Foreword
Professor Graham Tulloch


Don has been passionate about the language of worship for a very long time. In particular, of recent years he has been concerned about that special part of Christian worship, the singing of hymns.

This is a collection of hymns that are meant to be sung, and here they are beautifully joined to the music of Maarten Ryder.

They offer a language in which modern people can express their beliefs, but also a language fit to be addressed to God.

It is hard to speak of favourites amongst so many good things but one that catches my attention is Having here no lasting city, a hymn for All Saints.

The subject matter of this hymn nicely matches the language in its mixture of tradition and modernity.

The image of the earthly and heavenly cities, which has been so powerful in Christian tradition, still speaks strongly to a modern world in which so many of us are city-dwellers - as were those early saints,

Christianity being at first the religion of the urban poor, here described poetically as the very world's offscouring.

This is hymn that shows how much can be achieved by the simple poetic devices of repetition and balance. . . . .

There are many riches in this collection, both in Don's verse and in Maarten's music.

I suggest you go on, and read and sing them.

I commend these new traditional hymns to you - a new addition to an old and venerable tradition.

They are hymns for today's people and they are hymns for today's worship.


. . . . . Read the full text



Music: Maarten Ryder

Maarten Ryder is a research scientist (microbiology) and musician.

Maarten is not as word driven as Don. If you are interested in his reflections on composing    Read on . . .