Editing the LDS Hymnbook

I read a blog post listing things the author "has always wanted to say to life-long members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." One of the items on that list is that she "secretly" wants to rip out one hymn from each copy of the hymnbook and burn it. She further elaborates on this item in a comment on the blog's Facebook page.

"For me, that song is a painful reminder that I am not sealed to a single other soul. For various reasons, I cannot do the temple work for my deceased relatives. If I die tomorrow, I'm on my own, and I have no idea how I would be reunited with my family.… Yes, families can be together forever, and that's wonderful, but for now, my family isn't sealed, and I feel very alone sometimes, and that hymn does not help."

For a while now, even before this post was written, I've been thinking about what changes would I make if I were editing the hymnbook.  That blog post added fuel to the fire to this post.

This list is organized into a number of different categories. Each category lists which hymns the category applies to, then a brief explanation of why I would make these changes.

I. Splice two verses together.
7. Israel, Israel, God Is Calling (vv. 1+2)

Since this hymn is the only one in this category, I'll get more into the specifics.

I have a relationship with this one, which basically involves me, upon discovering this song is about to be played, walking out of the room to go far enough away so I cannot hear it. This primarily involves much of the first verse, as it appears currently. When I started this relationship, I also thought it was Utah-centric. This relationship started when I was at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. My companion, who is from Utah, would occasionally sing this hymn, and it would irk me, especially since my time in the MTC was about six months after this, an event that needs no further elaboration. I thought of his singing of the hymn as insensitive, since the lyrics brought to my mind the terrifying images of the events of that day.

I would later learn the term "Zion" itself referred to wherever the Church was established, not just Utah. However, I am perfectly fine with the idea of God allowing this to happen, but the idea of God causing this particular event, well, not so much.

What I would do is remove the offending text, splicing together the first line of the first verse, with the rest of the second verse, as follows: "Israel, Israel, God is calling,/Hear your great Deliv'rer's voice…"

While we're at it, might as well change the tune, as this one makes my ears hurt.

Speaking of Utah-centrism…
II. Remove Utah-centric texts
30. Come, Come, Ye Saints (v 3)
33. Our Mountain Home So Dear
34. O Ye Mountains High
35. For the Strength of the Hills (v 3)
37. The Wintry Day, Descending to Its Close (v 3)

While recognizing the westward trek of the early pioneers who settled in Utah and other Western territories, it is no longer required for modern saints to make such a journey (though with modern modes of transportation, the trek is so much easier). Church members are encouraged to remain where they are, so they can grow the church in those locations. As the church is becoming more global in nature, it seems silly for our hymnody to be stuck in Utah. Two hymns would be removed entirely. "Come, Come, Ye Saints", a much-beloved hymn by many members of the church, and two others, would only have one verse removed.

III. Get licensing for electronic distribution
62. All Creatures of Our God and King
82. For All the Saints
86. How Great Thou Art
124. Be Still, My Soul
284. If You Could Hie to Kolob

While there are some great hymns in the hymnbook, some are copyrighted by third parties. Unfortunately, the licenses for these hymns allow for only printing in the book, or electronic distribution of just the text, or some other restriction that does not allow for full distribution of text and sheet music in the church's mobile applications, and on the church's web site. This should be fixed.

IV. Hymn Condensation
134. I Believe in Christ

"I Believe in Christ", verses 1-4,
in the new format.

There are two hymns in the LDS hymnbook which contain eight verses: "Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire," and "I Believe in Christ." The latter of these actually appears as four sets of two verses, as evidenced by each verse's similar music. In fact, only the last two lines of each verse differs. This makes the entirety of the hymn feel like a long, drawn out affair. My favorite recording of this hymn performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir involves the choir singing the first pair of verses, Elder McConkie reciting the next four, then the choir singing the last pair.

My edit would condense the hymn so that it appears as eight verses, with the common section appearing once, and the different parts being represented using volta brackets. Preferably, verses 1, 2, 7, and 8 (maintaining those numbers) would be between the staves, with the other verses printed below the music, or on an adjacent page.

Speaking of verses printed below the music…
V. Put all verses between the staves of music.
6. Redeemer of Israel
29. A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
85. How Firm a Foundation
100. Nearer, My God, to Thee
116. Come, Follow Me
122. Though Deepening Trials
187. God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son
191. Behold the Great Redeemer Die
195. How Great the Wisdom and the Love
274. The Iron Rod
284. If You Could Hie to Kolob

This one has an interesting story that also takes place during my time at the MTC. My companion asked me to join him in singing "The Iron Rod," as he was making a tape recording he would later send to his family. After finishing the third verse, which is the last one that appears between the staves of music, I proceed to belt out the start of the fourth verse: "And hand o'er hand the rod along," at which point my companion asks in bewilderment, "There's more verses?!" I point out the two additional verses on the top of the facing page. We then re-record our performance, singing all five verses.

