The Westminster Hymnal was published in 1912, the only collection of hymns then authorised by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church of England and Wales. It was edited by Sir Richard Runciman Terry

Richard Runciman Terry

Sir Richard Runciman Terry was an English organist, choir director and musicologist. He is noted for his pioneering revival of Tudor liturgical music. He is often credited as R. R. Terry or simply R...

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The notable feature of this hymnbook is the attempt to restore the authentic tunes to hymns that had changed over time and varied with location.

The music proper to the Catholic Church is Gregorian Chant

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...

, so there is a selection of about a dozen latin hymns at the end of the book, along with organ accompaniments.

There are 250 vernacular hymns, not including alternate tunes. Many are translations from hymns of the Divine Office

Divine Office

Divine Office may refer to:* Liturgy of the Hours, the recitation of certain Christian prayers at fixed hours according to the discipline of the Roman Catholic Church* Canonical hours, the recitation of such prayers in Christianity more generally...

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External links

• http://openlibrary.org/books/OL23359338M/The_Westminster_hymnal The Westminster Hymnal in the OpenLibrary
• http://www.archive.org/details/westminsterhymna00londuoft The internet archive copy