LET JOY RESOUND: A Singing School Hymnal

COMPLETE SONG LIST, PREFACE, & SAMPLE PAGES

I’m pleased to report that my latest project, LET JOY RESOUND: A Singing School Hymnal, is heading off to the printers later this week. I’ve been looking at proofs and ensuring we are ready. I thought I would share a few images with you and the list of songs and tunes for your perusal. Here is a video with a scrolling image of the interior of the beginning of the hymnal.

Here is the preface to the hymnal, which further explains the rationale and distinctives of why a hymnal like this one:

This project was birthed out of a desire to have a hymnal that is historically rooted, robust, and tailored particularly for young people. Rather than a full-service hymnal as is needed in the life of a church, it is a compressed collection designed to aid students in music literacy training, invigorate their memorization of the church’s great songs (and therefore its theology), firmly establish their informed perspective about where they stand in the history of the worship of the Christian church, and give them an accessible tool for serving others. All of this is meant to help the grand tradition of hymns and psalms stick more easily to the tablet of their hearts. 

MUSIC LITERACY

We don’t have to use the Bible to teach our students to read, but ultimately, we teach our students to read so that they may read the Bible and understand the revealed Word handed down to them. The same could be said of music, psalmody, and hymnody in our schools. We are not required to use the great hymns of the faith to teach our students to be able to read, sing, and write music, but as we go about training our young people, singing psalms and hymns together is a buttress to their technical music training while simultaneously helping to reinforce their identity in Christ. The well-spaced layout of this volume is designed especially for literacy training, with room for the solfège syllables to be written in above the notes, allowing your students to sound out the music melody or decipher the parts.

SINGABILITY

One of the central goals of this project is to have a corpus of singable songs. What does that mean? “Singability” has many facets. It means that the song is pitched in a key that is not too high or too low for the people singing it and that this is given priority over what keys are easier to play on the piano, guitar, or other accompanying instrument. Another part of singability means that rhythmic versions of hymns are given preference over the more evened-out versions that music historians call isometric. Such hymns will have a “long-short” quality in the rhythm, whereas most hymns today only have “long-long” or “short-short” patterns, making them susceptible to dragging and dirge-like pacing. Also, the tune itself is central to singability. A melody that is memorable and easily learned allows the words to follow suit. This is a great opportunity to hide God’s word in your students’ hearts. 

HISTORY

In the classical Christian school world, there is much talk of reading the “Great Books” and being part of the “Great Conversation.” But in many ways, our students are not equipped to participate in the “Great Song of Praise” that has been echoing since the dawn of creation.  Rightly understood, we are ultimately not homo sapiens (man the thinker) or homo faber (man the doer/maker). Ultimately, we are homo adorans (man the worshiper). Not only is music training important for our students to be worshipers, but knowledge of the grand tradition of worship and praise informs them as well. These hymns are chosen to engage them with the “Great Songs,” giving them a rich ecumenical view of the worship of God.

SERVICE

In addition to bolstering the education of the student about music, this volume is also made to be a tangible tool for them in their life of service and worship. It is laid out by themes and the church calendar in order to easily track with the rhythm of the saints, whether during Christmas, Easter, chapel, convocation, or other ebbs and flows of Christian school life. It is even bound in such a way that it can withstand the rigors of frequent use and diligent study. It’s meant to be used in the classroom to sing or memorize hymns. It’s meant to be taken to nursing homes for students to cheer those who need it with song or passed around at a school picnic to encourage a joy-filled culture amongst school families. It’s meant to hold up so that our students can be better filled up with a body of songs that they, in turn, can use to bless others.

THANKFULNESS

As an homage to all the features included in this hymnal’s formation, the opening hymn is Martin Rinckart’s text, “Now Thank We All Our God,” set to Johann Crüger’s NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT tune. This song embodies the rhythmic type of hymnody previously mentioned. The astute sight-reader will notice that while the tune is recognizable, the meter is 2/2, and the rhythm is a bit different from the versions most of us grew up singing. Though the version most of us know is very close in rhythm and harmonization to what Crüger published in 1648, Bach and Mendelssohn reworked it specifically for the instrumental accompaniment of a small orchestra or organ. These men were stellar musicians, and they did exceptional work, but their version lacks the basic simplicity and accessibility for the singer of the original. Our churches and schools will benefit from experiencing the more rhythmic original version.

Another song altered from its original state is the iconic hymn of the Reformation, Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Modern Christians (with the exception of some Lutherans) have not grown up singing a very close translation and musical setting of what Luther actually wrote. We sing a more poetic version that was translated by an American Unitarian minister named Frederick Hedge in 1853. Additionally, we use Bach’s harmonization and change of rhythm that he reworked for his Reformation Day cantata (BWV 80) on Luther’s hymn. The cantata is glorious and features a final movement with choir and orchestra, where we get the most well-known setting. However, Bach’s version is simply not the rhythmic and energetic version that Luther wrote with the worshiper in mind. This hymnal presents you with the more literal translation of the text and a very close version of the tune in its original rhythmic setting. What a great way to honor the legacy of Luther! We have included several hymns with these same qualities in this project, and your students will love them, thus cultivating a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude to our heavenly Father for such a rich musical heritage. 

CONCLUSION

May the Lord be pleased with the praises of His people who sing the songs recounting the good things He has done for us down through the ages. May He also bless our efforts in training joyful and skillful singers!

–Jarrod D. Richey
General Editor
Monroe, Louisiana
Spring 2024

Educational Material As Well

I’m delighted with the layout of the hymns. I’m also thrilled to share with you that there will be a “Sounding it Out” and “Navigating the Hymnal” section, much like what would have been in older hymnals from several hundred years ago.

LetJoyResound.com has the link to pre-order the hymnal, which will be shipping in July 2024. You can order them in bulk with quantity price breaks at 10 and 100. Maybe you want a copy for yourself, your family, or your school. You will not be disappointed with the quality two-color printing with buckram binding and 100-pound paper. Additionally, the hymnal will have a ribbon marker as well. We want this to be a quality project, befitting the quality songs it contains. Thanks for your encouragement and feedback. May the Lord bless this project!