Each week, you may find information here about the music in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas. Some of this information is original; most of it is copied from other websites such as Wikipedia, GBOD, and hymnary.org. It is my hope that this information will enhance your understanding and enrich your worship experience.
About the Organ Music:
March, from “Joshua” - G. F. Handel
Georg Friederich Handel (1685-1759) became a musician and composer despite objections from his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer. Handel studied music with Zachau, organist at the Halle Cathedral, and became an accomplished violinist and keyboard performer. He traveled and studied in Italy for some time and then settled permanently in England in 1713. Although he wrote a large number of instrumental works, he is known mainly for his Italian operas, oratorios (including “Messiah”, 1741), various anthems for church and royal festivities, and organ concertos, which he interpolated into his oratorio performances. He composed only three hymn tunes, one of which still appears in some modern hymnals. A number of hymnal editors, including Lowell Mason, took themes from some of Handel's oratorios and turned them into hymn tunes.
Joshua, HWV 64 is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It was composed in a month, from 19 July 1747 to 19 August 1747, six months before the beginning of the oratorio season. Joshua is Handel's fourth oratorio based on a libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio premiered on 9 March 1748 at the Covent Garden Theatre, London. Joshua is based on the Biblical story of Joshua as the leader of the ancient Israelites. The story follows the Israelites from their passage over the Jordan River into Caanan and through the Battle of Jericho. The work also includes a love story elaborated from a few hints in the Biblical narrative between Caleb's daughter Achsah and Othniel, a young soldier.
Joshua was the fourth oratorio Handel had written within the span of twenty months. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 in England, Handel produced a series of English oratorios based on military themes: Occasional Oratorio, Judas Maccabaeus, Alexander Balus, Joshua, and Solomon. The military conquests the Israelites achieve in the oratorio were seen as parallels to the victory of the Hanoverian regime in crushing the Jacobite rebellion. Joshua was one of his shortest oratorios and contained no genuine overture, instead having only a brief orchestral movement simply titled "Introduction." Joshua also included at least five pieces borrowed from other Handel compositions. Part One was completed on 30 July 1747, Part Two on 8 August and Part Three on 19 August.
The March is found in Part Two and is part of the depiction of the Battle of Jericho.
About the Piano Music:
Come, Thou Fount - C. E. Walz
(c.2018, Lorenz Publishing)
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling.
At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years. On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.
The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word "Ebenezer" commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics.
The tune NETTLETON first appeared as a two-part tune in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second(1813), where it was named HALLELUJAH. In the Index it is identified as a new tune, and no composer's name is given. The tune has been attributed by some to Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844), a well-known evangelist of the early nineteenth century, who compiled Village Hymns (1825). However, this compilation contained no music, and there is no evidence that Nettleton wrote any tunes during his life. It is not known where the tune name first appeared or who was responsible for it.
In the United States, the hymn is usually set to an American folk tune known as NETTLETON, which first appears in Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813). In the shape note tradition, most tunebooks have one or more tunes other than "Nettleton" that use Robinson's lyrics, in part, or in whole, often adding a camp meeting-style revival chorus between each verse. The tune WARRENTON, which is used here, first appeared in the 1838 edition of William Walker's Southern Harmony. To fit the text to this melody, the second half of each verse is omitted and replaced with a chorus of "I am bound for the kingdom, will you come to glory with me? / Hallelujah, praise the Lord!"
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love
Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by Thy help I've come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood
Oh, that day when freed from sinning I shall see Thy lovely face
Clothed then in blood washed linen How I'll sing Thy wondrous grace
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry Take my ransomed soul away
Send Thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day
Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above
C.E. (Carolyn) Walz was born and raised near Atlanta, Georgia, where, at age ten, she began piano lessons with Robert Fraumann, the minister of music at her church. By age twelve, Carolyn was playing piano solos for church services and accompanying children’s choirs. Apart from her musical studies, Carolyn had a keen interest in teaching English and writing children’s books. She earned her Bachelor of Art Degree in Christian Education from Atlanta Christian College and her Master of Science Degree in Middle Grades Education from Georgia State University. She authored several books for children and became a full-time English teacher at Woodward Academy. In 2015, she retired as English Department Head of the Middle School after more than thirty years of service.
Since retirement, Carolyn has become an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a two-time national winner of the DAR’s American Heritage Instrumental Music Award. Today she continues to serve as a church musician, accompanist, and children’s choir director as she pursues her new interest: composing and arranging piano solos and choral anthems for Lorenz and other publishing companies.
