,--yet, where the hymn has to be translated from a foreign
language, some reconstruction is generally inevitable, and it can follow
no better aim than that of the mutual enforcement of words and music. And
the words owe a courtesy to the music; for if a balance be struck between
the words and music of hymns, it will be found to be heavily in favour of
the musicians, whose fine work has been unscrupulously altered and
reduced to dullness by english compilers, with the object of conforming
it in rhythm to words that are unworthy of any music whatever. The chief
offenders here are the protestant reformers, whose metrical psalms, which
the melodies were tortured to fit, exhibit greater futility than one
would look for even in men who could thus wantonly spoil fine music[25].

The form and size of the book were determined by the type, chosen because
it was the only one that I could find of any beauty; and I wished that my
book should in this respect give an example, and be worthy both of the
music and its sacred use[26]. Moreover a book from which two or three
singers can read is more convenient in the choir than a multiplicity of
small books; and the music being in full score, its intention cannot be
mistaken: for it must be understood that most of these tunes are set in
the manner proper for voices, but unsuitable for the piano or other keyed
instrument; and the book is intended to encourage unaccompanied singing.
A choir that cannot sing unaccompanied cannot sing at all; and this is
not an uncommon condition in our churches, where choirs with varying
success accompany the organ. A proper manner of sustained singing, and
the true artistic pleasure that should govern it, will never be obtained
until these conditions are reversed.

There is one novelty which I am responsible for introducing, namely the
four-part vocal settings of certain early plain-song melodies. The later
plain-song tunes, such as No. 44, are, I suppose[27], as fit for this
treatment as any other tunes of the same date; but in the case of the
earlier melodies, which were composed before the invention of any
complete system of harmony, it is generally agreed that they should be
sung in unison, in fact the more elaborate of them cannot be sung
otherwise. To give four-part settings of any of these early tunes calls
therefore for an explanation, which I will give as briefly as possible.

When these tunes are sung, they are usually accompanied, and this implies