SOURCE: Gillman, Frederick J. “Crescendo.” In The Evolution of the English Hymn: An Historical Survey of the Origins and Development of the Hymns of the Christian Church, pp. 197-213. New York: MacMillan Company, 1927.

In the following essay, Gillman discusses Watts's goals in hymn writing and provides an analysis of his works.

In the Library of York Minster there is a volume entitled Musick's Monument, dated 1676, which gives a vivid and humorous account of the singing in parish churches in general and in York Minster in particular, at the very time when George Fox was lamenting its unreality. The author, Thomas Mace, was thoroughly satisfied with the few Psalm tunes then in use (in spite of the fact that there were scarcely more than a dozen to choose from), and declared “they are so excellently good that I will be bold to say art cannot mend them or make...