About the Choral Music:
Psalm 23 – Howard Goodall
(c.1995, Noel Gay Music Co., div Novello)
Howard Goodall (b. 1958) is an award-winning composer of choral music, stage musicals, film and TV scores, is well known as a TV and radio broadcaster, and from 2007-11 was England’s first ever National Ambassador for Singing, leading a program (Sing Up) to improve the provision of group singing for all primary-age children. His best-known TV & Film themes & scores include Blackadder, The Gathering Storm, The Borrowers, Red Dwarf, Q.I., Mr Bean, Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie, Mr Bean’s Holiday, Island Parish and The Vicar of Dibley. His score for the HBO film Into the Storm won him the Primetime EMMY award for Original Dramatic Score in 2009. In the theatre his musicals, from The Hired Man with Melvyn Bragg in 1984 to Love Story in 2010, have been performed in the West End and throughout world, winning many international awards.
His music has been commissioned to mark national ceremonies and memorials and his choral works, Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd and Love divine are featured on several platinum-selling CDs. His Eternal Light: A Requiem won a Classical BRIT Award for Composer of the Year. In November 2011 Howard conducted the première in Westminster Abbey of his Every Purpose Under the Heaven: The King James Bible Oratorio, to mark the 400th anniversary of its publication. In June 2012 his Rigaudon formed part of the New Water Music that accompanied Queen Elizabeth II on her Diamond Jubilee Regatta.
For the past 15 years Howard has written and presented his own TV documentary series on the theory and history of music. For these he has been honored with a BAFTA, an RTS Judges’ Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Education in Broadcasting and over a dozen other international broadcast awards. He is recipient of the Sir Charles Grove/Making Music Prize for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, the Naomi Sargant Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education in Broadcasting, the MIA/Classic fm Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music Education and in January 2011, he was appointed CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for services to music education.
Many of you may recognize his setting of Psalm 23, as it was used to the opening and closing credits of The Vicar of Dibly.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,
he maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for you are with me, you will comfort me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
About the Hymns:
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
The simplicity of this profound hymn belies the education and knowledge of its author, Edwin Hatch (1835-1889). Educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, Hatch ministered in an Anglican parish in the slums of east London before accepting a position at Trinity College in Quebec where he taught classics. After serving as Rector of Quebec High School, he returned to Oxford to become the vice-principal of St. Mary’s Hall, and took several posts including the Bampton Lecturer, Reader in Ecclesiastical History, and the Hibbert Lecturer. Hatch was recognized as an authority on the early church as a result of his Bampton Lectures, “On the Organization of Early Christian Churches,” which were acknowledged by a leading continental scholar on this topic and translated into German.
In spite of Hatch’s scholarship, his one remaining hymn reflects both a profound simplicity and a deep knowledge of Scripture. Our hymn draws largely from John 20:21-22, following John’s account of the Resurrection, for its inspiration: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even, so send I you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (RSV) This passage in John correlates with Genesis 2:7 where “the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” The author invokes the Holy Spirit to come into his life and transform it. Using the first-person perspective throughout the hymn adds to the hymn’s power as the singer seeks the breath of God (Genesis 2:7) as a source for renewal.
British hymnologist J.R. Watson notes that the hymn “was given the title of ‘Spiritus Dei’ [Spirit of God], thus linking the image of ‘breath’ with that of the Holy Spirit (as in the Greek, where the same word is used for ‘spirit’ and ‘breath.’)” Mr. Watson also finds echoes of John 3:3-8, especially verses 5-7: “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’” Summarizing the message of the hymn, Mr. Watson suggests that the breath of God “brings new life and love, purity and obedience, surrender and inspiration, and finally eternal life, as the hymn moves through various stages of Christian experience and discipline towards a unity with God.”
The hymn was first published by Hatch in Between Doubt and Prayer (1878), a privately printed volume. Henry Allon included it in the hymnal, The Congregational Psalmist in 1886. Hatch’s widow then published this hymn posthumously in Towards Fields of Light: Sacred Poems (1890).
The tune most often used in the U.S. is Trentham, named for a small village in Staffordshire, England, which was composed by Robert Jackson (1842-1914) in 1888 originally for a text by Henry W. Baker, “O Perfect Love of Life.” For those who appreciate the intricacies of text and tune relationships, Trentham is the only Short Meter tune (6.6.8.6) in The UM Hymnal that works well with this text. Most Short Meter tunes are set with iambic texts (beginning on a weak beat) while this hymn requires a tune that begins on a strong beat because each stanza starts with an imperative verb invoking God to “Breathe on me.”
Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love the way you love, and do what you would do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure,
until my will is one with yours, to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die,
but live with you the perfect life for all eternity.
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was a prolific hymn writer of the 18th century. Coming from a musical family, he left a lasting legacy of congregational song. The youngest of 18 children, Charles possessed prodigious talents that soon blossomed. Little did he know that “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” would rise to become one of the most popular and consistently vocalized Christian songs. Writing hymn texts that are solidly based on the Scriptures gives them an appeal across denominational lines. It is estimated that during his lifetime, Wesley penned more than 9,000 poems of a spiritual nature, 6,000 of which are hymns. What really set Charles apart from other hymn writers was his effective use of scriptural allusions, providing a spiritual roadmap whereby individuals could imagine a Christ-centered life. His writings were passionate and well-crafted, conveying the true essence of Christian teaching.
A substantial number of his writings were completed while riding on horseback to his evangelical meetings. Scholars suggest that he was able to compose about 10 lines of verse daily for 50 years. Charles’ brother John sometimes served as editor to his hymns. John’s typical response was, “some were good, some were mediocre, and some were exceptional.” John can also be credited with improving the sing-ability of Charles’ hymns.
Both John and Charles were instrumental in changing the spiritual environment of Britain during the 18th century. In doing so, they formed the bedrock of what Methodism has become worldwide. Their unwavering devotion to expressing Christian spirituality through hymns has impacted individuals across all denominational lines. We are fortunate to be the recipients of the poetic genius of Charles Wesley. He influenced Methodism more than any other hymn writer. Upon hearing of Charles’ death, an elderly Londoner asked, “Who will write poetry for us now?”
“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” was first published in a collection of hymns entitled Hymns for those that Seek, and those that Have, Redemption in the Blood of Christ (1747). The incipit (opening line) was a play on the opening line of John Dryden’s (1631-1700) poem “Fairest Isle, All Isles Excelling” set to music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) in the generation before Charles Wesley was born. The hymn is written around a progression of thoughts: (1) our prayers for the Holy Spirit, (2) praying for the return of our Lord through the second coming, and (3) prayers for the finalization of his new creation.
Stanza 2 expresses the Wesleyan concept of the “second rest.” When Charles referred to this in his hymns, it specifically applies to the “second birth,” “second blessing,” “second gift.” All of these are directed toward achieving full “sanctification” or “Christian perfection.” This is an important theological tenet of Methodist preaching from the very beginning.
There is no better way of describing the culmination of adhering to the biblical teachings of Christ, than in stanza four of this hymn. Wesley’s phrase, “changed from glory into glory” is almost a direct quotation from 2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV). Wesley describes that day in heaven when “we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
After receiving an education in Germany, John Zundel (1815-1882) went to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he served as organist of St. Anne Lutheran Church and was bandmaster of the imperial horse guards. He came to New York in 1847 and became the organist at Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn (1850-1878). Henry Ward Beecher, the famous abolitionist preacher, was pastor of that congregation, and their joint ministry caused the Plymouth Church to become well known for its preaching, organ playing, and congregational singing. Dissatisfied with existing hymnals, Beecher asked Zundel to help compile several new hymnals. Temple Melodies (1851) and the Plymouth Collection of Hymns (1855) were the result. Zundel provided twenty-eight hymns tunes for the Plymouth Collection. He also published The Choral Friend (1855), Psalmody (1855), and Christian Heart Songs, and he edited the Monthly Choir and Organ Journal until his retirement in Germany in 1880. John Zundel's BEECHER (named after Henry Ward Beecher, his pastor) was first published in his Christian Heart Songs (1870) as a setting for Charles Wesley's "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling".
Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art.
Visit us with thy salvation; enter ev'ry trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into ev’ry troubled breast.
Let us all in thee inherit, let us find the promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be.
End of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty, to deliver, let us all thy life receive.
Suddenly return, and never, nevermore they temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.
Finish, then, thy new creation; true and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
O Lord, Hear My Prayer
(c.1984, Les Presses de Taize, admin by GIA Publications)
Jacques Berthier (1923-1994) was a French composer of liturgical music, best known for writing much of the music used at Taizé. Berthier was born in Auxerre, Burgundy; both of his parents were musicians. His father Paul was the kapellmeister and organist at the Auxerre Cathedral and his mother Geneviève Parquin was a composer. Learning first from his parents, Berthier was trained in music at the École César Franck in Paris. In 1955, Berthier was first asked to compose music for the Taizé Community, which was then just a monastic community of twenty brothers. Six years later he became organist at the Church of the Jesuits in Paris, Saint-Ignace, where he worked until his death. In 1975, Berthier was again asked to compose for Taizé, this time for chants to be sung by the increasing numbers of young people coming to worship there. Over nearly twenty years, Berthier built up a body of church music that has been utilized around the world. In 2006, the Jubilate Deo Award was granted to him posthumously.
