Hymns

Hymn Meters and Tune Names

Hymns have a standard meter between verses, allowing a tune to be repeated as different verse texts are sung. This is referred to as strophic musical structure. Meters are notated in numbers of [Page 570]syllables per line, such as 8 7 8 7. Some variations and abbreviations are used, such as 8 6 8 6 D, D meaning double; 8 6 8 6 is also referred to as common meter and is used for many metrical psalms. DCM, or double common meter, is thus 8 6 8 6 D; 6 6 8 6 is known as short meter and 8 8 8 8 as long meter. Hymns with differing numbers of syllables per line from verse to verse are referred to as irregular. Hymn tunes are generally named, allowing them to be identified independent of the text. Often texts become associated with particular tunes, such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” sung to music by Felix Mendelssohn. Hymn tune names may have particular relevance, such as “Down Ampney.” Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote “Down Ampney” for the text “Come Down, O Love Divine,” its name honoring his birthplace.

Origins of the Hymn

The term hymn dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Homeric hymns are ancient hymns praising gods. An ancient hymn was often accompanied by a dance and was metrical. These traits may have led to the association of hymns with liturgy and their role in offering praise or thanksgiving to a god. In the 5th century C.E., Proclus famously defined a hymn as sung by an accompanied and stationary chorus. This draws the distinction from a processional or other liturgical actions, and from music sung by a solo voice.

By the 5th century, the hymn in the Catholic Church was additionally strophic and mostly syllabic. The Latin hymn “Pange Lingua” from this time is still sung. St. Augustine of Hippo records that hymns were sung liturgically, and St. Ambrose of Milan wrote some strophic hymn texts. The Gallican Rite also used hymns and as did monastic rules in Spain, and the famous Rule of Benedict in the 6th century. The repertoire of hymns was further expanded in the 9th to 11th centuries as the hymn spread across the Western world. The hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus” dates from this period. The standardized repertory in Europe was transmitted to England with Benedictine rule in the 10th century. Ambrosian chant was adopted, revised, and expanded by the Cistercians, and other religious orders compiled their own repertoire of hymns in the 12th and 13th centuries.

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