Does there exist an online catalog of Hymn tune NAMES?
  • ProfKwasniewskiProfKwasniewski
    Posts: 242
    Dear Lovers of Traditional Hymnody,

    Does anyone know of a comprehensive (or at least fairly comprehensive) listing of the names that have been bestowed upon hymn tunes by their creators? Of course each hymnal has its own index in the back, but I'm looking for a kind of database. The reason is simple: I've got several hymn tunes I'd like to name, and yet I don't want to poach the fine names chosen by others. Not that I'm likely to come up with something like THAXTED or AURELIA on my own, but you never know... a lot of tunes out there...

    If you recommend an online list, can you tell me your assessment of how reliable/complete it is?

    Thanks!
  • Maureen
    Posts: 678
    Hymnary.org and the original Cyberhymnal (not to be confused with the one with all the ads) both have A-Z lists available. So do many other hymn midi sites. There are also a good many books of hymntunes. Most of the Protestant ones don't include most of the Catholic hymntunes, so you'll want to browse around as many different sites as possible.

    The difficulty is that there are already multiple same-name different tune examples, even within single denominations. Historically, tune names change a lot. So probably in the long run, it doesn't matter what you name it. (I'm so helpful!) But seriously, either you pick a small obscure town to name it after, or you name it after the lyrics or your parish; and then either way don't worry yourself too much.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,189
    A very good collection/database is at The Christian Classics Ethereal Library Hymn Tune Archive. The have a newer site www.hymnary.org which is also very good, but I find the former site easier to search (probably just from being accustomed to the older site).

    For old tunes (pretty much exhaustive up to 1820 or so) there is the The Hymn Tune Index (a.k.a. HTI). It's not as easy to use, but you can search for tunes by incipits (very useful), composer, or tune name.
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