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Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship by Paul Westermeyer. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2010,944 pp. ISBN 978-0-8066-5394-5. $75.00.
Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) was released in 2006 with pew and leader's editions, the latter including liturgies and accompaniments for service music and hymns. This core set of publications is being augmented by other resources "intended to provide worship leaders and planners with sustained reflection on and interpretation of ELW in ways that would not be possible within the core editions themselves" (vii). The Companion is one of two volumes in this latter category focused on assembly song. Its intended readership includes musicians, clergy, worship planners and laypersons.
The Companion includes information about the hymns and tunes in ELW, not the texts and service music preceding #239. The biographical data is presented with the first occurrence of the hymn or tune. Arrangers are not discussed. This book is not a technical or historical poetic or musical study, nor does it include performance practice suggestions. Rather, the intent of the...