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Our Heritage Of Hymns: A Little History

© Eric Jordan Jensen

As the Church’s auxiliaries flourished, so did new songbooks. Under the direction of Eliza R. Snow, the Primary published The Children’s Primary Hymn Book and The Tune Book for the Primary Association of the Children of Zion. In the late 1870s, the Sunday School printed hymns in the Juvenile Instructor; a decade later, the Deseret Sunday School Song Book appeared, followed by Deseret Sunday School Songs in 1909.

In 1920, the Church formed the General Music Committee. The group tackled the assignment of compiling a hymnbook that combined the best of the Manchester Hymnal, the Psalmody, and Songs of Zion, a favorite songbook published by the Northern States Mission in 1908. Seven years later, Latter-day Saint Hymns replaced the older volumes of song. Hymns: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came about in 1948 to replace the 1927 book. A new edition was issued in 1950. This book remained in print for the next 35 years.

The LDS hymnbook presently in use, Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, appeared in 1985. This volume contains 341 hymns as well as seven indexes and a preface by the First Presidency, which encourages a greater use of music in Church meetings and in the homes of members. It asserts that “some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns” and that “ [Latter-day Saints] should fill their homes with the sound of worthy music.”

As Latter-day Saints strive to follow this counsel, they should turn first to the hymnbooks of the Church. Therein lie hundreds of songs, written specifically for the worship of the Lord and his son, Jesus Christ. The work begun by Emma Smith continues today as the Saints lift up their voices and sing the songs of Zion.

Sources:

www.lds.org contains full texts to the following:

“The New Hymnbook: The Saints are Singing,” Ensign, September 1985.

Madsen, Carol C. “Our Heritage of Hymns.” New Era, November 1975.

Moody, Michael. “Latter-day Saint Hymnbooks, Then and Now.” Ensign, September 1985.

Richards, Franklin D. “LDS Hymns–Worshiping With Song.” Ensign, November 1982.

Also see:

Davidson, Karen Lynn. Our Latter-Day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1988.