Extract from the first entry in the Minute Book of The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland: ‘A Conference of those interested in the Study of Hymnody was held in Room A of Westminster Central Hall on Monday October 5th 1936 to consider the question of forming a Society for that purpose…Rev. Canon G. W. Briggs, Worcester, was called …
Treasure No 76: Producing 5,842 hymns
(A transcript of the paper given to the Hymn Society Conference of 2009) When your President asked me for a title for this talk and I came up with ‘Producing 5,842 hymns’, I wondered if you thought there was another Charles Wesley in your midst without your ever having known it! Let me assure you there is not. I make …
Treasure No 17: What makes a good hymn?
[This is the script of a broadcast made by the Editor on the BBC Home Service on October 7th, 1952. It is here reprinted in response to the suggestion of some readers, and by courtesy of the BBC. Only a few points of broadcasting style are altered.] What makes a good hymn? Some of you may have a feeling that …
Treasure No 10: Hymns on the Air
I have been asked to review the field of hymn-singing on the air, and to say something about the criteria which govern the choice of hymns in religious broadcasts. As these programmes stand at the moment, no less than thirty hymns are broadcast every week. 1. The Daily Service (Home Service, 10.15 a.m.). From the very first this has been …