Kingdom song

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Kingdom songs are the hymns sung by Jehovah's Witnesses at their religious meetings. Since 1879, the Watch Tower Society has published hymnal lyrics; by the 1920s they had published hundreds of adapted and original songs, and by the 1930s they referred to these as "Kingdom songs" in reference to God's Kingdom.^[1]

With the 1966 release of Singing and Accompanying Yourselves with Music in Your Hearts, a policy was introduced to use only songs written by Witnesses. Subsequent collections were released in 1984 and in 2009, each retaining, retiring, or revising previous songs and introducing new songs. By 2012, an edition of their current hymnal Sing to Jehovah was available in 171 languages, including several sign languages.

In addition to songbooks containing sheet music and lyrics, releases in various audio formats have included vocals in several languages, piano instrumentals, and orchestral arrangements. The orchestral arrangements, referred to as Kingdom Melodies, are drawn from the three most-recent collections.

Collections

In the late 19th century, the Bible Students (from which Jehovah's Witnesses arose) used many well-known songs and melodies. They also used well-known melodies with their own lyrics. The prefaces of Songs of the Bride^[2] and Poems and Hymns of Dawn^[3] indicate that these hymnals include hymns adapted from other Protestant hymnals such as Hymns of the Morning,^[4] Gospel Hymns,^[5] Jubilee Harp,^[6] Winnowed Hymns,^[7] Epworth Hymnal^[8] and Songs of Pilgrimage.^[9] These melodies were often works of famous composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn. Lyrics were often also adapted from works of famous hymnal writers including Philip P. Bliss, Horatius Bonar, Fanny Crosby, Philip Doddridge, Thomas Hastings, John Newton, Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley.

In 1877, Charles Taze Russell and Nelson H. Barbour announced Songs of the Morning in their book Three Worlds.^[10] Songs of the Bride, a collection of 144 songs, was published in 1879.^[2] In 1890, Poems and Hymns of the Millennial Dawn^[3]—with 151 poems and 333 songs, most of which were well-known compositions—was released and became the group's official hymnal until 1928. This was followed by lyrics for 11 songs appearing in the February 1, 1896 issue of The Watchtower, under the title Zion's Glad Songs of the Morning,^[11] written by members of the denomination. A supplement of 81 songs was released in 1900, many written by a single individual, under the title Zion's Glad Songs.^[12][13] Two revised editions of this hymnal were released between 1902 and 1908.^[14][15] In 1905, the 333 songs published in 1890 along with musical notation were released under the title, Hymns of the Millennial Dawn.^[16] This book was released in a number of other languages, mainly in a shortened form. In 1925, Kingdom Hymns was published,^[17] with 80 songs intended for children and youths. In 1928 Songs of Praise to Jehovah was released,^[18] which included 337 songs.^[19]

Following the adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931, the Kingdom Service Song Book was released in 1944 (and revised in 1948), which included 62 songs. This was followed by the release of Songs to Jehovah's Praise in 1950, with 91 songs. Some of the music was from hymn tunes of other churches or based on themes from classical music;(for example, Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 23 in F minor, op. 57 ("Appassionata"). Others used relatively new music, some of which is still used.

Singing and Accompanying

Singing and Accompanying Yourselves with Music in Your Hearts was released in 1966, with 119 songs. Melodies identified as not having been written by Jehovah's Witnesses were not retained. For the first time, a policy was adopted of including only material written and composed by Jehovah's Witnesses, though some songs composed by non-Witnesses were unintentionally included.^[20]

Sing Praises to Jehovah

In 1984, Sing Praises to Jehovah was released, with 225 songs. It was subsequently introduced in many other languages. Many songs in Sing Praises to Jehovah were present in the previous two books; some that were found not to have been written by members of Jehovah's Witnesses were excluded.^[20]

Sing to Jehovah

In 2009, the release of a new hymnal, Sing to Jehovah, was announced; as of January 2010, it is the current hymnal used at religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses.^[21] It contains 135 songs, including 42 new songs, and alterations to the melodies and lyrics of others. Reduced editions comprising 55 songs are available in less common languages.^[22] Six volumes of orchestral and vocal arrangements based on 114 songs from Sing to Jehovah have also been released.^[23] On October 4, 2014, a revised edition of the songbook was announced, with a number of new songs.^[24] On February 5, 2016, an additional 5 songs were released.

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“Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah

A new songbook containing 151 songs and entitled “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah was released in English at the annual meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania held on October 1, 2016. 3 songs that were in the previous songbook Sing to Jehovah were removed and the 18 new songs released since October 4, 2014 have been included in this edition. Changes to some songs included rewording of lyrics, changing of subject matter, rephrasing, less direct counsel within the lyrics, and numbering by subject matter in 15 different categories. Orchestral accompaniments and video files containing the music and English lyrics for all 151 songs will be provided prior to January 2, 2017.

Kingdom Melodies

A series of light orchestral arrangements of Kingdom songs entitled Kingdom Melodies was first released in 1980.^[25] The earlier recordings in the series were from the 1966 hymnal Singing and Accompanying Yourselves With Music in Your Hearts, and the later ones from Sing Praises to Jehovah.

Installments of Kingdom Melodies were issued in cassette and phonograph formats annually during the 1980s. From 1996 to 2000, the series was re-issued as nine volumes on CD. In 2006, the series was released on CD in MP3 format. Since September 2008, the songs have also been made available for download.

Use in worship

Typically, Jehovah's Witnesses sing three songs at their meetings for worship. The entire congregation sings,^[26] accompanied by an orchestral or piano recording. Meetings open and close with a song and prayer, along with a song during an interlude between the two or three sections of the meeting. Songs are selected to match the theme of the meeting program. The song used to introduce the public talk is normally chosen by the speaker. Songs are also used at assemblies and conventions, and sometimes at different events at Watch Tower Society branch offices. Jehovah's Witnesses' publications also suggest that Witnesses listen to this music in their personal time.^[27]

See also

• Jehovah's Witnesses practices
• Kingdom Hall
• List of Watch Tower Society publications#Songbooks

References

External links

• Jehovah's Witnesses—Official website: Music for Christian Worship