Hymnal

Hymnal · public-domain hymn library · In active development · early access

A curated library of public-domain hymns — every text and tune verified free to read, print, and sing.

Hymnal is a library of public-domain hymn texts and tunes: search for a hymn, confirm in plain sight that it is cleared to sing, print a clean lyric sheet, and hand the cleared set to the leading tool. Provenance is checked and shown for every entry; engraved notation from the Musique engraver arrives as the engine matures — honest about what is engraved today and what is coming. The leading surface that leads from this library is its sibling, hymnbook.software.

Ask about early access What it is →

Hymnal is being built and is not yet generally available. This page describes what the library is and where it is going -- the honest next step is to ask about early access.

What Hymnal is

Hymn texts and tunes live in a complicated copyright landscape. A text written in the 18th century is unambiguously public domain. The same text harmonized by a 20th-century arranger may not be. A tune from the 1850s is free to sing; the specific organ setting printed in last year’s collection may be under copyright. Most hymn resources do not show you where the line is, which means a worship leader printing a page for a school assembly or a chapel service is guessing about what is actually free to use.

Hymnal solves that by doing the copyright research and showing it. Every entry in the library carries its public-domain basis: the original publication date, the author and composer death dates, and the specific claim that puts the text and tune in the public domain. Where a common harmonization carries its own copyright, the library flags it and uses only the PD underlying tune. The rule is simple: if we cannot verify it is public domain, it is not in the library.

The library is free to read, print, and sing with no signup and no pricing. A worship leader can come to hymnal.software, search for a hymn, read the text and provenance, print a lyric sheet, and leave — without creating an account, without a subscription, and without wondering whether the text is actually free to use.

Hymnal is the library. Leading from it — putting a hymn on a screen the room reads from, transposing the key, and advancing the verses live — is a separate tool, hymnbook.software. Engraved notation, powered by the Musique engraver, arrives as the engine matures; until a hymn is engraved, the library is honest about it. Hymnal is in active development; early access is how you get in first.

Hymnal or Hymnbook? The library and the leading tool

Hymnal and hymnbook.software share one verified public-domain corpus, but they are two tools for two different moments. Hymnal is the library: you go there to search hymns, read the provenance that shows a text and tune are free to use, and print a lyric sheet. Hymnbook is the leading tool: you open it in the minute before a service or a class to put a cleared hymn on screen, set the key for the room, and lead the singing verse by verse. They do not converge.

Hymnal is the library

Search the catalog, verify the public-domain basis of each text and tune, and print a lyric sheet. Hymnal is where the corpus lives and where a worship leader confirms a hymn is cleared to sing — the preparation surface, here at hymnal.software. It is not the live leading surface, and it does not project or advance verses on a screen.

Hymnbook is the leading tool

Pull a cleared hymn from that same corpus onto a screen the room can read, transpose the key before the first verse, and advance through the verses live, at hymnbook.software. Hymnbook does the leading; it leads from the Hymnal library and does not keep a separate catalog.

If you are preparing — searching hymns, checking they are cleared to use, printing a sheet — you are in Hymnal. If you are about to stand up and lead a room through a hymn on a screen, that is Hymnbook. Most programs use both: the library to prepare, the leading tool to lead.

Find the hymn, cleared to sing, in four steps

The path from a hymn on your mind to a set cleared to sing is four steps: search the library, confirm it is cleared, add it to a set, then hand it to the leading tool. The first two work today; the last two are in active development, and this band is honest about which is which.

  1. Step 1

    Search the library

    Built

    Find a hymn by title, first line, tune name, theme, or occasion. The library index and the search over it are built; the corpus itself is being verified and added, so the catalog grows as each text and tune is cleared.

  2. Step 2

    Confirm it is cleared

    Built

    Open the entry and read its public-domain basis in plain sight — the original publication, the author and composer, and the claim that puts the text and tune in the public domain. Where a modern harmonization carries its own copyright, the entry flags it and points to the PD underlying tune. The licensing-status flags are built.

