9. Christ is our Cornerstone
Latin, 8th century
Tr. John Chandler, 1806-76
This is a translation of a mediaeval Latin hymn. At the beginning of the Christian era, the prevailing language was Greek. With the dominance of Rome over the empire of Alexander the Great, Greek gradually gave way to the Latin tongue, and from the fourth century to the dawn of the Reformation, a rich treasury of Latin hymns came into existence in the church. Many of these have now been translated for use in modern English speaking churches. They are stately, reverent, devout pieces of devotional literature which have been the joy and consolation of countless saintly souls down through the centuries. Other examples of hymns from Latin sources are found at Nos. [67], [80], [87], [114], [116], [171], [277], [382], and [415].
“Christ is our Cornerstone” is based on “Angularis fundamentum,” a dedication hymn of anonymous authorship, attributed here to the 8th century, but it may be of much earlier origin. [Hymn 277], “Christ is made the sure foundation,” is another rendering of the same Latin poem, by a different translator and into a different meter, and is there dated “6th or 7th century.”
John Chandler, the translator, was one of a group of Anglican clergymen belonging to what was known in England as the Oxford Group (not to be confused with the recent Oxford group movement headed by John Buchman). They were interested in restoring to the church a dignified service of worship. These Latin hymns contributed to this purpose. Chandler was a scholar as well as preacher, author of several books and many printed sermons and tracts, and was one of the first and best translators of Latin hymns. This, of course, is not a literal translation, for consideration had to be given to poetic and doctrinal fitness for modern use.
MUSIC. The tune DARWALL was composed by John Darwall, 1731-89, an Anglican clergyman and also an enthusiastic amateur musician. He composed a tune for each of the 150 metrical Psalms, each written in two parts only, treble and bass. DARWALL was set to Psalm 148. His tunes, for the most part, have not been published and have passed into oblivion.