Hymns on the Piano

January 2006

Today in church we sang a hymn I like a lot -- "Jesus, Priceless Treasure. The melody was written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Some Lutherans complain about the old hymns that we sing, but I like most of them, especially those with gloriously minor melodies. 

 
When I was a teenager, I discovered that I could play on the piano many familiar songs that we sang in church. This worked out well for our little country church as they usually needed somebody to play the piano. Many of the hymns that we sang were written by Fannie Crosby and her contemporaries, roughly between the Civil War and World War I. It was a time when great revivals were sweeping the nation, and new church music was often peppy with easy harmonies. Many of the hymn melodies were written in flats, and I became quite comfortable with that set of chords.

Two decades later in Germany, I started attending Lutheran services and, here in Kentucky, joined the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. In Lutheran services, I heard a familiar hymn only occasionally. Many of the LCMS hymns were written several centuries ago or even earlier.

After a time as Lutheran hymns became more familiar to me, I started to play through the Lutheran Hymnal on the piano. Many Lutheran hymns are written in minor keys and/or sharps, so I eventually learned (am still learning) a whole new set of chords. I am not a master by any means, but I'm much more fluent in Lutheran music now than when I started.

When I started practicing the Lutheran hymns, I became obsessed with them, and I abandoned my old favorite hymnbooks for a long time. A couple of years later, I began playing through one of those neglected volumes, page by page whether or not the hymn name was familiar. To my surprise, many of the hymns that I thought I didn't know turned out to be:

1. Hymns I have learned as a Lutheran, or
2. Unfamiliar words with melodies I have learned as a Lutheran.

About a year ago, I read a rave review that a music professor had written about the new Baptist Hymnal. I ordered the hymnal online, and I agree that is a great hymnal. It has a broad selection of Christian music from various genres, it's easy on the eyes, and it contains good indexes and helpful information like, "This melody in a lower key on page --."

I was interested to find many hymns from my Lutheran experience in the new Baptist hymnal. In fact, I find that I know nearly all the hymns in it -- some from my years in church music before I became a Lutheran, and others from my years in Lutheran music.