Rev. Dr. Mikie Roberts                                        
Director, Provincial Hymnal Committee.

The  historic  publication  of  the  first  Caribbean  Moravian hymnal – Caribbean Moravian Praise – is near completion. Upon  completion  of  the  hard  cover  hymnal,  each  congregation will also receive a database that will contain a reference to the  hymn tunes. In this  database the  music for the new hymns will be provided.

However, in cases where the tune  for  the  hymn  is  unchanged  the  actual  music  for  that hymn will not be  provided. Instead the  database will indicate the  name  of the  tune and the  number of that hymn in the current music edition. By so doing, it is our desire that the  new hymns  will soon be  incorporated into the congregation’s hymnal repertoire since the tunes will be at the congregation’s disposal.

Work on the musical edition has been ongoing and is in the advanced  stages.  It  is  hoped  that  its  completion  should  be finalized  within  12–16  months.  The  compilation  of  the musical edition entails giving attention to some details that are  not  required  in  the  words  only  edition  of  the  hymnal. For  example,  in addition  to  the  authors  and  translators  index, there must also be added an index for hymn tunes and composers  as  well  as  the  alphabetical  listing  of  the  hymn
tunes.  Furthermore,  we  have  to  once  again  negotiate with international copyright holders to secure permission for the
printing  of  the  tunes  for  the  hymns  that  are  still  under copyright. 

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