Following up on this conversation below, I found myself thinking about hymns and the tunes we sing ‘em to. Some combinations just seem so ‘right’ that it is hard to imagine anything else. Few British Methodists, for example, would want now to sing Love divine to anything other than Blaenwern. Our US cousins seem to prefer Hyfrydol, though I wish we could go back to ‘Westminster’, the tune for which it was first written.
I’ve often tried to argue that Sagina is the wrong tune for And can it be, or at least for the first verse. Your typical congregation bellows the first verse with gusto where the words would seem to demand a hushed and awed reverence:
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
The remainder of the hymn answers these questions with a confident “Yes and Amen!” leading to the astonishing climax
Bold I approach the eternal throne
And claim the crown through Christ my own!
However, finding an alternative tune for this hymn, or even finding a different way of singing it, would surely amount to blasphemy in most places. I have to grin and bear it. (And yes — join in 
)
All of which is a long-winded introduction to a simple question: what are favourite (and least favourite) commonly sung word/tune combinations for hymns? And if you’ve any uncommon favourites that you’d like to see in wider circulation, let’s hear about those too.
Over to you.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Paul Martin 07.20.09 at 11:02 am
I have long favoured Ellan Vannin for Love Divine. Also brill for Praise my soul, the King of heaven, What a friend we have in Jesus. Indeed my ambition on my Isle Man days was to have an Ellan Vannin event where we could sing lots of hymns to Ellan Vannin - for me the greatest tune ever composed!
Beth 07.20.09 at 1:32 pm
One of the worst tune/text combinations ever is “A great and might wonder” with “Es ist ein Ros” - the tune is absolutely beautiful, but the way it stresses the words is just dreadful, such that seven of the twelve strong stresses fall on grammatical words like “with”, “and”, “the”.
As for Love Divine - as long as it isn’t Stainer’s appalling tune, I can put up with most things!
tortoise 07.20.09 at 4:05 pm
I have once or twice (though not at my own church) sung “There is a green hill far away” to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun”. Some consider that a bit hackneyed, but for me it kinda works.
It’s said that “O Jesus I have promised” can be sung to the Theme from the Muppet Show, but I’ve never quite mustered the courage.
Richard 07.20.09 at 4:21 pm
‘Amazing grace’ is the thing for ‘House of the rising sun’. The Blind Boys of Alabama have an amazing version.
I think you might be right about O Jesus/The Muppets. But I wouldn’t have the courage either.
Although…
Kim 07.20.09 at 4:57 pm
Richard took the Blind Boys of Alabama reference right out of my mouth!
I set a Good Friday hymn, based on the Seven Words, to “The House of the Rising Sun” - though my organist has always played it to the alternative tune “Amazing Grace”. I’ve posted it at “Connexions” before, but if anyone is interested, here it is again:
Beneath an unforgiving sky
(Tune: The House of the Rising Sun / Amazing Grace)
Beneath an unforgiving sky
hangs Christ, the Father’s Son;
“Forgive them, Father,” hear him cry,
“they don’t know what they’ve done.”
Two hang with Christ upon the tree
(while soldiers play at dice);
“Today” – his promise – “you will be
with me in paradise.”
A friend stands, dumb with disbelief,
the one who did not run;
his mother too stands numb with grief –
he says, “Behold, your son.”
In agony and deep distress,
adrift on howling seas,
he hurls a frantic SOS,
“God, why abandon me?”
The fount of healing streams who said,
though men might do their worst,
he’d feed us with the living bread,
now simply says, “I thirst.”
The day grows dark, the end draws near,
nails tearing hands and feet,
he shouts in triumph, loud and clear,
“Now everything’s complete!”
He bows his head, “My God, I give
my soul into your hands.”
The seed is sown – to die, to live –
O who can understand?
Kim Fabricius
DmL 07.20.09 at 5:28 pm
Definitely Amazing Grace and the Gilligan’s Island theme.
Fat Prophet 07.20.09 at 9:34 pm
I was road manager of a rock band called Blazing Apostles in the early 80’s and one of their big numbers was There is a green hill to the House of the rising sun and my it was absolutely amazing.
I had Love Divine to the tune ‘Love Divine’ a few weeks ago because the organist had changed the tune to the first hymn and used Blaenwern.
I might be tempted to try O Jesus to the Muppet theme at my home church - I could probably get away with it there.
For me one of the worst combinations is All people that on earth do dwell to Old Hundredth - how can you sing to the Lord with cheerful voice using a tune like this one? The Roger Jones tune is far better in my opinion.
I hope this post generates a few comments as it is a fascinating subject
PamBG 07.20.09 at 10:36 pm
Speaking as someone who had to change all the tunes to all the well-known hymns and who has had to sing Christmas Carols to strange tunes for 22 years…..a person can get used to anything.
I think I’ve said before that my worst ever lyric-tune combination is ‘Angels From the Realms of Glory’ to the tune of ‘Les Anges dans nos Campagnes’ where you end up singing Cu - uh -uh-uh-uh-uh — uh-uh-uh-um cu-uh-uh-um and wor-ur-SHIP!!!!!!’ (whew glad we finally made it to the end!) instead of ‘Gloria!’
Phillip Fayers 07.21.09 at 8:40 am
“O Jesus I Have Promised” to the theme tune from the Muppets…
Richard 07.21.09 at 9:46 am
Pam - you’re surely not suggesting we sing the wrong tunes over here?!
Philip - I see a these developing in this thread. If we were going to have a new hymnbook, we’d be able to start a campaign to get the Muppets theme tune in there.
Does anyone have the sheet music for this?