“And when they had sung a hymn . . . .” The great tradition of singing of hymns in Christian worship is rooted in the ancient temple and synagogue services of the Jewish people. The Cathedral Choral Society presents this collection of old favorites and new hymns accompanied by Washington National Cathedral's Great Organ. These thirty hymns span more than twenty centuries from the ancient Jewish Yigdal melody Leoni through medieval plainsong Divinum Mysterium to Cathedral View, a hymn composed in 1995.

The Greek word “hymnis” means “a song written in praise or honor of God.” Many of these hymns are paraphrases of the Psalms of David. The Greek word “psalmos” indicates they were sung accompanied by a stringed instrument.

These hymns, with origins in both English cathedrals and American camp meetings, are sung in a variety of ways. Some are unison hymns with stirring organ accompaniment and descants; others are sung in rich harmony by voices alone. Three hymns feature the shaped-note tradition of the New England singing schools that emerged during the Colonial era. Five hymns are instrumental arrangements for the Great Organ, the carillon, and bagpipe, among the most ancient of mankind’s instruments. Three hymns owe their composition to specific occasions at Washington National Cathedral. All are heard in the magnificent sacred spaces of the world’s sixth largest cathedral sung by the Cathedral Choral Society, the resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral since 1942.