Closing Remarks on Ruth and Hymns with Harmony

Joyce Voysey

I have kept thinking of the ending of the book of Ruth.  All those ‘begets’.  And why do the generations go back to Pharez?  Oh my goodness!  Genesis 28 tells the story of his conception: it is along similar lines to the Ruth/Naomi/Boaz story.  Judah (son of Jacob and Leah) was Pharez’ father and Tamar (Judah’s daughter-in-law) his mother, who tricked him into a ‘begetting’ by which Pharez was conceived.  Wow!  What a chapter of doings!

And Hymnal Note 132 (“I am the way, the truth, the life”): Have you ever wondered why the hymnal has certain hymns marked “to be sung in unison”?  I have.  Well here is the answer:  “…the music will be found to lack notes, in one or more of the voices, to use with all the syllables, as here, at the end of the second brace.  Some composers recommend unison singing as more effective than most part singing, while others feel that even a scattered filling in of the parts adds color to the singing.  Then the choice is left to the congregation.”

It is very rarely that our congregation has the luxury of one who sings other than in unison.  We treasure it when it happens.