non-rhyming popular English hymn?
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Can anyone think of a non-rhyming popular English hymn in plainchant? I can't.
  • Pes
    Posts: 623
    I'm blanking. "Stabat Mater" in English rhymes. Chorale melodies come close, but their texts frequently are made to rhyme, too.

    What say our Anglican Use friends?
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I can't think of a single one!

    I want to know for the most practical reason. I want to give an example of the type of song the early Christians sang: no rhymes, plainchant but in English.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    "Hail Thee Festival Day" is non-rhyming, but not plainchant.
  • JamJam
    Posts: 636
    "O Come all Ye Faithful" doesn't rhyme. I guess that's not really plainchant either, though, eh? It does come from a Latin song originally though.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Chonak: but the original melody of it was a chant, was it not? That might work.
  • RobertRobert
    Posts: 343
    It's hard to think of a popular plainchant English hymn at all (setting aside O Come O Come), let alone a non-rhyming one.

    In the days of the St. Basil/ St. Gregory hymnals, though, wasn't Parce Domine sung in English to the following words (melody basically the same):

    Spare thy people Lord, spare thy people see us here before thee, be not angry Lord with thy people forever.
  • Bruce E. Ford
    Posts: 429
    "Hail thee, festival day" (Salve festa dies) set to plainsong as well as to the Vaughan Williams tune, can be found in THE ENGLISH HYMNAL.
  • Hugh
    Posts: 198
    "Of the Father's Heart Begotten" (Corde Natus) ?
  • Hugh
    Posts: 198
    Oh, it rhymes ... sorry, scratch that.
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,500
    ISTE CONFESSOR supports non-rhymed texts.

    "This is the feast day of the Lord's true witness" is the first line of all the translations--many variants of the rest of the hymn exist.

    The LOH books have the best translation, I think--even better than the Summit Choirbook, which is unusual!
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