Another story involves some events at a singles conference I attended. The keynote speaker on Friday night was a regional leader. He spoke about how important the sacrament is, and then pointed to one of the hymns, "How Great the Wisdom and the Love", and identified verses 5 and 6, which are printed below the music, as especially important. He had asked us to sing all six verses when we sang this hymn in the sacrament meeting associated with the conference the following Sunday. Sunday came, and the time arrived to sing "How Great the Wisdom and the Love" in preparation for the sacrament. Naturally, there were some who attended the sacrament meeting who did not attend Friday's meeting. There was no announcement or reminder that all six verses would be sung. I noticed that by the next to last line in the fourth verse, the last verse printed between the staves, there were some who began to close their hymnbooks, while the rest kept theirs open to sing the fifth verse. When the fifth verse began, those who had closed and put away their hymnbooks were surprised, and hurriedly reached for them.

It seems customary for church members in general to only sing the verses printed between the treble and bass staves of music despite the fact that the verses that might be appropriate for church meetings other than the sacrament meeting (e.g. a baptism service, a Sunday school class, or a Primary (children's) meeting) are printed below.

In the "Using the Hymnbook" section of the hymnbook (page 381), there's the following statement:

Selecting Verses to be Sung
You need not feel compelled to sing all the verses of a hymn unless the message is otherwise incomplete.… Singing the verses printed below the music is encouraged.

While singing the verses printed below the music is encouraged, experience shows that it is rarely ever done, even though the message is incomplete by singing only those verses printed between the staves. This change would correct that.

VI. Complete removal
173. While of These Emblems We Partake (SAUL)
176. ’Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love (MEREDITH)
219. Because I Have Been Given Much
302. I Know My Father Lives
304. Teach Me to Walk in the Light

The first two on this list have better-sounding arrangements already in the hymnbook which will be kept (174 and 177).

"Because I Have Been Given Much" is not licensed for electronic distribution, and its tune is kinda grating.

"I Know My Father Lives" and "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" are not appropriate for sacrament meetings. They are more appropriate for children's meetings; hearing "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" in a setting other than a children's meeting makes my ears bleed.

VII. Restoring Verses, or Order of Verses
82. For All the Saints (If we do get licensing for electronic distribution)
214. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Original order of verses)
249. Called to Serve (Original 2nd verse)
260. Who’s on the Lord’s Side?
301. I Am a Child of God (4th verse)

"For All the Saints" in the LDS hymnbook has the original verses in the following order: 1, 7, 2, 8, and 11. The original order would be restored.

For "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", what is currently the 5th verse will be moved back to the 3rd verse, restoring the original order. It has been said that the third verse was moved to the fifth so that it would have a more positive feeling to it, or something like that. I just think that that original third verse doesn't make sense as the fifth; it feels out of place. The prayer in the verse which starts, "And in despair I bowed my head" is in response to the events of the US Civil War. Verses alluding to this have long been omitted from the Christmas carol, making it seem as though the poet is praying in response to the bells ringing consistently from pre-dawn hours. The final verse of the poem is the response from the church bells, proclaiming that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep", and further proclaiming in conclusion, "The wrong shall fail,/The right prevail,/With peace on earth, goodwill to men."

"Called to Serve" and "I Am a Child of God" have verses missing from the current hymnbook. The original 2nd verse of "Called to Serve" would be placed between the current first and second verses:

Called to serve his path of service loyal,
Called to lead to His eternal light;
Rich reward awaits in mansions royal
Forward then in heav'nly might.

Further justification for this restoration is the fact that versions of this hymn in other languages have more than the two verses the English version has. For instance, the Spanish version has four verses, and makes reference to the eternal light mentioned in this missing verse.

The fifth and sixth verses of "Who’s on the Lord’s Side?" would be restored, making Section V applicable to this hymn.

The fourth verse of "I Am a Child of God", which currently appears in the Children's Songbook, would be restored:

I am a child of God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory can be mine
If I can but endure.

VIII. Restore previous time signature.
292. O My Father (3/4 to 9/8)

"O My Father" written in a 9/8 time signature. The key
 of the tune is the same as in the 1985 LDS Hymnbook.

