.CANADIAN HYMNOLOGY RESOURCE PAGE

BRUCE HARDING

bharding@evensong.ca

Hello and welcome to my Web Page. I am a church musician, composer and church music scholar residing in the Vancouver area in British Columbia, Canada. While I have a deep interest in all aspects of the study of hymns, psalms and songs for Christian worship, my own particular area of expertise is in Canadian hymn traditions. My Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Toronto involved a study of the hymn tune repertoire in The United Church of Canada, the denomination in which I work, and its parent denominations, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregationalist Churches in Canada before church union in 1925. You can download a copy from the National Library of Canada (warning—large file!). I currently direct A Quired Taste, a chamber choir in the Vancouver area devoted primarily to the performance of early Canadian hymn and psalm tune repertoire. Our first CD recording can be sampled and ordered here.

My wife Cheryl and I are also active as music leaders within the United Church and other denominations, in congregational ministry, in workshop and retreat leadership, and through concerts and other events. We have four recordings available of my own compositions and four songbooks, all available through our publishing company, Evensong Worship Resources. I am also a past co-chair of UCCAM, the United Church of Canada Association of Musicians, and I served as Managing Editor for More Voices (2007), a project of the United Church in partnership with Wood Lake Books to produce a supplement to the current hymn book, Voices United (1996).
 
 

HYMNOLOGY LINKS

The following are links I have found to useful sites on the web for the study of hymns and related music. Please let me know of others you find which prove useful.
 
 

GENERAL LINKS

Christian Classics Ethereal Library An extensive library of hymn tunes, available in midi, Noteworthy and PDF formats

The Cyber Hymnal A text and tune source for general information and searching

The Hymn Society The home page for the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada

The Hymn Tune Index The home page for Nicholas Temperley's important index. The HTI database contains all hymn tunes printed anywhere in the world with English-language texts up to 1820, and their publication history up to that date!

Psalms in Metre An evolving source for texts and midi files of tunes from various important English-language psalters.


 

GENERAL ASPECTS OF CHURCH MUSIC HISTORY ONLINE


Hymnology: Historical Periods Useful articles and links on the movements and historical periods of hymnody



CANADIAN CHURCH MUSIC HISTORY ONLINE

The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada is accessible online through The Canadian Encyclopedia. Articles on many aspects of Canadian congregational song history can be found through the search engine, for example Anglican Church Music, Gospel Music, Hymns and hymn tunes, Mennonites and  Protestant Church Music.

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online has biographies of many of Canada's early hymn writers and tune book compilers such as Henry Alline,  Alexander Davidson, Stephen Humbert, and Joseph Scriven.

Early Canadiana Online has a number of early hymn collections in various First Nations languages online plus a few collections by female authors. Try a subject search for "hymns".

Cox, Gordon. "The Christmas Carolling Tradition of Green's Harbour, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland" Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1975)

Harding, Bruce. "Canadian Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Church Music Prior to 1925," Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Worship in Canada Prior to 1925 (Toronto: Evensong, 1995)

Harding, Bruce. "Change and continuity: the development of tune repertoire for congregational singing in The United Church of Canada, 1925 - 1975" PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 1998. Warning - large file for downloading (over 50MB)!

Harding, Bruce. "Singing our faith: the music of Voices United" Touchstone 15/1 (January, 1997)

Henry, Frances. "Black Music in the Maritimes" Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1975)

Klymasz, Robert.  "Tracking the 'Living Book': doukhobor Song in Canada Since 1899" Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1993)


Riel, Jennifer. "Voices in Harmony: Methodist and Presbyterian hymnbooks prior to church union" Touchstone 15/1 (January, 1997)

 

BRITISH CHURCH MUSIC HISTORY ONLINE

Gallery Music and Psalmody Devoted primarily to music in British country churches, 1700's and early 1800's
 
The Whole Book of Psalmes (1562) A detailed discussion, with facsimile examples, of the first complete metrical psalter in English

Parry, W. H. Thirteen Centuries of English Church Music (London: Hinrichsen, 1946)

Phillips, C. Henry. The Singing Church: an outline history of the music sung by choir and people (London: Faber and Faber, 1945)


AMERICAN CHURCH MUSIC HISTORY ONLINE

Fasola and Sacred Harp Sites devoted primarily to shape-note singing

negrospirituals.com A good site for the history of the spiritual genre

Voices Across America - Shape-Note Music Online directory of recordings from many decades and singing traditions, all in mp3!

Earle, Alice Morse. The Sabbath in Puritan New England An older resource with good descriptions of congregational singing and books in use in early America

Joncas, Michael. Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs: Roman Catholic Liturgical Music In The United States Since Vatican II

Ruggles, Linda. "The regular singing controversy: the case against lining out" The Early America Review (Fall, 1997)



ONLINE PRIMARY RESOURCES

The Genevan Psalter (1562) in English Translation

Thomas Ravenscroft's
Whole Booke of Psalmes (1621)

Preface to The Bay Psalm Book (1640)

The Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645)

Psalmes of David in Metre (Scottish Psalter, 1650) with commentary

The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts

Southern Harmony (1847 edition)

John Wesley, A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodist (1889 edition) 

Hymnal of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA (1916)

The Lutheran Hymnal (1941)
 
 

MUSICOLOGY LINKS

These links are to sites in Canada and abroad, with information on many aspects of music, including church music.

Canadian Music Periodicals Index

Gregorian Chant Home Page

Internet Resources for Music Scholars (Harvard University)

Music Resources (Indiana University)

Music Resources (Sibelius Academy)