The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
under the editorship of
Percy DearmerPercy Dearmer, was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of The Parson's Handbook, a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy. A lifelong socialist, he was an early advocate of the public ministry of women and concerned with social justice...
and
Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
. The preface to the
hymnalHymnal or hymnary or hymnbook is a collection of hymns, i.e. religious songs, usually in the form of a book. The earliest hand-written hymnals are known since Middle Ages in the context of European Christianity...
began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St Mary's
Primrose HillPrimrose Hill is a hill of located on the north side of Regent's Park in London, England, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London to the south-east, as well as Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north...
in north London, and the book could be considered a musical companion to Dearmer's book on English ceremonial,
The Parson's HandbookThe Parson's Handbook is a book by Percy Dearmer, first published in 1899, that was fundamental to the development of liturgy in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion....
.
The high quality of the music is due largely to the work of Vaughan Williams as musical editor. The standard of the arrangements and original compositions made it one of the most influential hymnals of the 20th century. The hymnal included the first printing of several arrangements and hymn settings by Vaughan Williams. Among the most famous is
Sine Nomine, a tune to
For All the Saints"For All the Saints" was written as a processional hymn by the Anglican Bishop William Walsham How. The hymn was first printed in Hymns for Saint's Days, and Other Hymns, by Earl Nelson, 1864.-Tune:...
. The hymnal also includes many original
plainsongPlainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...
melodies (in plainsong notation).
The book is a characteristic green colour and is traditionally associated with the High Church or Anglo-Catholic movement within
AnglicanismAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
. When the book was published, High and Broad churches used
Hymns Ancient and ModernHymns Ancient and Modern was a hymnal in common use within the Church of England. Over the years it has grown into a large family of hymnals....
, and Evangelical churches normally used the Hymnal Companion to the
Book of Common PrayerThe Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
. The hymnal has, however, been adopted not only in various movements of
AnglicanismAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
but also in several other denominations in Britain, such as some Roman Catholic churches.
A new edition of the musical content of
The English Hymnal was issued in 1933, which principally had better accompaniments by JH Arnold to the plainsong melodies, and a supplement to the Hymnal,
English Praise, in 1975.
The
New English HymnalThe New English Hymnal is a hymn book and liturgical source, aimed towards the Church of England, first published in 1986. It was published by the Canterbury Press . The copyright is held by The English Hymnal Company Limited. It is a successor to, and published in the same style as, the 1906...
appeared in 1986, and its supplement,
New English Praise in 2006 - both under the imprint of the Canterbury Press, now SCM Canterbury Press
External links