Recovering the fullness of the hymns
One of my favorite television shows of all time is "News Radio." It was "The Office" before "The Office" existed. It was over the top, totally unrealistic, and often slap stick, but it still makes me laugh.
There's one scene in the episode "Rap," in which Bill McNeil (played by the late great Phil Hartman) has Joe, the station's electrician, "fix" his car radio. When they turn on the audio, rap music is booming through the speakers, but it's only the beat and it doesn't sound quite right. Ultimately Joe fixes the car's audio by simply turning the treble back to it's normal position. Upon the fix Bill realizes, for the first time, that rap music has words. (check it out here starting at about the 3:50 mark)
Bill's great joy at discovering that rap music has words makes me think of how many people think that all hymns do and should sound alike. They should all be a bit slow and sung sweetly.
But if that's all that you know of hymns, you're missing out. Hymns, like the Psalms, contain a huge range of emotions and the music that accompanies them should reflect that. Hymns shouldn't all be sung at the same volume with the same emotion. The music and the singing should reflect the emotions of the words of the hymn.
"Built on the Rock" for instance (Lutheran Service Book 645) should have a defiant feel. The music and singing should have an air of defiance against the world, that no matter what is happening in the world around us we stand upon Christ and nothing, not even the gates of hell, can prevail against Christ's church. Singing this hymn sweetly and nicely is a disservice to it. Unfortunately I can't find a good example of this one online, they all tend to be overly sappy, lacking the edge that this hymn demands.
"Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" on the other hand, should be reflective. It should be sung and played with the awe fitting of being in the presence of God. Singing this hymn in an up tempo way would destroy the feel that the hymn should project. Fernando Ortega has a great version of this hymn.
"Oh That the Lord Would Guide My Ways" is a hymn that is often used at the end of the service. The words are a prayer, but the feel of it is energetic as we have been fed by God during the service and are prepared to serve Him as we depart. I like what the group Koine has done with this hymn.
Finally, one of my favorite hymns is "Thy Strong Word." This is a distinctively Lutheran hymn written by the late Martin Franzmann, who used to teach at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. It speaks of the light of Christ cutting through the darkness of the world just as God once said "Let there be light" and there was light. From chaos, God brings order and this hymn should reflect that feel. Again, Koine does a great job with this hymn.
We have a huge range of emotions and messages that are communicated through the hymns, if only we'll take the time to notice!
There's one scene in the episode "Rap," in which Bill McNeil (played by the late great Phil Hartman) has Joe, the station's electrician, "fix" his car radio. When they turn on the audio, rap music is booming through the speakers, but it's only the beat and it doesn't sound quite right. Ultimately Joe fixes the car's audio by simply turning the treble back to it's normal position. Upon the fix Bill realizes, for the first time, that rap music has words. (check it out here starting at about the 3:50 mark)
Bill's great joy at discovering that rap music has words makes me think of how many people think that all hymns do and should sound alike. They should all be a bit slow and sung sweetly.
But if that's all that you know of hymns, you're missing out. Hymns, like the Psalms, contain a huge range of emotions and the music that accompanies them should reflect that. Hymns shouldn't all be sung at the same volume with the same emotion. The music and the singing should reflect the emotions of the words of the hymn.
"Built on the Rock" for instance (Lutheran Service Book 645) should have a defiant feel. The music and singing should have an air of defiance against the world, that no matter what is happening in the world around us we stand upon Christ and nothing, not even the gates of hell, can prevail against Christ's church. Singing this hymn sweetly and nicely is a disservice to it. Unfortunately I can't find a good example of this one online, they all tend to be overly sappy, lacking the edge that this hymn demands.
"Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" on the other hand, should be reflective. It should be sung and played with the awe fitting of being in the presence of God. Singing this hymn in an up tempo way would destroy the feel that the hymn should project. Fernando Ortega has a great version of this hymn.
"Oh That the Lord Would Guide My Ways" is a hymn that is often used at the end of the service. The words are a prayer, but the feel of it is energetic as we have been fed by God during the service and are prepared to serve Him as we depart. I like what the group Koine has done with this hymn.
Finally, one of my favorite hymns is "Thy Strong Word." This is a distinctively Lutheran hymn written by the late Martin Franzmann, who used to teach at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. It speaks of the light of Christ cutting through the darkness of the world just as God once said "Let there be light" and there was light. From chaos, God brings order and this hymn should reflect that feel. Again, Koine does a great job with this hymn.
We have a huge range of emotions and messages that are communicated through the hymns, if only we'll take the time to notice!
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