Throughout its history, the Church of Latter-Day Saints has continuously borrowed, modified, and discarded existing melodies from a wide variety of sources and traditions for its ever-growing and ever-changing body of hymnody. Although the complete provenance of many borrowed hymn melodies cannot be fully traced, a close examination of available evidence provides important insights into the musical tastes, aesthetics, and reworking practices of the Mormon church.

For the first several decades of the Church’s existence, Mormons predominantly fit existing melodies and popular songs to traditional or newly-written hymn texts, rather than composing new hymn tunes. Since this was an orally transmitted practice rather than a written tradition, it is impossible to tell which tunes (and how many) could have been applied to every single text, but some texts and melodies were more closely bonded than others. As the Church developed in England, the American Midwest, and later Utah throughout the nineteenth century, Mormon hymnody expanded vastly. The first published hymnbooks from the 1870s through the early 1900s featured a mix of newly-composed artful hymn tunes for choirs, adaptations of classical melodies, and contemporary gospel melodies supplementing several hymn melodies from the previous generation. Even so, an examination of the standard Mormon hymnals from these decades reveals a constant expansion, contraction, and transformation of the hymn repertory, with existing melodies regularly being adopted, modified, and sometimes discarded after a period of time. Many hymnals ultimately strove for a balance of artfulness, traditional favorites, a variety of difficulty levels, and catering to contemporary tastes, but the makeup of the final publications—including the number of borrowed tunes, the musical traditions they came from, and the extent of their modification—often depended on the editors’ priorities, geographic region, musical resources, and musical skill levels of different Mormon communities. Even the more recent hymn books, such as the 1927 Latter-Day Saint Hymns and the 1948 Hymnal, showcase an ongoing process of growth and change in Mormon hymnody.

Borrowed melodies in Mormon hymnals (both historical and contemporary) came from a diverse range of musical traditions, styles, and eras, but these tunes were also adapted in a multitude of ways. Some hymns were simple contrafacts; for instance, Henry Rowley Bishop’s Home Sweet Home was paired to the text “Mid scenes of confusion” by David Denham, while Emily H. Woodmansee’s text “O blest was this day” was sung to The Star-Spangled Banner. Some borrowed hymn tunes, like George Coles’s Duane Street, were embellished with more complex melodic and rhythmic changes. Similarly, the texture, harmonization, or phrase repetition of borrowed melodies diverge from their sources to varying degrees. Two appendices provide a thorough catalogue and overview of the Mormon hymns known to use borrowed melodies, the hymnals in which they appear, and the sources of the melodies themselves, when traceable.

Works: William Clayton: Come, Come Ye Saints (33, 100-1); Anonymous: Who Cares To Go with the Wagons (34); Anonymous: Ye Saints Who Dwell on Europe’s Shore (34); David H. Smith: Let Us Shake Off the Coals from Our Garments (63); Emily H. Woodmansee: O Blest Was This Day (93); David Denham: Mid Scenes of Confusion (93); Eliza Roxey Snow: Comfort (“Cease, ye fond parents, cease to weep”) (134-35).

