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The Concord Anthem Book Volume I Edited by Archibald T. Davison ECS No. 13 |
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From the original Preface (1925) These anthems are drawn from many sources representing the noblest schools of church music. The selections are of varying degrees of difficulty, but not one of them is too difficult for performance by a choir reasonably diligent in rehearsal. The tradition of many of the best Schools of Church Music calls for unaccompanied singing, a number of the Anthems in this book are intended to be sung unaccompanied; an optional accompaniment, however, has been supplied in each case. The words for which many of these compositions were originally written cannot be used in modern Protestant churches. Not only is the language – Latin, German or Russian – unfamiliar tour congregations, but in many instances it is the expression of a theology remote from modern Protestant thought. This is especially the case with passages taken from the Office of the Roman Mass, or the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church. In such instances it does not suffice simply to translate the Latin or the Russian into English. If these musical compositions – among the noblest and most moving expressions of religious emotion which the world has know – are to be used at all in our churches today, fresh English words must be provided which will be an appropriate and legitimate expression of modern belief. The editors clearly recognize the well-nigh insuperable difficulty of doing this satisfactorily. It is never easy to arrange new words to old music, words which shall both suit the musical form and have a clear and rational meaning. This is supremely difficult when one attempts to substitute for the noble, sonorous, full-vowelled Latin of the Adoramus te and the O bone Jesu, English words which shall in any degree worthily express the profound emotion of the music. There are those, indeed, who say that such a substitution should not be attempted, and that the music should be sung only to the original words. The editors, however, believe that the attempt is justified on the plea, that, otherwise, music of this type would never be heard in the great majority of our churches. We believe it to be a service to the religious life of our day to make available these musical compositions which are so moving an expression of the religious spirit. In most instances we have retained the original words for which the works of English composers were written, though here and there with some slight modifications to fit them better to modern thought. The whole purpose has been to provide words which shall be free from theological and dogmatic implications, and which shall be the genuine expression of the worship of today, since such words alone have a fitting place in the conduct of worship. Archibald T. Davison |
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