A History of Hymnody: Vol. 5 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ralph Vaughan Williams

Vaughan Williams began collecting folk tunes from 1904 in order to preserve what had largely been an oral tradition. His socialist principles led to his rejecting offers of a knighthood.

The other names are all associated with church music in England, but during different time periods.

Answer: Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"

"Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!"

Van Dyke was a Presbyterian academic who held the position of Professor of English Literature at Princeton University. He was a friend of President Woodrow Wilson and served as an ambassador in the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Answer: Time

"God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church's story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour."

Fosdick was a staunch opponent of fundamentalism. He made the cover of "Time" due to the imminent opening of Riverside Church in New York, into whose construction John D. Rockefeller had plowed $4 million. Fosdick was the church's first pastor. The building was designed with all the needs of the local community in mind. In the words of the "Time" article:

"Dr. Fosdick proposes to give this educated community a place of greatest beauty for worship. He also proposes to serve the social needs of the somewhat lonely metropolite. Hence on a vast scale he has built all the accessories of a community church - gymnasium, assembly room for theatricals, dining rooms, etc., etc. He will have two assistant pastors besides many a staff worker." (Source: Time Magazine, October 6th 1930)

Answer: Mrs Miniver

"Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day."

Struther, who professed to be an agnostic, was commissioned to write hymns by Percy Dearmer for the "Songs of Praise" hymn book, first published in 1936. She was one of the first hymn writers to use "you" and "your" in hymns rather than "thee", "thou" and "thy".

"Mrs Miniver" won six Oscars in 1942, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The writing bug has remained in the family as Struther's great-nephews, Ian and Guy Maxtone-Graham, have respectively written for "The Simpsons" and "Beavis and Butthead".

Answer: All of these had significant effects

Increasingly, writers sought to write hymns using culturally relevant language that addressed their contemporary situation. As popular music diversified in many different directions, so too did the writing of worship material. Many hymns and worship songs were still written in traditional metrical forms, but a considerable number took the form of modern pop or rock songs. Pentecostalism also had an effect through the Charismatic movement, with an emphasis on short, easily learned, repeated "choruses", often little more than a paraphrase of scripture.

Answer: The Sacred Harp

Shape note singing, in its modern form, dates back to America at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although the roots go back to sixteenth-century Britain. Each note is assigned a particular shape to facilitate learning. The harp, as an instrument, has no particular significance and it is thought that this was probably originally intended as a reference to the human voice.

Answer: The assassination of Martin Luther King

"In every insult, rift, and war
where color, scorn or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
and lives, though ever crucified."
(The last line of this verse is found in some hymn books as "and lives, where even hope has died.")

Wren has described the writing of the hymn in the following words:

"I wrote that hymn in April of 1968, immediately following the murder of Martin Luther King. I knew that I could not preach on Easter Sunday without dealing with that event. Even though the Congregational church I was ministering to was located four thousand miles away from the American deep South, the people in my congregation were profoundly touched by King's death. However, after I had framed my sermon around that tragedy, I discovered there weren't any appropriate hymns for the congregation to respond with. There were plenty of songs that spoke about Easter as something very triumphant that happened a long time ago or that happens again in the heart of the believer. But there wasn't anything that suggested a combination of suffering and life." (Source: Reformed Worship Website)

His experience is typical of much later twentieth century hymn writing that arose from writers being unable to find an existing hymn that said what they wanted to say.

Answer: St. Francis

"Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love;
Where there is injury your pardon, Lord;
And where there's doubt true faith in you.
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love with all my soul."

Temple was born in South Africa in 1928, but spent most of his adult life in the UK. He died in 1997, the same year as Princess Diana, at whose funeral the hymn was sung.

Although the prayer is ascribed to St. Francis of Assisi, there is no record of it in its modern form prior to 1912. (Source: Wikipedia)

Answer: How Great Thou Art

"How Great Thou Art" was originally written in 1885 by Carl Boberg, as a poem entitled "O Store Gud". Boberg was a poet, lay minister and member of the Swedish Parliament. The English words originate with a missionary called Stuart Hine who, whilst serving in Poland, heard a version of the hymn which had been translated into German and then Russian. He produced an English translation and adapted the Swedish melody. The full version of the modern hymn was published in 1953.

The hymn was sung by George Beverly Shea during Billy Graham's 1954 crusade in London and was used extensively by Graham through the following years.

"O Lord Hear My Prayer" comes from the Catholic community at Taizé in France. Like Pentecostals, they have developed the use of short, easily-learnable songs (in Latin!). In their case, this is to facilitate a constant stream of international visitors speaking many different languages.

"We Are Marching in the Light of God" is a song that originates from South Africa and which was popularised through Scotland's Iona Community.

"I, the Lord of Sea and Sky" is another hymn penned by a Catholic writer. It was written by American Dan Schutte in 1981.

Answer: New Irish Hymns

"New Irish Hymns" was a writing collaboration between Getty and English worship leader, Stuart Townend.

Townend describes the hymn's composition in the following words. His stated aim to write about "the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications of that for us" serves as a tribute to all the writers featured in this series:

"The song came about in an unusual way. Keith and I met in the autumn of 2000 at a worship event, and we resolved to try to work together on some songs. A few weeks later Keith sent some melody ideas, and the first one on the CD was a magnificent, haunting melody that I loved, and immediately started writing down some lyrical ideas on what I felt should be a timeless theme commensurate with the melody. So the theme of the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications of that for us just began to tumble out, and when we got together later on to fine tune it, we felt we had encapsulated what we wanted to say." (Source: crosswalk.com)