Listen to centuries-old Amish, Brethren and Mennonite hymns, still sung in Lancaster County churches

Four hundred years ago, the ancestors of the song leaders who recently gathered in an Ephrata-area church likely would have sung the same hymns in the same way. They would have been sung in German, with a cadence slow enough to sound like a dirge.

The hymns and the singing style changed as different religious sects were created.

So when Amish, Mennonite and Brethren song leaders gathered for a public hymn sing, some of the songs were in English; some were German; some hymns were sung at a slow pace, with each syllable drawn out; others were fast and sung in four-part harmony.

Read More