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.
The
roots of all our Christian worship and the music in that worship lie in the
practices of Judaism. The disciples were
Jews and steeped in Jewish worship and celebration, and they naturally adapted
these practices to their Christian beliefs.
The origins of our rituals and sacraments can be found in Jewish
tradition: Holy Communion, Baptism,
Christening, Confirmation, the marriage ceremony, the Advent candles, the
candles on the altar, the altar itself, our choirs, our hymnody, and so many
more.
The earliest synagogue music was based on the same system
as that used in the Temple in Jerusalem. According to the Mishnah, the regular Temple
orchestra consisted of twelve instruments, and the choir of twelve male
singers. The cantor sang the piyyutim (liturgical poems) to melodies selected by their writer or by himself,
thus introducing fixed melodies into synagogal music. The music may have
preserved a few phrases in the reading of Scripture which recalled songs from the Temple itself; but generally it echoed the
tones which the Jew of each age and country heard around him, not merely in the
actual borrowing of tunes, but more in the tonality on which the local music
was based. As early as the Renaissance
period, composers began writing volumes of psalm settings for congregational
and choral singing, as well as instrumental music for use before and during
worship.
According
to Jewish authorities, the organ was one of the instruments of music in the Temple.
In the Authorized Version rendering of Ps. cl. 4 the terms "stringed
instruments" and "organs" used to translate the Hebrew
"minnim" and "'ugab" are supposed by commentators to be
misplaced, and it is held that "organs" is the proper translation of
the first Hebrew word "minnim."
The Temple organ very likely was the "magrefa" mentioned in
the Talmud as one of the instruments of the sanctuary. It is described by
Samuel as consisting of ten pipes, each pipe having ten holes; a total of 100
notes was thus obtainable. An earlier baraita describes the size of the magrefa
as an ell square with a board extension, on which were attached pipes capable
of producing 1,000 different tones; but this number is thought to be an
exaggeration. Apparently the extension was the keyboard, and the pipes acted as
air-channels, as in the modern organ.
Instrumental
music in divine services ceased with the destruction of the Second Temple.
Music was prohibited generally, in token of mourning for the destruction of
Jerusalem, except on festal occasions and especially at the marriage ceremony
in order to delight and make happy the bridegroom and bride. It appears that
the organ was employed in nuptial ceremonies which took place in the
synagogue. The use of the organ and instruments
to accompany worship was reestablished by the 17th century in some
areas and widespread in the western world by the 19th. This has likewise led both to a renaissance
of modern synagogue music and to a revival of music written in old Jewish
modes.
Hear,
O Israel – Jaromir Weinberger
The Bible Poems are a suite of six preludes which were Weinberger’s first works for organ. Each is a symbolic expression of a Biblical quotation. “Hear, O Israel” is based on an old Hebrew chorale and cites Deuteronomy 6:4, “"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”
Nigun (Air) – Herman Berlinski
Herman Berlinski (1910-2001) was a German-born American composer, organist, pianist, musicologist and choir conductor. Herman Berlinski's parents, Boris and Deborah Wygodzki Berlinski, were Jews who lived originally in Łódź (then located in the Russian Empire following the 1815 Congress of Vienna, and now a city of Poland). With civil and political unrest well underway in Russia by 1905, growing discontent in Poland against the Russian rule led to many uprisings, the largest of which, commonly called the June Days Uprising or the Łódź insurrection, took place in that same year. At that point, the Berlinskis fled to Leipzig. Herman Berlinski, born there on 18 August 1910, was the last of six children. They were brought up in the Ashkenazic tradition of Orthodox Judaism and they spoke Yiddish at home. Their mother arranged piano lessons for each of them, Herman's starting when he was six years old. He was educated at the Ephraim Carlebach School, Leipzig's only Jewish school at that time.
Herman Berlinski commenced study at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1916 at the age of 17. He graduated in 1932 with an honors degree. In the context of Leipzig's long involvement with European music, the strongest influences at that time on Berlinski's own composition style were J.S. Bach, Gustav Mahler and Max Reger. His initial exposure to Lutheran liturgical music and the organ arose from attending Friday evening concerts at Leipzig's Thomaskirche. Karl Straube, then cantor at the Thomaskirche and professor of organ at the Institut der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Landeskirche Sachsen, offered him organ lessons at the institute, but because it was a prerequisite that Berlinski become a Christian to have access to this program, and as he was not prepared to take that step, the idea proceeded no further.
