The Hymnbook 1955 – Complete Recording

It all began on a Saturday in September almost 45 years ago. My mother walked with me from our home in Bad Axe, Michigan on North Port Crescent south a couple of blocks to South St and then west one house and introduced me to my first piano teacher: Mrs. Snodden. Fast forward to the fall of 2014. After hearing my parents mention several times that no one sang the old hymns anymore, I decided to record a CD’s worth of hymns out of The Hymnbook (Presbyterian 1955) which was used in the church I grew up in. Initially, I thought I would just pick 50 or so of the hymns I remember singing as a child. As it turned out, I couldn’t always remember if I had played or sang the hymns as a child or as an adult at one of the several churches I have worked through the years. And besides, 50 was just not nearly enough to even start with. So began a 6 month journey through the entire hymn book. I have played hymns I haven’t heard for 35 years and many I have never heard before; wondering why such gems had suffered such neglect.

So the journey is complete and I once more arrive at where I began and know it again for the first time. Such a journey is not unlike reading the Bible from cover to cover. You see such an overarching vista of God’s work that the imponderable and un-understandable mysteries which might have caused you to question your faith fade into the very fabric of your faith. You learn that faith is not in the knowing the answer but rather in the acceptance of the question. The final hymn speaks to the mercies of the night and God’s presence throughout our days. In the end of our days and the end or our faith, this is where we arrive, utterly dependent upon the Grace and Mercy of our Father.

Here is a link to the entire list of recordings I have done so far with links to all of the recordings:

https://www.andrewremillard.com/recording-list/

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