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Popular 19th century American religious hymns?

For the past six months I have been amassing a collection of early to mid-19th century American hymnals to arrange hymns selected from them for performances at Civil War re-enactment church services by a small woodwind ensemble. As of today, I have arranged 63 hymns which are far more than the ensemble will need for any one church service. After our rehearsal the question was asked as to whether there were any popular hymns that I might have over looked from the period from 1830 to around 1865. So I turn to Yahoo Answers with the hope that there is an expert on hymnology who might offer titles of hymns that he or she knows were popular during that time frame.

I an NOT interested in the stories behind the hymns or in popular songs of the time period. I'm only seeking titles of popular American hymns found in early to mid-19th century hymnals that were sung by American congregations. Once I have a title, I usually can locate the music in the hymnals that I've collected or on-line. I await a response from a hymn expert. Thank you.

Update:

Thank you Birdgirl for the helpful website.

I didn't list all 63 hymns that I've arranged because the same text often is set to different melodies. As my ensemble played through the hymns for the first time, someone in the group would look at the title and state that he knew that hymn, only to find that its melody was not the one with which he was familiar. I have two different versions of "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name" for that very reason. Two melodies that were in use during the 19th century with the same words.

I've not figured out how the melodies (tunes) got their names. Many appear to be names of locations such as Richmond, Amsterdam, Bethany, Rockport, Munich, Glasgow, etc. even Duke Street. Why? I have found cases where the melody name is used for more than one tune. I need someone who can shed some light on this mystery for me. I was hoping to find such an expert on Yahoo Answers.

3 Answers

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  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I'm not a hymn expert, but I seem to compulsively bookmark sites with public domain music (it comes in handy since I do sing). Have you looked here? These are traditional hymns sorted by year:

    http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/_/1830s/?s...

    It also contains midi files and sheet music. I noticed the "sorting" isn't perfect--one song from 1740 was thrown in with the ones from the 1840s (and it even has 1740 on it).

    You know, if you don't tell us which hymns you've already found, we have no idea which ones you might have missed. Some hymns were more popular than others and can be found in the hymnals of more than one denomination of church.

  • tevis
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    American Hymns

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    Try to find a book by Kenneth W.Osbeck. You'd find what you need in abundance. Additional: . Here are some that you might be looking for: Sweet Hour of Prayer, William W Watford (1772-1850) What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Joseph Scriven (1819-1886) God Moves in a Mysterious Way, William Cowper (1731-1800) Jesus Savior, Pilot Me, Edwad Hopper (1818-1888) Savior, Teach Me Day by Day, Jane E Leeson (1807-1882)

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