13 NOVEMBER 1942, Page 14

Sta,—I have read with interest the letter from Mr. W.

H. H. Court in your issue of November 6th and should like to point out that the suggestion made in the second paragraph has already been followed. A Shortened Music Edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern was pub- lished in 1939, in which the total number of hymns has been reduced to under five hundred. Those which were found not to meet the needs of the day have been left out, though the original numbering remains unaltered. Where tunes were not felt to be satisfactory, additional ones have been added and this has given an opportunity for the introduction of several fine tunes which were not previously in the collection.—Yours

faithfully, SYDNEY H. NICHOLSON, Chairman of Hymns Ancient and Modern.