  3. Step 3

    Add it to a set

    Early access

    Collect the hymns you have cleared into a set for a service, a chapel, or a class, in the order you will use them. Saving and reusing a set is in active development; today you clear and print one hymn at a time.

  4. Step 4

    Hand it to the leading tool

    Early access

    Take the cleared set to hymnbook.software, the leading tool, to put each hymn on screen and lead the singing verse by verse. The direct hand-off from the library to the leading surface is in active development. Hymnal is where a hymn is found and cleared; Hymnbook is where it is led.

The library

Curated, source-checked, free to use. The library does the copyright research so a leader printing a lyric sheet for a school assembly knows exactly what is free to use and why.

Verified public-domain texts

Every hymn text in the library has a verified public-domain basis: the original publication date, the author’s death date, and the claim that puts the text in the public domain under US law (pre-1929 publication) and international life-plus-70. The source is cited in the entry so a reader can verify it independently.

Verified public-domain tunes

The tune as well as the text must be public domain. A 19th-century tune is PD; a 20th-century harmonization of that tune may not be. The library uses only the PD underlying tune and flags where a common arrangement carries its own copyright, so the music a leader prints is the PD version, not a potentially in-copyright setting.

Source-checked provenance shown in plain sight

The public-domain basis for each entry is shown in plain sight on the hymn page — the original publication, the composer, the arranger (if used), and the source the library checked it against. The provenance is not a fine-print footnote; it is part of the page, so a leader printing a sheet for a school assembly can see exactly why the text and tune are free to use.

Lyric sheets free to print

A lyric sheet for any hymn in the library is free to read and print with no account and no subscription. The library is designed as a genuine public resource: a leader can find a hymn, read the text, and print it for a chapel service or a worship-arts class without any friction. Free to use is not a marketing claim; it is the point of the library.

Classic hymn canon

The library covers the historic English-language hymn canon: texts from Watts, Wesley, Cowper, Newton, and the 18th-century revival tradition; tunes from the standard hymnody tradition (LOBE DEN HERREN, OLD HUNDREDTH, DUKE STREET, and the rest). The canon is the starting point; the library grows as hymns are verified and added.

Sister to caroling.app

Hymnal is a sister library to caroling.app, the public-domain carol library. Both are free, provenance-checked, and powered by the Musique engine. caroling.app covers the Christmas carol tradition; Hymnal covers the year-round hymn tradition. They are separate libraries with the same public-domain standard and the same honest provenance discipline.

The public-domain standard

The library applies a two-layer test to every entry: the text must be public domain and the tune must be public domain. Both layers have to pass before a hymn goes into the library.

For texts: US public domain means first published before 1929, or the author died more than 70 years ago (international life-plus-70). The standard 18th and 19th-century hymn texts — Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, William Cowper, John Newton, Reginald Heber — are unambiguously public domain by both tests. The library cites the original publication and the author death date for each entry so the basis is verifiable.

For tunes: the same standard applies to the underlying melody and harmony as published in its original source. Where the historic tune is PD but a commonly-used 20th-century harmonization carries its own copyright, the library uses only the PD version — the melody and the historical harmony, not the copyrighted re-harmonization. The entry flags this distinction so a leader knows which version they are using.

What the library will not include: any text or tune that cannot be verified as public domain by the above standard. If the research is ambiguous, the entry is not added. The goal is a library a leader can use with confidence, not a library that hedges and hopes for the best.

Engraved notation

The notation side of the library is powered by the Musique engraver — the same owned engine that drives the choir, concert band, and caroling surfaces. As the engraver matures, hymns in the library receive engraved notation: the melody on the staff with the text underlay, in the standard congregational format.

Until a hymn is engraved, the library is honest about it. The entry shows the text and provenance; the notation field carries a “notation coming” state that means exactly that — the engraving is being done or queued, not fabricated. A leader printing a lyric sheet from an un-engraved entry gets the verified PD text; the notation arrives in the entry when the engraver has produced it.

Engraved notation in the library is free to print in the same way as the lyric text: the tune is public domain, the engraving is ours, and the printed page is free for a chapel service, a worship-arts class, or a community program. No per-use license fee, and no usage reporting is required for public-domain material.

