[Magdalen] Hymnals and Perspective.o

[Jim Guthrie]

>I think size consideration may have been part of the reason for removing so 
>many of the harmonies; can you imagine the size and weight of the book if they 
> >had all been included?!

It has exactly the same number of hymns as the 1940 -- 600. What's different is 
that 1940 had "First Tune" Second Tune" and sometimes "Third Tune" with the same 
number, and H82 gives them different numbers.

Those multiple tunes reflect the different tunes found in TEC usage before the 
1940 -- which included H16 (with J P Morgan's favorite tunes) but also 
reflecting the other hymnals with tunes that were very popular but not in the 
1916.

That's why you have three tunes for hymns like "Just as I Am" in H40. Sometimes 
after hearing yet one more non-TEC church drawl through all 22 verses, I wish 
TEC had saved the other two tunes and omitted the one that's used at others' 
altar calls <g>.

In any case, if the H40 committee had chosen ALL the tunes popular in TEC 
parishes, some hymns would have had five (5! count 'em) tunes. All of which 
leads back to the silliness of people demanding the "original tune" when what 
they mean is, "I come to church for an hour of personal nostalgia on Sundays so 
don’t mess with the wrong tunes for the music."  Which, of course, is in the 
great tradition of history's most influential and important Episcopalian -- J P 
Morgan.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie