Excerpt from Hymns of the Faith: With Psalms for the Use of Congregations
Another hymn and tune book is justified and even demanded by the rapid development of church music in recent years, and by an accompanying improvement in the choice and use of hymns. During the last twenty years, especially, the number of fine and noble musical compositions has been constantly increasing. The new music has, in turn, called out many hymns which are among the best in the language, and are destined to hold a permanent place. There is, besides, a more discriminating judgment of the vast number of hymns found in earlier collections. The materials, therefore, for compiling a hymn and tune book have never before been so ample and various. "Hymns of the Faith" has been prepared under the guidance of distinct and consistent principles. It is not a revision of some existing book with better tunes of the modern school introduced here and there, but is a fresh work from beginning to end, adapted to the enrichment of congregational singing according to the best methods.
In churches which have no prescribed liturgy, the improvement of public worship is to be expected chiefly in the direction of congregational singing and chanting. Without making radical changes in the simplicity of non-liturgical worship, it Is entirely practicable, now that so much fine music is available, to secure the participation of the people by a more liberal use of sacred song.
Hymns.
The order of topical arrangement is determined by the Apostles' Creed, which has suggested the title of the book, and has also determined the proportion of its various parts. The great facts and truths of Christianity accordingly come first: God the Father Almighty, Christ the Saviour, the Holy Ghost, the Church, the Communion of Saints; and afterwards the Salvation and Experience of believers, the Forgiveness of Sins, including the new life in its beginning and progress, which reaches on to the Resurrection and the Life Everlasting. To these are added hymns for the Lord's Day, Morning, Evening, and other Times and Seasons, Children's Hymns, and Ancient and Scriptural Hymns.
The selection of hymns has been determined throughout by the needs of public worship. No hymns have been admitted, however excellent as religious poetry, which are not available for singing. The omission of certain hymns, which have heretofore retained a place, and which may be missed, has been made for sufficient reasons. Some are passing out of use, some are not suited to public worship, some have been replaced by better hymns on the same topic.
The original versions have been preserved, except when changes have become too familiar to be disturbed, or are obvious improvements.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Hymns of the Faith (George Harris)