Monthly column on hymns and songs

Music apart, the three main tasks facing hymn book editors are: one, choosing the hymns; two, changing them (they all do it); and three, writing an Introduction or Preface.

Of these, the hardest by far is the third. If, that is, you want to get it right. You know for a start that over 99% of those who use the book will never read it, and that the other less-than-one in a hundred will pick it over relentlessly for unsubstantiated claims, unguarded assertions, and unbiblical assumptions. Only once in my life can I recall reading a review which praised a Preface, and that was when Mr. Wilson was Prime Minister and Carlisle was in the First Division.

So what does the Preface-writer do? Three options are open.

One: don't write one. Leave others to guess why you put in, or left out, 'Shine, Jesus, shine'. There is much to be said for this; the more explaining you do, the more you will have to explain your explanations. Like research and church jumble sales, apologias are part of the Three Self Movement; self-justifying, self-propagating and self-perpetuating.

Two: be super-modest. Say that this humble little collection is not what it might be, should be, or could have been. Many other people would have produced a finer book than you have done; you wish it were much better than it is. This approach wins the warm agreement of many readers; your competitors might not quite go as far as that last bit.

Three: be super-arrogant. Tell your readers that every other hymnal yet produced (notably some you could name but they will know whom you mean) is by comparison a shoddy mish-mash of ignorant and unsingable junk. Not necessarily in those precise words, but make sure they understand. Other books fall so far short of even a mediocre expectation by the churches of what a hymn book should be, that you have at last found the time to yield to the tearful pleas of your friends, the publisher, the churches and the nation, to assemble the ideal book. You know the sort of thing; best of the old, small changes, best of the new, no rubbish, scholarly team with wide experience, ideal balance avoiding mistakes of earlier efforts, rescuing neglected treasures. This general approach may be found in hymnals for Anglo-Catholics, Methodists, Reformed Baptist, right across the board.

A new broom?

But if anyone still wants to have a go at producing the all-purpose model Preface for the next book which is bound to come, may I offer the seven golden rules for Preface-writers? As I have used up my numbers as far as 3, letters will now have to serve:

a) These are the hymns we all know.
b) So these are the hymns we all like.
c) These are the ones we have written ourselves.
d) Our book is quite different from any other in the plan, the price, and the order of the hymns.
e) We hope you like the title. Rather good, isn't it?
f) If you don't, it's probably your fault.
g) Here is a Bible verse to help you in your daily life.

That done, you can start on the other end, where the indexes come. These can be tricky too and will have to wait. If debating the order of this material has not brought the committee out in spots, discovering the misprints when the book is up and running certainly will. Just room to ask if you think the metre of 'I heard the voice of Jesus say' should be listed as 86.86.D, Double Common Metre (DCM) or Common Metre Double (CMD); and whether it comes after CM, after 86.86.86, or before 84.84.88.84.

Starting and finishing...

A new broom?

Christopher Idle

Main Articles

Other articles