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Update March 23, 2019: “Tabernacle Choir's Let Us All Press On tops Billboard's Classical Traditional chart”

Martin Luther declared that beautiful music is “one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.” Believing wholeheartedly in the power of music to edify the soul, Luther instituted congregational singing in the Christian worship service, hoping that through it, churchgoers could express their praise to God more actively and feel a greater connection with their faith community. Of necessity, then, these hymns needed to be simple and singable. Hymns are music of the people—they avoid complexity, artifice, and pretension as they speak simply to the pure faith of the believer.

Since Luther’s time, hymns have become powerful vehicles, first for carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ to the soul of the listener, and then for reinforcing messages of faith, belief, solace, hope, and encouragement when sung. They are both sermons and testimonies, communal manifestations of faith when performed as a congregation and private comforts when recalled and pondered within the heart.

The hymns represented here cover a range of gospel themes and modes of expression, from a simple 13th-century poem of gratitude to profound spiritual insights from the 18th and 19th centuries and personal prayers from our own day. The musical settings are joyful, contemplative, optimistic, thoughtful, and stirring, and the discerning arrangements serve to support and confirm the messages of each hymn.

Significantly, nearly half of the hymns included here were originally written for children and youth, only later finding their way into the musical usage for congregational worship. It is, after all, the simplicity of the hymns—their accessibility to all, both young and old—that makes them such potent, memorable declarations of faith.