't make the cut, I understand, but I thought I'd give it a vote.

If this comes out, I look forward to learning some of these hymns that I don't know yet. Great idea.

I am wondering if the poor theology within a couple of these hymns already listed outweighs their potential usefulness as vehicles of praise and proclamation, esp. "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" and "The Church's One Foundation".

You have a goodly portion of traditional classics covered; however, I would also recommend these songs from the 2nd and 3rd German periods...

Ah, Holy Jesus - Heerman
Give to the Winds Your Fears - Gerhardt
Awake My Heart with Gladness - Gerhardt
Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me - Gerhardt

Perhaps to give this volume a bit of historical weight you could include the most historic of hymns some of which may have been mentioned...

Shepherd of Tender Youth - thought to be the oldest hymn text
O Gladsome Light - thought to be the 2nd oldest hymn text
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
O Splendor of God's Glory Bright - Ambrose
etc.

As well, hopefully you can incorporate hymns from all of the major hymnological periods, both chronological and geographical, again to give the book some hymnological validity.

I would also suggest incorporating some of Tate & Brady and Sternhold & Hopkins as their psalms played a major role in the development of the English hymn and English church music. They have many excellent adaptations.

Perhaps you could incorporate within the front of your book John Wesley's seven directions for singing. These directions are easy to find, and they embody the priorities of congregational hymnody. They were originally printed in the preface to "Sacred Melody" 1761 and are in the preface to almost all Methodist hymnals (as well as many others). Last comment, there are some contemporary texts by Margaret Clarkson worth including as well.

O Father You Are Sovereign - Clarkson
God of the Ages - Clarkson

Check out David Charpie's hymn texts. If requested he would probably allow you to incorporate some of them into your hymnal.

http://david.charpie.com/compositions/

Check out Dr. Paul Jones' hymns as well. You would have to ask permission to incorporate them, but it would be well worth the effort.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pjones25/index.html

I just remembered another one: O, My Soul, Bless God the Father. It is a versification of Psalm 103. The copy I have does not indicate a hymnwriter. As far as a melody it states: "Adapted from a melody in Psalmodia Sacra.

Another hymn I would really like to sing if someone knew a melody for it is the Isaac Watts hymn, "Not All the Blood of Beasts."

cribro:

Well, I’m not a great lover of Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, but I make no strenuous objection to it. Your valid point is that we should represent periods, times and places; this is good. By the same rationale, we should represent the honest worship of those in fellowships foreign to ours. An orthodox position held in good faith is unobjectionable to me; it seems a minimal price to pay for a proper sense of charity and fraternal cohesion. (I love Faber too much.)

But this is a judgment call.

Just this last week I heard an objection to The Church’s One Foundation which I found just too implausible. I stand by my appreciation of it.

We have discussed Boice’s hymns here, and there is a copyright issue. I love Come To The Waters. I am familiar with the Charpie stuff I’ve seen on his website and it is good, I agree.

We have also discussed (months ago) the preface to Sacred Melody. It is good and helpful.

Since this is not my project, I am disinclined to suggest too much in the way of what the front matter should contain, but I think it ought to make some points for the worshiper that Wesley didn’t address.

Thanks for the suggestions.

E.C. Scrubb, The following link gives the tune for "Not All the Blood of Beasts."

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/a/nalblood.htm

I didn't see it as I reviewed the suggestions so far, but I'd cast a vote for Praise Ye the Triune God/FLEMING. As a side note, I learned it for youth choir at the church I grew up in where we sang every Sunday night (frequently serious music, but not always).

While there has been some discussion about what should or should not be included in this "small" compilation, my only focus at this point has been to include every hymn that has been recommended and that I have access to. My thought was that once all the hymns are compiled (or as many as can be found), and in your hands, we could then discuss whether hymns belong in or out, weaknesses and strengths, etc. At that point everyone can edit the file according to their own beliefs/criteria/convictions.

That being said, I'm pleased to say that I have completed scanning all the hymns I could find. Many thanks to those who also forwarded material - I'll be adding it tonight.

The question that now remains is how to get the pdf to anyone that is interested. Perhaps I set the scanner at too high a resolution but with about 55 or 56 songs (61 pages), the pdf is about 12 megs and I'm not sure whether the site can accomodate the size (I need to check with Dav).

In the interim, I think my gmail account can manage it. I'll also see if I can get it any smaller by zipping it (though I'm doubtful). Feel free to email me and I will try my best to distribute it while we consider options.

Later on I'll post an updated list of hymns that I couldn't locate.

Remonres--Thanks for all the work you're putting into this. I just noticed that "Hallelujah, What a Savior" was already mentioned on Aniol's list. I thought I had read through the recommendations carefully, but apparently not.

Good news.

A little tinkering and I have reduced the file to 1.5 megs.

Again, thanks to those who have contributed! Following is a list of songs that still haven't been located:

Ah, Holy Jesus (Heerman)
Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands (ROCKINGHAM)
Around the Savior’s Lofty Throne (Kelly)
Awake My Heart with Gladness (Gerhardt)
Before Jehovah’s Glorious Throne (Old Hundredth)
Before the Throne of God Above (WARRINGTON)
Blessed Jesus, at Thy Word (Arnheim)
Church of God, Beloved and Chosen (BEECHER)
Give to the Winds Your Fears (Gerhardt)
Hallelujah, What a Savior (Bliss)
How Sweet and Awful is the Place (ST COLUMBA)
Jehovah, Let Me now Adore Thee (Crasselius, trans Winkworth-DIR DIR JEHOVAH)
Jesus in His Heavenly Glory (STUTTGART)
Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me (Gerhardt)
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Liturgy of St James –PICARDY)
Not All the Blood of Beasts http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/a/nalblood.htm (
O Father, Thou Whose Love Profound (ROCKINGHAM)
O Gladsome Light
O Gladsome Light ((nd-rd c Anon) (-NUNC DIMITTIS (Bourgeois))
O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright ((Ambrose) -PROPER SARUM)
O, My Soul, Bless God the Father.
Rock of Ages (REDHEAD )
Shepherd of Tender Youth
Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies (OLIVE'S BROW)
Tis the Christ (O MEIN JESU, ICH MUSS STERBEN)
To Thy Temple I Repair (Herrnhut)
We Rest on Thee ((Cherry) –FINLANDIA)

If anyone has access and can send a scan, you can use the gmail address.

The contributions have slowed down so I think I am in the final stretch for the document.

The pdf currently includes Wesley's 7 directions for singing and bookmarks for each song.

The file is now about 2 megs and I am turning my attention to a table of contents and annotation for as many songs as I can find.

Again, if anyone is interested in receiving the pdf, has additional songs to include, or has annotations to be included, kindly forward them to my gmail account.