From time to time I'll ask my Amazon Echo to play hymns, either from Amazon Music or Pandora. The playlists are okay, but one thing I can't stand is how they shuffle individual tracks instead of letting entire albums play through. That works for popular music, but it's horrible for things like choral presentations or symphonies.
I've been listening to Spotify for a while for things like podcasts, but I was beyond thrilled when I realized today that not only does Spotify have a TON of hymns, they also have complete albums that I grew up listening to.
Some examples:
Hymns Triumphant - My all-time favorite hymn compilation by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. I owned the cassette in 1988, which I wore out by playing it over and over again. I eventually got the CD that's sitting buried in a storage unit somewhere.
Hymns Triumphant II - Great follow-up to the original.
Where Peace and Hope and Love Abide - Amazing Christmas performance by St. Olaf College. It was broadcast on PBS in 2007. I recorded it on VHS and wore THAT tape out. For years it was a Christmas tradition for me to pop in the tape and listen to it.
The Majesty and Glory - Compilation by Tom Fettke and Billy Ray Hearn in the early 1990s.
The Majesty and Glory of the Resurrection - Follow-up to the original, focusing on Easter hymns.
The Majesty and Glory of Christmas - Follow-up to the original, focusing on Christmas hymns.
As you can see, I'm a sucker for grand, powerful, sweeping performances with big choirs and full orchestras. Sure, I love calm, instrumental hymn music and Southern gospel music, but to me, the big choir and orchestra presentations are the equivalent of how humans used to build giant, grand cathedrals to help worshippers feel awe and wonder at God's majesty and greatness.
I'm happy that Spotify has made these available to everyone. You can listen to them for free with ads or sign up for Spotify Premium to listen ad-free.
Do you have any favorite hymn albums that are available on Spotify? Please share them here!
Not only will you help others discover amazing works they may never have heard of otherwise, it ensures that the artists and the copyright owners can be compensated so that they will keep these classics available and create more!