Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary

(ELH Home page)

prepared by the Worship Committee

(Dennis Marzolf, Harry Bartels, and Mark DeGarmeaux-??includes related links)

of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Mankato, Minnesota

published by MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

 

ELH Handbook -- Online Draft only

ELH Agenda -- Online Draft only -- NEW 7/19/02!!!

Content of ELH

Informal Introduction

Notes

Rite Three -- an introduction

Report to the ELS Convention

Indexes:

Authors and Sources

Translators

Composers and Sources

Settings

Tunes--Alphabetical

Tunes--Metrical

Psalm Paraphrases (incomplete listing)

Translated Hymns

Scripture Quotations, Prayers, and Poems

First Lines of Hymns


Links:

RESOURCES FOR EASTER VIGIL! (Download these five files!)

     V­igil.Template.rtf     Exultet1.pdf     Exultet2.pdf     Exultet3.pdf     Exultet4.pdf

ELH Midi files (a beginning, thanks to Eric Lukens, available by sending an email to mailto:gargy@blc.edu)

The Lutheran Hymnal midi project(many settings are the same in ELH)


Related articles:

A Review of the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (from the Lutheran Church-Canada)

Why is the Lutheran Church a Liturgical Church?

A CONFESSIONAL ANTHOLOGY (Compiled by David Jay Webber)

The Path of Understanding -- The Development of Lectionaries and their use in the Lutheran Church by Pastor Alexander Ring


The Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary was compiled by the worship committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a group of pastors and congregations who trace their theological and denominational lineage through the Norwegian immigration of the nineteenth century to the Danish/Norwegian Reformation of the sixteenth century.

The ELH represents a marriage of two American Lutheran traditions of worship. It bears the imprint of the Lutheran Hymnary of 1913, a work produced for use by the various Norwegian groups in the country at that time, and The Lutheran Hymnal of 1941, prepared by a committee from the Synodical Conference, with the influential leadership of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

The book is built around the historic calendar of the Christian Church, with hymns arranged according to the topics or themes of the Sundays and Festivals of the Church Year.

The hymns have been drawn from many sources, but the Lutheran chorale is the heart of the book. The chorale appears in both the melodic and harmonic forms, and the rhythmic melodies of Luther, Walter and Praetorius appear alongside the isorhythmic harmonic settings of Bach, Telemann, Lindeman and others.

Many of the hymns retain the flavor of the "classic" translations of Massie, Winkworth, Døving, etc. In some instances the committee altered the texts in an attempt to more accurately reflect the original. The complete poetry of most of the chorales has been restored where other editors have deleted verses.

New translations of chorales and other hymns appear in the work as well. The large number of hymns from the Danish-Norwegian chorale tradition are a worthy heritage for English speaking Lutherans, and many of them appear in the ELH alone among the hymnals produced in recent decades.

The book has four forms for the Divine Service, as well as Prime, Matins, Vespers, and Compline. Psalms are pointed to be sung according to melodies derived from the old Gregorian tones. The Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism are also included.

It is our hope that the book will find a home in many pews, schools, and Christian households. We also trust that it will serve as a resource book for those who wish to study the traditions of Lutheran worship.

The book may be purchased from MorningStar Music in St. Louis, MO (800-647-2117-phone; 314-647-2777-fax) or the Bethany Bookstore at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN (507-344-7346-phone; 507-344-7376-fax; bookstor@blc.edu).


Send comments to: gargy@blc.edu

Bethany Lutheran College, located in Mankato, Minnesota, provides Christian higher education in a challenging academic environment where personal mentoring guides students to pursue knowledge, truth, and discernment for productive and fulfilling lives.