What is built, and what is early access

Hymnal as a whole is in early access — there is no general availability, no account, and no checkout. Underneath that, some pieces are built and working today and others are still being built. Here is the honest status of each, so nothing on this page reads as more finished than it is.

Searchable public-domain library

Built

Search the catalog by title, first line, tune name, theme, or occasion. The library index and the search over it are built. The corpus is being verified and added, so what you can find grows as each entry is cleared.

Public-domain and licensing-status flags

Built

Every entry shows its public-domain basis in plain sight — the publication date, the author and composer, and the claim that clears it. Where a modern harmonization of a public-domain tune carries its own copyright, the entry flags it and uses only the PD underlying tune.

Free-to-print lyric sheets

Built

Print a clean lyric sheet for any verified entry with no account and no subscription. The public-domain material is free to read, print, and sing; the sheet is yours to use in a service, a chapel, or a class.

Engraved notation from the Musique engraver

Early access

Engraved staff notation, produced by the Musique engraver as it matures, is added to entries over time. Until a hymn is engraved, the entry shows an honest “notation coming” state — never a fabricated render.

Set building and hand-off to the leading tool

Early access

Collecting cleared hymns into a reusable set, and handing that set to hymnbook.software to lead from, is in active development. Today you clear and print one hymn at a time.

Transposed print

Early access

Printing an engraved sheet in a chosen key — an auto-transposed print for an accompanist or a specific voice — is in active development. Live key changes during leading are done in Hymnbook, the leading tool, not in the library.

Song-usage and copyright reporting

Honest-off

A song-usage report — for programs that also use material that is not public domain and owe reporting to a licensor — is honest-off. Public-domain hymns require no such report; this is for the mixed-repertoire case and is not enabled.

Accounts, availability, and checkout

Honest-off

There is no account to create, no published price, and no checkout on this surface, and no card is charged. Early access is an email conversation, not a signup.

Who Hymnal is for

Worship leaders and worship-arts directors choosing hymns for a chapel service, a school assembly, or a community program: you need verified public-domain texts and tunes and the confidence that what you put in front of the room is genuinely cleared to sing, not assumed to be. Hymnal shows the provenance for every entry so the basis is in plain sight, not implicit.

Accompanists who need the tune in a workable form: the engraved notation, as the Musique engraver produces it, and — in active development — a transposed print in the key the singers can reach. Until a hymn is engraved, the entry is honest that its notation is still coming rather than showing a render that does not exist.

Volunteers running the slides, the sound, or a rotating music rota with no copyright expertise: search the library, see at a glance whether a hymn is cleared to use, and hand the cleared set to whoever leads. The point of the library is that a volunteer does not have to be a copyright lawyer to know a hymn is free to sing.

Hymnal is a sister library to caroling.app and is built on the same platform as the wider school and community music tools. A program that runs its music through the platform reaches the hymn library, the carol library, and the leading tool from one place. It is not a separate product with a separate login.

What Hymnal keeps, and what it does not

Hymnal is a library, not a student data system. It holds public-domain hymn texts, tunes, and their provenance; it does not hold a roster, a grade book, or a family contact list, because it does not need one to be a library. There is no personal data to protect here for the simple reason that Hymnal collects none of it on this surface.

It captures no photos and stores no face data at all — it is not a camera and not a gallery. The library is text, notation, and the citations that establish each hymn is free to use, and nothing about the person reading or printing it.

The library is free to read and print with no account, so there is no login to track and no browsing history tied to a person. A visitor can search a hymn, read its provenance, and print a sheet without creating an account and without leaving anything behind.

Where the build is, honestly

Hymnal is in active development. In active development The searchable library and the public-domain and licensing-status flags work today; the corpus is being verified and added; the Musique engraver is adding engraved notation to entries as it matures; set building, the hand-off to the leading tool, and a transposed print are being built. This page describes what the library is and where it is going — it marks each piece built, early-access, or honest-off, and does not claim all of it is usable today.

