Secondary Sources on Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Church-Produced Essays and Articles

Joyce P. Brown, “Are all the “hymns” in our hymnbook really hymns? And if a song isn’t actually a hymn, does it help us worship?,” Ensign, Oct. 1980, 35.

Sheila Gill Hadden and James Goldberg, “A Love for Words: The Legacy of Mabel Jones Gabbott,” Jan. 7, 2015, history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

“Hymns of the Trail,” Church History Museum.

“Historical Introduction,” Collection of Sacred Hymns, 1835, josephsmithpapers.org.

“Hymns,” Church History Topics, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

“Major LDS Hymnbook Editions through the Years,” newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Michael F. Moody, “Latter-day Saint Hymnbooks, Then and Now,” Ensign, Sept. 1985, 11–13.

“Sally Phelps’s Hymnal,” Church History Museum.

“Worship through the Hymns,” Ensign, Mar. 2008, 64–67.

Devotional Addresses

Merrill J. Bateman, “The Power of Hymns,” Ensign, Jul. 2001, 14–20.

Jay E. Jensen, “The Nourishing Power of Hymns,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 11–13.

W. Herbert Klopfer, “Worship the Lord by Singing Hymns,” Ensign, Jan. 2012, 30–31.

Dallin H. Oaks, “Worship through Music,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, 9–12.

Steven E. Snow, “Be Thou Humble,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 36–38.

Articles about the 1985 Hymnal (chronological order)

Kathleen Lubeck, “The New Hymnbook: The Saints Are Singing!,” Ensign, Sept. 1985, 7–11.

Chad Phares, “English Hymnbook Celebrates 20 Years; 21 Languages Have Followed,” Liahona, Aug. 2005, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Garrett H. Garff, “The Hymnbook Turns 30,” Ensign, Sept. 2015, 74–75.

Articles about the Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook in Development (as of December 2021; chronological order)

Camille West, “Church to Publish New Editions of Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook,” Church News, Jun. 18, 2018, thechurchnews.com.

Camille West, “Church Announces Plans for New Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook,” Jun. 2018, thechurchnews.com.

Eleanor Cain Adams, “Committees and Strategic Goals Announced for Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook Revisions,” May 9, 2019, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Tad Walch, “Call for a new church hymnbook generates 17,000 submissions, suggestions,” Deseret News, Aug. 4, 2019, deseret.com.

Tad Walch, “Which hymn was requested the most for the new hymnbook? (Tad Talk),” Deseret News, Aug. 7, 2019.

“Committees Thank Members for ‘Overwhelming’ Response to Hymnbook Revision Efforts,” Newsroom, Nov. 10, 2020, newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

“Update on the Hymnbook Revision,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 126.

General Articles about Latter-day Saint Hymns

Nancy J. Andersen, “Mormon Hymnody: Kirtland Roots and Evolutionary Branches,” Journal of Mormon History, vol. 32, no. 1 (Spring 2006), 145–71.

Nan N. Bullen, “Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (MA thesis, Boston University, 1954).

Sarah Burchett, “Songs Most Commonly Sung at LDS General Conference,” The Daily Universe, April 2, 2015.

Douglas Campbell, “Changes in LDS Hymns: Implications and Opportunities,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 28, no. 3 (Fall 1995), 65–91.

Richard Clothier, “The Hymns of Kirtland: A Festival of Hymns and History,” Journal of Mormon History, vol. 30, no. 1 (Spring 2004), 75–103.

Rachel Cope, “A Sacred Space for Women: Hymnody in Emma Hale Smith’s Theology,” Journal of Religious History, vol. 42, no. 2 (June 2018), 242–64.

Marilyn J. Crandall, “The Little and Gardner Hymnal, 1844: A Study of Its Origin and Contribution to the LDS Musical Canon,” BYU Studies, vol. 44, no. 3 (2005), 136–60.

Karen Lynn Davidson, “Hymns and Hymnody,” in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism (1992), 667–69.

Karen Lynn Davidson, “The Book of Mormon in Latter-day Saint Hymnody,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 9, no. 1 (2000), 14–27, 76–77.

John-Charles Duffy and Hugo Olaiz, “Correlated Praise: The Development of the Spanish Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 35, no. 2 (Summer 2002), 89–113.

Lowell M. Durham, “The Role and History of Music in the Mormon Church” (MA thesis, State University of Iowa, 1942).

Raymond C. Gobin, “The French Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1975/76), 51–52.

Norberto Guinaldo, “The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions—The Spanish Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1975/76), 49–51.

Michael Hicks, “What Hymns Early Mormons Sang and How They Sang Them,” BYU Studies, vol. 47, no. 1 (2008), 95–118.

Michael Hicks, “How to Make (and Unmake) a Mormon Hymnbook,” in David J. Whittaker and Arnold K. Garr, eds., A Firm Foundation: Church Organization and Administration (2011), 503–19.

Michael Hicks, “Emma Smith’s 1841 Hymnbook,” Journal of Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture, vol. 21, no. 1 (2012), 12–27.

Karen Lynn, “Our LDS Hymn Texts: A Look at the Past; Some Thoughts for the Future,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1975/76), 44–48.

Helen Hanks Macare, “The Singing Saints: A Study of the Mormon Hymnal, 1835–1950” (Ph.D. diss., UCLA, 1961).

Michael F. Moody, “Contemporary Hymnody in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (PhD diss., University of Southern California, 1972).

Zachary Osborne, “Will “the Wicked be Smitten at Last”?: A Comparative Analysis of LDS and RLDS Hymnals,” The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing, vol. 47, no. 1 (2018), 1–20.

Mary D. Poulter, “Doctrines of Faith and Hope Found in Emma Smith’s 1835 Hymnbook,” BYU Studies, vol. 37, no. 2 (1997–98), 32–56.

Emily Parker Updegraff, “Inclusive Language in the Latter-day Saint Hymnal,” Exponent II, vol. 2, no. 3 (Winter 2011), 20–22.

Newell B. Weight, “An Historical Study of the Origins and Character of the Indigenous Hymn Tunes of the Latter-day Saints” (DMA. diss., University of Southern California, 1961).

Newell B. Weight, “The Birth of Mormon Hymnody,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1975/76), 40–43.

Walter Whipple, “The German Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1975/76), 54–56.

Weldon Whipple, “The Japanese Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1975/76), 53–54.

Williams, Frederick G. Williams, “Singing the Word of God: Five Hymns by President Frederick G. Williams,” BYU Studies, vol. 48, no. 1 (2009), 57–88.

Books

J. Spencer Cornwall, Stories of Our Mormon Hymns (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1961). (M285 C821s 1961)

Karen Lynn Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1988). (M285 D252o 1988)

Patricia Kelsey Graham, We Shall Make Music: Stories of the Primary Songs and How They Came to Be (Springville, Utah: Horizon, 2007). (M285.25 G741w 2007)

Patricia Kelsey Graham, Stories of the Children’s Songbooks: How the Primary Songs Came to Be (Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort Publishing, 2015). (M285.15 G738s 2015)

Michael Hicks, Mormonism and Music: A History (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989). (M285 H631m 1989)

Michael Hicks, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2015). (M285.4 H631m 2015)

Michael Hicks, Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection: Essays on Mormon Music (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 2020). (M285 H631s 2020)

George Pyper, Stories of Latter-day Saint hymns, their authors and composers (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1939). (M285 P997s 1939)

LaVonne VanOrden, Blessed by the Hymns (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1989). (M285 B647 1989)