March 1, 2015

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; 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:

Vater unser in Himmelreich – J. S. Bach

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and priest who became a professor at the University of Wittenberg.  In 1517, he published his 95 Theses, proposing major reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.  These reforms were rejected by Papal Bull, resulting in the German Reformation and leading to the foundation of the Lutheran Church.  Luther translated the Bible into German (1521-1534) and had a huge influence on German hymnody, publishing nine hymnals containing German chorales written by Luther and others.

“Vater unser im Himmelreich” was included in Geistliche Lieder auffs neu gebessert (1539), in 9 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled "The Lord's Prayer briefly expounded and turned into metre" (apparently first as a broadsheet with the same title, in 1539.  Each of the first eight stanzas amplifies one of the clauses of the Lord's Prayer (omitting the doxology), and the ninth is on the Amen. It is a beautiful rendering, and has been by some regarded as Luther's finest hymn. 

3. Es komm' dein Reich zu dieser Zeit           3. Thy kingdom come. Thine let it be
Und dort hernach in Ewigkeit;                       In time and in eternity.
Der Heil'ge Geist uns wohne bei                    Let Thy good Spirit e'er be nigh
Mit seinen Gaben mancherlei;                        Our hearts with graces to supply.
Des Satans Zorn und groß' Gewalt                 Break Satan's power, defeat his rage;
Zerbrich, vor ihm dein' Kirch' erhalt!              Preserve Thy Church from age to age.

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).  

This chorale prelude is one of 46 found in the Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book").  The collection was originally planned as a set of 164 chorale preludes spanning the whole liturgical year. The chorale preludes form the first of Bach's masterpieces for organ with a mature compositional style in marked contrast to his previous compositions for the instrument. Although each of them takes a known Lutheran chorale and adds a motivic accompaniment, Bach explored a wide diversity of forms.  The Orgelbüchlein is at the same time a collection of organ music for church services, a treatise on composition, a religious statement and a pedagogical manual.

A Child’s Prayer – Noel Geomanne

Noël Goemanne (1926-2010) was born in December in Poperinge, Belgium, and was named "Noël" in honor of Christmas, and during his long career as a composer of sacred music, he wrote many choral and organ pieces to celebrate that season. He attended The Lemmens Institute and the Royal Conservatory of Liege in Belgium. Outspoken about the importance of music from his earliest years, he was arrested during World War II for publicly playing the music of the Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn during the Nazi occupation. In 1952, he and his wife Janine immigrated to the United States, and he took the position of church organist at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Victoria, Texas.  When the liturgical rites of the Catholic Church changed in the early 1960s, he was quick to adapt to the changes while adhering to classical good taste. He composed the first Vatican II-approved Masses in English for use in the Church.  Goemanne held organist and choirmaster positions at St. Rita's Catholic Church and Out Lady, Queen of Martyrs Church in Detroit, Michigan; St. Monica's Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas; and, finally, Christ the King Catholic Church from 1972 until his death.  During his long composing career, Goemanne received the "Pro Ecclesia" medal from the Vatican in 1977, the award from the Institute of Sacred Music, Manila, Philippines in 1974, and numerous ASCAP awards.

This piece is from the “Church Windows” suite and bears the inscription, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the Kingdom of God.”  Mark 10: 14

I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord – Harold DeCou

“I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord” (1801) is perhaps the earliest hymn still currently used that was composed by a citizen of the United States. The author, Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), was one of the outstanding leaders of his time. Dwight was the grandson of the Calvinist preacher Jonathan Edwards. He demonstrated a precocious spirit at a young age, reading the Bible at age 4, learning Latin during grammar school and entering Yale College at age 13.  Graduating from Yale at 17, he taught grammar school in New Haven and then became a tutor at Yale. Dwight obtained a preacher’s license and served as a chaplain during the Revolutionary War with George Washington. Hymnologist Albert Bailey notes Dwight’s sermons and songs were an inspiration for the soldiers he served.

After the war, Dwight became a Congregational minister in Fairfield, Conn.  Dwight supplemented his insufficient pastoral salary by opening a private academy. The success of this academy led to his election in 1795 as president of Yale College.  Dwight left a legacy of improved scholastic standards at Yale College, serving not only as the school’s president, but also as professor of literature, oratory and theology, and college chaplain. He is credited with fostering a revival among the students through his sermons in the college chapel, a revival that spread to other New England colleges.

Dwight’s literary accomplishments were many. He may be best known today for his 1797 revision of Isaac Watts’ 1719 Psalms of David, to which he added 33 of his own texts. “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord,” published in the 1801 revision of Watts’ Psalms of David, is the only remaining text from Dwight’s Watts, prepared at the request of the General Association (Congregational) of Connecticut, that has survived. The original eight stanzas have been reduced to four or five in most hymnals. This paraphrase of a portion of Psalm 137 appeared originally under the title, “Love to the Church.”

I love thy kingdom, Lord,
the house of thy abode,
the church our blest Redeemer saved
with his own precious blood.

Harold H. DeCou (1932-2008) attended Temple University in Philadelphia and was long associated with Billy Graham and the Singspiration staff.  His output as artist, composer, arranger and orchestrator ensures that he will be remembered as one of the giants of Christian gospel music. He served as church organist at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria from 1988 to 2001. He was also an Honorary Fellow of Shenandoah Society Award.

About the Choral Music:

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Roland E. Martin

“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.

          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!  Oh, fix me on it, mount of God’s unchanging love.

            Here I find my greatest treasure; 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.

            O, 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.

