MINIVER

Composer: Cyril Taylor

MINIVER is a strong tune that makes good use of several repeated melodic motives. Sing stanzas 1 and 5 in unison and stanzas 2 through 4 in parts. Support the melody line with a bright solo stop on the organ. Composed by Cyril V. Taylor (b. Wigan, Lancashire, England, 1907; d. Petersfield, England, 1992), MINIVER was published with Jan Struther's "Lord of All Hopefulness" (558) in the BBC Hymn Book (1951). The tune is named after Struther's novel Mrs. Miniver (1939).

Taylor was a chorister at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and Westcott House, Cambridge. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1932, he served the church as both pastor and musician. His positions included being a producer in the religious broadcasting department of the BBC (1939-1953), chaplain of the Royal School of Church Music (1953-1958), vicar of Cerne Abbas in Dorsetshire (1958-1969), and precentor of Salisbury Cathedral (1969-1975). He contributed twenty hymn tunes to the BBC Hymn Book (1951), which he edited, and other tunes to the Methodist Hymns and Psalms (1983). He also edited 100 Hymns for Today (1969) and More Hymns for Today (1980). Writer of the booklet Hymns for Today Discussed (1984), Taylor was chairman of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1975 to 1980.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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