Each week, you may find information here about the
organ music and hymns in the traditional worship services at First United
Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas. Some of this information is
original; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources 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:
In
dir ist Freude – J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and
musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through
his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of
rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg concertos, the Mass in B minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, two Passions, keyboard works, and more than 300 cantatas, of which nearly 100 cantatas have been
lost to posterity. His music is
revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic
beauty. Bach's abilities as an organist
were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was
not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and
performances of his music in the first half of the nineteenth century. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
century, Bach was recognized by several prominent composers. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven,
Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn were among his admirers; they began
writing in a more contrapuntal style after being exposed to Bach's music. Beethoven described him as "Urvater der Harmonie", the "original father of harmony". He is now generally regarded as one of the
main composers of the Baroque period and as one of the greatest composers of
all time. A highly devout Christian,
Bach signed all of his compositions “soli Deo Gloria” (to God alone be the glory).
The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") is a
collection of 46 chorale preludes for organ, which form the first of
Bach's masterpieces with a mature compositional style in marked contrast to his
previous compositions for the instrument.
Each of them treats a known Lutheran chorale with a motivic accompaniment. Bach explored a wide diversity of forms in the Orgelbüchlein. As stated by Spitta in his biography of Bach:
A further step towards perfection this
form was taken by Bach when he made the contrapuntal elements in his music a
eans of reflecting certain emotional aspects of the words. Pachelbel had not attempted this; he lacked
the fervid feeling which would have enabled him thus to enter into his
subject. And it is entering into it,
and not a mere depicting of it. For,
once more be it said, in every vital movement of the world external to us we
behold the image of a movement within us; and every such image must react upon
us to produce the corresponding emotion I that inner world of feeling.
The tune, “In dir ist Freude”, is one of many balletti
(dance-like songs) written by Giovanni G. Gastoldi (1554-1609), a priest and
composer from Mantua, Italy. It was
originally published in his Balleti a cinque voce (1591), where it was set to
"Alieta vi.a, Amor ciinuita", which like so many balletti had a
"fa-la-la" refrain. Cantor
Johann Lindemann (1549-1631) wrote this text to fit the tune. It was published in Lindemann's Amarum Filii Dei Decades
Duae (1598). Catherine
Winkworth prepared the English translation for the second series of her Lyra Germanica
(1858). The text confesses with joy the
Christian's security of walking intimately with God through the ups and downs
of daily life. Bach has set the melody
in complex counterpoint which expresses pure joy in virtual abandon.
Below is the first verse of this hymn of Johann Lindemann with the English
translation by Catherine Winkworth.
In dir ist Freude in allem Leide, In Thee is gladness admid
all sadness, o du süßer Jesu Christ! Jesus, Sunshine of my
heart! Durch dich wir haben himmlische Gaben, By Thee are given the gifts of heaven, du der wahre Heiland bist; Thou the true
Redeemer art! Hilfest von Schanden, retest von Banden, Our souls Thou wakest, our bonds Thou wird
ewig bleiben. Halleluja. breakest. Hallelujah. Zu
deiner Güte steht unser G'müte, Who
trust Thee surely hath built an dir wir kleben im Tod und Leben; securely; through life and death,
nichts kann uns scheiden.
Halleluja. He
stands forever: Hallelujah!
About the Hymns:
Christ
the Lord is Risen Today
"Hymn for Easter
Day" was written by Charles Wesley in 1739 for the inaugural service at
the Foundry Meeting House, London's first Wesleyan chapel. As with many of the most popular hymns,
"Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" has survived the centuries thanks to
a successful marriage of lyrics and music. The tune first circulated in 1708 with the Lyra Davidica hymnal, but no
composer has ever been acknowledged. It
was first published in A
Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists,
John Wesley's hymnbook first published in 1780. Charles Wesley's original text
does not include the song's most distinctive characteristic—the
"Alleluia!" that ends each line. An unknown editor added the alleluias later.
“Alleluia”, meaning "Praise the Lord,"
prominently leads off Psalms 106, 111, 112, 113, 117, and 135 in the Hebrew hymnal.
In the years immediately following
Christ's resurrection, “alleluia”
particularly connoted praise for Jesus' victory over death. Early Christians began greeting each other on
Easter with the now-familiar call and response: "Alleluia! He is risen!" "Alleluia!
He is risen indeed!" Alleluia is meant to convey emphatic
joy, thanksgiving, and triumph.
John captures the
triumph in Revelation 19 with his vision of the great multitude in heaven
roaring, "Alleluia!" Jerome,
translator of the Latin Vulgate,
conveyed the joy when he wrote that Christian houses of worship in the fourth
and fifth centuries shook from the intense alleluias shouted by believers.