As the National Socialist (Nazi) party gained power in German politics, general restrictions, including their involvement in the arts, were imposed upon the Jews. In 1933, having gained a Polish passport at his father's urging, Berlinski returned to Łódź. However, he found himself disadvantaged by being unable to speak Polish, and he was greatly disheartened by the misery of the Jewish community within which he was living. Finally, when called up for military service, he fled to Paris. He enrolled at the Schola Cantorum of Paris where he studied Jewish liturgical music with the Sephardic synagogue composer Léon Algazi. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Berlinski offered to enter military service and joined the French Foreign Legion. At the end of almost a year, he was one of only 250 survivors out of 1,250 who had been assigned to battle on the Belgian border. In 1940, after the surrender of France to the Germans, the newly established Vichy régime collaborated with the invaders by declaring certain groups including Freemasons, Communists and Jews as "undesirables". Thus, Berlinski received a certificate which declared him to be a "foreigner who had no right to work in France." Facing the high risk of internment, Berlinski and his wife obtained visas and finally sailed to the United States, arriving in 1941.
A significant event in Berlinski's professional development was a meeting with Moshe Rudinow, cantor of New York's Temple Emanu-El, one of the city's leading Reform synagogues. Through Rudinow he was introduced to the then-named Jewish Music Forum, a body which was set up to promote the study and analysis of all aspects of Jewish music and to organize the performance of new music, and he became an invited member in 1944. He began organ study at the temple and quickly demonstrated a high level of skills both as a recitalist and as a liturgical organist, setting the direction for the future both in terms of his professional appointments and the types of works he composed. In 1953, while continuing his organ studies with Yasser, Berlinski undertook post-graduate studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA) where he engaged in a musicological analysis of the origins and practices of ancient Jewish music.
After his retirement in 1977, Berlinski remained in Washington and founded his own performing group, Shir Chadash Chorale, through which he was able to arrange the performance of much Jewish music in the city and the surrounding areas. This thirty-voice choir continued its work for eleven years, giving concerts of Hanukkah and other high holiday music annually in the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts and the Washington National Cathedral. In 2001, the Federal Republic of Germany had awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit for his artistic achievements and his contribution to interfaith dialogue.
Many of his works have been inspired by ideas related to his Jewish background and experience. Berlinski himself addressed this subject: "I don't think I can write a piece of music, no matter what I do and what I will try, that does not have the stamp of my Jewish existence." It would be misguiding though to assume that either Berlinski's Jewish identity or his close involvement with writing music for the synagogue would or should limit the appeal of his works in any way. As Frohbieter commented in her thesis, "His music transcends parochial boundaries, to touch the souls of all mankind." In other words, Berlinski's music has something worthwhile to say to everyone. A quick survey of Berlinski's works may suggest a propensity for him to be dwelling on Jewish suffering in general, and the Holocaust in particular. This drew leading American sociologist Joseph B Maier to ask him, "Could you tell me to what extent you are a composer concerned with the Holocaust, and how does it show in your work?" To which Berlinski replied:
"...I cannot suppress a continuous urge to
come back to it again and again. I may be haunted by the fear that time will
mollify the intensity of our memory, that the event will be forgotten
altogether. Elie Wiesel once
said, 'Memory is our strongest weapon.' I do not need the Holocaust to create
music. Those who have been silenced by it need us."
Ata Echad – Emily Maxson Porter
Shabbat (Sabbath) is a
day of history and destiny. On Shabbat each Amidah (prayer) has its own unique
text. The Tur, one of the great authorities from the Middle Ages, writes that
the three Amidot of Shabbat correspond to three specific Shabbatot in
history: the very first Shabbat of Creation, the Shabbat when the Torah was
given and the time of the Final Redemption, which is called also Shabbat. These
three great Shabbatot of history are alluded to in the three Amidot of
Shabbat, respectively: Ma’ariv on Friday night corresponds to the
Shabbat of Creation; Shacharit the next morning corresponds to the
Shabbat of the giving of the Torah and Mincha corresponds to the Shabbat
of the Final Redemption.
This parallel is evident
in the words of each Amidah. The first three blessings of the Amidah are
always the same, no matter which Amidah is being said – be it on Rosh
Hashanah, Yom Kippur, or a regular day. The middle section, however, differs.
