A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek (hymnos), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist or hymnodist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greek goddess of hymns.
Although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity, hymns are also a fixture of other world religions, especially on the Indian subcontinent (stotras). Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures. Some of the oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts.
Origins Ancient Eastern hymns include the Sumerian Kesh temple hymn (oldest surviving literary text in the world); Egyptian Great Hymn to the Aten, composed by Pharaoh Akhenaten; the Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal; the Rigveda, an Indian collection of Vedic hymns; hymns from the Classic of Poetry (Shijing), a collection of Chinese poems from 11th to 7th centuries BC; the Gathas—Avestan hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster; and the Biblical Book of Psalms.
The Western tradition of hymnody begins with the Homeric Hymns, a collection of ancient Greek hymns, the oldest of which were written in the 7th century BC, praising deities of the ancient Greek religions. Surviving from the 3rd century BC is a collection of six literary hymns () by the Alexandrian poet Callimachus. The Orphic Hymns are a collection of 87 short poems in Greek religion.
Patristic writers began applying the term , or hymnus in Latin, to Christian songs of praise, and frequently used the word as a synonym for "psalm".Entry on , Liddell and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 8th edition 1897, 1985 printing), p. 1849; entry on 'hymnus,' Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1879, 1987 printing), p. 872.
Christian hymnody
Originally modelled on (but distinct from) the Book of Psalms and other poetic passages (commonly referred to as "canticles") in the Scriptures, Christian hymns are generally directed as praise to the Christian God. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly.
Origins In the New Testament, Saint Paul wrote to the Ephesian and Colossian churches, enjoining the singing of psalms and hymns for "mutual encouragement and edification". This was demonstrated when he joined Silas in singing hymns in the Philippian jail, - "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." despite the unfortunate circumstances. and ,"And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth." among other Scriptural verses, encourage Christians to sing hymns to praise God. As such, since the earliest times, Christians have sung "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", both in private devotions and in corporate worship. - "How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying." - "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"; ; cf. ; Non-scriptural hymns (i.e. not psalms or canticles) from the Early Church still sung today include 'Phos Hilaron', 'Sub tuum praesidium', and 'Te Deum'.
Traditions The hymn 'Te Deum' is sung or recited in the Liturgy of the Hours and in thanksgiving to God for a special blessing (such as the election of a pope, the consecration of a bishop, the canonization of a saint), and on 31 December to thank the Lord for the past year.
The hymn "" is sung or recited at Mass, after the Kyrie, on Sundays outside of Lent and Advent, on Christmas, during the octaves of Easter and Christmas, and on solemnities and feasts.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), article Gloria in Excelsis
Definition One definition of a hymn is "...a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung and which expresses the worshipper's attitude toward God or God's purposes in human life. It should be simple and metrical in form, genuinely emotional, poetic and literary in style, spiritual in quality, and in its ideas so direct and so immediately apparent as to unify a congregation while singing it."
Special occasions Christian hymns are often written with special or seasonal themes; such hymns are used on holy days such as Christmas, Easter and the Feast of All Saints, or during particular seasons such as Advent and Lent. Others are used to encourage reverence for the Bible or to celebrate Christian practices such as the Eucharist or Baptism. Some hymns praise or address individual saints, particularly Mary, mother of Jesus; such hymns are particularly prevalent in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Evangelical Lutheranism, and to some extent in High Church Anglicanism.
Terminology A writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist, and the practice of singing hymns is called hymnody; the same word is used collectively for those hymns associated with a particular denomination or period (e.g. "nineteenth-century Methodist hymnody" would mean the body of hymns written and/or used by Methodists in the 19th century). A specific collection of hymns is called a hymnal, hymn book or hymnary. These may or may not include music; among hymnals without printed music, some include names of hymn tunes suggested for use with each text, in case readers already know the tunes or would like to find them elsewhere. A student of hymnody is called a hymnologist, and the scholarly study of hymns, hymnists and hymnody is hymnology. The music to which a hymn may be sung is a hymn tune.
