A Hymnal! We've got a Hymnal! What need do we have for another hymnal?
It turns out -- plenty. This hymnal provides 176 new hymns written by various members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and some of them are quite good.
As some general authorities have recently stated, our day is an era of unfolding revelation, which includes inspired music. The arts are one way that inspiration has come and touched a lot of people. With this in mind, I don't believe an "official" hymnal is meant to be a closed book. There is always more room for more inspiration and little revelations.
"
As Saints We Sing", compiled by Michael D. Young, represents a few years' worth of work. First, there was a call for hymns. A committee combed through the submissions, and chose the 176. And then the hymns were compiled.
The result is an attractive product. The paper is good thick quality. The spiral binding is strong. The pages stay open and sit nicely on the piano. Its dimension are similar to the "official" 1985 hymnal. And the overall format is also similar.
As for the hymns themselves, I now present a review mostly from a musician's perspective. On the lyrics -- I'll just quickly say they look decent and doctrinally accurate, and I'll leave it to others to judge artistic merit.
As for musical quality, most of the hymns are decent. Every now and then you'll find a parallel fifth (used incorrectly), some strange voice leading, and sometimes some strange rhythms. But on the most part, I like these hymns. Some are very good. I wouldn't be surprised if several of these make an appearance in the next "official" Latter-day Saint hymnal coming out in a few years. Some -- I don't care for at all.
But what most caught my attention the most was the willingness of the composers to try new and adventurous ideas. There was one hymn in particular that I disliked the first time through -- but then one minute later, the structure seemed to form in my mind and identify itself. I said, "Let me try that again," and I understood it the second time through -- a very interesting journey through different harmonies. If only we could see more of this to enhance our hymns!
Before continuing, I should disclose that I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not involved at all in the creation of this book, as I didn't even know any of the hymn writers until a couple of years ago. It so happens that one of my hymns will appear in a second printing -- but this has no bearing on this review.
So, to make this an honest review, I need to point out some "mistakes of men." As there are a few -- easy to identify within a few minutes. Keep in mind that I'm a perfectionist, so these mistakes may not even faze most people. I find the music print and the lyrics to be on the small side. I would space the music differently -- such as bringing two pages of music into one on several occasions. Sometimes the notes don't line up nicely. There are many hymns that span across a page turn. (The "official" 1985 hymnal has absolutely zero page turns in any given hymn.) I saw perhaps one or two missing words in the lyrics -- though I can't remember what hymns I saw them in. But then again, looking back at several historical hymnals, it's not too hard to find similar "mistakes of men." I should note that I did not find any obvious musical errors other than my personal engraving preferences.
Despite these "mistakes," I think most people would enjoy this collection. I would strongly recommend checking it out. It is geared more toward Latter-day Saint services, but many of these hymns are also compatible with other denomination's services. Overall, I'm happy that this collection exists -- that musicians and lyricists continue to create new music to help worship God -- even on some topics not yet touched in our current canon of hymns. I'm sure these could help bring the Spirit to any church meeting.
