Why I play hymns

Filed in Thoughts on March 17, 2009



There are two questions I hear all of the time.  When are you going to record a Christmas project and why don't you record newer songs? 

I do plan on recording a Christmas project when it makes financial sense.  I need a bit more exposure before I can hope to break even on that kind of project.  My guess is that I am a few years away.  Because a Christmas project can only be marketed during a small part of the year, it can be a big drain on cashflow.  I suppose I could do an inexpensive project without orchestra but I am sort of addicted to the orchestra now.

That brings me to the second question.  Why do I record only older songs (hymns)? 

First of all, I do not record hymns because they are better than newer songs.  They aren't.  Please understand that I am not considering the lyrics in that judgment but just the music itself.  If I pick up a hymnal and flip through it looking only at the music, it is fairly easy to tell the timeframes that each song was written in.  In general, newer music is more advanced and better written.

That being said, the melodies of beloved older hymns are often quite good and sometimes spectacular.  The problem is usually in the harmony.  Fortunately, harmony can be easily improved, and if that is accomplished, hymns can become not just familiar but also gorgeous. 

By the way, I am not in favor of the current popular practice of rewriting melodies of well-known hymns to make them more relevant.  I think it is unnecessary and distracting.  You can preserve the beauty of the existing melody and make the song more current by just updating the harmony.  I would prefer to see a writer use a new text and compose new music rather than taking an existing text that is associated with a well-known melody and setting it to new music.  That is just an opinion and certainly not a conviction of any kind.

In a nutshell, I record hymns because of the power of those melodies and their associations.  If I were a singer, I would sing newer songs, but as a pianist, I have to impact people without lyrics.  I do this by using familar melodies that will help people recall words.

It really is as simple as that.

 



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Beth Harper
3/17/2009 11:46:02 PM

That is a great explanation. I know exactly what you mean. Hymns are very powerful even with their musical weaknesses.

Your music really affects me; sometimes I even cry. I know that it is partly because you are an outstanding musician but I would not get the same effect if you were playing songs I did not know.

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