Top 10 Hymns

Phillip Lopez, the Casey Kasem of Christian Colleges, writes to say he's listed the "Top 10 Christian Hymns of All-Time."

It's an interesting list and worth a look, but personally I'm not sure why Φως Ιλαρόν and Apostolorum passio are missing. What else belongs on this list?

New blog: theological and pastoral reflections

My grad school professor and noted Vatican II scholar Fr. Joseph Komonchak has a new blog.

I'm hoping to see frequent entries devoted to his elegant translations of St. Augustine, and tutuorials on John Henry Cardinal Newman, whom I have unfortunately been unable to study yet.

Glad to see this blog!

New Music Blog

My friend and sometime collaborator Michael Lawrence has FINALLY begun a new music blog.

His always welcome, often correct opinions may be found here. Enjoy!!

Hymn-Playing

Quite a nice post about organ accompaniment of hymns on The New Liturgical Movement by Michael E. Lawrence.

Rejoice!

Go to the Advent calendar here, and click on "18."

Favorite United Methodist Hymns

Dean McIntyre's Top Twenty (with a few extras because of ties):

"Amazing Grace"
"Here I Am, Lord"
"How Great Thou Art"
"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing"
"Hymn of Promise"
"In the Garden"
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
"Holy, Holy, Holy"
"Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"
"Spirit Song"; "Blessed Assurance"
"Old Rugged Cross"
"Lord, I Lift Your Name on High"
"Lift High the Cross"
"Sanctuary"; "Be Thou My Vision"
"It Is Well with My Soul"
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
"Christ, the Lord, Is Risen Today"
"Because He Lives"
"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"
"On Eagle's Wings"

Every now and then I sing at a Methodist church for a choir director I know. It's a small congregation, but boy do they sing.

Yet Another Reason to Wonder about "Gift of Finest Wheat"

Things in Philadelphia are just different.

New Blog on the Block

Hymnography Unbound has been added to the blogroll of a very promising young blog called Sir Monocle: Views of an Organist and a Gentleman. Although we differ on the very important issue of argyle socks, for men, I can see already that I will be looking forward to his posts. Check out this one, which inaugurated the blog (ignore the last paragraph of the post if you're shy). It's not easy to capture so well the mix of affection and frustration of liturgical music-making, a doomed art, in which mortals attempt to make lasting praise to the infinite God. We haven't a prayer of worshipping rightly, but does that stop us? Never! Exhorted by the Corpus Christi sequence, we try all the more: Praise him as much as you can, for he is beyond all praising and you will never be able to praise him as he merits.

Now if this blog had a blogroll, Sir Monocle would be joining my old favorites Scelata, Sacred Miscellany, and Hymnody.

Meanwhile, The New Liturgical Movement continues to provide excellent resources and opportunities for reflection. Here, for example, is yet another of Jeffrey Tucker's gifts to the world, in which he makes known web-available resources for liturgical music and chant. And here is my friend and colleague Michael Lawrence, with some post-Solemnity reflections on beauty and the Divine.

Music Education in Seminaries

Immoderate discusses Paul Jones' Singing and Making Music: Issues in Church Music Today. At issue is the use of praise songs in seminary hymnology courses at the expense of traditional hymnody. Interesting stuff!

Hymn Post Roundup

Some of the latest blogs/ posts about hymns:

• HymnStories: podcasts, texts, and recordings. (Beware of ads at the beginning of podcasts.)
• Daily Reflections: "Daily Hymn, Readings, Word, Psalm and Prayer"
• Be Thou Faithful blogs on Danish hymns
• Post on Bach from a Bristol Church of the Nazarene, in which Bach's sense of fugue is tied to his sense of the Trinity. Sweet!