November 22, 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.  

(This is the Sunday that we celebrate the Saints in our lives, past and present, and honor those who have passed in the last year.)

About the Organ Music:

Dundee – Healey Willan

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. “Let Saints on Earth in Concert Sing” was published in Wesley’s Funeral Hymns, 1759.

Let saints on earth in concert sing With those whose work is done;
For all the servants of our King In earth and heav'n are one.

One family, we dwell in Him, One Church, above, beneath,
Though now divided by the stream, The narrow stream of death.

One army of the living God, To His command we bow;
Part of His host hath cross'd the flood, And part are crossing now.

E’en now to their eternal home There pass some spirits blest;
While others to the margin come, Waiting their call to rest.

Jesu, be Thou our constant guide; Then, when the word is given,
Bid Jordan’s narrow stream divide, And bring us safe to Heav’n.

Healey Willan (1880-1968) was an Canadian organist and composer.  He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano, but is best known for his religious music.  Willan was born in England, and he began musical training at age eight, with studies at St. Saviour's Choir School in Eastbourne.  He earned, by examination in organ playing, harmony, counterpoint, history and orchestration, the Royal College of Organists' Associateship in 1897 and Fellowship in 1899. The Anglo-Catholic Tractarian movement led to an Anglican revival of plainsong, and in 1910, Willan joined the London Gregorian Association (which strove to preserve and revive "plain-chant").  In 1913, Willan emigrated to Canada.  In 1921, he become Precentor of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto), where he remained until his death.  St. Mary Magdalene, under Willan, became a North American mecca for choral and Anglican church musicians.  In 1920, the Toronto Conservatory (now the Royal Conservatory of Music) appointed Willan Head of its Theory Department.  In 1934, he founded the Tudor Singers, which he conducted until it disbanded in 1939.  From 1937 to 1950, Willan was University of Toronto Professor of Music and Organist. When the Order of Canada was established in 1967, it named Willan a Companion. In Britain, it was customary for the Archbishop of Canterbury to occasionally grant very distinguished English cathedral musicians the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus. D Cantaur; in 1956, Willan, "the Dean of Canadian composers", became the first non-English church musician to be so honoured.  People who remember Willan from his time at St Mary Magdalene's like to moderate his somewhat dourly pious public image by quoting him: "English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption."

Behold a Host – F. Melius Christiansen

Hans Brorson (1694-1764) was a Danish Pietist bishop and hymn writer.  Brorson belonged to a clerical family; his father and two brothers were also vicars.  He began publishing hymns in 1732 while a pastor in southern Jutland, and became Bishop at Ribe in 1741.  Almost forgotten after his death, his hymns became popular again in the Romantic period, and Brorson is now ranked among the four greatest Danish hymn writers. The tune of “Behold a Host” is a Norwegian folksong dating from around 1600.

Behold a host, arrayed in white, Like a thousand snow clad mountains bright,                           With palms they stand.  Who is this band before the throne light?                                    

Lo, these are they of glorious fame who from the great affliction came                                       And in the flood of Jesus’ blood are cleansed from guilt and blame.                                           Now gathered in the holy place their voices they in worship raise,                                               Their anthems swell where God doth dwell, mid angels’ song of praise.

Then hail, ye mighty legions, yea, all hail! Now safe and blest for aye,                                       And praise the Lord, who with His Word sustained you on the way.                                           Farewell, now bring your sheaves and sing salvation’s glad refrain.         

Swing high your palm, lift up your song, Yea, make it myriad voices strong.                             Eternally shall praise to Thee, God, and the Lamb belong.

Fredrik Melius Christiansen (1871-1955), the son of a Norwegian factory worker, was born in Eidsvold, Norway and emigrated to the United States at the age of 17. He settled in Wisconsin and studied at Augsburg College. In 1897, he returned to Europe to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, Germany.  In 1901, Christiansen was recruited by St. Olaf College president John N. Kildahl. The St. Olaf Choir was founded as an outgrowth of the St. John's Lutheran Church Choir in Northfield. For the next 30 years, Christiansen led the St. Olaf Choir, striving for perfect intonation, blend, diction and phrasing. He was a skilled conductor, directing bands and choirs alike. He assumed direction of the St. Olaf Band in 1903, and took the ensemble on tour to Norway in 1906 to play for King Haakon VII, making it the first college music ensemble to conduct a tour abroad. Though his first love was the violin, he received international fame as founding director of the St. Olaf Choir of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, USA from 1912 to 1944. Christiansen was considered a pioneer in the art of a cappella (unaccompanied) choral music. Christiansen composed and arranged over 250 musical selections and his choral techniques were spread throughout the U.S. by St. Olaf graduates. The great Christiansen choral tradition is a recognized feature of American Lutheranism.

