What is the oldest hymn (with music) that is still sung in churches today?

Question

Using any of the standard hymnals, what is the oldest hymn that people are still singing?

e.g.

• The Baptist Hymnal 1975 / 1991 / 2008,
• The Faith We Sing (Methodist, right?),
• The (Episcopal) Hymnal 1982,
• Adoremus (or anything else Catholics use)
• or just about any standard denominationally based hymnal in current usage

Alternatively, I'll take anything on Hymnary.org, since my aim is just to find old hymns - I'm just trying to avoid someone pulling out a hymnal from the 1700s and pulling out some song nobody knows...

Let me strike out one answer real quick - yes, I know the Psalms is a Jewish hymnbook. The problem that I have with including the Psalms in the scope of this question is that we don't have the music :)

I suspect somebody can find obscure hymns that are old, but I'm looking for old hymns that are still sung widely. I suspect things like the Doxology, the Sanctus, or other parts of the Mass would be likely candidates, but I'd like to see the oldest we can come up with.

Please include the date of the text and the music, if you could

e.g. "All Creatures of Our God and King", words by Francis of Assisi (1200s), tune is Lasst Uns Erfreuen, 1623.

Answer 1

Probably the oldest text you'll find is the Phos Hilaron, sometimes known as "Hail gladdening light". The earliest music for it was a Byzantine Chant, and it's still largely sung in churches worldwide, though not so much in the West.

David Crowder released a version on his album "Church Music".

http://www.hymnary.org/text/hail_gladdening_light_of_his_pure_glory_?tab=about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phos_Hilaron#Modern_usage

AFAIK, that's the oldest Christian hymn known today.

Answer 2

I was going to say Adeste Fideles "Oh Come all Ye Faithful" as it was anachronistically placed in my kids' cartoon about St. Nicholas of Myra. It's old, but, Te Deum (4th century) was attributed to St. Ambrose and is sung by lots of Catholic religious to this day while praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

I'd say, David's answer is probably the right one for all of Christendom, but Te Deum would be one of the oldest hymns in the Latin Rite.