The first piece of music some children are likely to hear is not a popular tune or even a lullaby, but a hymn. A mother's favorite, or the choir's rendition at a family christening or wedding or funeral, can conquer time and elevate the soul.
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a common favorite, especially for people who grew up before some denominations decided that it sounded hostile and pulled it from their hymnals. Perhaps a fan would like to hear it again or know more about it -- author, date, background. That presents a problem. No matter that many people find hymns to be the most moving form of music; they're not going to encounter them on the top 40 during drive time.Well, here's a tip: the Cyber Hymnal, at tch.simplenet.com. "Are you choosing hymns for a worship service, but don't know what they sound like? Now you can find out," it announces with a revival preacher's enthusiasm. The free site has more than 1,600 Christian hymns and gospel songs from many denominations. It includes lyrics, background information, photos, links, MIDI sound files and scores for downloading.
Don't have a favorite hymn? The Cyber Hymnal will surf for you, playing one after another at random. Perhaps its most entertaining page is Hymn Trivia. By far the most popular hymn, based on Web traffic, is "Amazing Grace."
There are many other hymn
sites on line. A beautiful one is Traditional Catholic MIDI files homestead.com/midicatholic/Catholicinformation.html, by Don Wyckoff. The Eastern Catholic Liturgical Music site homestead.com/Easterncatholichymns/SpasiHospodi.html offers hymns and other music from the Byzantine, Ukrainian, Armenian, Maronite and other Eastern rites. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Wheaton College ccel.wheaton.edu/(NU)Hymns has the words to the Protestant Episcopal Hymnal of 1916, John Wesley's "Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists," other collections and 200 sound files.