One reason out of the 15

Well, it turns out there are practical, spiritual and musical reasons to use hymnals.

Hymnals make songs less disposable. Okay, obviously you can throw a hymnal away if you want. Text on a screen is there one second and gone the next. There’s no visible permanence. But hymnals are symbols of consistency. They give life and breath to the great songs. They demonstrate that what we sing is worth keeping around.

In other news, well, we knew all along that the lowest common denominator approach is rubbish:  Audiences can cope if given the opportunity.

Everyone involved in classical music should look again at my photo and ponder . . . .