In the middle part of the Amidah on Friday night, we find reference to
the first Shabbat of Creation: Ata kidashta et yom hashvi’i lishmecha tachlit
ma’aseh shamayim va’aretz, “You sanctified the seventh day for Your
Namesake as the culmination of the creation of heaven and earth,” and then it
quotes the verse, Vayechulu hashamayim veha’aretz vechol tzeva’am… “and
God completed His work… and He rested on the seventh day… and He blessed the
seventh day.”
In the Amidah on
Shabbat morning, we find reference to the giving of the Torah. The middle
section says, Yismach Moshe bematnat chelko ki eved ne’eman karata lo. Klil
tiferet berosho natata lo be’omdo lefanecha al har Sinai ush’nei luchot avanim
horid beyado vechatuv bahem shemirat Shabbat, “Moses rejoiced at the gift
of his portion when You called him a faithful servant. A crown of glory You
placed on his head when he stood before You on Mount Sinai. And he brought down
the two tablets of stone on which was engraved the observance of Shabbat. As is
written in Your Torah” – and then it quotes the verse – Veshamru bnei
Yisrael et hashabat, “the Jewish people shall keep the Shabbat.”
The Mincha prayer
in the afternoon talks about the Shabbat of the Final Redemption. It says, Ata
Echad veshimcha Echad umi ke’amcha Yisrael goy echad ba’aretz, “You are One
and Your Name is One and who is like Your people Israel, one nation on earth.”
The opening phrase that says “You are One and Your Name is One” refers to the
time of the Final Redemption, when G-d’s presence will be felt in the world and
everyone will see His Oneness.
The three great Shabbatot of history reflected in the Shabbat
prayers and symbolized by the Shabbat meals teach that we relate to Shabbat not
only as individuals but more broadly, as the collective of Klal Yisrael – the
Jewish people. Of course, Shabbat is uplifting and inspiring as individuals –
and as families and as a community as well. But Shabbat also has a historic
dimension to it, which encompasses not only history but also destiny. It is not
only about the past, but is also about the future. It is about the physical
creation of the world as well as the spiritual creation of the world – namely,
the giving of the Torah; and it is also about the Future Redemption. Shabbat embodies the destiny of human
civilization and of the Jewish people in particular. It underpins all of human
activity: the world’s history began with Shabbat, as it was the very first
thing man experienced after he was created; the pivotal, historic event of the
giving of the Torah – the spiritual creation of the world – was also on
Shabbat; and the final destination of the world is also called Shabbat. The
physical world was created in the six days of Creation, the spiritual world was
created when the Torah was given, and the destiny of civilization and the
Jewish people is headed toward the Final Redemption, when the world’s history
will reach its destination. Thus all of human history and destiny is contained
within Shabbat. It is the pillar holding everything up and the engine driving
human civilization and Jewish destiny toward its ultimate goal.
Porter has set the Mincha hymn/prayer which looks forward
to the final redemption of the world.
Emily Maxson Porter (b. 1942) is organist at St. Philip’s Lutheran
Church in Fridley, Minnesota. She has previously
taught organ and theory at Lynchburg College and Concordia College, St.
Paul. She has numerous published works,
including anthems, vocal, choral, instrumental pieces, and larger organ
works. Porter won the 2002 Holtkamp-AGO
Award in Organ Composition.
Ata echad V'shimcha echad
U'mi k'amcha Yisrael
Goi echad ba'aretz, Goi echad ba'aretz
You are one, and Your name is one,
And who is like your people Yisroel
One nation on earth, one nation on earth
About the Choral Music:
Behold
the Lamb of God – Hugh Benham
“Behold the Lamb” was written by Matthew Bridges
(1800-1894) and was first published in his Hymns of the Heart, 1848,
in 7 stanzas of 7 lines, and entitled "Ecce Agnus Dei." It is found
in many modern collections both in Great Britain and in America, but never in a
full and correct form. Scarcely two texts can be found alike, whether they
begin with the original first line, or as—" Behold the Lamb of God/' as in
Hymns Ancient & Modern, Thring, and others. Matthew Bridges began his literary career in
England with the publication of a poem, "Jerusalem Regained," in
1825; followed by a book entitled The Roman Empire under Constantine the
Great, in 1828, its purpose being to examine "the real origin of
certain papal superstitions." As a result of the influence of John Henry
Newman and the Oxford Movement, Bridges became a Roman Catholic in 1848, and
spent the latter part of his life in Canada.
Hugh Benham is organist and choir director at St. Boniface Anglican Church in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, and active in The Guild of Church Musicians. He is a writer of academic and educational articles and books, and a chair of examiners for GCE Music.
