Hymnology (fromGreek ὕμνοςhymnos, "song of praise" and -λογία-logia, "study of") is thescholarly study ofreligioussong, or thehymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus onchoral andcongregational song. It may be more or less clearly distinguished fromhymnody, the creation and practice of such song. Hymnologists, such asErik Routley, may study the history and origins of hymns and of traditions of sung worship, the biographies of the women and men who have written hymns that have passed into choral or congregational use, the interrelationships between text and tune, the historical processes, both folk and redactional, that have changed hymn texts andhymn tunes over time, and the sociopolitical, theological and aesthetic arguments concerning various styles of sung worship.
Hymnology is not an "-ology" in the usual sense of an independent discipline that has a proper set of concepts and critical vocabulary that must first be learned before progress can be made.[1] Rather, it's two disciplines: one that studies the texts and follows the rules of literary scholarship, the other that is trained in music and follows the rules of musicology. The "-ology" just means that they might publish in the same journals, occasionally attend the same conferences, or be asked to serve on ahymnal committee. If they write about the interaction between music and text, this is purely by instinct: there is no "scholarly consensus" for an underlying set of principles about how the interaction can be optimized. Often, the term "hymnologist" simply refers to anyone who has enough standing within the faith community to be asked to serve on a hymnal committee.
Hymnology is sometimes more strictly construed, as inA Dictionary of Hymnology,[2] edited byJohn D. Julian, which concerns itself very largely with the history, textual changes, and translations of hymns, and with the biographies ofhymnographers, and very little with thepoetic metres of these hymns, or with thehymn tunes to which these are sung.
The "Great Four" are fourhymns widely popular inAnglican and otherProtestant churches during the 19th century.[3]
In hisAnglican Hymnology, published in 1885, the Rev. James King surveyed 52 hymnals from the member churches of theAnglican Communion around the world, and found that 51 of them included these hymns, the so-called Great Four:[4]
King also found the following six hymns in 49 of the 52 hymnals:
All of these hymns likewise appear inThe Best Church Hymns, published by the Rev. Louis F. Benson in 1898. Benson's collection of 32 frequently published hymns from various churches was based upon a survey of 107 Protestant hymnals, including King's book, thus representing "the judgment of our common Protestantism."[9]
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