I broke my own rule.
I picked twenty-nine hymns for the 100 Hymns Project instead of waiting to memorize the first group of ten before picking the second group of ten. Sheer gluttony. Not a whit of self-control.
Oh well. That rule wasn't one of the Ten Commandments, thank God.
The first twenty-nine are all hymns that have been floating through my mind for the past months, a phrase here, a phrase there. After this, I shall become more deliberate and choose either an era, an author, or (most likely) a theme for the next group of five or ten.
Here are the first ten:
1. Like a River Glorious (WYE VALLEY)
2. This Is My Father's World (TERRA BEATTA)
3. Abide with Me (EVENTIDE)
4. He Is the Way (HALL)
5. Alleluia! Sing to Jesus! (HYFRYDOL)
6. Hope of the World (VICAR)
7. How Lovely, Lord, How Lovely (MERLE'S TUNE)
8. I Bind Unto Myself Today (ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE and DIERDRE)
9. How Bright Appears the Morning Star (WIE SCHÖN LEUCHTET)
10. All Things Bright and Beautiful (ROYAL OAK)
The tune names themselves are evocative. Ancient names, hidden places, old ways. I feel like pronouncing myself a Guardian of Congregational Song. Let the tradition flow through us.
2 comments:
I knew I was weird.
In the fourth grade we had an afternoon when we could go to the front and sing songs from our religion books. So I did--quite a few. Without the book. This, I found out, was not part of the requirement.
It's harder for me NOT to memorize hymns than to memorize them. I'd be really surprised if I don't have well over 100 in my head all the time.
Plus my own.
So I need a harder project please!
Delightfully weird!
What kind of project would you like to devise? The readers here might be interested to hear what you come up with!
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