Behold the Lamb
of God! O thou for sinners slain,
Let it not be in vain That thou hast
died:
Thee for my Savior let me take,
My only refuge let me make thy
pierced side.
Behold the Lamb of God! All hail, incarnate Word,
Thou everlasting Lord, Savior most
blest!
Fill us with love that never faints,
Grant us with all thy blessed saints
Eternal rest.
Behold the Lamb of God! Worthy is he
alone
To sit upon the throne of God above;
One with the ancient of all Days,
One with the Comforter in
praise, All Light and Love.
About the Hymns:
O
Worship the King
Grant’s text was influenced by William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561). Grant’s text was first published in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody (1833) with several unauthorized alterations. In 1835 his original six-stanza text was published in Henry Elliott’s Psalm and Hymns. Stanza 3 was omitted in the Psalter Hymnal.
Rather than being a paraphrase or versification, the text
is a meditation on the creation theme of Psalm 104, focusing on God’s creation
as a testimony to his “measureless might.” More personal in tone, stanzas 4 and
5 confess the compassion of God toward his creatures and affirm with
apocalyptic vision that the “ransomed creation, with glory ablaze” will join with
angels to hymn its praise to God. In the
last verse, Grant points to Christ as the ultimate reconciler of a broken, but
still beautiful creation. An original last stanza that we no longer sing reads,
“The humbler creation, though feeble their lays, with true adoration shall lisp
to Thy praise.”
I Love to Tell the Story
"I Love to Tell the Story" is a
well-known hymn which was written as a poem by an English evangelist, Katherine Hankey (1834-1911). Hankey was the daughter of a wealthy banker
and was associated with the Clapham sect of William Wilberforce, a group of
prominent evangelical Anglicans from the Clapham area. This group helped to
establish the British and Foreign Bible Society, promoted the … abolition of
slavery, and was involved in improving the lot of England's working classes.
Hankey taught Bible classes for shop girls in London, visited the sick in local
hospitals, and used the proceeds of her writings to support various mission
causes. Her publications include Heart to Heart (1870) and The Old,
Old Story and Other Verses (1879).
Hankey had a serious spell of sickness while in a mission
in Africa. During her long days of convalescence, she wrote a long on the life
of Jesus in 1866 in two parts. The first part was a poem of fifty stanzas,
titled "The Story Wanted" (dated January 29, 1866) and second part
titled "The Story Told" (dated November 18, 1866). Certain verses were taken from Part I. by Dr. W. H. Doane
in 1867 to make the popular and familiar hymn beginning, "Tell me the old, old story".
From Part II. certain verses were selected to make the hymn, "I Love to
Tell the Story". The tune was composed by William G. Fischer and appeared
in Fischer's Joyful Songs, Nos. 1 to 3 published in 1869 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Methodist Episcopal Book Room.
Apart from the context
of the larger poem, some of the couplets of this text appear rather shallow or
repetitious; thus the Psalter Hymnal includes only the original stanzas
1, 3, and 4. But the entire original poem provides a fine autobiographical
testimony to Hankey's evangelical fervor, which she expressed in her writings
and in her support of foreign and home missions (she taught church school
classes to the rich and poor of London). The text simply affirms the
Christian's zeal to "tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love"
to the unsaved as well as to the saved, here on earth and in glory.
Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know
Johann Christoph Schwedler (1672-1730) was born at Krobsdorf, the son of a farmer and
rural magistrate. He was appointed
assistant minister at Niederwiese and later became pastor. Schwedler was a powerful and popular
preacher, and peculiarly gifted in prayer. It is said that sometimes, beginning
service at 5 or 6 a.m., he would continue the service to relays who in
succession filled the church, till 2 or 3 p.m. He also founded an orphanage at
Niederwiese. He was a popular
hymn-writer. The principal theme of his hymns was the Grace of God through
Christ, and the joyful confidence imparted to the soul that experienced it. Of
his hymns, 462 appeared in his Die Lieder Mose und des Lammes, oder neu
eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch, Budissin, 1720. Others are in his Wöchentliche
Hauss-Andacht, in his various devotional works, and in the hymn-books of
the period.
“Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know” was published posthumously
in Hirschberger Gesangbuch, 1741 (Wollt ihr wissen, was mein Preis?). It was translated from German to English by Benjamin
H. Kennedy in Hymnologia
Christiana, or Psalms and Hymns Selected and Arranged in the Order of
the Christian Seasons, 1863.
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