Hymns
The pagan Greeks used the word
The earliest Christian hymns consisted of Scriptural passages or prayers set to music. Due to their origin, these were not metrical hymns; that is, they did not have a regular rhythm or verse structure. Many of these hymns eventually made their way into the liturgy. Later, poets and hymnographers made their own additions, often using the musical forms common in their own cultures.
For a general history, see the Catholic Encyclopedia articles Hymn and Hymnody.
For purposes of church singing in the Ruthenian tradition, we define "hymn" to mean "a song in praise of God or the saints, having a fixed text, and outside of the system of eight tones." While the Psalms, and the troparia, kontakia and canons of the Octoechos are certainly hymns in this sense, they require additional consideration and are dealt with elsewhere.)
There are two broad categories of hymns:
- Liturgical hymns, which are part of one of the liturgical services, and found in the liturgical books; and
- Para-liturgical hymns (sometimes called "spiritual songs" or "devotional hymns"), which are generally sung before or after the liturgical services, and on special occasions such as pilgrimages and so forth.