PREFACE.

THE METRICAL TUNES.

The

For the selection and arrangement of these the Compiler alone is responsible. They are taken from the best repertories of Psalmody, both English and foreign, and consist chiefly of the stately melodies of our own Church, and of the finest Chorales of Germany. He has not felt himself at liberty to reject the least ob­jectionable of the tunes in triple measure, such as Rockingham, Irish, Abridge,& c. They are good in their particular style, though that style may not be pro­nounced the best: but all tunes of a florid structure and of secular associa­tions are allowed no admission here. The tunes selected are suitable, easy, and methodical in their phrases, symmetrical in their proportions, and, for the most part, syllabic in their partition. Such, doubtless, are the tunes best adapted for the ready, distinct, and simultaneous utterance of the congre­gational voice. A considerable number of them have already acquired great traditional renown, and an established position in the public favour; and the rest, when once mastered, will be equally appreciated. Some of them, on their first enunciation, may be thought dull and lifeless, and the Clergyman may feel a little hesitation in introducing them, lest he should seem to run counter to his people's predilections. For these the Compiler craves a patient hearing; and for the encouragement of others he begs to record the result of his own experience. This he does with the confident assurance that many of his brethren can re- echo his statement as the result of their own. flippant, complex, and operatic* tunes which, alas! still prevail in too many or our Churches, once prevailed in his own. Some of them were quite imprac­ticable to all but trained ears, by their high pitch, broken rhythm, and inter­minable appoggiaturas. Consequently the singing of the Congregation was partial, irregular, fitful, and impulsive. They sung out only when in the humour, and not unfrequently the people in one part of the Church were a full bar behind those in another. The Compiler sought to remedy the evil by gently and unobtrusively substituting the noble melodies which were composed when psalmody was best understood and most extensively practised. At first they were pronounced heavy and unattractive, and so would the Old Hundredth be pronounced by many modern congregations, if introduced for the first time. He persevered, notwithstanding, quietly yet firmly. Shortly, prejudices began to recede. The people gradually got hold of the tunes; the poor could sing them, and they are now sung with a vigour of voice and purpose which is most refreshing, whilst those who were loudest in their condemnation have become loud­est in their praise. It is indeed quite exhilarating to mark the revolution which the public mind is undergoing in their favour. The spurious, crude, irreverent, inartistic productions which have so long occupied the room of their elder brethren, the rightful heirs to the people's confidence and attachment, are rapidly losing the position which they have so unjustly usurped, and probably within twenty years we shall have to celebrate their entire extrusion from the sanctuary. Possibly the number of tunes in this collection( 160), may be thought too great, yet it is considerably below that in constant use in Germany and amongst many dissenting congregations in our own country. It could not have been reduced without banishing much that was really excellent. It will be found, moreover, upon trial, that the capabilities of a congregation in this department of the service are almost unlimited, when once they have caught

*" Church music," says Dr. Crotch," should contain nothing which recommends itself for its novelty, or reminds us of what is heard at the parade, the concert, and the theatre."