Sources: Anonymous: Hosanna (“Assembly”/“Paraclete”) (26, 67, 106, 115); Anonymous: Sterling (26, 78-79); Rev. R. Harrison, attr.: Weymouth (26); Anonymous (American Folksong): Adam-Ondi-Ahman (26, 78-79, 101-3, 142); Aaron Williams: Dalston (26, 78-79, 103); Sigismund Neukomm: The Sea (31-32); Anonymous: Away, Away to the Mountain’s Brow (31-32); Anonymous: The Rose that All are Praising (31-32, 79, 92); Anonymous (Traditional American): The Sioux Indians (33); Dan Emmett, attr.: Old Dan Tucker (33); Anonymous (American Folksong): Tittery-Irie-Aye (33); J. T. White, attr.: All is Well (33, 71, 100, 142, 144); Anonymous (Traditional English): The King of the Cannibal Islands (34); Anonymous (Dutch Folksong): Kremser (59, 98, 141); Anonymous (Traditional German-Latin): In Dulci Jubilo (59, 98, 142); Henry Thomas Smart: Regent Square; Anonymous (Canadian/American Folksong): Red River Valley (63); Caroline Sherican Norton: The Officer’s Funeral March (“Fowler”/“Prophet”): (67, 93, 104); Anonymous: Martyr (“Pean”/“Israel is Free”) (67, 98, 106, 142, 144); Louis Bourgeois: The Old Hundredth (67, 80-83, 98, 122); Krambambuli (“Come Away”/“Glendale”) (67-68, 101, 142); George Coles: Duane Street (67-68, 106); William Croft: St. Anne (“Leeds”) (67-68, 84); Anonymous: Judah (71-72); Anonymous: Dimick (71-72, 101); Freeman Lewis: Beloved (“My Beloved”/“Meditation”/“Dulcimer”) (78-79, 101, 106, 115); Anonymous (Scottish Folksong): Land of Promise (“Lone Pilgrim”/“The Braes O’ Balquhidder”/“Patten”/“Ettivini”) (78-79, 106-7); Anonymous (American Folksong): Star in the East (79, 92); Henry H. Russell: I’m Afloat, I’m Afloat (“Goddard”) (79, 93); George F. Root: Just Before the Battle, Mother (79), Vacant Chair (93, 140), Tramp Tramp Tramp (93, 139-40); Martin Luther: Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott (80, 83, 98, 120-22); Anonymous: Mit freuden Zart (“Bohemian Brethren”) (80, 83, 98); John Hughes: Cwm Rhondda (80, 116-17); Anonymous: Greenville (81, 87, 135); Felix Mendelssohn: Elijah, Op. 70 (83, 133-34, 137), Abschied vom Walde, Op. 59, No. 3 (135-36); Johann Schop: Schop (83, 120-21); Anonymous: Lasst uns erfreuen (83, 119); Johann Cruger: Nun danket alle Gott (83, 120-21); Joachim Neander: Neander (“Munich, Ephesus”) (83, 119, 122); Anonymous: Lobe den Herren (83, 120, 122); William Boyce: Appleton (84, 123); William Wheall (Weale): Bedford (84, 123); Aaron Williams: St. Thomas (“Williams”) (84, 123-24); Anonymous: Easter Hymn (84, 123-25); John Francis Wade: Adeste fideles (“Portuguese Hymn”) (84, 125); Joseph Martin Kraus/Michael Haydn, attr.: Lyons (84); Anonymous: Brentford (84); James Lucas, attr.: Lucas (84, 106, 125); Handel, attr.: Antioch (“Comfort”/“Holy Triumph”/“Messiah”) (84); Simeon Buckley Marsh: Martyn (84, 125); Lowell Mason: Bethany (84); Isaac Baker Woodbury: Selena (84, 125); John Baptiste Calkin: Waltham (“Doane”/“Camden”) (85, 127); Joseph Barnby: Merrial (85, 128); John Bacchus Dykes: St. Agnes (“St. Agnes Durham”) (85); Anonymous: God Save the Queen (America/“National Anthem”) (91, 92, 105); James Sanderson, attr.: Hail to the Chief (91); John Stafford Smith: The Star-Spangled Banner (“National Anthem”/“Anacreon”) (91-93); Henry Rowley Bishop: Home Sweet Home (“Sweet Home”) (91, 140); Anonymous: There is a Place in Childhood that I Remember Well (“Willes”) (91, 140); Anonymous: Cheer, Boys, Cheer (“Bell”) (92, 139-40); John Rogers Thomas: Beautiful Isle of the Sea (92, 139-40); Anonymous (American Folksong): The Dismal Swamp (“Restitution”) (92, 106-7, 139); Anonymous (Traditional English): Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes (92, 98, 143); Anonymous (American Folksong): Sweet Afton (92, 98); George [E.] Kiallmark: The Old Oaken Bucket (92); Joseph Parry: Mynyddog (92); Thomas A’Becket or David Shaw: Columbia, Gem of the Ocean (The Red, White and Blue) (92, 140); Anonymous (American Folksong): The Field of Monterey (93, 98, 139, 142); Henry H. Russell: A Life on the Ocean Wave (93, 140); Anonymous: Babylon (93, 140); Anonymous (Gospel): Juanita (93, 140); Benjamin Carr: Spanish Chant (“Spanish Hymn”) (67-68, 93, 140); Anonymous: Norway (93); Thomas Moore (lyricist), Anonymous (Irish Folksong): The Last Rose of Summer (94); Lady John Scott, attr.: Annie Laurie (94, 98); J. P. Knight: Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep (94); Stephen Foster: Hard Times (94), The Old Folks at Home (104); Anonymous: Nay Speak No Ill (94); John Hugh McNaughton: Home (“There is Beauty All Around”) (94); Thomas Clark: Ramsgate (95-96); Anonymous (Traditional American Spiritual): Kirtland (98); Anonymous (Traditional American Spiritual): Vigilance (98); Anonymous (Traditional Carol): The First Nowell (98, 141); Anonymous (Traditional British Carol): God Rest Ye Merry (98, 118, 142-43); Anonymous (German Folksong): Du, du liegst mir im Herzen (98); Traditional (German Carol): Tannenbaum (98, 109, 142); Anonymous: Blow Gently, Ye Wild Winds (98); Lewis Edson: Lennox (103); Anonymous: Caldwell (103, 106, 142); I. B. Woodbury: The Lute of Zion (103), The Saints’ Harp (103); Anonymous (American Folksong): Far West (104); Annie Fortescue Harrison: In the Gloaming (116-17); William Shrubsole: Miles’ Lane (118); Philipp Nicolai: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (121); Felice de Giardini: Italian Hymn (“Italia”/“Moscow”/“Trinity”/“Bentinck”/“Fairford”/“Florence”/“Hermon”) (125); Anonymous: Yates (125); Oliver Holden: Coronation (126); John Rippon, attr.: Advent (126), Incarnation (126); William H. Monk: Eventide (127); Sir George Job Elvey: St. George’s Windsor (127); Horatio Richmond Palmer: Memories of Galilee (129-31); William James Kirkpatrick: Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd (129-31); James McGranahan: My Redeemer (129); Harrison Millard: ‘Tis Eventide (“Abide with me”) (127, 130); Charles H. Gabriel: Oh, It Is Wonderful (132); Adam Geibel: The Joyful Song (132); Edwin Othello Excell: Count Your Blessings (132); Will Lamartine Thompson: Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel (133); Anonymous (Gospel): Waiting for the Reapers (133); Julia Ward Howe (lyricist), Anonymous (music): The Battle Hymn of the Republic (133); O. F. Presbrey: I Have Read of a Beautiful City (133); Charles D. Tillman: Life’s Railway to Heaven (133); Robert Lowry: I Need Thee Every Hour (133); Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 (133), Saul, HWV 53 (135), Samson, HWV 57 (136), Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63 (136-37); Carl Maria von Weber: Oberon (134); Verdi: I Lombardi alla prima crociata (134, 137); Louis Moreau Gottschalk: The Last Hope, Op. 16 (134, 136); Mozart: Piano Sonata in A Major, K.331 (134), Die Zauberflöte, K.620 (134, 137-38); Haydn: Symphony No. 88 in G Major, Hob.I:88 (134-35); Rossini: Soirées musicales (134, 136); J. C. Friedrich Schneider/Lowell Mason: Lischer (135); Anonymous: Verdant Spring and Rosy Summer (140); Anonymous: Erastus (142).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Matthew G. Leone