Brian Wren
Brian Wren writes hymn texts that treat congregational song as poetry and theology. His lyrics, shaped by inclusive language and careful image, appear in hymnals across Christian traditions and on recordings of worship song.
Wren has published some 250 hymns in seven collections, with books and articles on worship beside them. He holds that a hymn is a poem first: reading it aloud recovers the force of language, metaphor and faith-expression, and theology is done wherever intellect and imagination try to grasp God's activity centred in Christ. From the late 1970s he pushed churches past exclusive male wording, writing texts that name women and subordinate groups as full participants. The vocation he claims is not only to supply poems people will sing, but to step past comfort and convention. The work belongs in the congregation rather than on the concert platform.
Compositions by Brian Wren appear on
Psalms
Psalms and chants from the Anglican and Taizé traditions, with two hymns, directed by Peter Chapman. Cantus Choro’s recording shows his love of Anglican psalmody, lively musicianship, and care for phrasing and words.
Sing Together Alleluia
Hymns sung by the Sing Alleluia Music Ministry Team, drawn from Sing Alleluia, appear in Together in Song: Australian Hymn Book II. The selection favours material not already on the earlier two-disc companion set.
Bards of Faith and Passion
Jim Minchin sets poems by writers at play or at odds with eternity: soul-poet lyrics across the centuries, from anonymous Latin verse and the metaphysicals to Yeats, Shakespeare and living voices.