Hymns

Hymns, as a recorded repertoire, is the body of congregational sacred song descending from the metrical hymnody of *Isaac Watts* and *Charles Wesley*: strophic, scripture-based texts set to singable tunes for communal worship. On record the repertoire runs from gospel and country-gospel albums by *Mahalia Jackson*, *Elvis Presley* and *Johnny Cash* to massed-choir and shape-note traditions, and its standards, among them "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art", form the shared songbook of English-speaking Protestant worship. The repertoire remains in active weekly use, and hymn-singing is still the point at which most worshippers participate directly in the music.