Roland E. Martin is a member of the Music Faculty of the University at Buffalo where he teaches organ, harpsichord and piano. Since November of 1992 he has been Director of Music for St. Joseph's University Church in Buffalo.  He is also Assistant Musical Director and accompanist for the Chautauqua Chamber Singers, as well as founder and director of Speculum Musicae: an ensemble for early music.  Martin is a member of the Trumpet/Organ duo "Baroque Consort" with trumpeter Wade Weast. Together they have completed successful tours including one in Europe (England, Germany, Austria) in August 1987.  As organist he has played recitals in the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Europe.  An active composer and conductor, he is the recipient of two "Meet the Composer" grants, two Pennsylvania State Council of the Arts grants, and two Alcoa Arts Endowment awards.

They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love – arr. Sara Martin

Peter Scholtes (1938–2009) wrote the hymn "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love" while he was a parish priest at St. Brendan's on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s. At the time, he was leading a youth choir out of the church basement and was looking for an appropriate song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. When he couldn't find such a song, he wrote the now-famous hymn in a single day. It is inspired by John 13:35. It was released on an LP of the same name featuring the congregation of Scholtes' church singing this hymn and others.  His experiences at St. Brendan's, and in the Chicago Civil Rights movement, influenced him for the rest of his life.

We are one in the Spirit,
we are one in the Lord.
We are one in the Spirit,
we are one in the Lord,
and we pray that all unity
may one day be restored.

And they’ll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love.
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

The arrangement God’s Project is singing today was put together by our very own interim director, Sara Martin.

About the Hymns:

Rejoice the Lord is King

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley.  As a hymn-writer Charles Wesley was unique. He is said to have written no less than 6500 hymns, and though, of course, in so vast a number some are of unequal merit, it is perfectly amazing how many there are which rise to the highest degree of excellence. His feelings on every occasion of importance, whether private or public, found their best expression in a hymn. His own conversion, his own marriage, the earthquake panic, the rumors of an invasion from France, the defeat of Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, the Gordon riots, every Festival of the Christian Church, every doctrine of the Christian Faith, striking scenes in Scripture history, striking scenes which came within his own view, the deaths of friends as they passed away, one by one, before him, all furnished occasions for the exercise of his divine gift.  The saying that a really good hymn is as rare an appearance as that of a comet is falsified by the work of Charles Wesley; for hymns, which are really good in every respect, flowed from his pen in quick succession, and death alone stopped the course of the perennial stream.

“Rejoice, the Lord is King” was first published in John Wesley's Moral and Sacred Poems (1744) and is currently found in 484 hymnals.  The text rejoices in the kingship of Christ whose rule extends "o'er earth and heaven". All will bow the knee to Christ when he returns in glory to judge "the living and dead". The refrain line based on Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice,” is the keynote of the entire text.

Seek Ye First

"Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God." was written in 1972 by Karen Lafferty.  The following is an excerpt from an interview in Reformed Worship magazine.

I was raised in a Christian home, but like many young people I wanted to discover life for myself and did some drifting. I was working as a nightclub entertainer in New Orleans when a friend came to visit me and got me back on the right track. I decided to pursue entertainment for the time being—to try to be salt and light in the entertainment world. So I moved to California.  Soon I did find a church, Calvary Chapel, and at my first service I met a lot of other young musicians.  At this time "Maranatha! Music" was part of Calvary Chapel. It was very small yet and had produced only one album, An Everlasting Jesus Music Concert. At the chapel we had a special fellowship for musicians which taught us principles on how to serve through music. Most of us were especially interested in contemporary Christian music, music that would reach young people.  I stayed with Maranatha! Music for about eight years. In 1980, and out of that relationship came Musicians for Missions. Youth with a Mission is very involved with the idea of cross-cultural missions. Even though we dealt with a subculture of young people who all liked the same kind of music, there were still many cultural differences. I felt I had to live outside of the U.S. to really learn what it is to be in another country. And under the umbrella of Youth with a Mission, I was able to organize Musicians for Missions.

Back in 1971, I had quit my entertainment job and was trying to support myself with teaching guitar lessons. I had three students! When my savings were all gone and I had no money to make my car payments, I became very discouraged and confused.  One evening I went to a Bible study at church, and we talked about Matthew 6:33.1 was tremendously encouraged and challenged by the words about Christ's kingdom. So I went home, wrote the tune, recorded it on a tape recorder, and then sang this little descant part.  I taught the song at church the next week, and it caught on right away. The Lord really paved the way for me with that song. "Seek Ye First" has opened doors for me all over the world. And because it's in so many hymnbooks, about 40 percent of my mission support comes from that song!

We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations

H. Ernest Nichol (1862-1926) had begun a study program in civil engineering when he decided to study music instead. In 1888 he received a bachelor's degree in music from Oxford University. Nichol wrote some 130 hymn tunes and texts, many under the pseudonym “Colin Sterne” (derived from his middle and last name); many were first sung at church school programs.  “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations was written in 1896 and published in Sunday School Hymnary, 1905.

A song which encourages us to “go therefore and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19) was a very popular "missionary hymn" among denominational churches in past years, typical of the hundreds that were penned to express the determined, dynamic, energetic, and expansive attributes of late nineteenth-century "Christian missions."  Among hymnbooks published by members during the twentieth century, this song appears rarely, primarily because the chorus expresses postmillennialism, which implies that Christians will bring the kingdom of God in its fullness to earth by our own efforts.

In spite of its controversial theology, this is a rousing hymn which motivates God’s people to sound forth the word of God and reminds us of the great blessings that are available to those who receive the word of God.