Hymns
Hymns on Sunday, 24 March 2024
Holy Week begins today - the sixth and final week of Lent. Palm Sunday commemorates the entry of Jesus in Jerusalem, and our hymns include Ride on, ride on in majesty and All glory, laud and honour. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 17 March 2024
19th-century English architect James Edmeston wrote around 2000 hymns - it was said that he produced one every Sunday. We'll hear one of his best-known hymns this week: Lead us, heavenly Father, lead… Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 10 March 2024
It’s the Fourth Sunday in Lent, known as Laetare (‘rejoice’ in Latin) Sunday. Hymns include Praise, my soul, the king of heaven and the psalm paraphrase Praise God, for he is kind. And we remember New… Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 3 March 2024
This week, we’ve hymns that focus on peace, unity and consolation, including Make me a channel of your peace (The Prayer of St Francis), and Margaret Rizza’s In the Lord is my joy and salvation. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 25 February 2024
This week, we've a hymn by Dunedin GP Nigel Eastgate; two different settings of Psalm 130 - Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; and a hymn from Hatea Kapa Haka: E kino koe te ingoa nei. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 18 February 2024
In this week’s programme we’re marking the First Sunday in Lent, there’s a hymn written for Human Rights Day, and we get an insight into how American minister Robert Lowry wrote his hymns. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 11 February 2024
There’s a reflective feel to this week’s selection of listener requests, with hymns including There is a balm in Gilead, Nearer my God to thee, and Margaret Rizza’s Prayer for Peace. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 4 February 2024
It's all about descants today - those soaring vocal lines above the melody that are often sung on the final verse of hymns. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 28 January 2024
There are sea-related hymns in this week’s programme of requests, including Eternal Father, strong to save (also known as ‘the Navy Hymn’) and Will your anchor hold in the storms of life. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 21 January 2024
A memory of the Pope's visit to Cardiff in the 1980s, a favourite hymn from Bible Class days, and a dedication to a beloved grandfather: some of the inspirations behind this week's hymn requests. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 14 January 2024
A gentle start to this week's hymn requests programme, with an arrangement of Eleanor Farjeon's Morning has broken sung by the Choir of Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 7 January 2024
One of the earliest surviving Christian hymns, a hymn to mark Epiphany, and St Francis of Assisi’s hymn All creatures of our God and king – all in this week’s programme of Summer Hymn Requests. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 31 December 2023
Summer Hymn Requests begin today: for the next month or so, we’ll be playing your choices. Today’s programme includes Our life has its seasons by Shirley Murray, Charles Wesley’s hymn And can it be… Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 25 December 2023
A special edition of Hymns of Sunday for Christmas Day. Sing along to favourite carols including o come, all ye faithful, Angels we have heard on high, and Joy to the world. Video, Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 17 December 2023
Rejoice - it's Gaudete Sunday! Hymns for the Third Sunday in Advent include John Rutter's Angels' Carol, Rejoice! Rejoice at Christmas time by New Zealand hymn writer Bill Wallace and Tell out, my… Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 10 December 2023
In this week’s programme for the Second Sunday of Advent, we look towards Christmas with a carol by Shirley Murray and Jillian Bray; there’s an atmospheric recording in Westminster Abbey of Let all… Audio
Na te me tua i unea mai e
This traditional hymn was recorded by the congregation of the Cook Islands Christian Church, Porirua, in December 2023. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 3 December 2023
We're celebrating the First Sunday of Advent today with some favourite Advent hymns including O Come Emmanuel, and Of the Father's Heart Begotten. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 26 November 2023
It's Christ the King Sunday, and we're also marking feast days for Saints Clement and Cecilia, and hymn writer Isaac Watts. Audio
Hymns on Sunday, 19 November 2023
In 2017, Pope Francis established the World Day of the Poor. It's a Sunday set aside in the Catholic liturgical calendar to reflect on how poverty is at the very heart of the Gospel. This year's theme… Audio