Abstract

Although hymn singing has always been a feature of Christian worship, it was largely lost in the Church of England after the Reformation. It experienced a revival in the eighteenth century among Dissenters and Wesleyans, though the Church of England was slow to grasp the opportunity that hymns offered. The Tractarians understood the devotional and didactic value of hymns and they worked to restore hymns within Anglicanism. A number of Tractarians made original contributions in words and music, bringing to their verses an intellectual rigour that discouraged mere emotionalism. Above all, in the publication of Hymns Ancient & Modern they changed permanently the face of Anglican worship.

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