Hymns on Sunday Podcast Options

4:15 AM.Hymns by Charles Wesley feature in this week's programme. Nicknamed 'the Bard of Methodism', he wrote thousands of hymns throughout his life. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Marking World Mission Sunday this week with hymns including We have a gospel to proclaim, and Who’ll be a witness for my Lord. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.An atmospheric recording of Psalm 23 this week, along with some hymns given 'the Vaughan Williams touch'. The English composer (born on 12 October 1872 in the village of Down Ampney) was music editor… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Marking the end of the Season of Creation in this week's programme, along with the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi (patron saint of ecology). Read more Audio

4:15 AM.“Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee”, writes Reginald Heber in his well-loved hymn, Holy, holy, holy. Sing along in this week’s programme. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.New Zealand hymn writer Shirley Erena Murray’s life and work is celebrated in a new biography by Anne Manchester: Peace is Her Song. You can hear hymns by Shirley Murray in this week’s programme. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori this week with a selection of hymns from Hīmene Māori - a project to document, record, and publish Māori hymns and waiata. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.It’s hymns ancient and modern this week. We’ve a setting of Hail, gladdening light (a hymn from the 3rd or 4th century), and In You we live – a 21^st century hymn written by Sue Mepham from Flagstaff… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Celebrating the beginning of the Season of Creation today with hymns including How great thou art, For the beauty of the earth, and Shirley Murray’s Touch the earth lightly. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Hymns from across the centuries this week, from Bernard of Clairvaux's 12th century poetry to NZ hymn writer Jocelyn Marshall's God of Ages written for a Millennium hymn competition. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Church musician William Shrubsole is best known for the hymn tune ‘Miles Lane’. He was a “one tune man”, wrote composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, but what a “superb” tune it was. You can hear it set to… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.It's a 21^st century classic to begin this week’s programme: In Christ Alone, written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty in 2001. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.It's straight in with the big tunes today - Arthur Grimshaw's hymn Sing to the Lord a joyful song, to the tune 'Jerusalem' by Hubert Parry. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.You can hear hymns based on the psalms in this week’s programme, including All people that on earth do dwell (Psalm 100), O God, our help in ages past (Psalm 90), and I to the hills will lift mine… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.19th-century lawyer and politician Robert Grant only wrote a few hymns, but there's one you'll still find in many hymnbooks today: O worship the king. Sing along in this week's programme. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.It's Sea Sunday today, remembering and celebrating those whose workplace is the sea with hymns including Eternal Father (the 'Navy Hymn') and Will your anchor hold. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.You might think the life of a 19^th century hymn translator was pretty uneventful. Not so for John Mason Neale, who translated our first hymn in this week’s programme, Christ is made the sure… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Celebrating the season of Matariki this week, with hymns in te reo Māori and hymns of remembrance. And we mark the Feast of St Paul. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Two hymns inspired by Psalm 23 ‘The Lord’s My Shepherd’ in this week’s programme. Both from the 1800s, one is by a British professor of music, John Goss, the other is by Joseph Gilmore, an American… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Methodist leader John Wesley had some good tips for singing hymns, including this one: "Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.The New Zealand Youth Choir features in this week’s programme, singing Wairua tapu (a hymn to the Holy Spirit by Ngapo Wehi) and the African-American spiritual Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Psalm 23 The Lord's My Shepherd has been set to many different tunes. John Campbell, a 19th century Scottish merchant and amateur musician, wrote the very cheerful setting you can hear in today's… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Celebrating Trinity Sunday this week with a selection of hymns including Holy, Holy, Holy and Lead Us, Heavenly Father, Lead Us. And we mark the start of Samoan Language Week with a hymn of praise and… Read more Audio

4:15 AM.Hymns for the Feast of Pentecost today, including contemporary hymns by NZ hymn writer Bill Wallace (Wild wind of the Holy Spirit) and the UK's Bernadette Farrell (Spirit of God, rest on your people).

4:15 AM.Hymns with the theme of mercy feature in this week's programme, and there are some hymns to Mary to mark Mother's Day. Read more Audio