September 13, 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:

Praeludium super "Benedictus sit Deus Pater" - Leo Sowerby

Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he began to compose at the age of ten. His interest in the organ began at the age of 15.  Early recognition came when his violin concerto was premiered in 1913 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra  In 192, he was awarded the Rome Prize (from the American Academy in Rome).  He joined the American Conservatory of Music faculty in 1924. In 1946, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his cantata, the Canticle of the Sun.  In 1927, he became organist-choirmaster at St James’s Episcopal Church, Chicago.  In 1962, after his retirement from St James’s, he was called to Washington National Cathedral to become the founding director of the College of Church Musicians, a position he held until his death.  His substantial output includes over 500 works in every genre but opera and ballet.

Leo Sowerby came of age at the same time as did American music. With a few isolated exceptions, American composers before the 1920s had merely tried to imitate the voices of their Central European teachers, but Sowerby's generation, led by such men as George Gershwin, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, and Walter Piston, took the old European forms and poured into them music which sounded distinctly American in its melody, harmony, and rhythm. They did so at a time when the organ not only fulfilled its traditional role as an instrument of worship, but was a central part of the secular musical life of America as well. Big pipe organs in the symphonic style from the shops of Skinner, Austin, and others represented the cutting edge of style and technology, and were everywhere in the 20s and 30s: in movie theaters and hotel ballrooms, in concert halls and high school auditoriums, in the mansions and even the yachts of the well-to-do. Great organists drew audiences that regularly numbered in the thousands and occasionally in the tens of thousands. Even the organ's role as a liturgical instrument was much more prominent in the general consciousness: a major New York newspaper then had a regular column called The Choir Loft which chronicled the news and repertoire of the city's leading church choirs, a situation unimaginable today. These two trends, of a distinctly American musical style and of the symphonic organ as an instrument that was central to the American listening experience, came together in the music of Leo Sowerby. In the school of American symphonic composers, only Sowerby, Paul Creston, and Virgil Thomson were organists (and Thomson for only a short time early in his career). Sowerby was the one who extended the reach of the American symphonists into the mainstream repertoire of his instrument.

The thematic material of this prelude is the plainchant “Benedictus Sit Deus Pater”, a nonpsalmic Offertory chant which is believed to be Gallic in origin, dating from the 7^th century. 

Blessed be God the Father, and his only begotten Son,

and also the Holy Spirit: who hath shown his mercy upon us.

Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet – J. C. Bach

Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet  was written in 1524 by Martin Luther. The text and melody are based on a Leis for the Latin sequence Lauda Sion for Corpus Christi. A Leis is a medieval German-language hymn, which later ends on Kyrieleis, Kyrio-leis, or Kirleis Krles on Kyrieleison. Leisen entstanden im 11. Jahrhundert als kurze, oft einstrophige responsorische Antworten in der Volkssprache auf Gesänge der Messfeier, insbesondere zu Sequenzen an Festtagen des Kirchenjahrs .Leisen emerged in the 11th century as a short responses in the vernacular in the celebration of Mass chants, in particular to sequences on feast days of the church year. Sie wurden unter anderem bei Prozessionen gesungen und sind ein früher Ausdruck der Volksfrömmigkeit . They were among others in processions singing and are an early expression of popular piety. Da Martin Luther mehrere Leisen aufgegriffen und zu Chorälen erweitert hat, gelten sie als Wegbereiter des evangelischen Kirchenliedes. Since Martin Luther used leis as the basis for chorales, they are considered pioneers of the evangelical hymn.  Luther knew this leis in a version which first appeared at the end of the 14th century in a processional from the Franciscan monastery Miltenberg. Luther's hymn was printed in the Erfurt Enchiridion of 1524.

O Lord, we praise Thee, bless Thee, and adore Thee,
In thanksgiving bow before Thee.
Thou with Thy body and Thy blood didst nourish
Our weak souls that they may flourish.
O Lord, have mercy!

May Thy body, Lord, born of Mary
That our sins and sorrow did carry,
And Thy blood for us plead in all trial, fear and need:
O Lord, have mercy!

May God bestow on us His grace and favor
To please Him with our behavior
And live as brethren here in love and union
Nor repent this blessed Communion!
O Lord, have mercy!

Let not Thy good Spirit forsake us;
Grant that heavenly minded He make us;
Give Thy church, Lord, to see days of peace and unity;
O Lord, have mercy!

