Christadelphian hymnals
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The earliest
Benjamin Wilson in Geneva, Illinois in 1860.[1] The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians)[2] by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864.[3] "The Golden Harp" was put together in 1864 by Scotsman Robert Roberts
.
This was then followed a year later by first 'official' (as the Christadelphians had not been named as such until then) book, compiled also by Roberts, and was called simply "The Christadelphian Hymn Book." It contained 223
The first major revision of the official book took place in 1932 under the guidance of
E-book format from The Christadelphian
publishing office.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions[6] (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, William Cowper and John Newton. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
Other works
- The Sunday School Union Hymn Book (1897) this book had 137 hymns. Some of the editions used tonic sol-fa notation. This was published in 1897, 1913, and 1936.
- 'Suffolk St' Christadelphian Hymn Book (1903), compiled by CJ Caldicott, J Bland, J Hawkins, HH Horsman, T Turner, W Potter, C Jones (Birmingham). Caldicott was a piano technician and wrote hymns such as We shall be like him. Caldicott made an appeal for original compositions as some of the copyright costs for tunes were upwards of £3 each.
- Christadelphian Youth Hymnal (1952) was compiled by a committee under the editorship of J Carter, some of the original hymns written for this hymnal included LG Sargent's High over lashing waves our God is throned and D Martindale's Angels did sing on Behl'ems hill set to the medieval VULPIUS tune. The major feature of this publication was the addition of counter-melodies/descants by D Crosby, arranged and written specifically for young voices.
- Hymns for Young People (date unknown) was published by the Christadelphian Sunday School Association, South Australia.
- The Joy Book (date unknown), this publication contains youth pieces, including Sing Hosanna. The music is written in lead sheet format.
- Sing to the Lord (1978), this widely-used Sunday School hymnal was published in Birmingham and contains some original works by R Standeven. Both words-with-music, and words-only editions were produced.
- Praise the Lord (1993) this publication, compiled by C Clementson (Hoddesdon), contain a wide range of musical styles including hymns, Taize pieces, Jewish-styled songs, anthems, and modern songs.
- Praise the Lord (2000) the second version of Praise the Lord contained the original 130 songs, plus 70 additional songs. Again, a wide range of music has been compiled, from hymn tunes by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), to newly written works by C Miles and other Christadelphian composers.[7]
- Worship (2008), also known as "Worship 1" or "The Purple Book" it first published in 2008, by c.a.t. (under the NCC umbrella) responding to a need within the Christadelphian community for usable original music. The 2nd edition, published in October 2010, has additions and corrections but essentially is the same book from 2008. The 2nd edition also has capo chords for some songs. Worship consists of piano/vocal, SATB, and lead sheet arrangements. Many of the songs have already been recorded in Australia and the UK. A wide range of musical styles are within the book, including contemporary pieces, choral pieces, ballads, hymns, rounds, works from original musicals, and so on. There are additional Worship resources at the c.a.t. site including files for transposing instruments and audio files of most of the Worship songs.[8]
- Worship 2 (2016) commonly called "The Orange Book", contains 133 new pieces consisting of congregational and individual music; hymns, songs, anthems, meditations; all intended for supplementing existing personal and congregational music. Music is presented as piano/vocal scores and choral arrangements to suit different uses and occasions. Some works may suit congregational singing while others will need rehearsing as items for events. [9]
- Praise the Lord 2016 (2016) contains 37 new songs with words and music, as a supplement to the core song book. [10]
While the books mentioned above (or translations thereof) are often used outside the English-speaking world there are a variety of different books in many different languages.
References
- ^ Hocking, Rachel. A Study of Christadelphian Hymnody: singing with the spirit and with the understanding.
- ^ Peter Hemingray, John Thomas: His Friends and His Faith 2003 p. 235
- ^ Andrew Wilson, History of the Christadelphians 1864–1885: the emergence of a denomination 1997, p. 326
- ^ "History of Christadelphian Music". Theworshipbook.com. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ "Hymn Book Pocket Size - Leather". Thechristadelphian.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ "Chapter 8: Christadelphian Views on Music and Praise" (PDF). Rachelhocking.com.au. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ "A History of Christadelphian Music". theworshipbook.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Worship". theworshipbook.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Worship 2". theworshipbook.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Praise the Lord 2016". hoddesdon.info. Retrieved 17 November 2021.