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Unusual tune pairings from Karen Baptist Hymnal

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Fri, 11/06/2009 - 16:54 — Haruo

In the 1963 Sgaw Karen Baptist Hymnal, there are what appear to be Karen translations of a number of familiar Western hymn texts set to unfamiliar Western hymn tunes. I have put scans of eight of these on my church's website so others can help me identify the source of these pairings (I'm interested in whether the pairings were borrowed from Western sources, and if so which ones, or whether they originated in Burma; also, some of the tunes may be of interest in their own right, and they're certainly not commonly met)...

Here are the first four I've scanned:

I'm particularly interested in this stuff because there are now hundreds of Karen-speaking Baptists in the Seattle area, and thousands more around the country, and I hope to be involved in the production of a bilingual Karen-English hymnal, hopefully in time for the Adoniram Judson bicentennial in 1913. Obviously resolving issues where the Karen and American traditions differ as to the tunes of hymns held in common is one that requires addressing in such a project.

Leland aka Haruo


Comments

Fri, 11/06/2009 - 20:09 — Haruo

Here are four more (and yes, I know I'm not up to DNAH snuff in my litteratim copying of accidentals):

Leland aka Haruo

Sun, 11/08/2009 - 21:41 — Haruo

Anyone interested in such matters may wish to check out the new Google Group I just created, New Sgaw Karen Hymnal.

Leland aka Haruo

Tue, 11/10/2009 - 05:28 — Haruo

The 1963 Karen hymnal also sets a translation of "When I survey the wondrous cross" to WOODWORTH.

Thu, 11/19/2009 - 21:56 — Greg Scheer

I'll be interested to hear if you find out the origin of these hymn tunes. In the meantime, here's a recording from the same country, but a different people group: http://www.churchoftheservantcrc.org/the-chin.

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