Kingdom songs are the hymns sung by Jehovah's Witnesses at their religious meetings.
In addition to the current and previous hymnals containing sheet music and lyrics, releases in various audio formats have included vocals in several languages, piano instrumentals, and orchestral arrangements.
Songs are used at assemblies and conventions, and sometimes at different events at Watch Tower Society branch offices.
[3] In the late 19th century, the Bible Students (from which Jehovah's Witnesses arose) used many well-known songs and melodies.
[11] These melodies were often works of famous composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn.
Lyrics were often adapted from works of famous hymnal writers including Philip P. Bliss, Horatius Bonar, Fanny Crosby, Philip Doddridge, Thomas Hastings, John Newton, Isaac Watts, and Charles Wesley.
In 1877, Charles Taze Russell and Nelson H. Barbour announced Songs of the Morning in their book Three Worlds.
[16][17] In 1905, the 333 songs published in 1890 along with musical notation were released under the title, Hymns of the Millennial Dawn.
With the 1966 release of Singing and Accompanying Yourselves with Music in Your Hearts, a policy was introduced to use only songs written by Witnesses.
Installments of Kingdom Melodies were issued in cassette and phonograph formats annually during the 1980s.
[25] Six volumes of orchestral and vocal arrangements based on 114 songs from Sing to Jehovah have also been released.