In more than twenty years, Berthier left an important corpus (232 songs in 20 different languages) in wide use today by other communities and around the world. He is also the author of Masses for organ, a cantata in the form of the cross and a cantata for Saint Cecilia. In total, he wrote over 1,500 pieces of work.
Berthier wrote the text and music of “O Lord, Hear My Prayer” in 1991. The text is adapted from Psalm 102: 1-2.
O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer. When I call, answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer. Come and listen to me.
The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve
(c.1993, Delores Dufner, adm. OCP Pub)
“Let us bring to life and liturgy the gifts that differ . . . for the building up of our sisters and brothers into the one Body of Christ,” proclaims Delores Dufner in her introduction to her hymn collection, Sing a New Church. She actively motivates us in this collection to “Sing a new church into being, one in faith and love and praise.” Sister Dufner (b. 1939), a member of St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn., has published over 155 hymns in her lifetime, much to the acclaim of Alan Hommerding who named her the foremost female Roman Catholic hymn text writer in the United States in the October 2000 issue of the journal, The Hymn.
Sr. Dufner holds master’s degrees in liturgical music and liturgical studies and is a very active member of her monastery as well as the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn. She has received several awards throughout her lifetime for her contributions to liturgy and music following Vatican II (1962-1965), from institutions such as St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and the University of Notre Dame. Her work has taken her to various conventions, hymn festivals and meetings throughout the United States and the world. Music consultant work has even taken her on a 15-month journey to the Diocese of Ballarat, Victoria in Australia. Several of her texts have appeared in anthems, cantatas and even an opera/oratorio by prolific contemporary composers. One of her most famous texts is “Sing a New Church,” commissioned for the 1991 convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.
Her hymnody is derived from her experiences of the Roman Catholic Church during Vatican II along with her involvement with liturgy and music. Sr. Dufner writes texts that function within Catholic liturgy, as well as texts which speak centrally from the Word of God. It was her realization that the Catholic Church was in need of English texts after the Vatican II reforms which challenged her to follow in the ways of Martin Luther. She began her hymn writing by creating texts for specific public domain tunes, free of copyright restrictions.
Her texts challenge congregations to keep the church progressing into the future and have earned her a respected presence in hymnals of several denominations throughout the world. Sr. Dufner is also known for her award-winning hymn texts centered on the Virgin Mary and her passion to speak out about women’s rights and injustices.
“The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve,” based on Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:16-22, highlights our Christian mission here on Earth by challenging readers to live out the gospel. Sr. Dufner’s modern English writing style is simple and dynamic, calling the assembly into vibrant prayer and action. This hymn flourishes with action verbs: bring, comfort, help, serve. Sr. Dufner cleverly reiterates the first stanza through the last stanza, as she sends the congregation forth in Jesus’ name through the working of the Holy Spirit. Her texts are often paired with familiar hymn tunes, for practical purposes and to remind us as citizens of the world of our rich ecumenical heritage shared between all. We sing tunes from the past to connect us with our past, and by pairing a fresh text with a durable and loved tune, we bridge the gaps between the past and present and become active witnesses to our evolving faith and church.
LAND OF REST is an American folk tune with ballad roots from Northern England and Scotland. It is traced back to The Christian’s Harp, published in 1832, and has associations with the Appalachians as a shape note tune. Previously assigned the title NEW PROSPECT in the 1844 edition of The Sacred Harp, it was named LAND OF REST for its pairing with the hymn, “O Land of Rest! For Thee I Sigh.” Annabel Morris Buchanan is responsible for the common harmonization of this tune, as she published it in her 1938 Folk Hymns of America.
The spirit sends us forth to serve; we go in Jesus' name
to bring glad tidings to the poor, God's favor to proclaim.
We go to comfort those who mourn and set the burdened free:
where hope is dim, to share a dream and help the blind to see.
We go to be the hands of Christ, to scatter joy like seed
and all our days, to cherish life, to do the loving deed.
Then let us go to serve in peace, the Gospel to proclaim.
God's Spirit has empowered us; we go in Jesus' name.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
