New hymns

[bsjkki]

My ward is singing many of the new hymns. It is not going great. Sometimes the songs don’t seem suited to the organ. Seems  too heavy. It’s going to take some time. How is it going in your wards?
 

We sang Gethsemane last week. Love the song, but the congregation, organist and conductor seemed lost. 

[Dario_M]

Interesting. I notice that the most hymns are in major. I've never heard a hymn in minor. Why is that?

I think that we should also try psalm melodies in our church. Psalm melodies are easy to sing even if you don't know the melody yet. It just goes naturaly you know. Psalm melodies sound great. They are in the keys: Major, Minor, D-dorisch, G mixolydisch, A aeolisch, C ionisch, E frydisch, B locrisch.

[Rain]

We've done one song total.  Seemed to go alright. Singing was quiet, but it was new so that is to be expected till people know it.

[Amulek]

Our ward has been trying to mix in one of the new hymns almost every week. The ones which have been derived from former primary sources (i.e., I Will Walk With Jesus and Gethsemane) seem to go pretty well.

But we sang "It Is Well with My Soul" the other day and I wasn't a big fan. The lyrics themselves were fine, but I can easily see it being relegated to the wayside like so many of the existing hymns.

Also, I really hate having scriptural references directly beneath the hymn title. I get that they are trying to make a doctrinal connection, but that isn't the place to do it - those should be listed in the footnotes beneath the music exclusively.

And why on earth does everybody need to see the chord symbols? Why aren't those included only in the spiral bound versions designed for organists? (note: I am aware there aren't any spiral bound versions yet because they aren't done with the project, but if this is a sample of what we are going to be getting in terms of format, I don't see it as being an improvement.)

 

Edited July 29 by Amulek

[CV75]

8 hours ago, bsjkki said:

My ward is singing many of the new hymns. It is not going great. Sometimes the songs don’t seem suited to the organ. Seems  too heavy. It’s going to take some time. How is it going in your wards?
 

We sang Gethsemane last week. Love the song, but the congregation, organist and conductor seemed lost. 

We've done a new one each week for the last 3 - 4 weeks. I like them. I expected them to all be modern compositions, but many are from previous centuries. A couple, one new and one old, have resonated with me deeply.

[bsjkki]

43 minutes ago, CV75 said:

We've done a new one each week for the last 3 - 4 weeks. I like them. I expected them to all be modern compositions, but many are from previous centuries. A couple, one new and one old, have resonated with me deeply.

I am excited to keep singing them. My ward struggles with some basic musical competency…but they try hard.  I think in wards with experienced conductors and organists, the roll out might be going much better. 

[LoudmouthMormon]

3 wards in my building.  The 3 music directors got together and got the new songs printed and bound, and in the pews.  Now, every time we have an intermediate hymn, it comes from that new songbook.  

2-3 new songs sung in my sacrament meeting so far.  Yesterday's was I will walk with Jesus.  I'm not any sort of professional musicalologist, but I'm encountering some differences between 100 year old hymns and newer.  I don't have the language to describe what I'm noticing, I'd guess there are words like meter and flow and pacing and beat.  But I'm noticing some differences, and spending some time thinking about how they're all hymns, even though the newer ones sound like something you'd find on a CD you buy online from Deseret Book.

[Tacenda]

44 minutes ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

3 wards in my building.  The 3 music directors got together and got the new songs printed and bound, and in the pews.  Now, every time we have an intermediate hymn, it comes from that new songbook.  

2-3 new songs sung in my sacrament meeting so far.  Yesterday's was I will walk with Jesus.  I'm not any sort of professional musicalologist, but I'm encountering some differences between 100 year old hymns and newer.  I don't have the language to describe what I'm noticing, I'd guess there are words like meter and flow and pacing and beat.  But I'm noticing some differences, and spending some time thinking about how they're all hymns, even though the newer ones sound like something you'd find on a CD you buy online from Deseret Book.

I haven't been to church for a while, I need to come and partake! Do you think the music is going down the road of the Christian music scene? Like K Love, if you've heard of that music station here in Utah. Maybe it's everywhere in the United States, not sure. If the beat is faster, I'm all for that, depending on the song. 

[bsjkki]

I do think it interesting they added so many primary songs to the new hymn book. Some hymns seem very simplified. But, we don't have as many pianists and organists as we used to so that could be a purposeful decision. Especially as they think of the global audience. 

