Hymn Writing | The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

A Functional Art by Timothy Dudley-Smith

Just out – the latest work from Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith!

Hymn Writers Workshop

Please see below details of a Hymn Writers Workshop being organized by Jubilate. This Day may be of interest to both aspiring and established Hymn Writers and composers, especially those living in, or around, or within easy access to London. It will be a day of insight, practical training and fellowship for lyricists and composers alike. In addition to the main …

Short Guide No 18: Getting Hymns Published

To write one or more hymns and have them used by a congregation to which you belong is one thing; to have these hymns published commercially is another matter. This paper looks primarily at hymn texts but similar principles apply for music. Before Publishing Write, check and re-write. The first draft is rarely the finished article. Let someone else see …

Bulletin 276 Volume 20 No7 Summer 2013

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Short Guide No 6: What Makes A Good Hymn?

Answering this question inevitably contains a subjective element: a hymn which one person finds comforting can seem mawkish to someone else, while one believer’s treasured old favourite can sound dated to another Christian. Here, as food for thought, are five balances and five contrasts which may help to identify hymns of quality… Five Balances A good hymn balances… Theology and …

Bulletin 261 Volume 19 No4 October 2009

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Bulletin 258 Volume 19 No1 January 2009

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Occasional Papers 3 No1: Snakes and Ladders

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Bulletin 242 Volume 17 No9 January 2005

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Bulletin 236 Volume 17 No3 July 2003

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Treasure No 69: A Few Thoughts on Hymn Writing

Treasure No 69: A Few Thoughts on Hymn Writing by Alison Robertson: An article from Bulletin 235, April 2003 (This article was originally written as guidance for potential contributors to the Church of Scotland hymn-book now in preparation.) ymn writing is a real challenge, requiring a great deal of practice, because there are so many considerations to be dealt with …

Bulletin 235 Volume 17 No2 April 2003

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Bulletin 222 Volume 16 No1 January 2000

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Bulletin 215 Volume 15 No6 April 1998

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Bulletin 206 Volume 14 No9 January 1996

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Bulletin 174 Volume 12 No1 January 1988

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Treasure No 43: Genesis of a Hymn

Treasure No 43: Genesis of a Hymn by Brian Wren: An article from Bulletin 143, Autumn 1978 ow do hymns get written? Readers may find it interesting to eavesdrop on the process of composition of one particular hymn—or is it a song? Stage 1: Inspiration While I was thinking of a friend’s experience of bereavement, the following four lines came, …

Treasure No 42: The Hymn Today

Treasure No 42: The Hymn Today: An article from Bulletin 138, Winter 1977 Under this title a symposium was presented at the Society’s Conference at Norwich last year. Here we print the substance of what each speaker said on that occasion (or, more accurately, what he would have said had time allowed). i. The Challenge of the Words by Brian …

Treasure No 35: Hymn Writing Today

Treasure No 35: Hymn Writing Today by F. Pratt Green: An article from Bulletin 120, Winter 1971 (Editorial note: We are glad to reprint this article which originally appeared in The Methodist Recorder, 1 October 1970, and are grateful to the editor of that journal and to the author for permission to do so. Frederick Pratt Green, Methodist minister, is …

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

4 days ago

The Hymn Society is very sorry to have to announce the death, after a brief illness, of its esteemed member, Martin Ellis.
Martin was to many a much-valued friend and respected colleague. He was a member since the early 1970s and served on the Executive Committee on a number of occasions. Only last July, Martin delivered a Sectional at our Canterbury Conference.
As we give thanks for Martin's life, we remember Miriam in our prayers.
A Service of Thanksgiving, celebrating Martin's life in its many facets, will be held on Saturday 22nd February at 11am in Museum Street Methodist Church, Ipswich. ... See MoreSee Less

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

3 weeks ago

The link for the live streaming of the Celebration of the Life of Shirley Erena Murray will be:

vimeopro.com/withloveweremember/shirleyerenamurray

This will stay up afterwards for later viewing. Timing is 11am NZT on 31 January.

New Zealand time zones are the same as Auckland www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ ... See MoreSee Less

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Join the web’s most supportive community of creators and get high-quality tools for hosting, sharing, and streaming videos in gorgeous HD with no ads.

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

3 weeks ago

Another sad message, which has just arrived with us from New Zealand. The much-loved, pioneering and influential hymn writer, Shirley Erena Murray, passed away yesterday.
The following message comes from her family:

Tena koutou.

It is with much sadness that we note the passing of Shirley.

She died on Saturday afternoon New Zealand time, peacefully at Paraparaumu.

Mum had been in declining health for some months, and was accepting of the last passage of her life, so it was both a relief for her and the family, despite the obvious sadness.

Funeral arrangements – Friday 31 January, 11:00 am at Kapiti Uniting Church, 10 Weka Road, Raumati Beach.

We send aroha (love) to all her friends, relatives, and those in the music community.

David, Alastair and Rob ... See MoreSee Less

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

3 weeks ago

A link for those who would like to know more:

nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fiona.org.uk%2F2020%2F01%2F10%2Ffuneral-... ... See MoreSee Less

Funeral of Graham Maule - The Iona Community

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FUNERAL OF GRAHAM MAULE Today we will be saying farewell to our dearly loved friend and colleague Graham and committing his body to the embrace of the earth he loved. For those friends unable to be with us in Glasgow: An offering in appreciation of Graham’s life and work will be taken at [...

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

3 weeks ago

Some of you may be interested to read the obituary for the late Graham Maule. It is printed below.

