A NEW TUNE-BOOK

Hymns for the Church. A. S. Barnes Company, New York.

We may introduce this book to our readers by quoting the opening words of the preface : It is believed that the best results can be secured if the same hymn-book is used in all the services of the Church. Then the music of the Church is unified, and the standard is the same, as it ought to be, throughout the Church life. This book is intended alike for the Sunday services, the daily services, and the Sunday school.'

It will thus be seen that the object of the compilers has been to make their work cover a somewhat extensive area, and the fact that they are of opinion that six hundred hymns are sufficient for this purpose, is in striking opposition to the custom of most of the denominations in England, who find that from seven to eight hundred hymns is, perhaps, the least number they can do with. A notable, and regrettable, feature in our hymn-books is the small number of hymns specially adapted for the use of children, as the following table will show :— No. of Set apart for Hymns. the Young.

Baptist Church Hymnal
Congregational Church Hymnal
Hymns, Ancient and Modern..
Methodist Hymn-Book

802

66

775

40

638

29

989

29

48

Primitive Methodist Hymnal 1,456 Methodist Free Church Hymns 1,040

33

There are, of course, certain hymns in other parts of the books that children may join their elders in singing with as much understanding as they do; but all the same, the proportion is wholly inadequate, and is one of the reasons for the lack of life and brightness in our congregational singing. The plan on which the book before us has been drawn up would naturally lead us to expect that a fair proportion of the 585 hymns would be specially adapted for the use of the children. On the contrary, the Index of Subjects' shows that not a single one of the very numerous sections has been devoted to this. True, there is a section headed' childhood,' which contains four hymns, but these are prayer-hymns, such as Shepherd of tender youth,' and Saviour, who Thy flock art keeping,' supposed to be sung by parents on behalf of their children, and in which they appear in the third person.

There are, of course, plenty of hymns which children sing very heartily, but this is almost entirely owing to the music. Onward, Christian Soldiers,' with its pseudo-militant tone and fictional third verse, is, alas! one of the most popular hymns in the Christian Church, this is simply due to the way in which an and one or two other lesser lights have

the fine modern hymns for young people, examples of which are found to such profusion in the Methodist School Hymnal.

Apart from this blemish, Hymns for the Church is a good and well-chosen collection of hymns, most, if not all, of which have already proved their worth. A large number of writers is represented, the chief contributors being C. Wesley and Watts, and adequate provision is made for the seasons of the Christian year, and for the various phases of life and conduct. Great care has been expended in choosing suitable tunes for the words. The music appears to have been selected from various books already in existence, and there is little,

if any, new work. This is, perhaps, an ad

vantage, for there is no doubt that, to judge from recent samples, the power of writing a fine original hymn-tune is temporarily in abeyance. An important and most praiseworthy feature is the pitch to which most of the tunes have been confined. As here set, they will suit any ordinary range of voice, and any note above E in the treble is the exception. This is sure to be a great help in congregational singing, which, we trust, is an essential feature in church worship in America. The index of composers contains useful information, for which Miss Julia Redfield, of Pittsfield, Mass., is responsible. The responsible editors are Drs. William V. W. Davis and Raymond Calkins, the former of whom did not live to see the work completed.

L.