Common Praise which we have recently introduced at St Alban’s, is a hymnbook designed to cater for the Anglican liturgy. The hymns have been chosen to fit in with “Common Worship”.The book has been published to replace Hymns A&M.

My first impression was that the book was well constructed and able to withstand the rigours of constant use.The hymns are usefully divided into categories and thus make the choosing of hymns more straightforward than a strictly alphabetical listing. (I do find however that the latter produces other advantages such as making hymns easy to find - eg Hymns Old and New). I am surprised, however to find some frequently used general hymns, such as ‘Jesu lover of my soul’ in the seasonal hymns sections. Perhaps it would have been better to list these hymns as recommended at the end of each section as in A&M..This is but a minor gripe as there are so many good points in this book. The hymns in each category are listed in alphabetical order which is helpful. There are many new hymns which are instantly usable as many are set to well known tunes.There are also a number of hymns made popular by the ‘New English Hymnal’ which is also published by Canterbury Press who, at the time of writing are giving a 25% discount on all orders of over over 20 for either book!
 

The full music edition is one of the best I have seen with the tune on the left page and the words on the right. The ends of lines are clearly shown in the music. There are a number of other versions of the book including a words only edition and a single line music edition.
“One book which would cover most of our needs would be a godsend. Common Praise is as near to the answer as anything I’ve seen.”

The editors have gathered some of the finest hymns, old and new, and present them for use as material for worship in the twenty first century.

Common Praise is clearly printed and presented in a scholarly way. No alterations have been made to the texts without good reason . Helpful notes on the music are provided and the book is well indexed. The index of scriptural references will be particularly useful to those who want to find hymns to relate to the readings. I welcome and commend this book."
 

S