Stanfordian Thoughts
A periodical series of reflections on recorded and unrecorded works by Charles Villiers Stanford
by Christopher Howell
22. Hymn Tunes

I thought this was going to be a quick and easy addition to the series. Instead, one search led to another. I discovered a hymn tune not listed in Stanford worklists and found new facts about the dates and publication history of others. In the end, it would take less time to play through these few hymn tunes than it will to read the article. What follows will be too musicological for some. I can only apologise to them while hoping that musicologists will find it musicological enough. Those who love Engelberg, St. Columba and St. Patrick’s Breastplate may prefer to scroll down to my discussions of these. I hope choirmasters will consider my repertoire suggestions. And I hope some will share what has been, to me, an intriguing journey. 

Read the full article in pdf format here. A link list for the previous articles in this series is provided here.