Going through the New Living Parish Hymn Book is my further education in traditional hymnody. The CWB I and II had a lot of this as well and there were a few in AOV and the other collections. For some parishes, like Chris’s, these songs are most of their music liturgy and they are how that assembly effectively sings and prays. It’s not the usual repetoire in the parish I play at, but I do drop in the very occasional traditional hymn when it fits the liturgy. If we still had an organist we probably would do more, but they can be played on a guitar at a pinch.
Having grown up Presbyterian, some of these tunes are familiar to me but the more strictly Catholic ones I am made aware of by causing flashbacks to my cradle Catholic wife when she hears a tune and can recite the entire text from pained childhood memory.
There are pdfs of old public domain Catholic hymnals about on the internet but they don’t look much like what is being described as traditional today. For example, from Australia, the US and England:
Looking at 1952 The Hymnal of Pius X, the English language hymns there are less than half the book and very few of these are still sung. While the Catholic Church’s traditional music could be said to be Latin chant, that wasn’t so across the whole church in time, place or position (ie not often for the laity). NLPHB has several songs translated to English from Latin chants with a tune based on the original chant made somewhat metrical, but that didn’t become the standard for Catholic hymns. Another approach for a traditional Catholic music method would be creative use of modes for cantors of psalms such as suggested by Chris Wroblewski.
Many of what we call traditional hymns are borrowed from Protestant hymnody so are a rather recent tradition for Catholics. It seems that by the time of CWB I and NLPHB we have a lot more hymns that have survived to the present, as the better traditional hymns from other denominations are collected from their Lutheran and Anglican origins. They had been singing in the vernacular for centuries and had better tunes often originally sourced from popular secular songs of their day. What that means is that Vatican 2 was as much responsible for the use of what we now call traditional hymns in the Catholic Church as it was for leading to folk mass style hymns.
Not everyone has collected umpteen hymnals, like your foolish correspondent, and not every parish still has old full music hymnals lying about in a back room to pillage, so where to source them is an issue. I rely on the melody line Together in Song for the melody and basic chords of old hymns to make backings, but it would only suit keyboard players who just use the chords for their left hand. CWB II has well set out organ music but lacks chords and is probably too unwieldy to use live… and is out of print.
I know GIA and OCP have their traditional hymnals, but there are also many online sources of hymns like the Open Hymnal and Liturgy Share, as well as those in Hymnary to collate your own public domain hymn collection without buying expensive hymnals.
Willow also has individual sheets of traditional hymns to purchase for download. Their advantage is the excellent layout and the option for chords.
Monica O’Brien recently had something to say about traditional church songs:
Why Traditional Hymns Still Matter
Some people may assume that traditional hymns only appeal to the older members of our faith communities. While it’s true that many of us associate these beloved hymns with childhood memories or significant moments in our faith journey, I believe their enduring appeal runs much deeper than nostalgia. These sacred songs have accompanied generations of Christians through life’s joys and sorrows, celebrations and losses, moments of certainty and seasons of doubt. They have stood the test of time because they express profound truths of faith with a depth and poetry that continues to speak to the human heart. Their melodies have been sung in tiny country churches and great cathedrals, at baptisms and funerals, in times of peace and in times of upheaval. At Willow Publishing, we’re passionate about supporting the rich diversity of music available to today’s Church. Contemporary songs and newly composed liturgical music bring fresh insights and new expressions of faith. At the same time, traditional hymns provide a sense of continuity, connecting us with the countless believers who have sung these same words across centuries and cultures.
So I suppose they are all good reasons to get back to the New Living Parish Hymn Book.
I’m happy for readers of this blog to recommend other sources for well set out hymns to help musicians play for mass and also to fill the gaping lacunae of my knowledge in this area.
BTW, I am continuing to fine tune my approach to these hymns in Band in a Box. There are very few styles for church organ pieces (four out of thousands to be precise), so to approach these hymns I now add the bass line from the organ music to each chord and use the soloist line to enter at least one other line from the organ music in addition to the melody line. I am trialing different organ sounds and they should start showing up soon in the backings. They still sound too mechanical just not as awful as they once were.
