Stories of Our Mormon Hymns

Music is the handmaiden of religion. Since the days of Martin Luther, congregational singing of hymns has been the most important music in the Church. In our own time the Lord gave a direct commandment to the Prophet for his wife, Emma Smith, which reads, in part, as follows: \"And it shall be given thee... to make a selection of sacred hymns... to be had in my church. \"For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.\" (Doctrine and Covenants 25:11-12.). Thus the first hymnbook of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was compiled by Emma Smith, under the inspiration of the Lord. From that time to the present, hymnbooks have been carefully compiled to encourage congregational singing in the Church. Few people are so qualified to write Stories of Our Mormon Hymns as J. Spencer Cornwall, who has written Fundamentals of Conducting, A Century of Singing (a history of the Tabernacle Choir), twenty anthems, and the arrangement of three operas. To be acquainted with the stories of the hymns, the biographies of the authors and the composers, as well as to know pertinent facts on the music, adds greatly to our appreciation. To this end Elder Cornwall has compiled stories concerning the more than three hundred hymns in Stories of Our Mormon Hymns. An earlier work by Elder George D. Pyper, now out of print, has been, by permission, incorporated into this book.