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Yesterday morning in Sac Mtg we sang one of my least favorite LDS hymns, The Spirit of God. First of all, it’s loooooong. Second, Mormon pianists play the hymn at a tempo more appropriate for a funeral dirge, and Mormon congregations sing it with that same amount of gusto. It’s not a hymn of joyful praise, it doesn’t engender quiet reflection and reverence, and the tune itself is not particularly moving. All this, of course, is my opinion. You may love The Spirit of God– I don’t know how, but you might. After this experience, I wondered “If I could go through the hymnal and retire any hymns I wanted, which ones would get the boot?” So I pose that to you all – which hymns would you banish to the telestial kingdom? Or conversely, which ones are particularly poignant or moving to you?
Banish? This is a no brainer….Praise to the Man. Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
The best hymn and most moving in the book is… All Creatures of Our God and King.
Great song for the pagens like myself.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Cwald, I’ll second the motion on both of those recommendations! :clap: There are a lot of great hymns in the first hundred pages that we hardly ever sing. Things along the lines of “All Creatures of our God and King.” High on a Mountain Top, Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise, Beautiful Zion Built Above, Come Thou Glorious Day of Promise, For the Beauty of the Earth, God is Love, Come Ye Children of the Lord, On This Day of Joy and Gladness, Glory to God on High, Rejoice the Lord is King, etc. We hardly ever sing these. I think the opening hymn could almost always be one of these PRAISE oriented songs, instead of ones that focus on ME/US – Because I Have Been Given Much, Lord I Would Follow Thee, Each Life that Touches Ours for Good, Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth. And my personal sung-as-opening-pet-peeve – Have I Done Any Good in the World Today? (Good grief, no. I just woke up.) IMO, those are better AFTER the content of meeting. Off my soapbox now, except to add that tempo is important.
Apologies in advice for my soapbox… If the hymns are unmoving it’s probably a combination of difficult-to-change factors. Unsupportive bishopric and music chairmen, accompanist apathy or boredom, accompanist lack of training or experience, or a disengaged congregation. However most hymns can be “good” hymns and can be made enjoyable but it takes coordinated effort and thoughtfulness by all the parties listed above.
One issue that faces many musicians is that they are given too little prep time by leadership and many have that calling for literally decades and become complacent over time.
The Spirit of God is one of my favorites because I get to turn the volume up, use a fancy introduction, use a fanfare on the last verse, and use “full organ” on the last verse. I understand why Praise to the Man is disliked, but there are ways to make it more interesting also. Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of it for MOTAB is moving.
That being said there are a few hymns that I don’t enjoy as much as others. The sunshine hymns in the 220s and the Choose the Rights in the 230s are a bit repetitive and musically less interesting to me. In Our Lovely Deseret is trying.
My favorite hymns: The Morning Breaks, Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah, All Creatures of Our God and King, A Mighty Fortress, How Firm a Foundation, most of the Christmas hymns. It’s true what’s been said above – there are many hidden treasures in the hymnbook.
My favorite 3, and those that I have instructed to be sung at my funeral. (At an appropriate tempo, lest I hop up out of my casket and direct it myself) The Day Dawn is Breaking, Let Us All Press On, We Are All Enlisted
I would love to retire: Be Thou Humble, Be Still My Soul, Adam-ondi-Ahman (rhyming Ahman with common? Really?) As Sisters in Zion
Also, every ward music leader and organist should be issued a metronome and be required to set it to the suggested tempo for each song, or they will be immediately released. Have you ever heard “I Believe in Christ” at the right tempo? It doesn’t drag on much at all, whereas when most wards sing it you want to leave before the end of the first verse.
Quote:In Our Lovely Deseret is trying.
This used to be my dad’s favorite song, and we had to sing it every week in FHE. We wrote lyrics to the chorus: “Shark! Shark! Shark! The children screaming.” It went on to describe a rather gory shark mauling. Made the song much more fun.
Quote:After this experience, I wondered “If I could go through the hymnal and retire any hymns I wanted, which ones would get the boot?” So I pose that to you all – which hymns would you banish to the telestial kingdom?
Keep Your Shoulder to the Wheel (corny)
Families are forever (words don’t fit tune, especially that bit about “heavenly father’s plan”)
Sunshine in my Soul Today (both counts)
I can think of a few hymns that I would like to see in there…
What’s with our version of “Guide us oh thou Great Jehovah”? The tune’s been altered and the “bread of heaven” verse has been taken out.
rebeccad wrote:My favorite 3, and those that I have instructed to be sung at my funeral. (At an appropriate tempo, lest I hop up out of my casket and direct it myself)
The Day Dawn is Breaking, Let Us All Press On, We Are All Enlisted
I would love to retire: Be Thou Humble, Be Still My Soul, Adam-ondi-Ahman (rhyming Ahman with common? Really?) As Sisters in Zion
Also, every ward music leader and organist should be issued a metronome and be required to set it to the suggested tempo for each song, or they will be immediately released. Have you ever heard “I Believe in Christ” at the right tempo? It doesn’t drag on much at all, whereas when most wards sing it you want to leave before the end of the first verse.
I second the notion of a metronome — there is even a free one for iphone. It’s a no-brainerI am a Child of God can end up a dirge too.
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