Page 16 - Church Music Quarterly June 2018

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ONE SONG TO THE
TUNE OF ANOTHER
Theysaythat amiliaritybreedscontempt,andIhaveto conessthataterclosetoathousandbaptisms,weddings and unerals,mytolerance or‘Allthingsbrightand beauti ul’ is not what it once was. Yet even as my heart sinksatover-amiliarhymns,IthankGod orthem, or theyprovideameansbywhichadisparatebuncho people, gathered either in sorrow or in joy, may raise their voices(withvaryingdegreeso enthusiasm)and,just or thosetwoorthreeminutes,tapintosomething amiliar, perhaps romchildhood,thatmeantsomethingto themonce.Thesehymnsaccrueapatinao association, layered emotion and memory that allows them to o er hospitality to people who would otherwise perhaps fnd churchentirelyunamiliar:allthemoresoi thereare
a ewpeoplewillingtoholdthetuneandgiveitsome welly, providing a critical mass into which others might be attracted and fnd support and solace.
Isit,however,thewordsorthetunethatprovides uswithsolace?Certainly,i yousangthe‘right’ words to the ‘wrong’ tune the positive e ect would
bemarkedlydiminished,i noterased.Thisbecomes acriticalquestioni youdevelopahabit,asIhave done,o writingnewwords orcongregationstosing, and have little confdence that they will wish to learn newmusic.Whatdoesitmean oranewseto words to‘borrow’anoldand amiliartune?Isthissimply putting new wine into an old wineskin and perhaps ruiningboth?Orcanawriterlegitimatelytryto capitalizeonanoldtune’spopularityandsingability tolendtheirnewwordssomeaddedcredibility?
Ireadoncethat‘DearLordandFathero mankind’ has requently been voted as the nation’s avourite hymn. Parry’s tune, Repton, bears some signifcant responsibility orthis.Itisayearningtune:thelong pedalthatspillsovereveninthesecondline,therising sequence in line 3, the longer rise to the climactic top note and the gentle relaxation in the repeated last line, allo whichhelptomakeitamasterpiece.Becauseo itsbelovedness,andalsoperhapsbecauseitisahymn about which I have good childhood memories, I chose
16 CMQ
ALLY BARRETT