lost hymns project / latter-day saint hymns / hymnbook / Mormon hymns / Bruce T. Forbes

 
 


LOST HYMNS PROJECT

"As close to the original writer's pen as I can find"

This project is copyright © 2006-2008 by Bruce T. Forbes

This is a labor of love I began in 2006 and will carry on with as I continue to research the subject.

As Latter-day Saints we have an incredible hymn heritage - home-grown hymns as well as those borrowed from the vast hymn library. As a writer I find it exciting to find an original version of a text and discover how and why it was edited for use today - or why we've put it back on the shelf.

My goal with this project is -

  • to create a text index and an author index of all the hymns that have appeared in the officially-commissioned English-language hymnals of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;
  • to discover which texts have been edited and to find the original and complete versions - as close to the original writer's pen as I can find;
  • to present other significant and historical texts of interest from the LDS hymn library that are no longer used
  • to collect an electronic copy (or link to) of each hymnal.

I'm sure mistakes will be found. If you find mistakes or have help or suggestions to offer (or even complements!) I would be pleased to hear from you. Please write me at -

brucewrites@yahoo.com

A special thinks to -

  • the Music & Cultural Arts Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - especially Diane Bastian of the Church Music Committee, who graciously opened the department's library to my research
  • the Historical Department & Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
  • Kirk Kammeyer of www.earlyldshymns.com and his most-excellent data base
  • Mark Dewey of Hymnwiki for supplying some excellent material
  • the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, especially for their patient assistance in tracking down original Wesley texts
  • www.CyberHymnal.org - proving that the internet is one powerful means in spreading the music of God. What a 'pearl of great price' they are!
  • all my musician friends, whose encouragement and faith in me continues to give my faith wings to fly.
  • all of you who have written with thanks, encouragement, suggestions, and complements. You make this project all the more worthwhile and give me the motivation to continue on.
¦       ¦
 

Dedication

When the Lord needed scriptures brought to light
and His church restored to the earth,
He called a man and molded him into a prophet.

But when He needed a hymnal that would serve
as a foundation for generations to come,
He turned to that prophet's wife.

Thank you, dear Sister Emma Smith,
for the firm Gospel foundation you have given
to an entire dispensation of time.
 

 
¦       ¦
 


"For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart;
yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me,
and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."
Doctrine and Covenants 25:12

"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music,
with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication,
that your souls may be joyful."

Doctrine and Covenants 136:28-29
 

 
¦       ¦

The LOST HYMNS Project:

         
 

PART ONE: Introduction

 
  ........................      
  Chapter 1:   What Is a Hymn?  
  Chapter 2:   The Writer Writes...  
   Chapter 3:   ... And the Editor Edits  
  Chapter 4:   How & Why LDS Hymns & Hymnals differ from others  
  Chapter 5:   How Should We Sing?  
         
 

PART TWO: Significant Names in LDS Hymnals

 
         
  Chapter 6:   Isaac Watts  
  Chapter 7:   Charles Wesley  
  Chapter 8:   John Newton & William Cowper  
  Chapter 9:   Emma Smith, W.W. Phelps, Parley P. Pratt, & Eliza R. Snow  
         
 

PART THREE: The Lost Hymns

 
  These chapters are constantly being updated as I continue to work on the indexes. I am almost to the half-way mark in creating the indexes; I will then concentrate on chasing down more of the original texts.  
  Chapter 10:   Hymnals published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   
  Chapter 11:   Title Index of General Congregational Hymnals  
  Chapter 12:   Title Index of Sunday School & Children's Hymnals  
  Chapter 13:   Author Index - combines both of the title indexes  
  Chapter 14:   NEW!!! Notable LDS-written hymns that have not yet  appeared in a hymnal  
         
 

APPENDIX

 
         
  Appendix 1:   Scriptures on Singing  
  Appendix 2:   Quotes from LDS General Conference Addresses on Music and Hymns  
  Appendix 3:   Other Quotes on Music and Hymns  
  Appendix 3:   Using 'King James English' in Hymn and Prayer  
  Appendix 4:   Truths, Myths, & Falsehoods on How Latter-day Saints are Directed to Use Music in their Worship Services  
  Appendix 5:   Editions of Official & Unofficial LDS Hymnals  
         
  See Also:   Hymnastics 101 - addresses & magazine articles on hymns that don't fit the scope of this project  
 

 

 
¦       ¦
 
¦       ¦

Electronic Copies of LDS Hymnals

WordPad (.rtf or .txt) versions are on this website;
most PDF files will take you to other websites.
Thank you to
Mark Dewey of Hymnwiki for supplying the .txt files of the Manchester and Nauvoo hymnals that I have, with his permission, modified to present here.

 

WordPad

 

 

PDF 

 

 1835 - Kirtland Hymnal; 1st (and only) Edition
  WordPad  

 

PDF

 

 1840 - Manchester Hymnal; 1st Edition
 

-------

 

 

PDF

 

 1844 - Manchester Hymnal; 4th Edition
 

WordPad

 

 

PDF

 

 1841 - Nauvoo Hymnal; 1st (and only) Edition
 

-------

 

 

PDF

 

 1889 -  Latter-day Saint Psalmody; 4th Edition
 

-------

 

 

PDF

 

 1948 - Hymns from the 1st edition of the 1948 hymnal not included in the 2nd Edition (1950)
  WordPad     ---    1985 - the current LDS Hymnal minus copyrighted material that does not allow copying
 

-------

 

 

---

 

 1985/1989 - Current 1985 Hymnal and 1989 Children's Songbook (takes you to www.lds.org.)

ALSO - LDS-centered hymnals not commissioned by the church (both go to another website):
1843 - "A Collection of Sacred Hymns Adapted to the Faith and Views of  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"
1844 - "A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the use of the Latter-day Saints"

¦       ¦
         
¦       ¦
 

Links of Interest
If you have one to suggest, then please do!

 

earlyldshymns.com

  Early LDS hymns with the tunes history says they were sung to  
 

Hymnwiki

  info on hymns, mostly those used in LDS hymnals  
 

Wikipedia

  direct link to a Wikpedia article on LDS hymns & hymnals  
         
 

CyberHymnal.org

  with Noteworthy Composer 1.75 you can download sheet music from their 6,800+ hymn library; includes authors & composers and historical references  
 

Hymnlyrics.org

  says to have over 10,000 hymn texts, but they don't list authors or composers or give any historical references  
 

Hymnpedia

  info on hymns; appears to be Lutheran-oriented  
  http://www.imslp.org/   International Music Score Library Project  
 

 Olney Hymnal

   John Newton & William Cooper's famous hymnal  
 

Oremus Hymnal

  large collection of hymn texts and tunes, mostly of the Anglican tradition  
 

 Isaac Watts

  texts of 'Psalms David', 'Hymns and Spiritual Songs', and 'Divine and Moral Songs for Children'.  
 
¦   ¦
 

Home / What's New?
Hymnastics 101 / Hymnastics 102 / Lost Hymns Project / Hymns as Poetry
My Hymns & Poems / My Short Stories, Essays, Addresses / Fan Fiction /
Men and Depression
Book of Mormon / Law of Moses / U.S. Constitution / Proud Grandpa Page / Links

"Lost Hymns Project" copyright © 2006-2008 Bruce T. Forbes;
Remainder of the website copyright © 2003-2008 Bruce T. Forbes
created with Microsoft FrontPage 2002