Open Volume: Call for words and scores

I am looking for words and music for a hymnal. The working title is “Open Volume: singable, photocopiable hymns”.

The intent is to create a body of new hymnody which will be available to churches as a supplement, or as individual pieces; to showcase the work of writers and composers who might not gain the attention of traditional publishers; and to make the advantages of Creative Commons licensing of church music more widely known.

There are three entry categories:

1) Words only: newly written words, which will then be set to a tune.
2) Words and tune (old or new words; new tune)
3) Words and full music (old or new words; new music)

All material selected will be released under a CC BY-SA or CC BY-NC licence. More information about these licences is available from creativecommons.org

New words should be as inclusive as possible, and must only be submitted with the permission of the author and the understanding that if selected, they will be released under a Creative Commons licence. Old words may be less inclusive but should still be understandable by a modern congregation, and must be in the public domain or released under a suitable Creative Commons licence. Words should be primarily in English.

Words submitted without music and accepted may be published online ahead of the deadline for tunes and full music, so that composers have a chance to set them.

Music should accessible for congregational singing: hymns, rather than worship songs. They should be suitable for singing with or without a choir (choral descants are allowed, where appropriate), and intended to be accompanied by organ, piano, or a variety of acoustic instruments doubling SAB or SATB vocal lines.

Entry deadlines are as follows:

WORDS    15th March 2015
WORDS + TUNE    15th May 2015
WORDS + FULL MUSIC     15th June 2015

Editors are Kathryn Rose, Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Thomas Thurman and Christopher Upton.

Words should be submitted using the entry form. For music entries, fill out the entry form and e-mail a .pdf of your music to artsyhonker+openvolume AT gmail DOT com.

One thought on “Open Volume: Call for words and scores

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *