A hymnal is for congregational use, so no hymnal is going to have polyphony, which by necessity is strictly choral. For polyphony, go with public domain at imslp.org and quality published editions. For congregational resources, I recommend the Lumen Christi series: illuminarepublications.com.

doneill: it seems that there is some disagreement about what constitutes "sacred polyphony", even on this forum. However, I am not an expert on these matters, and have no formal education in sacred music.
Just to clarify, though, what I meant by polyphony is anything that is not chant that contains the potential for instrumental or vocal harmony, in this case specifically referring to vernacular hymns that would be sung by the congregation.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Lumen Christi Hymnal. Get yourself a reference copy as soon as possible. You can order it from Lumen Christi publications via the internet. The first half of this book is very well chosen hymns for normal use at mass, with excellent tunes and absolutely no dross. The second half is English translations of the office hymns set to their plainchant tunes as in Liber Hymnarius. These office hymns, besides being useful for the divine office and private or public devotions, could also be useful at mass. Of particular merit is that the hymn texts have been left intact and have not been castrated to appease gender nuts. The single disappointment of this book is that the plainchant is in round note heads rather than chant notation. Do not fail seriously to consider this book.

Yes. You would need a donation or a church selling their copies. I don't think it's really what you are looking for anyway.

I’ll second a commendation of the Lumen Christi Hymnal.

I also should add that my parish is happy with the Ignatius Pew Missal. It’s not a hardbound hymnal: take the good with the bad. There’s quite a good selection of hymnody in there. Of particular note here is the adaptation of Healey Willan’s “Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena” to the new ICEL translation.

You may also appreciate its musical settings of the Missal entrance/communion antiphons. I find this kind of thing misguided and musically unsatisfying, but hey.

Finally, there is a perhaps overly-representative share of Taizé and the likes of “Here I Am, Lord”: not much of it, really, but just enough to assuage folks who might otherwise be concerned about not having stuff like “Be Not Afraid”. I have no need of it and so wish it were gone, but I sympathize with the rationale for its inclusion.

If those above don't suit you, make your own hymnal and publish it through Lulu or Amazon

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I'm doing more research on the St. Michael and Lumen Christi hymnals. Also, I found another hymnal, the Credo hymnal published by ILP. It looks like it has quite an extensive selection.
http://www.ilpmusic.org/category/Credo.html

lmassery's done a fine job for his parish! Take his advice.

it's probably a lot of work :)

Way more than you can imagine.

Hymnal and choir pieces ? Ha I cannot even,

Ph

St. Michael. I get money.

St. Michael. It needs more exposure. The lady in charge of this monumental project is the director of a parish right down the road from me, and so far, only her parish and another in the diocese are using it.

I guess its sheer magnificence is daunting!

St. Michael. I get money.

St. Michael. I get the smallest fraction of what Richard gets.

I love it. I can totally hear this conversation:

Organist: Which book of organ-chorales should I get?
Bach: Orgelbuchlein. I get money.

St. Michael 4th edition is the best comprehensive hymnal currently available. Our chapel had St. Michael 3rd edition and Worship III. I was considering replacing W3 with Adoremus, but decided instead to replace both with St. Michael 4. It's got a little of everything, and most of what is in Adoremus is in SMH 4.

Lumen Christi wasn't out yet when I made my decision. I do really like LC, but it assumes that you will be singing mostly antiphons and ordinaries from another resource. If your parish is ready to adopt the Lumen Christi missal, gradual and hymnal, then go for it. But if you want a single volume comprehensive resource, then St. Michael is the way to go.

Why do you say that the Credo hymnal is contemporary? I looked through the index and it seemed fairly traditional to me.
Am I missing something?

I'm sorry, Noel, but there appears to be some confusion. The Credo hymnal does not include the Mass of Rock, although that Mass is published by ILP.
I'm referring to http://www.ilpmusic.org/pdfs/CREDO_preview.pdfwhere they have a preview of the table contents. Most of the songs my choir sings are in public domain, and the majority of the songs we sing were contained in the Credo Hymnal. It also has the Jubilate Deo and Mass VIII.
Perhaps you are thinking of the St. Augustine hymnal, also published by ILP, but is definitely more contemporary?

No, it does not

I did fail to track down which masses were in that exact book. I apologize.

What I heard were a couple of masses that were contemporary in style and a heavy emphasis on use of piano or orchestral instruments on almost all the mass settings.

You would not find that in the St. Michael hymnal. There's a reason.

Bravo, Noel!
The lectionary at mass is read out, proclaimed, delivered. It is not read by a passive listener who is reading his own private little copy whilst the lector just happens to be delivering the sacred text. If readings are printed in missals and such, they might legitimately be used for private study in preparation for mass. This is but another part of the mass (in addition to choral embellishments and clerical parts) in which the whole people actively (attentively!) listen and assimilate, not privately follow along. (It helps when the lectors are really skilled in oratory and have very carefully prepared their texts - which all too aften is not the case. In fact, if a lector really knows what he is doing when delivering his sacred text none would be able to take their eyes off him or fail to be caught up in his delivery.)

The Credo hymnal fascinates me. Their preview pages emphasize Form A and the Kyrie as well as the Canon (as opposed to showing II). If Franciscan University had not published its own hymnal, they would have bought this one had it been out there. What it lacks for can be found in missalettes or for big Masses, put on Powerpoint in the gym. Well, I take that halfway back: the ones really specific to the charismatic renewal aren’t included, but we sing so much without a text anyways that we would make do (which I think is horrible: print a sheet if you must!!).

My choir director and I would probably still be desiring other hymns of all sorts...“My Song is Love Unknown” is an unlikely candidate, as with many Anglican hymns but I did not see “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” whixh surprised me. And I am for square notes 100%.

But I think it’s great with only those caveats. It could simultaneously pass muster at FUS and somewhere moving along a reform of the reform direction that needs more bulk than Adoremus in permanent form. We have the AH at my parish, but usually at least one of the two, sometimes three hymns at the Mass with propers is printed on the service sheet.


MJO, because they ought to be singing the lections well, at least on Sundays and high feasts.

I tend to get really lost at daily Mass with the longwinded Old Testament readings that get more confusing if one missed Mass the day before. At least singing it would hold my attention to the use of the prophecy tone (or Epistle tone, if there be only one lesson). Certainly private study is to be encouraged...but just what is the point of including the readings in books used at Mass when they are in the vernacular?

One of the more obnoxious bits about the 1962 missal is the permission for the priest to read the reading at Missa Cantata. If he cannot sing it, after questioning why he is offering a Sung Mass, I would suggest he read it quietly and a lector (instituted or not, so long as he be male) in cassock and surplice sing it in Latin. This is done in a few places, and I see little difference between this and the lector reading in the vernacular while the priest reads it in Latin.