Dearmer, Percy; Vaughan Williams, R.; Shaw, Martin. Melody edition. Hymn book. Songs of Praise was first published in 1925, and is still an immensely popular hymnbook, particularly in schools. The compilation falls into two parts: Book 1 contains hymns grouped by subject and theme, together with a selection of verses, canticles and doxologies; Book 2 contains general hymns listed alphabetically by first line.