Congregational Hymns in Folk Memory

Abstract

Congregational hymns are usually composed by priests or cantors. Hymns are transmitted via congregational singing and they often become the anonymous common property of the whole congregation. In Hungarian villages many congregational hymns were adapted by the local people. These hymns were sung in the same “local” style as the folksongs (with free rhythm and rich ornamentation). Hungarian musicologists have collected hymns from the 16th and 17th centuries in rural areas. During the process of assimilation, the melodies were slightly, or sometimes significantly, modified. This occurred as a consequence of the tonal difference between the hymns, composed mostly in major-minor tonalities, and Hungarian folksongs, which predominantly use old modes. The results of this collection of folklorized hymns were used in the compilation of a new hymnal in which the editors published the contemporary folk versions of many old hymns.