If Hymnal fits what your program needs — a verified PD hymn library for a chapel service, a worship-arts class, or a community choral program — early access is how you get in while it is being built. There is no published price and no checkout on this page, and no card is charged.

Ask about early access The leading tool →

Common questions

The public-domain scope, the licensing honesty, and the denominational breadth — the questions a worship leader asks before printing the first sheet.

What does public domain mean here, exactly?

It means the work is free of copyright and free for anyone to use. In practice the library applies two tests: US public domain (first published before 1929) and international life-plus-70 (the author or composer died more than 70 years ago). Both the text and the tune have to pass before a hymn is added, and the entry cites the basis so you can check it.

Is everything in the library really free to sing and print?

Yes, for every verified entry. The library only adds a hymn once both its text and its tune are confirmed public domain. Where a well-known modern harmonization of a public-domain tune carries its own copyright, only the public-domain underlying tune is used, and the entry flags the distinction. If a hymn cannot be verified as public domain, it is not in the library.

How broad is the library across denominations and traditions?

The starting point is the historic English-language hymn canon, which crosses denominational lines — Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, William Cowper, John Newton, Reginald Heber, and the standard tune tradition are sung across many traditions. The library is not tied to one denomination; the only membership test is a verified public-domain basis. The corpus grows as more texts and tunes are cleared and added.

Do I need a music-licensing account to use public-domain hymns?

No. Public-domain hymns require no reprint or performance license, which is the whole point of building on a verified public-domain corpus. A song-usage report — for programs that also use material that is not public domain and owe reporting to a licensor — is honest-off and is not part of using a public-domain hymn.

How is Hymnal different from Hymnbook?

hymnal.software is the library — search the catalog, verify a hymn is cleared to use, and print a lyric sheet. hymnbook.software is the leading tool — put a cleared hymn on screen, set the key, and lead the singing verse by verse. Hymnal is where you prepare; Hymnbook is where you lead. They share one corpus and stay distinct.

Does using the library cost anything?

There is no published price and no checkout on this page, and no card is charged. Public-domain hymns are free to read, print, and sing. Hymnal is in early access; the next step is an email conversation, not a signup or a payment.

Can I get an engraved score for a hymn?

Engraved notation is produced by the Musique engraver and added to entries as the engine matures. Until a hymn is engraved, its entry shows an honest “notation coming” state — the engraving is queued or in progress, never a fabricated render. The verified text and provenance are there whether or not the notation has been engraved yet.

Can I print a hymn in a different key?

A transposed print — an auto-transposed engraved sheet in the key an accompanist or a voice needs — is in active development, not shipped. Live key changes for leading a room are done in Hymnbook, the leading tool, not in the library. The library’s job is to find the hymn and confirm it is cleared; the leading tool’s job is to lead it.

What this page is, and is not, claiming

Every capability above is written to be true to the product today. To keep the line clear, here is the same thing stated plainly.

What this page is claiming

  • That Hymnal is a curated library of verified public-domain hymn texts and tunes, each shown with the provenance that establishes it is free to sing and print. The searchable library and the public-domain and licensing-status flags work today.
  • That the public-domain standard is applied to both the text and the tune, and where a modern harmonization of a public-domain tune carries its own copyright, only the public-domain underlying tune is used.
  • That engraved notation from the Musique engraver, set building and the hand-off to the leading tool, and a transposed print are in active development — designed, and not yet shipped.

What this page is not claiming

  • That Hymnal is generally available. It is in early access: there is no account to create, no published price, and no checkout, and no card is charged.
  • That Hymnal is the leading or projection tool. hymnbook.software is the leading tool; Hymnal is the library. The two share one corpus and stay distinct.
  • That Hymnal shows engraved notation that has not been produced. An un-engraved entry shows an honest “notation coming” state, never a fabricated render.
  • That Hymnal stores rosters, photos, or face data. It is a library of hymn text and provenance and collects none of those.
  • That Hymnal is a charity or a tax-deductible donation. It is a for-profit product of Stanley Studios LLC.