Why are the words of favourite old hymns being changed?

On Christmas Eve I was asked to attend a German service to give a children’s address. I was asked to do it in English. Why? Because there were many children present who didn’t speak German as their primary language. They were there with their families because of their German heritage, even though they themselves were born and raised in Australia. Aware of this, the people organising this service were concerned that the children should be able to hear the story of their Saviour’s birth in a language they could understand.

Our church has a strong heritage of translation. During the first half of the 20th century, the Lutheran Church in Australia was moving from being a largely German-speaking church to one that spoke mainly English. Many of our forebears treasured the old German hymns that were part of our Lutheran heritage and didn’t want to see them lost. With this in view, the church began the process of hymn translation, so that it could pass on the heritage of this hymnody in a language future generations could understand.

This process is still happening. Many of the translations in our hymnbooks are not written in a language people readily understand. In an attempt to keep alive these old hymns which we treasure, gifted translators have set to work retranslating them. These translators are generally people who love and treasure our church’s hymnody deeply. They hope that their efforts will help people understand more of what they’re singing, so that they will come to treasure the heritage being passed down to them.

Pastorally, this is a very sensitive area. In hymns and songs, words and music are combined in a dynamic and powerful way. As we sing them over and over, the words of a hymn or song can soak into our subconscious and settle comfortably there. This happens so naturally that we often don’t realise it. When they were children many people in our church were encouraged to commit hymn verses to memory in order to make this process stronger. When this is the case, change doesn’t come easily. It’s almost like those words become a part of you, and new translations run against the grain as a result. It’s important that we bear this in mind when we choose whether to use newer translations or retain the older ones. It’s not always wise or beneficial to use newer translations, especially when the particular hymn is well loved. Just because something is new doesn’t necessarily make it better. At the same time, however, we do need to ask whether stepping into the unfamiliar and embracing a new translation can be a worthwhile investment, if it means that the hymns we love can be treasured for generations to come.

Response by Pastor Matthias Prenzler, vice-chairperson of the LCA Commission on Worship.

This question appeared in the RAQ column of the October 2011 edition of The Lutheran.