Johann Sebastian Bach’s life was surrounded by Johann Christophs:  an uncle, a cousin, an older brother, and a son.  Here we have a chorale prelude by his 1st cousin once removed, who became the town organist in Eisenach in the year 1665 and court chamber musician there in 1700.  Prior to Johann Sebastian, Johann Christoph (1642-1703) would have been considered the most famous musician of the Bach family. His work is of the highest quality and, in some instances, has been improperly attributed to Johann Sebastian himself (e.g. the motet Ich lasse dich nicht). Johann Christoph composed choral works (motets and cantatas) and works for organ (preludes and fugues). Johann Sebastian described his cousin as "the great and expressive composer," and performed his works often as did Carl Philipp Emanuel.

About the Choral Music:

Let There Be Praise – Dick & Melody Tunney

Dick and Melodie Tunney are a husband-and-wife duo who have written and performed with many contemporary Christian artists. They have written songs for Sandi Patti, Larnelle Harris and other Christian artists.  Mel was raised in a minister of music's home in Texas, and Dick came from a working family in Ohio. Both were musicians at an early age. In the late 1970s, they joined a Christian group called "TRUTH," which brought the two together. After 18 months of constant touring, Dick joined the award-winning group the Imperials. Six months later the couple married and settled in Nashville, Tennessee. Throughout the 1980s, Dick and Mel focused on songwriting and studio work, and immersed themselves in Nashville's creative community. Mel then formed the studio vocal group First Call with fellow studio singers Bonnie Keen and Marty McCall. In 1986, Christian artist Sandi Patty hired Dick as musical director and pianist, and First Call as her backup group.  The Tunneys' have received ten Dove Awards, nearly 30 Dove nominations and a Grammy Award (for “How Excellent Is Thy Name”, recorded by Larnelle Harris). Their songs have appeared in print music and church hymnals, and Dick and Mel have shared the stage with many Christian artists. They have also been in involved in many recording projects as studio vocalist, keyboard player, arranger(s) and producer. They have recorded eight albums together, and Dick has recorded five solo instrumental albums. The couple has penned more than 150 songs, many of which have been recorded by other Christian artists.

                Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts.

                Sing to the Lord, give Him the glory.

           

                Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts.

                Forever more let His love fill the air and

                Let there be praise.

Holy, Holy, Holy – Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer who died at 31 but was extremely prolific during his lifetime. His output consists of over six hundred secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music. Appreciation of his music was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death. Today, Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers of the late Classical era and early Romantic era and is one of the most frequently performed composers of the early nineteenth century.

Deutsche Messe (German Mass), D 872, is a mass composed by Franz Schubert in 1827. Its text is not the Latin liturgical text, but a sequence of poems in German by Johann Philipp Neumann who commissioned the work. It is also known as the Gesänge zur Feier des heiligen Opfers der Messe ("Songs for the celebration of the holy offering of the Mass"), and the "Wind Mass" due to its orchestration of primarily wind instruments.  The Deutsche Messe stems from a tradition of low masses, settings of religious texts in vernacular languages in Austria and southern Germany. It was commissioned by Johann Philipp Neumann, who was interested in simple music designed to appeal to "the widest possible congregation". Neumann wrote the German hymns, which Schubert scored in a block-chordal, homophonic style, suitable for congregational singing. Schubert intended it for usage in Catholic church service; however, censorship prevented this from taking place.  As an unauthorized German translation of the Mass, it was not approved for liturgical use.  

The fifth movement, “Zum Sanctus”, has been translated and arranged by Walter Ehret.

            Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord.

            Holy, Holy, Holy, He’s to be adored.

            He without beginning, We do ever love.

            Holy, Holy, Holy, Praise to Him above.

            Holy, Holy, Holy, Unto Thee we sing.

            Holy, Holy, Holy, Praise to Thee our King.

            Merciful and mighty, Everywhere adored.

            Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord.

About the Hymns:

O For a Thousand Tongues

"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" was written by Charles Wesley, who wrote over 6,000 hymns. Wesley was suffering a bout of pleurisy in May, 1738, while he and his brother were studying under the Moravian scholar Peter Böhler in London. At the time, Wesley was plagued by extreme doubts about his faith. Taken to bed with the sickness on May 21, Wesley was attended by a group of Christians who offered him testimony and basic care, and he was deeply affected by this. He read from his Bible and found himself deeply affected by the words and at peace with God. Shortly, his strength began to return. He wrote of this experience in his journal and counted it as a renewal of his faith; when his brother John had a similar experience on the 24th, the two men met and sang a hymn Wesley had written in praise of his renewal.

