Ways and Functions of Intermedial Relationships between Text and Tune in Hymns

Abstract

In stanzic songs like hymns for congregational singing, the intimate relationship between the text and the tune that we find in through-composed art songs is rarely achieved. In the tradition of the Lutheran churches the music has mainly been the servant of the text. However, the work of the hymnal committee of the Church of Sweden, which compiled the hymnal of 1986, shows two major criteria for the combinations of texts and tunes. The first criterion is unity of text and tune, and the second one is the function of the hymn in the service. From an aesthetic point of view, the interrelation of text and tune may be considered in five parameters: meter and rhythm, structure, mood, semantics, and style. This is what I intend to discuss here. The second criterion, the function of the hymn, i.e. 'singability' for a congregation, and aptitude for a specific cultural context, has often been the decisive one. Singability is most often discussed in terms of the tune. The tune must fit into the liturgy and the tradition of the congregation. Liturgy and tradition vary widely between countries, as well as within different parts of a country, according to time and cultural habits. Sometimes one hymn-text in the hymnal has been given two different tunes for different kinds of services or culturally different congregations. (Less)