Abstract

KLOPPERS, Elsabé. A hymn must be sung to be heard ...: Aspects that could influence the reception of hymns and psalms. Herv. teol. stud. [online]. 2013, vol.69, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 2072-8050.

The most recent official hymnal in Afrikaans, Liedboek van die Kerk, was taken into use in 2001. Some hymns and psalms were immediately sung with enthusiasm whereas others remained unused, which is true especially for many of the metrical psalms. The most prominent reason for not singing some hymns or psalms is that they are unknown - text as well as tune. It is, however, often assumed that the reason why hymns and psalms are unknown is primarily because their tunes would be too difficult to sing. The role of the text and other aspects are not taken into account sufficiently. In this article, these one-sided views regarding the tunes are challenged, and it is argued that there could be many other reasons why hymns and psalms are not used.

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