"O My Father" is a beloved hymn in the LDS church. In a previous edition of the hymnbook, the tune for this hymn, written by James McGranahan, was written with a 9/8 time signature (though the original piece to which the tune was set apparently had a 12/8 time signature for the second half of the tune, starting with "In thy holy habitation" in the first verse). The 1985 edition of the hymnal changed this to a 3/4 time signature, as well as drop the key from A♭ major (4 ♭) to G major (1 ♯). However, even with the key change, the time signature change really didn't take effect. You'll notice the difference when the bars containing a dotted quarter note, an eighth note, and a triplet are played.

Now we get into a bit of music theory here. The 1985 version of the hymn replaces eighth notes with triplet eighth notes. Now a triplet note is two-thirds its normal value (so that three can fit in the space of two), so 1/8 × 2/3 = 2/24, or 1/12. So let's call these triplet eighth notes "twelfth notes." A dotted quarter note is 1.5 times a quarter note's value, so 1/4 + 1/8 = 3/8. Now, given that 3/4 is numerically equivalent to 9/12, and the bar ends with three twelfth notes, it can be deduced that the dotted quarter-plus-eighth would account for the other six twelfth-note beats.

Now, what is 3/8 in terms of twelfths? The least common multiple of 8 and 12 is 24. To get our 3/8 to a number with denominator 24, we need to multiply the denominator by 3. In order to do that, we'd need to multiply the numerator by the same (so that the result is multiplication by 1), so 3/8 × 3/3 = 9/24. Now in order to get this to a number with denominator 12, we need to divide the denominator by 2, so 9/24 ÷ 2/2, and that results in 4.5/12.

There lies the problem. Playing the hymn as written with a 3/4 time signature disrupts the flow, as you have a stream of twelfth notes and quarter notes, then you get to the (4.5+1.5)/12 combinations, and they just ruin the flow. It is probably because of this flow issue that "O My Father" continues to be played as a tune with a 9/8 time signature. Therefore, if it continues to be played as a 9/8, it should be restored to a 9/8.

IX. Additional Hymns
I've heard the following complaint numerous times, expressed mainly by Canadians: Why isn't "O Canada" included in the hymnbook? The patriotic hymns section should contain national anthems of all English-speaking nations. Interestingly, church settings are the only place where I've heard more than the first verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed.

Next, the addition of favorite hymns that were inexplicably omitted from the 1985 edition. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others.

Finally, add in some hymns that were written and published in church magazines since 1985. For instance, "Faith in Every Footstep" (PDF), "Our Prayer to Thee" (PDF), and many others. Of course, make sure that each addition is properly licensed, not Utah-centric, and promotes or expresses a relationship between mankind and Divinity.

X. Of Kings and Queens
I've also heard the occasional comment, "Why is the British national anthem printed as 'God Save the King' while the current reigning monarch is female?"

To answer that question, I ask you to consider the following hypothetical situation:

Suppose a new hymnbook was approved by the First Presidency, which includes "God Save the Queen" in the place of the king version. Tens to hundreds of thousands of copies of this new edition are printed. Shortly after this release, the Queen is no longer able to perform her duties for whatever reason, and Prince Charles becomes King Charles III. Then there would again be a need for the king version. A decision would have to be made: recall all the books that have not yet been sold, printing replacement books with the king version; send out an edit to be pasted into the editions with the queen version, printing the king version in new copies; or just leave it as it is.

I can only imagine that a similar situation occurred in the 1950's. The 1950 edition of the hymnbook had "God Save the King" as hymn #115A (an irony in itself, as "My Country 'Tis of Thee", with its USA-centric lyrics to the same tune, is listed as hymn #115; #115A appears as words printed below the music). In 1952, King George II died, and Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. Then started the apparent need for a version adapted for the new queen. However, if there were a 1953 edition published, that would be the third new edition in five years (1948, 1950, presumed 1953). A version adapted for the Queen was not printed, as subsequent reprints of the 1950 edition had the king version. This same king version appears in the 1985 edition, probably under the same presumption I posed above.

Any performance of "God Save the Queen" I have heard essentially uses the same lyrics as the king version, except for the word "queen" replacing "king", and female pronouns replacing male ones. Nowadays, this substitution is performed on the fly, so in my opinion, a reprint changing king/him/he to queen/her/she wouldn't be necessary, so the king version should be retained, especially since the next two (edit: three) in the line of succession are male. (edit: some say that the recently born Prince George will likely be reigning into the 22nd century.) Perhaps a version would be printed that had the queen words and the king words together on separate lines. But then again, the title, "God Save the King/Queen" doesn't have the same ring to it.

Conclusion
Hopefully, if someone responsible for making new editions of the hymnbook looks at this list and considers it, then that would be enough.