OR FIVE LONG YEARS, we sorted thousands of hymn tunes into “meter sets” as preparation for the Brébeuf Hymnal. The end result was about 4,500 files, meaning I can instantly pull up and compare all the various texts (and harmonizations) for any hymn. When one begins to study hymnody, one quickly discovers that multiple names are often assigned to the same tune. Even worse, many of the (pre-1950) Catholic hymnals omitted tune names altogether! In particular, in America after the Great War, many hymnal editors changed “German sounding” tune names, causing great confusion. 1
We often encounter hymn tune names that are “shared”—and not in a good way. I am talking about hymns like WALTHAM, which refers to one melody in Hymns Ancient and Modern (#324) and a totally different melody in the New English Hymnal and a totally different one in the Episcopal 1940 Hymnal (#259). The same is true for WELLS, which refers to one melody in the New Westminster Hymnal but a completely different melody in the New English Hymnal. There are many more examples: FULDA, ST GEORGE, ST BERNARD (cf. Hymns Ancient and Modern #188), and so forth.
If someone calls a hymn by a different name, don’t be too hasty to reprimand, because frequently there is no “correct” name for the tune. However, we can all agree that calling the same tune by multiple names in the same hymnal is unacceptable. George Ratcliffe Woodward has a good reputation when it comes to hymns, but look what he did here:
Now look what he called the tune in another section of the same hymnal:
For the record, here’s how the Brébeuf Hymnal harmonizes it:
Carefully examine these two melodies (“BOYCE” and “HALTON HOLGATE”):
Look at the bass line, if you don’t see it.
HALTON HOLGATE is also called “SHARON” and JERSEY.
Perhaps the worst offender is “ICH BEGEHR NICHT MEHR,” which has a billion different names (including St. Leonard) and is used with different meters. Needless to say, there are numerous variants, with different passing tones, etc.
Here are some opinions I have vis-à-vis hymn tune names:
Unhelpful & Unspecific Names:
Shepherds in the field
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Truth from Above
Weird Looking Names:
Strength and stay
Metzler’s Redhead No. 66
Redhead No. 46
Unprepossessing or Inelegant Names:
My Dancing Day
Stars of Ice
Long is our Winter
Hard to Pronounce Names:
Khanta Zagun Guziek
Wallet Will Ich
Ins Feld Geh
Do you agree?
NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1 For more on this subject, Google “Germanophobia.”