Nondenominational evangelical churches may classify traditional songs as hymns, while more contemporary worship songs are not considered hymns. The reason for this distinction is unclear, but according to some it is due to the radical shift of style and devotional thinking that began in the late 1960s with the Jesus movement and Jesus music. In recent years, Christian traditional hymns have seen a revival in some churches, usually more Reformed or Calvinistic in nature, as modern hymn-writers such as Keith & Kristyn Getty and Sovereign Grace Music have reset old lyrics to new melodies, revised old hymns and republished them, or simply written a song in a hymn-like fashion such as "In Christ Alone".
Music and accompaniment In ancient and medieval times, string instruments such as the harp, lyre and lute were used with psalms and hymns.
Since there is a lack of musical notation in early writings, the actual musical forms in the early church can only be surmised. During the Middle Ages a rich hymnody developed in the form of Gregorian chant or plainsong. This type was sung in unison, in one of eight church modes, and most often by monastic choirs. While they were written originally in Latin, many have been translated; a familiar example is the 4th century Of the Father's Heart Begotten sung to the 11th-century plainsong Divinum Mysterium.
Western church
Later hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys. The organ and choir came to lead the singing. Western hymnody shares many elements with classical music.
Today, except for choirs, more musically inclined congregations, and a cappella congregations, hymns are typically sung in unison. In some cases, complementary full settings for organ are also published; in others, organists and other accompanists are expected to adapt the available setting, or extemporise one, on their instrument of choice.
In traditional Evangelical Lutheran and Anglican practice, hymns are sung (often accompanied by an organ) during the processional to the altar, during the receiving of communion, during the recessional, and sometimes at other points during the service. The Doxology is also sung after tithes and offerings are brought up to the altar.
Contemporary Christian worship, as commonly found in certain forms of Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism, may include the use of contemporary worship music played with electric guitars and drum kits, sharing many elements with rock music.
Other groups of Christians have historically excluded instrumental accompaniment, citing the absence of instruments in worship by the church in the first several centuries of its existence, and adhere to an unaccompanied a cappella congregational singing of hymns. These groups include the Brethren (often both Open and Exclusive), the Churches of Christ, Mennonites, several Anabaptist-based denominations—such as the Apostolic Christian Church of America—Primitive Baptists, and certain Reformed churches. However, during the last century or so, several of these groups, such as the Free Church of Scotland, have abandoned this stance.
Eastern church
Eastern Christianity (the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran and Eastern Catholic churches) has a variety of ancient hymnographical traditions. In the Byzantine Rite, chant is used for all forms of liturgical worship: if it is not sung a cappella, the only accompaniment is usually an , or drone. Organs and other instruments were excluded from church use, although they were employed in imperial ceremonies. However, instruments are common in some other Oriental traditions. The Coptic tradition makes use of the cymbals and the triangle only. The Indian Orthodox (Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church) use the organ. The Tewahedo Churches use drums, cymbals and other instruments on certain occasions.
Development of Christian hymnody
Thomas Aquinas, in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, defined the Christian hymn thus: "." ("A hymn is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.")
The Protestant Reformation resulted in two conflicting attitudes towards hymns. One approach, the regulative principle of worship, favoured by many Zwinglians, Calvinists and some radical reformers, regarded anything that was not directly authorised by the Bible as a novel and Catholic introduction to worship, which was to be rejected. All hymns that were not direct quotations from the Bible fell into this category. Such hymns were banned, along with any form of instrumental musical accompaniment, and organs were removed from Reformed churches. Instead of hymns, biblical psalms were chanted, most often without accompaniment, to very basic melodies. This was known as exclusive psalmody. Examples of this may still be found in various places, including in some of the Presbyterian churches of western Scotland.
The other Reformation approach, the normative principle of worship, produced a burst of hymn-writing and congregational singing. Martin Luther is notable not only as a reformer, but as the author of hymns including ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"), ("Praise be to You, Jesus Christ"), and many others.Dr. Martin Luther's Deutsche Geistliche Lieder. The Hymns of Martin Luther set to their original Melodies with an English version, ed. Leonard Woolsey Bacon and Nathan H. Allen (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1884). Luther and his followers often used their hymns, or chorales, to teach tenets of the faith to worshipers. The first Protestant hymnal was published in Bohemia in 1532 by the Unitas Fratrum.
Count Zinzendorf, a Lutheran bishop of the Moravian Church in the 18th century, wrote some 2,000 hymns.