[LoudmouthMormon]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

Do you think the music is going down the road of the Christian music scene? Like K Love

I might be harsh, so folks can discard my opinion if they like.  But if I were to characterize the 'Christian music scene', I would use words like fluff, emotion, feel-good, empty platitudes.    If your K Love is the same as my Colorado stuff, it's a bunch of songs to sway back and forth to, with hands in the air.  Bunch of talking about "I will worship you forever" and "you are the greatest and the most high" and really not much else.  I can have a measure of appreciation for my Christian friends who get into that sort of thing.  I don't want to step on the toes of anyone swept up into a spiritual experience by the band and stadium lights found at my local mega-church.  But it ain't for me.

I don't see LDS hymns needing a set of drums any time soon.   The differences I mentioned came from this song.  Still sounds "hymnlike" to me, doctrinally sound, all about Jesus, but not too "cheezy".   So much subjectiveness!  Your mileage may vary.

[Tacenda]

56 minutes ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

I might be harsh, so folks can discard my opinion if they like.  But if I were to characterize the 'Christian music scene', I would use words like fluff, emotion, feel-good, empty platitudes.    If your K Love is the same as my Colorado stuff, it's a bunch of songs to sway back and forth to, with hands in the air.  Bunch of talking about "I will worship you forever" and "you are the greatest and the most high" and really not much else.  I can have a measure of appreciation for my Christian friends who get into that sort of thing.  I don't want to step on the toes of anyone swept up into a spiritual experience by the band and stadium lights found at my local mega-church.  But it ain't for me.

I don't see LDS hymns needing a set of drums any time soon.   The differences I mentioned came from this song.  Still sounds "hymnlike" to me, doctrinally sound, all about Jesus, but not too "cheezy".   So much subjectiveness!  Your mileage may vary.

Good to know, thanks!

[webbles]

1 hour ago, bsjkki said:

I do think it interesting they added so many primary songs to the new hymn book. Some hymns seem very simplified. But, we don't have as many pianists and organists as we used to so that could be a purposeful decision. Especially as they think of the global audience. 

When they announced the new hymn book, they said that they were merging the children's song book and the hymn book together.  We will no longer have 2 books but just one.

[Amulek]

3 hours ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

Yesterday's was I will walk with Jesus.  I'm not any sort of professional musicalologist, but I'm encountering some differences between 100 year old hymns and newer.

I Will Walk with Jesus is a new(ish) song. It was first performed in a face to face with Elder Gong back in 2019 and then subsequently appeared in the February 2020 version of The Friend (link).

The song Gethsemane was published to The Friend in March 2018 (link).

Prior to the creation of the new hymn book, both of these songs fell under the category of 'correlated, but technically children's songbook adjacent.' Both have been popular in Primary programs in recent years.

I actually like both of them, personally, but I do agree that I Will Walk with Jesus is a bit too sing-songy for what I'm used to in Sacrament meeting. Still, I think it can make for a decent enough intermediate hymn - especially if the kids all sing loudly.

 

[Calm]

27 minutes ago, webbles said:

When they announced the new hymn book, they said that they were merging the children's song book and the hymn book together.  We will no longer have 2 books but just one.

Primary songs may have been easier to get ready, so perhaps there are more included in the early rollout percentage wise than the total book when finished.

[Calm]

3 hours ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

wards in my building.  The 3 music directors got together and got the new songs printed and bound, and in the pews.  Now, every time we have an intermediate hymn, it comes from that new songbook.  

 

Great idea.

[bsjkki]

1 hour ago, webbles said:

When they announced the new hymn book, they said that they were merging the children's song book and the hymn book together.  We will no longer have 2 books but just one.

Totally missed this. 

[InCognitus]

8 hours ago, webbles said:

We will no longer have 2 books but just one.

Wasn't that prophesied by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37?   (Wait, maybe he was talking about different books). 

[JustAnAustralian]

None of the new hymns have been sung in my ward yet.

[Anakin7]

Did Amazing Grace make the cut ?.

[Amulek]

1 hour ago, Anakin7 said:

Did Amazing Grace make the cut ?.

Unknown. My understanding is that, like Come Thou Fount... it was one of the most requested songs, but I haven't seen anything official on whether or not it will be included.

They will be rolling out new releases every few months though, so maybe it will show up here soon.

 

[Anakin7]

13 hours ago, Amulek said:

Unknown. My understanding is that, like Come Thou Fount... it was one of the most requested songs, but I haven't seen anything official on whether or not it will be included.

They will be rolling out new releases every few months though, so maybe it will show up here soon.

 

Thank you for your thought.