Christian Virtual Hymnal

Christian Virtual Hymnal® is an inter-denominational proprietary digital hymnal created by Gary Rader and produced by MusicEase Software. It enables computers using Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X to produce [, transposable sheet music for hymns and other traditional Christian music and to listen to the music in MIDI. All content is public domain.
History
The first version of the Christian Virtual Hymnal appeared in 1996 for Microsoft Windows and was called the Virtual Hymnal. It contained about 300 traditional, public domain hymns which were transposable and customizable in a number of ways. The hymns were taken from a combination of hymnals including the 1990 Baptist Hymnal, the Hymnal For Worship and Celebration, and the Celebration Hymnal. This program was included in TOPICS Entertainment's Treasures of the Bible II: The Christian Resource Center 4 CD-ROM Deluxe Edition.
Some users complained that the verses and SATB harmonizations of some hymns did not match those in the hymnal used by their church. So, starting in 1999, hymnal-specific versions of the generic Virtual Hymnal were created in which the verses and music matched exactly those of the corresponding hardbound hymnals. In 2004, all the hymnal-specific versions of the Virtual Hymnal were combined into a single product titled the Christian Virtual Hymnal. Additional hymns continued to be added from additional hymnals. Most recently about 550 public domain hymns from the Christian Life Hymnal were included. In 2011, the complete orchestral version of Handel's Messiah (based on the Chrysander edition) --- the first music that was not a hymn --- was added. And the program became available under Mac OS X in that year.
In 2009 a special Gold version was created for publication by Christian Book Distributors.
In 2010 a special Lite version was reviewed and published by Apple Inc. in the Mac App Store.
Functionality
The Christian Virtual Hymnal displays the music on the screen exactly as it will print. Its functionality comes from the music notation editor MusicEase Professional which is the underlying driver for the software. The music can be customized in a number of ways. For instance, users can quickly transpose the music to any key, replace the font used for verses to any font/size on their computer and then quickly re-justify/reformat (i.e., cast off) the music so it all fits onto the specified page size/margins. Verses can be deleted/reordered as desired. The entire music can be scaled to different sizes and quickly reformatted.
Here is what one user says regarding the original Virtual Hymnal:
... I am a church organist and I have found the Virtual Hymnal CD to be incredibly useful. I have used it to transpose hymns down (seldom up) to a key the congregation can sing more comfortably. I have also used it to just provide words of a hymn or to allow me to modulate up for a last stanza. I have even used it to print the words and melody of a hymn in a bulletin or a handout. You could even print on transparencies if you use an overhead projector. All the hymns are public domain and you must work within the program's limitations but if you are even a little comfortable with computer software, you will find this a useful program, worth buying all 4 disks to get one.
Another reviewer, Kathy Salisbury, states that the Christian Virtual Hymnal could be extremely useful for churches. Small congregations might want to use this software to fill in when an organist is not available. Churches could also use the software to print out sheet music, lyrics for choirs ...
Content
In addition to 55 scenes from the Messiah, the Christian Virtual Hymnal includes over three thousand public domain hymns (many, however, are slightly different versions of the same hymn as they appear in the corresponding hard-bound hymnal.) Along with each hymn is listed the hymnal from which it comes so users can tell which version of a hymn corresponds exactly to the one in their church's hymnal.
Content includes almost all the public domain hymns from the 1991 Baptist Hymnal, Lutheran Book of Worship, 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal, Hymnal for Worship and Celebration, 1989 The United Methodist Hymnal, Celebration Hymnal, With One Voice, 1985 Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, 1985 Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hymnal, New National Baptist Hymnal (21st Century Edition), and the Christian Life Hymnal.
Reviewer Danny Mills states Churches ... can actually save money by purchasing this program instead of buying hymnals and sheet music.
Most notable features
*Transpose to any key
*Display verses only (no music)
*Optionally include chord names/fret diagrams
*Re-arrange/delete any verses
*Scale music to any size and quickly reformat
*Part extraction (e.g., display melody only or any combination of parts)
*Playback using any General MIDI instruments/Save as MIDI file
*Cast off
*Automatic justification
*Display music as Tablature notation for guitars and mandolins
*Automatically print hymns as chord charts
*Display music using shape notes (4 shape Sacred Harp or 7 shapes)
*The Messiah contains an optional piano reduction along with full orchestration
*Individual parts in the Messiah can be transposed/scaled independently of the other parts.
Free version
*

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu