The writing of Latin hymns by no means died out with the medieval era in
the sixteenth century. The great prestige of Latin studies fostered by
the Renaissance alone would have been sufficient to perpetuate the
practice. The Church, too, was engaged in a movement to standardize and
improve the Latinity of the breviary hymns which resulted in the
Trentine cycle as we know it today. A concurrent movement toward
uniformity of rites appreciably reduced the number of breviaries and the
variety of their hymns, but those breviaries which maintained an
independent existence had their own complete cycles. Such were the
Cluniac Breviary of 1686 and the Paris Breviary of 1736 for which new
hymns were written and sung side by side with those of medieval origin.
Among post-Renaissance poets represented in these collections were the
Frenchmen Jean-Baptiste de Santuil and his brothers Claude and Baptiste.
Freshly inspired by classical studies, the new hymn writers repudiated
medieval ruggedness and stylistic neglect in favor of the smooth and
finished Latinity affected by contemporary poets. From the substantial
body of verse produced in these centuries, _Adeste fideles_, “O come,
all ye faithful,” has proved a favorite. Sometimes classified as a hymn,
sometimes as a carol, it originated in the English colony at Douay about
the year 1740, from the pen of John Francis Wade.[21]
The continuity of the Roman Use, however, was not disturbed. The Roman
Breviary had acquired its cycle of hymns in the processes of evolution
which have been traced in the preceding chapters. Trentine revisions
under the guidance of Pope Urban VIII, (1623-1644), made with the
highest motives but often deplored by later scholars, transformed the
medieval originals into products of the Renaissance. The Trentine
Breviary contains many of the finest medieval hymns which, although they
have suffered alterations, have carried the traditional heritage into
modern times.[22]
By virtue of its prestige and its world-wide circulation, the Roman
Breviary has been the vehicle by which the Latin hymn has penetrated
into the modern vernacular languages in translations. It is a subject of
frequent comment that the full treasury of hymns has not been drawn upon
by the Catholic Church since the hymns of the Roman Breviary have
monopolized the field. The historical reason for this is clear and also
for the fact that in the Roman Missal only five sequences, each of
recognized superiority, have been retained.
The restriction of Latin hymns in Roman Catholic liturgical usage to a
relatively small number allows certain exceptions. The Benedictine and
other religious orders use their own cycle of breviary hymns and
present-day Catholic hymnals in popular use often contain translations
of hymns and sequences additional to those of the Roman Breviary and
Missal.
Protestant Churches are not limited in their selection of Latin hymns
for translation, making their choices from the entire medieval store.
The revival of Latin hymns in a translated form, which marked the Oxford
Movement in the Anglican Church in the mid-nineteenth century, drew upon
the Sarum Breviary as one native to English soil and therefore
appropriate to the English Church. That these hymns were largely
represented in the Roman Breviary, was well-known but the earlier and
unrevised texts were preferred. In his function as a translator, John
Mason Neale was preeminently a leader in the task of making known to the
adherents of the Church of England their heritage of hymns.
An attempt was made at this time to perpetuate not only the words but
the Gregorian Chant as a suitable musical setting for the vernacular.
Here the innovators were only partly successful and the chant, although
enthusiastically employed at first was gradually abandoned in the
English Church as the sole musical vehicle for the Latin hymn in
translation. Similarly Latin hymns have been taken over into other
modern languages by translators of Protestant as well as Catholic
allegiance.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the influence of Latin hymn
meters continued to be felt in vernacular hymnody. Metrical versions of
the Psalms made by Isaac Watts are often illustrative of old Latin forms
which may also be recognized in his own hymns. This may not have been a
conscious imitation of Latin originals for by this time hymn meters were
ingrained in English poetry, but merely an indirect reflection, for
example, of the Ambrosian model.
More subtle has been the influence in modern times of the most ancient
canons of hymnic expression; objective presentation of scriptural
narrative, doctrinal emphasis and a certain joyful austerity in the
praise of God. During the three and a half centuries which have passed
since the era of the Protestant Reformation, the Christian hymn has
experienced a succession of literary movements, reflecting, for example,
the spirit of the Age of Reason and of the Romantic Era. Contemporary
musical evolution has, in turn, been vitally important to the growth of
the hymn as it has been mated with the melodies of the Genevan Psalter,
the chorales of Bach, the musical novelties of instrumental origin, the
folk song and latterly the native music of regions open to missionary
enterprise.
Throughout this varied experience the stream of medieval Latin hymnody
has continued its course. As an accompaniment of Roman Catholic worship
this was only to be expected. The conquest by the Latin hymn of areas
beyond the limits of the Roman Church is more significant. The most
recent hymnals of leading Protestant denominations, to which the Latin
hymn in translation has made a modest but genuine contribution, bear
witness to the ageless character of this hymnody. Modern investigation
of hymn sources, their origins, authorship and influence, has created
the study of documentary hymnology as it is known today. In the
processes of this inquiry the medieval Latin hymn has been invested with
new interest in the minds of a multitude of worshipers, both Catholic
and Protestant, who have hitherto been unaware of, or indifferent to,
their common heritage.