PREFACE TO THE REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION. The work of revising and enlarging the Magnificat has resulted in so many and such important corrections in the words, tunes and indexes, and such extensive additions of desirable material, both in hymns and music, as to make the present edition practically a new book, and one which can hardly be used in connection with the former edition without great inconvenience. The plan of retaining as strict a similarity as possible to the old book would have hindered the freedom of selection and addition for the new, and so would have defeated in part the object in view in making the new book; at the same time the endeavor has been to retain all the essential features of the old book and to arrive at the utmost accuracy possible in giving these their best and most authentic literary and musical form. In all only about thirty old hymns have been altogether omitted as hardly used by anyone in the Church, and about sixty entirely new hymns have been added. The number of changes, in the bringing together of hymns and tunes originally associated, but in some way ¤ separated in the first edition, in the provision of new and better tunes, in the revision of words, harmonies and indexes, have been too numerous to record. Entirely new and valuable features are, the Scripture texts provided for each hymn, the Metrical Index which it is hoped will make the book's contents more accessible to our church organists, and the Topical Index, a feature of all modern hymnbooks, which will be of special interest to the ministers and all who have a coherent service at heart. In the addition of new hymns, the Committee have had in mind the wide variety of uses the Church's hymnal may subserve, not only in the formal public worship but in the home circle and in the informal and social religious meetings. Some of the most modern and popular of the songs used in the large "revival" and missionary meetings have been obtained, at considerable copyright expense, with a view to two results: (1) the extension of the Church's influence through its service of song as widely as possible, and (2) the prevention of the introduction into our church circles of hymnals containing undesirable words and music for the sake of these really valuable selections otherwise unobtainable. Another and a substantial reason for embodying these popular religious songs is that they seem to be the utterance of a new affection in the religious world directed to the Lord Jesus in Person, in recognition of his Divinity, of his redeeming Love, and of his constant presence as Saviour and Comforter. |