Hymn
A hymn is a solemn song of praise. The word originally meant a song of praise to the gods, later also the sacred song of praise of the church, and in short form it can stand for the national anthem.
- Meaning
- solemn song of praise, sacred song of worship
- Short for
- national anthem
- Word origin
- Latin hymnus, Greek hýmnos
- German
- Hymne
Praise in a solemn tone
In ancient Greece the hymnos was a solemn song of praise addressed to the gods. In the Christian sphere it became the sacred song of praise. The meanings given are the solemn song of praise, the sacred or liturgical vocal or instrumental work of solemn expression and, as a short form, the national anthem. The word therefore describes above all the tone and the occasion, less a fixed musical form.
Solemn: chords in half notes
An example of our own, not a quotation: four chords of one half note each, namely C major, F major, G major and C major again. A slowly striding chord setting of this kind can be seen in the archive in “Pleyels Hymne”.
How it differs from chorale and song
A song is a poem sung to a melody, usually in several stanzas of the same construction. A hymn is a song or piece with a solemn aim, a chorale a church song that the congregation sings. The terms overlap: a hymn in the sacred sense is a church vocal work, and a chorale is a church song.
| Term | Core of the meaning |
|---|---|
| Hymn | solemn song of praise, also short for national anthem |
| Chorale | Protestant church song sung by the congregation, also single-line liturgical chant |
| Song | a poem sung to a melody, usually with several stanzas of the same construction |
In the sheet music archive
This page shows a selection of the hymn sheets in the archive; there are further sheets with “Hymne” or “Hymn” in the title as well. The ones shown are described here factually, without comment and without lyrics.
Hymns for guitar
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Pleyels Hymne Felix Horetzky, from: 60 National Airs of Different Nations · arrangement for guitar · No. 28 · 1 page
Time signature 4/4, no sharps or flats in the key signature, expression marking “Andante. Religioso.” The piece has 16 bars on two staves and consists mostly of chords in half notes; chord symbols such as C, G, G7, E7 and D7 are printed above the staff. The piece ends on a C chord.
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Polnische Hymne Felix Horetzky, from: 60 National Airs of Different Nations · arrangement for guitar · No. 17 · 1 page
From the same collection, expression marking “Andante religioso”. Unlike No. 28, this one is in 3/4, again with no sharps or flats in the key signature. At the end of the first part there is a repeat sign, and in the second part “dolce”. The chord symbols above the staff are C, G and Dm. Whether the melody counts as a national anthem, the sheet does not say.
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Russische Hymne Felix Horetzky, from: 60 National Airs of Different Nations · arrangement for guitar · No. 12 · 1 page
This arrangement also carries the expression marking “Andante. Religioso.” It is in 4/4 with one sharp in the key signature, the chord symbols are G, C, E, D, Em, Bm and D7, and the piece ends on a G chord. As with the Polish hymn, the sheet gives no further classification.
Choir arrangement
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Hymn of Eve (Uxbridge) Choir arrangement SATB, with chords for guitar · 1 page
Four voices on two staves, four verses under the same melody, chord symbols for guitar. No time signature and no key signature are printed. The title of this sheet is English, and “Hymn” is the word as it is used in English.
The guitar arrangements come from one collection and all carry the same expression marking. The choir arrangement, by contrast, is one of the sheets with several verses under one melody.
Common mistakes
- Understanding hymn only as national anthem: That is one meaning; besides it there are the sacred and the ancient song of praise.
- Equating hymn with chorale: The two can overlap, but the chorale is a church song, the hymn a song of praise in the wider sense.
- Inferring the genre from the title: A sheet with “Hymne” in the title is not automatically an official anthem.