Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)

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This article deals with the 1985 English version. See also Hymns—for Home and Church and Latter-day Saint Hymns.


Mormon Hymnbook
Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official hymn book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was published in 1985 in English and later into editions in various languages. It is used throughout the church globally.

In June 2018, the Church announced plans to publish new, unified editions of both Hymns and the Children's Songbook. Members of the Church are invited to participate in the revision process in unprecedented ways. Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted, "We desire to offer a consistent core collection of hymns and songs in every language that reflects the diverse needs of the global Church in our day.” Elder Erich W. Kopischke of the Seventy added, "This core collection means that “members of the Church, no matter where they live in the world, will have the same hymns and the same songs and the same hymn numbers!” Members were asked to submit original music and lyrics and to provide feedback.[1]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently plans to release “Hymns—for Home and Church” in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French by the end of 2026, with other languages to follow. Some new songs are planned to be released digitally in small digital batches starting in the first half of 2024. They can be used alongside hymns and songs in the Church’s current published hymnbook and songbook. These will include well-loved music of the Church composed after 1985 (such as “Faith in Every Footstep”), music borrowed from other faiths, and some of the 17,000 new songs submitted by members of the Church. Many, if not all, of these new songs will later be incorporated into “Hymns—for Home and Church.”[2]

A news release prior to the April 2024 general conference stated that: "After six years of work reviewing thousands of submissions and gathering hymns from across the world, 12 hymns of the new “Hymns—for Home and Church” will be available on May 30, 2024. The selections will include “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and will be published in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. The hymns will be available in the Sacred Music and Gospel Library apps, and in the online Music Library."[3]


Each hymn is given a number, which is approximately the page it is on, so while they are appropriately known as "hymn numbers" they are sometimes incorrectly referred to as "page numbers." This is because some hymns occupy more than one page in the book, and others may occupy half a page.

A few of the hymns have the same text, and even the same title, but are put to different music.

Divisions

There are multiple sections to the hymn book, the largest being the hymns themselves. At the beginning is a message from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ, encouraging church members to use the hymn book at meetings and in their homes to invite the Spirit and to teach doctrine.

According to the table of contents, the book is divided into sections of different kinds of hymns based on the themes.

  • 1-61 are labeled as "Restoration"
  • 62-96 "Praise and Thanksgiving"
  • 97-168 "Prayer and Supplication"
  • 169-196 "Sacrament" (These songs are typically sung by the congregation before the Sacrament is administered. They set the mood for the Sacrament.)
  • 197-200 "Easter"
  • 201-214 "Christmas"
  • 215-298 "Special Topics"
  • 299-308 "Children's Songs"
  • 309-318 "For Women"
  • 319-337 "For Men"
  • 338-341 "Patriotic"

Following the hymns, there is a section that briefly illustrates how to conduct music in the different time signatures.

Then there are multiple indexes. The hymns are listed according to the names of the authors of the texts, the names of the composers of the music, the meters of the music, the names of the tunes, the scriptures referenced, and the names of the hymns and their first lines.

Format of each hymn

Each hymn, with the exception of those arrangements specifically for male voices (tenor and bass) or for female voices (soprano and alto), are written with the treble clef and the bass clef. Most of them are arranged in SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) format. Some congregational members sing in parts, some do not; it is up to them. The meter (in beats per minute) is listed on the page, along with an indication of the appropriate mood for the song such as "joyfully," "reflectively," "with vigor," etc. Beneath the hymn is listed the author, composer, and any arranger along with the years of birth and death (if applicable), and any special notes regarding the copyright of the hymn. There is also listed a few scriptures, which either are part of the text of the hymn, or share a similar theme as the hymn.

Recordings

The Church of Jesus Christ has also released sets of CDs of the hymn book in audio format. One set is instrumental of each hymn, which is primarily used by congregations that do not have a piano/organ or people skilled to play them. A CD player is used in the meetings to provide the music. The other set of CDs has all the hymns sung by a small group of people with a piano or organ. This is used primarily so that church members can have religious music in their home, as well as to familiarize church members with all the hymns.

List of Hymns and their numbers

Other Languages

Many of the hymns are translated into other languages, and the hymn book is then published in other languages. Not all of the hymns are published in the other languages. Also, some language editions have additional hymns that are not found in the English version. Many of these are somewhat traditional songs, such as Christmas songs, or patriotic songs of the respective country.

In some hymns in some languages, the text is translated fairly literally and keeping the rhyming scheme intact. Other hymns are morphed in such a way that the rhyming scheme is pleasant, but the topic of the hymn changes entirely with the new text. Still some other hymns keep the same theme, even if the line by line text is not an exact translation.

Versions of this hymn book are also published in at least the following languages:

  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Icelandic
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Norwegian
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Samoan
  • Spanish
  • Swedish

External Links

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