I've spent a lot of time on this blog (and elsewhere) complaining about modern hymns. It struck me today that I should see if I can do any better.
So I'm posting this just in case-- and it seems unlikely, but who knows?-- there's anyone reading who composes music and who could be Swann to my Flanders, Sullivan to my Gilbert, Elton John to my Bernie Taupin. And-- if you are such a person, and you come across this blog post some time in the future, and you're interested-- please contact me no matter how much time has elapsed.
A thought, though it may well have already occurred to you--there are some lovely (says I) old hymn tunes already drifting about, and not necessarily tied eternally to one set of words. While it would be splendid indeed to have something entirely new to offer a weary world, a decent, refreshingly solid lyric set to an existing-but-perhaps-forgotten solid old tune seems like it might be a place to start, least Hammerstein be thwarted for lack of a Rodgers. I confess my taste in hymn tunes might be a little stodgy, but a f'r instance--I was delighted to read a few weeks ago that the composer Ralph Vaughn Williams had tailored an old anonymous tune called "King's Lynn" to fit GKC's "O God of Earth and Altar," to quite good effect, I thought. --Molly
ReplyDeleteActually, Molly, that had not occurred to me, and it's a splendid idea. I liked the idea of having a partnership with some musician but, in the absence of that, finding public domain tunes and writing my own lyrics to them is a great idea. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for your comment. It's been ages since I had anything but spam comments. (Including a spam comment that asked me if I got a lot of spam comments.)
Being deprived of an appreciation of classical music-- I listened to Mozart's Requiem three or four times, all the way through, very attentively, and got nothing out of it-- Vaughan Williams is one of the very classical composers I can enjoy. A little bit. But the only version of that Chesterton hymn I've heard is the Iron Maiden version.