One year from the experience, Wesley was taken with the urge to write another hymn, this one in commemoration of his renewal of faith. This hymn took the form of an 18-stanza poem, beginning with the opening lines “Glory to God, and praise, and love Be ever, ever given” and was published in 1740 and entitled “For the anniversary day of one's conversion”. The seventh verse, which begins, 'O for a thousand tongues to sing', and which now is invariably the first verse of a shorter hymn, recalls the words of Peter Böhler who said, “Had I a thousand tongues I would praise Him with them all.” The hymn was published first in John Wesley's A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists in 1780. It has appeared first in every Methodist hymnal since that time.

Wonderful Words of Life

Philip Bliss (1838-1876) went to Chicago in the employ of Dr. George F. Root, the musician, where he was engaged in conducting musical Institutes, and in composing Sunday School melodies. Originally a Methodist, he became, about 1871, a choirman of the First Congregational Church, Chicago, and the Superintendent of its Sunday Schools. In 1874 he joined D. W. Whittle in evangelical work. To this cause he gave (although a poor man) the royalty of his Gospel Songs, which was worth some thirty thousand dollars. His death was sudden. It occurred in the railway disaster at Ashtabula, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1876. He had escaped from the car, but lost his life in trying to save his wife. In spite of the shortness of his life, Philip Bliss is one of the most important and influential gospel song writers of the nineteenth century.

Christian publisher Fleming H. Revell (Dwight Moody’s brother-in-law) was about to launch a new Sunday School paper. He wanted a song that would capture the overall focus of the publication, which was to emphasize the vital importance of studying the Word of God. The name of the paper was to be Words of Life, so Mr. Revell asked Philip Bliss if he could come up with a song to fit, suggesting the key text, John 5 & 6. In the passage, many who had followed Christ were drifting away. The Lord turned to His disciples and asked, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter made this reply on behalf of the other men: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”.  Bliss duly produced a song, as requested, calling it Wonderful Words of Life.  It’s a simple song. And after it served its purpose, in the first issue of the publication, it was all but forgotten. But Revell passed on a copy of the Sunday School paper to another hymn writer, George Stebbins. Stebbins began using Philip Bliss’s song in evangelistic meetings, with he and his wife Elma singing it as a duet. It caught on, after that, and became very popular. Simple though it is, it reminds us that we have a precious treasure in the Scriptures–words of life.

Jesus Calls Us

Cecil Frances Alexander (1823-1850) married William Alexander, an Anglican clergyman who later became the Anglican Archbishop for all of Ireland. Alexander was an outstanding young woman by virtue of ability, education, and service.  While still quite young, she and her sister operated a school for the deaf, and she also published a highly successful book of hymns for children––designating the profits for the benefit of the school. Her hymns are mostly for children, and were published in her Verses for Holy Seasons, with Preface by Dr. Hook, 1846; Poems on Subjects in the Old Testament, pt. i. 1854, pt. ii. 1857; Narrative Hymns for Village Schools, 1853; Hymns for Little Children, 1848; Hymns Descriptive and Devotional, 1858; The Legend of the Golden Prayers 1859; Moral Songs, N.B.; The Lord of the Forest and his Vassals, an Allegory, &c.; or contributed to the Lyra Anglicana, the S.P.C.K. Psalms and Hymns, Hymns Ancient & Modern, and other collections. She wrote 400 hymns during her lifetime ­­–– mostly children's hymns––but "Jesus Calls Us" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful" are the best known.

Impressed by her hymns, her husband, Bishop Alexander, asked her to write a hymn for use during the coming Sunday worship on St. Andrew's Day based on the call of  Simon, Andrew, James, and John (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-18).  She wrote this hymn, "Jesus Calls Us," for that occasion.  The first verse of this hymn begins, "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea"––acknowledging the call of those first disciples by the Sea of Galilee.  A recurring theme is "Christian, love me more"––"Christian, love me more than these" ––"serve and love thee best of all."  Those words were inspired by John 21:15, where Jesus, after the resurrection, asked Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"  Her text was published in the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge's (SPCK) Hymns for Public Worship (1852). Though written for a relatively minor saint's day, this hymn quickly gained popularity.