Hymn Meter / 6 6 8 6 . . . does it exist??
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Hymn Meter / 6 6 8 6 . . . does it exist??

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    Does anyone know any tunes with this meter?
  • Paul_D
    Posts: 133
    Otherwise known as short meter ... but most SM tunes I know begin with a pick-up (SOUTHWELL, FRANCONIA, FESTAL SONG ETC.), whereas verse 2 and 3 call for a downbeat start, it seems.
    Thanked by 1Ragueneau
  • DougS
    Posts: 793
    In addition to what Paul said, SM is frequently doubled in the literature.
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  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Thank you . . . I don't think I asked my question very well. Let me try again:

    Unless I am reading it wrongly, the emphasis (accents) seem to vary, depending on what verse it is.

    For instance:

    JEsus Thou DOST apPEAR

    vs.

    God's WORD, Thou DOST aBIDE

    Sorry if this is a dumb question.
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 783
    Jeff,
    I think in the example you provided at least, I can see the accent working as "JeSUS Thou DOST apPEAR," for the sake of the poetry.

    ETA: un-FA-tho-MA-ble GRACE.
    Thanked by 1Ragueneau
  • ScottKChicago
    Posts: 349
    I think it works OK with Franconia. The "wrong" accents aren't that bad, and there are lots of hymns where there's a bit of a "wrong" accent here and there. Franconia is used for "Blest ARE the pure in heart," and that right there is a wrong accent, as the phrase would normally be pronounced "BLEST are the pure in heart." Just ask the choir to take it easy on those wrong accents. There are other hymns (don't ask me to list them!) that have the Je- of Jesus on a pickup beat...just need to take it easy on -sus and not hit it as hard as one normally would a downbeat.
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  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,509
    It's conventionally considered iambic anyways. Jesus Shall Reign is like this.

    On some feet meter matters more than others, such as at the end of a line, and before the midpoint caesura of longer lines. Note that all the end feet here are iambic. But with the first foot, most anything is metrically ok.
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  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    20 hymns

    http://www.hymnary.org/texts?qu=meter:6 6 8 6
    Thanked by 1Ragueneau
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    This is one of those texts that has to finesse the iambic/trochaic issue (often by used of a triple meter).

    I would recommend Gibbons Song Twenty (Gibbons tunes are supernal, and should be more frequently used):

    http://www.ccel.org/cceh/0009/000965a.pdf

    http://www.hymnary.org/tune/song_20_gibbons

    St Thomas by Aaron Williams (1763) is an old 6686 chestnut

    http://www.ccel.org/cceh/0002/000240a.pdf

    http://www.hymnary.org/tune/st_thomas_williams

    Also the Old Hundred Thirty-Fourth (love Genevan Psalter tunes...):

    http://www.ccel.org/cceh/0000/000026a.pdf

    http://www.hymnary.org/tune/st_michael_genevan
    Thanked by 2Ragueneau Gavin
  • lmassery
    Posts: 422
    I would use SWABIA
    Thanked by 2Ragueneau Andrew Motyka
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    SWABIA is ideal for this tune.

    The classical meters S.M. (66. 86), C.M. (86. 86), and L.M. (88. 88) are all iambic meters. A trochaic meter with the same syllables is traditionally listed with just the numbers of syllables, often with "trochaic" in parentheses after the specification; thus, for example, 88. 88 (trochaic).

    The preponderance of lines in the text you give are iambic, and the non-iambic feet seem only to occur at the beginning of a few lines, which is quite common. This is why many of these classical (iambic meters) have the rhythmic structure (illustrated here for S.M.):

    L SSSS L
    L SSSS L
    L SSSS SSS
    S SSSS L

    (Long = half note, S = quarter note)

    The long beginning of the first three lines allows for either an iambic or a trochaic first foot in any of these lines without any apparent incongruity of rhythm. Hymn writers have been well aware of this freedom for a long long time.

    The use of triple meter can also mitigate lines that begin with a trochaic foot within an otherwise iambic structure (illustrated for S.M.):

    SSS LS L.
    SSS LS L.
    SSS LS LS L
    S LS LS L.

    This is the metrical structure for the tune NOVA VITA (sometimes used for "Breathe on me, breath of God") - another worthy tune for above text.
    Thanked by 2Ragueneau Andrew Motyka
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