I Spent 4 Hours with a 100-Year-Old Hymnal...

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Today’s newsletter is a little different.

No pithy commentary on trends, theology, or practice.

No advice on music or production.

Just a bit of story time where I got to spend hours poring over one of the coolest pieces of history that is being brought back into churches.

Musicology Trip

In a previous post, I talked about this project in which I’m taking part, where myself and a group of volunteers from across the country are transcribing an out-of-print psalter and making it available for open download and print, all at no financial transaction for the end user (you, or entire churches).

Well, this week, I got to actually look at a physical psalter!

My role in this project is proofing and editing transcriptions of psalm tunes, where I verify the work of my colleagues against manuscripts of originals. Normally, I would work from a digital copy to mark up the current work that has been done…

But where’s the fun in that?

I knew that someplace, somewhere there was a physical copy of The Psalter; I just had to find it.

That proved to be a challenge. Local libraries didn’t have anything, and nearby universities couldn’t anything on interlibrary loan for me.

But then, I struck gold.

After sifting through some online databases, I finally found a match for The Psalter at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) special collections archive. There was just one problem: Access was on-site only. I would have to drive two hours to view the original publication, which meant setting appointments, making sure I had all of my necessary editing materials, and then getting as much work done before the end of the day.

Where Things Almost Went Wrong

The day finally arrived for me to make the early trip. Due to a an EF-2 that went through our town (we’re OK, BTW), I had to make a few detours to get to the big city. Still, nothing was going to stop me!

After arriving and figuring out parking, I was 30 minutes late. (If you’re a musician, you know three things: 1) If you’re early, you’re on time; 2) If you’re on time, you’re late; 3) If you’re late, there’s no hope. Needless to say, my feathers were ruffled.) But what mattered was I was on campus, ready to rock.

I entered through the front doors and followed the signs through a winding hallway to ascend the elevators to the 3rd floor where The Psalter was being held for me. All the way, I was impressed by the stacks of scores, books, and study areas, and when walking out of the elevator and moving down the hallway, I was treated to several impressive art and museum installations.

Seeing the wealth of research around me amped up my excitement. I was back in my groove from a past stint in higher education, immersed in exploration and knowledge waiting to be discovered and shared!

I arrived at the special collections wing, opened the door, and took it all in:

• The rich smell of paper, bindings, leather chairs…

• The sight of rows and rows of books waiting to divulge their secrets…

• The hallowed silence of study—no extra background music, conversation…

This was a place for sacred work.

I checked in, and finally, the attendant delivered the book I had eagerly awaited to review. There it was:

• Faded lettering of The Psalter scrawling across the cover

• Worn edges of paper and binding from years of use

Carefully, I opened to the first page to verify that this was, in fact, The Psalter published by the United Presbyterian Church in North America in 1912, reprinted in 1913. Here’s what greeted my gaze:

• Title: The Psalter ✅

• Author/publisher: United Presbyterian Church in North America ✅

• Date: 1888 ❌

My heart stopped. I checked the date again.

Yep—definitely 1888.

[cue internal scream]

Despite my inner franticness, I cautiously turned to the first psalm tune to compare it with my transcriptions. I had the faintest hope that perhaps the music would match…

Nope. It was all completely different.

I sighed, slowly closed the psalter, and returned to front desk.

“Excuse me, this is the 1888 edition. Do you happen to have the 1912/1913 edition?”

“Ah—let me see… We’ll need to check our stacks.”

While the attendant hurried off, my thoughts were racing. I just drove two hours for the wrong thing! Had I missed something in the database? Was this item miscatalogued? I could only wait for the attendant to return with either good or bad news.

Finally, he came back to the research room. “Sorry about that! Here’s the correct edition. You might check and verify, though,”

I performed my checks again. Everything seemed to be in place on the title page. But what about the music?

I turned to the first psalm tune… Yes! It matched!

I was all set, and over the next four hours, I methodically (and yet, voraciously) proofed my stack of transcriptions against the 100-plus-year-old tome of sacred music.

Holding History

Now, this psalter was even more worn than the 1888 edition. For starters, the attendant presented it to me in a special cover to keep loose pages from escaping, and to protect the cover from further wear.

The binding was disintegrating, pages were yellowed with age… what could be more perfect for a church music nerd?

It was utterly fascinating to read the preface, which detailed the “why” behind printing a new edition of The Psalter, detailing the familiar and wholly new tunes used for each psalm text, along with the team who arranged, engraved, and published the finished work. Truly, to hold a tangible piece of history, used by faithful, ordinary believers was humbling.

Looking Ahead

A unique feature about psalters that sets the apart from hymnals is that there are often a handful of tunes used for a single text, giving greater flexibility for music directors to call upon for different moods, dynamic intensities, tempos, etc.

As I pore over this deep well of music, I can’t help but be inspired to re-introduce songs from the past that our forbearers in the faith used to worship our holy God.

It’s also giving me some ideas for some brand-new music…

Stay tuned 😎

Be blessed 👊✌️