In case you were wondering…

In case you were wondering why half the hymns have disappeared from this site, here is a shameless plug promoting the book where all those translations (largely updated and improved since the last time readers of this blog saw them) will be found bound up in one handy volume:

Sketch of cover design.

I'm pleased to announce (having entered the contract stage) that Concordia Publishing House  has agreed to publish my translations of the missing hymns from KELG, together with the other hymns already translated (such as those in ELHB and TLH), and other material from the Church hymnbook for evangelical Lutheran congregations of the unaltered Augsburg Confession, tentatively to be released later this year—incidentally, the 125th anniversary of the death of the blessed Dr. C. F. W. Walther, the person chiefly responsible for the production of the German original.

Not poised as an official synodical hymnal but primarily as a translation of a historical document with high devotional potential for modern users, it will be published under CPH's Peer Review process, which allows books that would not normally be published (because of, e.g., their relative niche value, the difficulty these days of keeping dedicated in-house editors, etc.) to see the light of day.

Along with a professional and informative historical introduction by Rev. Jon D. Vieker (translator of LSB 596, inter alia), the translation comprises all the hymnody with all the stanzas from the 1847/1892 editions of the hymnal, along with other KELG material, including prayers and collects gathered from Luther, Rabus, and Arndt, KELG's version of the passion harmony, and the history of the destruction of Jerusalem. These materials are augmented by furhter appendices, notably a translation of the old Saxon divine service for Sunday mornings, and 55 supplementary tunes in 4-part notation, for all the tunes needed which do not appear in CPH hymnals from the time of TLH on.

While having all the non-original material itself conveniently collected in one volume will be a unique value in itself, the addition of all the newly translated material will serve as a rich and informative resource for history students and hymn-singers alike. Scholars of Lutheranism in America, as well as anybody who has an passing interest in the Church's hymnody and confessions, should be pleased and edified by this translation of the Church Hymnbook.

Matthew Carver

Ss. Aurelius & Natalia, Martyrs, A.D. 2012.