Roman Catholics and Anglicans refrain from speaking or singing alleluia during Lent, but they reintroduce
the word into their liturgies to express their thanksgiving on Easter morning. Even
in nonliturgical churches, alleluia
retains a kind of liturgical significance. Bernard Lord Manning, a hymnologist,
historian, and observer of Methodism during the early 20th century, explained
how hymns like "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" functioned as a
liturgy for John and Charles Wesley's spiritual descendants.
But
in the evening at the chapel [the Dissenting church], though I was uncertain
about the prayers, there was no gamble about the hymns. I knew we should have Charles Wesley's
Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," with its 24
"Alleluias": and we did have it. Among any Dissenters worth the name that hymn
is as certain to come on Easter Day as the Easter Collect in the Established
Church. And mark this further—those 24
"Alleluias" are not there for nothing: the special use of
"Alleluia" at Easter comes down to us from the most venerable
liturgies. Our hymns are our liturgy, an
excellent liturgy. Let us study it, respect it, use it, develop it, and boast
of it.
This melodic liturgy
conveys the triumphant joy that is ours on Easter morning. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The
Day of Resurrection
This
hymn from the early eighth century is one of the oldest expressions found in
most hymnals. Its origin is rooted in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church.
It was written by one of the famous monks of that church, St. John of Damascus,
c. 676–c. 780. He became an Orthodox
priest late in life, and spent the rest of his life at St. Sabas convent near
Jerusalem. He was a gifted poet ––the greatest poet of the Greek
Church.
The story is told of John writing this hymn
for the funeral of a fellow monk –– a monk not yet dead but at death's
doorstep. After writing the hymn John started practicing it loudly.
The next thing he knew, the dying monk came shuffling into the room to protest
the unseemly noise.
The celebration of Easter has
always been a spectacle of ecclesiastical pomp in the Greek Orthodox Church.
Even today, as a vital part of the ceremony, the worshipers bury a cross under
the high altar on Good Friday and dramatically resurrect it with shouts of
“Christos egerthe” (“Christ is risen”) on Easter Sunday. With this announcement
begins a time of joyous celebration. Torches are lit, bells and trumpets peel,
and salvos of cannons fill the air.
This hymn, "The Day of
Resurrection," was part of a much longer poem. John Mason Neale
translated it into English in the 19th century –– a thousand years after it was
first written.
Crown
Him with Many Crowns
The song was originally penned in 1851 by Matthew Bridges (1800-1894), an
Anglican scholar who once wrote a book condemning Roman Catholic theology, and
then later converted to Catholicism. Bridges wrote six stanzas, based upon
Revelations 19:12, “...and on His head
were many crowns.” The text of this hymn was
first published 1852 in The Passion of Jesus, a Collection of
Original Pieces Corresponding with the Five Sorrowful Mysteries in the Rosary
of Our Blessed Lady, a collection
of devotional poetry. The prayers of the rosary
are said in sets of ten, each focused on a "mystery" concerning the
life of Christ; the mysteries themselves are in groups of five: the
"Joyful Mysteries" concerning Christ's birth and childhood, the
"Sorrowful Mysteries" concerning His death, and the "Glorious
Mysteries" concerning the Resurrection and events following. (In the 20th
century the "Luminous Mysteries" of Christ's earthly ministry were
added.) Bridges's collection was dedicated to the five Sorrowful Mysteries:
Christ's agony in Gethsemane, His scourging, the crown of thorns, Christ
carrying His cross, and finally the Crucifixion itself. "Crown Him
with many Crowns," therefore, was a reflection on the central mystery of the
original 15 mysteries of the rosary. Bridges employs an unexpected approach to
the topic, however, taking the cruel mockery intended by that original crown
and turning it on its head by contemplating the glorious coronation of Christ
in heaven. Each
verse of Bridge’s poem was to describe of a different kind crown (Many Crowns,
Virgin’s Son, Lord of Love, Lord of Peace, Lord of Years, and Lord of Heaven).
Godfrey Thring (1823-1903) was a devout Anglican clergyman who was
concerned that this popular hymn was allowing Catholic theology to be sung by
protestant congregations. Thring wrote an
entirely new hymn of six verses to serve as a substitute for that of
Bridges, using the same meter and basic plan of successive stanzas extolling
Jesus' lordship over various domains. It
was decided to keep the two versions separate but publish them both in 1874 in
Thring’s hymnbook: Hymns and Sacred Lyrics. Thring’s version was also
published in the Church of England Hymn-Book. The 12 stanzas have been mixed and matched
down through the years. Of the following four verses found in our hymnal, three
were written by Bridges (vs 1,3,and 4) and one by Thring (vs 2).
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