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. Find a publisher who works with your style of material. The Writers’ & Artists’ Year Book will provide …
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 … On the one hand, the Christian faith …
Occasional Papers 3 No1: Snakes and Ladders
You need to login to view this content. Please Login. Not a Member? Join Us
Treasure No 69: A Few Thoughts on Hymn Writing
[This article was originally written as guidance for potential contributors to the Church of Scotland hymn-book now in preparation.] Hymn writing is a real challenge, requiring a great deal of practice, because there are so many considerations to be dealt with within a very limited framework. But when all the difficulties have been faced and overcome, it is a very …
Treasure No 43: Genesis of a Hymn
How 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? While I was thinking of a friend’s experience of bereavement, the following four lines came, unbidden, to mind: This seemed to be the beginning of something—a verse perhaps. Obviously something more needed to be said. …
Treasure No 42: The Hymn Today
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). When people first started talking about ‘modern hymns’ in the late 1950’s they usually meant that they had found a 1930’s …
Treasure No 35: Hymn Writing Today
[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 now well known as one of our most fertile and imaginative hymn writers. Several of his pieces …