RECENTLY PUBLISHED some reflections on Gregorian hymnody and the Latin accent. I would like to repeat that, in the final analysis, hymn construction is an art form not a science. Each individual “ear” must decide what is acceptable.
For myself, the musical emphasis on “THE” shown here is bothersome:
At the same time, I realize that once we start down this road we might end up eliminating an excessive amount of hymn pairings! By the way, that page is from a book produced at Westminster, which you can download by clicking on the “Hymnal” tab at the top of the page. The relevant information is as follows:
1948 • DAILY HYMN BOOK (Westminster & Desclée) —360pg
The various entities involved in producing that book are all quite respectable.