{"id":44524,"date":"2023-04-03T05:01:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T12:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.timesandseasons.org\/?p=44524"},"modified":"2023-06-05T09:17:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T16:17:40","slug":"the-1927-latter-day-saint-hymns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2023\/04\/the-1927-latter-day-saint-hymns\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1927 Latter-day Saint Hymns"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the start of each year, there is a whole collection of publications that enter the public domain. This year is a relatively big year for people interested in Latter-day Saint song books, since the 1927 Latter-day Saint Hymns<\/em><\/a>, along with a few other song books (the 1927 edition of the Primary Song Book and some anthem collections) are now public domain.<\/p>\n

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As a bit of background and context, in the early 20th<\/sup> century, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints formed an official music committee of professional musicians to oversee the production of a new hymnal for Church use. By 1920, there were a variety of hymn books and song books in use by the Church. The Church published the twenty-fifth edition of what had originally been the Manchester hymnal in 1912 and the Latter-day Saints\u2019 <\/em>Psalmody <\/em>was still in use as the official tune book. An unofficial hymnal known as Songs of Zion<\/em> that had been compiled for use in the mission field was proving extremely popular and the Sunday School continued to produce their own very popular song book, the Deseret Sunday School Songs<\/em>. To address the proliferation of hymnals, President Heber J. Grant oversaw the organization of a committee of twelve Church members, including the patriarchs of Mormon music, George Careless and Evan Stephens, that would regulate musical affairs in the Church. This committee, known later as the Music Department, existed from 1920 to 1977 and oversaw the production of two major hymnals (the two generations prior to the current hymnal).<\/p>\n

During his ministry as president of the Church, President Grant emphasized that \u201cthe kind of songs the Lord likes\u201d were those that were doctrinally correct, going as far as stating that \u201cno individual singer, or organization of singers, in the Church, should ever render a selection unless the words are in full harmony with the truths of the gospel, and can be given from the heart of the singer.\u201d[1]<\/a> He was even known to state that certain songs should be marked as \u201ccondemned.\u201d[2]<\/a> Based on his directions, the music committee sought to create a hymnal that reflected Grant\u2019s desire for \u201csongs of the heart\u201d that were consistent with current Latter-day Saint theology.<\/p>\n

Officially, the committee was assigned to rework the Latter-day Saints\u2019 Psalmody<\/em> with the goal of making it more appealing to general Latter-day Saint membership, along the lines of the successful Songs of Zion <\/em>and Deseret Sunday School Songs <\/em>song books. They selected hymns to eliminate on the basis of being rarely sung, doctrinally unsound, or simply poor quality. Initially, they proposing to eliminate eight-five works and to change the music for a similar number of hymns. This music committee held contests for hymn writing to increase the number of hymns available. These contests were most often won by Evan Stephens (surprise!), though the emerging composer Leroy Robertson also had a strong showing. The process of revision took years, and much like the revisions to the Articles of Confederation resulted in an entirely new work (the Constitution of the United States), the revisions of the Psalmody <\/em>resulted in an entirely new hymnbook called the Latter-day Saint Hymns<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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This new hymnbook, often called \u201cthe green hymnbook,\u201d had 421 settings of hymns (at least from the second edition onwards), 84 of which were written by Evan Stephens and 63 of which were by George Careless. The style of music was more upbeat and cheerful than the Psalmody <\/em>had been, though many pieces that were better suited to choirs than congregations were still included. Despite his criticism of the popular genre of revival-style gospel hymns as cheese cloth music, Evan Stephen\u2019s works were often reminiscent of the bouncy style associated with the very hymns he criticized. Although not included in that particular hymnbook, his hymn \u201cLet Us All Press On\u201d is a well-known song that exemplifies the gospel song style. This, he declared, was necessary to showcase the Mormon gospel in music, with its spirit of \u201coptimism and not pessimism \u2026 [or] gloomy solemnity.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Shifts in doctrinal focus resulted in shifts in the focus of hymns as well. Millennialism and communitarianism were largely absent, with a greater emphasis on personal spiritual experiences taking their place. Overall, the new hymnbook was more modern than its predecessors and, according to Elder B. H. Roberts, had transcended both the “solemn grandeur of Vatican…music” and the “hysterical thinness” of revivalism.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Here is a list of hymns that were new to Latter-day Saint hymn books, with ones included in the current English hymnal in bold. (Thanks to Samuel Bradshaw at singpraises.net for the analysis.):<\/p>\n