GRAHAM MAULE
24 September 1958 – 29 December 2019

When Graham Maule passed from life to Greater Life on 29th December 2019, the world became a more silent place. He loved music, particularly singing, and – as an untrained vocalist with a captivatingly innocent voice – enabled and encouraged others to join the song in Britain and abroad.

Born in 1958 and having graduated in architecture from Glasgow University, he was within striking distance of his professional qualification when he gave up that vocation because, in his own words, he 'did not want to make bread out of stone.'

For seven years he worked in voluntary and paid capacities as a youth worker, latterly for the Iona Community, becoming the close colleague and collaborator of John Bell. Their early liturgical work developed in the context of monthly youth events in Glasgow, attracting up to four hundred young people. These always ended with an act of worship in which traditional music from the Southern Hemisphere, and their own songs written for specific events, enabled teenagers who had given up on church music to find their voice and sing in three or four part harmony without musical notation.

Some of these young people became founding members of the Wild Goose Worship Group which, for eighteen years, invested time and creativity in developing materials for participative liturgy which maximised congregational song, symbolic action and shared reflection on Scripture. In conjunction with this group and its professional offspring, the Wild Goose Resource Group, John and Graham produced over thirty volumes of songs, biblical reflections and associated materials for worship.

Graham's architectural skill, his appreciation of the hidden potentials of ecclesiastical buildings and his innate creativity enabled him to become something of a liturgical pioneer who developed what might be called congregational performance liturgies based on everything from the Tower of Babel to The Messianic Banquet via The Song of Songs. These all involved the creation of temporary structures with which participants interacted. Many such liturgies were first staged in Iona Abbey and several of them have been used in places as distant as Canada and Romania.

Bell and Maule never wrote hymns or songs for competitions; they believed that expressed need, a lack of appropriate materials or a spiritual insight should be the starting point. Nor did they ever write specifically for publication. All their published and unpublished songs were vetted, amended and sometimes rejected by the worship group they led, and then 'road tested' in different contexts. It was their conviction that religious songs for congregational use should not be personal devotional ditties, but texts to which the people of God could give their Amen. And because both had been blessed by coming from households where folk melodies were sung to them from childhood, they enjoyed marrying such tunes to new texts - a practice which was regarded as anathema to the elite musical guardians of Scottish Presbyterianism who never registered any objections when it came to Ralph Vaughan Williams's penchant for folk tune as exhibited in The English Hymnal (1906), of which he was music editor.

Although Bell and Maule never advertised their wares, overseas publishers sought rights to represent them and, in most cases, translate their work into languages as diverse as Frisian and Japanese. Graham, who had a good business mind, oversaw this and deftly persuaded the suitors that just as the texts were the products of several minds, so the translations had to be done cooperatively.

In 2011, Graham was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh for his thesis entitled Sacerludus (sacred game). It is a study of ritual as it pertains to performance art and liturgy, and is a testament to Graham's deep conviction that the Incarnation was about embodiment as much as theology.

But in tribute after tribute paid to him after his death, gratitude has been overwhelmingly expressed for the sound of his own voice, his infectious enthusiasm for the song of the Christian community, and his conviction that words matter and therefore should be chosen wisely. ... See MoreSee Less

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

1 month ago

Graham Maule, 24/09/58 - 29/12/19 ... See MoreSee Less

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

1 month ago

With great sadness, we have learned of the death of Graham Maule, whose collaboration with John Bell in authoring hymns was uniquely outstanding. Together, they worked hard at crafting a wholly distinctive page in the annals of contemporary English-language hymnody. That will surely stand as his memorial.
We reproduce below some comments from Pat Bennett, on behalf of the Iona Community. The lines of the hymn that follows demonstrate the unique contribution made by both artists to the people's song:

Graham Maule (24/09/1958 – 29/12/2019)

“Tell him that we love him, and we miss him”

It is with the deepest sorrow that we have to tell you that our dearly loved friend and colleague Graham Maule, artist and musician, founding member of the Wild Goose Resource Group and staff member of the Iona Community for many years, died peacefully on Sunday 29th December after a short illness. A full obituary will follow in due course.

Graham’s funeral service will take place on Friday 10th January at 11.00 in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, 300 Great Western Rd, Glasgow G4 9JB. For details of public transport, parking etc. please see this information sheet

The Burial will follow at Craufurdland Natural Woodland Burial Ground, near Fenwick in Ayrshire. Directions will be given at the funeral, or see: craufurdland.co.uk/burial-ground/

Thereafter there will be a time for meeting and light refreshments in the auditorium at Oran Mor, which is at the Botanic Gardens junction of Great Western Rd and Byres Rd, G12 8QX, from 14.30 to 18.30.

Go, silent friend, your life has found its ending:
to dust returns your weary, mortal frame.
God, who before birth called you into being,
now calls you hence, his accent still the same.
Go, silent friend, your life in Christ is buried;
for you He lived and died and rose again.
Close by His side your promised place is waiting
where, fully known, you shall with God remain.

Go, silent friend. Forgive us if we grieved you;
safe now in heaven, kindly say our name.
Your life has touched us, that is why we mourn you;
our lives without you cannot be the same.
Go, silent friend, we do not grudge you glory.
Sing, sing with joy deep praises to your Lord.
You, who believed that Christ would come back for you,
now celebrate that Jesus keeps his word.

Text: John L. Bell & Graham Maule
Tune: Londonderry Air ... See MoreSee Less

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