The combination of observational, anecdotal and circumstantial evidence suggests
that, in the present-day Christian church, older, traditional hymns are slowly but
inexorably being replaced by modern, contemporary ones. Whilst it is a truism that
hymnody, like every other aspect of civilisation, moves forward with the times, there
still remains a large number of people, congregations and clergy for whom the early
eighteenth century English hymn is a genre that remains ever-popular.
This research focuses deliberately on the eighteenth century hymn for four main
reasons. First, hymns from this period are widely used in most Christian
denominations. Second, the eighteenth century was a particularly fertile period for
hymnody. Third, this was the era of Watts and Wesley, arguably two of the greatest
hymn writers of all time; their burgeoning popularity thrust the eighteenth century
into a period of proclivity for hymn writing. Finally, the whole area of hymnody in the
Church of Ireland appears to be under-researched. Thus, in seeking to determine why
older, more traditional hymns continue to be published in Church of Ireland hymnals
this research fills a very obvious gap.
This study establishes that this resilience is real and not merely perceived. Eighteenth
century hymns are still widely sung in today’s Church, irrespective of size, location,
setting, status, leadership or congregation. The study explores the many reasons
behind this resilience—reasons that go beyond the more obvious musical and liturgical
ones and highlight the impact of hymnody from a variety of angles. / Thesis (PhD (Liturgics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/8005 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Baxter, David Joseph |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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