A Hymn for The Trinity

 

Trinity Sunday falls on the church calendar as the First Sunday after the Day of Pentecost. Thus, the first two Sundays in the long Season of Pentecost are 'holidays' of sorts within the church year.

I was hitherto unaware of a piece of Roman history known as the heresies of Arian, but there are online sources if you wish to read further on the matter. As far as I can make out, this was a religious notion believing Jesus was subordinate to God the Father as the primary Divine, since The Son of Man was created later. The idea of The Trinity puts The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit as God on an equal plane, and this Holy Triune is most prevalent amongst major denominations.

But don't take my word as gospel. There are far more learnèd scholars out there who know more on the subject than I do, and I am sure beliefs range far and wide between different sects of religion. My purpose as a musician is to present a hymn honoring Trinity Sunday. It should come as no surprise I have chosen Holy, Holy, Holy for this week's hymn series.

This is one of those golden oldies of a hymn I can remember since time immemorial. The words were written by Reginald Heber in the 1820s (or more likely published), a time when he served as vicar in Britain and later as Bishop of Calcutta.


Each verse begins with three utterances of the word Holy, one of the reasons the hymn works so well for Trinity Sunday. This word repetition is nothing new however, as choral Masses of ages past were often composed for the word Sanctus (a Latin word for Holy) in groups of three, before moving on to the rest of the Latin text. How convenient the Latin word Sanctus and the English word Holy are both two syllables!

The hymn's four verses move typically from early morning in the first verse, to the Passion and the Sin of Man in the third verse, to general praises and venerations elsewhere. The fourth verse adds an extra set of Holy, Holy, Holy in the middle of the verse, and concludes with the phrase 'God in three Persons, blessed Trinity', a perfect summing up of Trinity Sunday. 

I should also mention that each line of text ends on the sound 'Eee' in every line of the hymn. This makes the rhyme scheme very easy to follow, although the hymn comes along with a great prevalence of the word Thee as a result. The metrical index lists the hymn as 11.12.12.10, an irregular meter, but with plenty of hymn tunes available to be able to swap the music out with another in these same words.

There are some wonderful images in this text as well. Any singing of the words 'Cherubim and Seraphim' are always a pleasure for this singer, but also in that same verse, 'casting down their golden crown into the glassy sea' seems nearly patriotic. The whole third verse changes the mood of the hymn completely with 'though the darkness hide Thee, though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see' is a powerful statement. This should allow the organist to offer a more intimate registration before the exalted finale.

The common tune set to Holy, Holy, Holy was composed by John Dykes, often with the date 1861 attached to it. As I understand it, Dykes wrote the music specifically for Heber's words, and while there are occasionally other tunes set to the words, this one seems to fit the best.

Circling around to the story regarding the heresies of Arian mentioned above, the tune to this hymn is named NICAEA after the meeting of the First Council of Nicaea in the time of Roman Emperor Constantine I in order to ban the idea of a ranked importance among God and Jesus, and to establish the Doctrine of the Trinity.

The hymn is written in a grand tradition of the Lutheran chorale, even if we are talking of two Anglican or Catholic people associated with the creating of this hymn. The first main phrase is arched in shape, rising at the start and falling at the end. The same phrase returns again, but in the third line of the hymn, repeating the music note for note.

The second phrase is more wave-like, ending on the dominant chord, the only phrase to do so. This second line melody also pops up into its highest in range. The fourth and last line of the hymn begins on that same high note the second phrase jumped up to, and generally moves in a line from a high range to low to complete the entire tune.

The rising first six notes sound out a major triad on 1 - 1, 3 - 3, 5 - 5 and it makes for a splendidly memorable tune. The repetition in the third phrase helps, but also the contrasting phrases are similar enough in their rhythmic motion to always keep the main idea in the forefront of the singer.

The part writing is fairly conjunct, with the occasional leap, making this pretty easy for congregations. If you are an alto or tenor, you will have the most fun, for the parts are always in motion, even when the main melody is held out. A few octave leaps in the bass should be no problem for old hands in this hymn.

The tune Nicaea is usually found in D Major, although apparently Dykes originally composed the music in E Major, a key I don't think I have seen before in this hymn. Here is an instance where I almost prefer the key of E-flat Major, one that shows up in hymnals every once in a while. I recently saw one version printed in the key of D-flat Major, and would be interested to see how that works for congregations. As a lover of flats on pipe organ, I tend to lean towards those key settings as opposed to sharps, although D Major will be most preferred.

For churches with more musical resources, there is enough of a triumphant nature to the hymn to effectively add handbells, brass, or even orchestra as is available. The tune is ubiquitous to be enjoyed in many variations, although I am always taken with plain-old pipe organ and congregation. I would be most surprised if Christian rock bands and gospel groups haven't taken up the hymn as well.

How do you prefer Holy, Holy, Holy to sound out?

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