Cortège – Marcel Dupré

Marcel Dupré (1886-1971) was born into a musical family and was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and built an organ in the family house when Marcel was 14 years old. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1904.  In 1914, Dupré won the Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata, Psyché. In 1926, he was appointed professor of organ performance and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire, a position he held until 1954.  Dupré became famous for performing more than 2000 organ recitals throughout Australia, the United States, Canada and Europe, which included a recital series of 10 concerts of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1920 (Paris Conservatoire) and 1921 (Palais du Trocadéro), both performed entirely from memory. The sponsorship of an American transcontinental tour by the John Wanamaker Department Store interests rocketed his name into international prominence. Dupré's "Symphonie-Passion" began as an improvisation on Philadelphia's Wanamaker Organ. In 1934, Dupré succeeded Charles-Marie Widor as titular organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, a post he held until his death in 1971.  From 1947 to 1954, he was director of the American Conservatory, which occupies the Louis XV wing of the Château de Fontainebleau near Paris. In 1954, Dupré became director of the Paris Conservatoire; but he held this post for only two years before the prevailing national laws forced him to retire at the age of 70.
Aside from a few fine works for aspiring organists (such as the 79 Chorales op. 28) most of Dupré's music for the organ ranges from moderately to extremely difficult, and some of it makes almost impossible technical demands on the performer. Being a virtuoso of the highest order, he contributed extensively to the development of technique (both in his organ music and in his pedagogical works). A fair and objective critique of his music should take into account the fact that, occasionally, the emphasis on virtuosity and technique can be detrimental to the musical content and substance. However, his more successful works combine this virtuosity with a high degree of musical integrity, qualities found in works such as the Symphonie-Passion, the Chemin de la Croix, the Preludes and Fugues, the Esquisses and Évocation, and the Cortège et Litanie.

As well as composing prolifically, Dupré prepared study editions of the organ works of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, César Franck, and Alexander Glazunov. He also wrote a method for organ (1927), 2 treatises on organ improvisation (1926 and 1937), and books on harmonic analysis (1936), counterpoint (1938), fugue (1938), and accompaniment of Gregorian chant (1937), in addition to essays on organ building, acoustics, and philosophy of music. As an improviser, Dupré was able to take given themes and spontaneously weave whole symphonies around them, often with elaborate contrapuntal devices including fugues.

Sine Nomine – Charles Callahan

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1982-1958) wrote “Sine Nomine”, which is the musical setting of the “For All the Saints” hymn text.  He is arguably the greatest composer Britain has seen since the days of Henry Purcell. In a long and extensive career, he composed music notable for its power, nobility and expressiveness, representing, perhaps, the essence of ‘Englishness’.

Vaughan Williams was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. Later he was a pupil of Stanford and Parry at the Royal College of Music, after which he studied with Max Bruch in Berlin and Maurice Ravel in Paris. Vaughan Williams volunteered to serve in the Field Ambulance Service in Flanders for the 1914-1918 war, during which he was deeply affected by the carnage and the loss of close friends such as the composer George Butterworth. For many years Vaughan Williams conducted and led the Leith Hill Music Festival, conducting Bach's St Matthew Passion on a regular basis. He also became professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in London. Vaughan Williams received the Order of Merit in 1938.  His ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey, near Purcell.

At the turn of the century he was among the very first to travel into the countryside to collect folk-songs and carols from singers. As musical editor of The English Hymnal he composed several hymns that are now world-wide favorites (For all the Saints, Come down O love Divine). Later he also helped to edit The Oxford Book of Carols.  In a long and productive life, his compositions included nine symphonies, five operas, film music, ballet and stage music, several song cycles, church music and works for chorus and orchestra.

This setting is by Charles Callahan (b. 1951), one of America’s leading organist-composers.  A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America.  In recognition of his service to the church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the U.S., he was awared the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1999.  In addition to compositions and performances, Charles Callahan is a noted educator and author whose two books on American organ-building have become standard reference works.

About the Choral Music:

Recollection of Joy – Donna Butler

Donna Butler Douglas has enjoyed parallel careers in church music and graphic design. For over 20 years she served as Director of Music for churches in Oklahoma, Dallas/Fort Worth, Kansas City and Little Rock, Arkansas. She currently manages communications and publications for Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri.A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Donna holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree in Piano from Oklahoma Baptist University and a Master of Music degree in Theory and Composition from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Donna is published under her maiden name, Donna Butler, and has received annual standard awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) each year since 1989. Mrs. Douglas is an accomplished pianist, soloist and free-lance composer with over 100 compositions in print. Donna is a recipient of the “Profiles in Excellence” award, presented by Oklahoma Baptist University to noteworthy alumni.

“Recollection of Joy” is based on Phillippians 1.

            I think my God when I remember you, For He has blessed my life with yours.

            With every prayer of mine for you, I’m filled with joy;

            For I hold you in my heart.

            And I pray that your love may abound yet more in knowledge

            And in all judgement, that you may approve excellent things.

            That you may be sincere, being filled with the fruits of  righteousness

            Unto the glory and praise of God.

            Grace to you and peace to you from God our Father, Christ our Lord.

            Oh, I thank my God when I remember you.

Love One Another – Brad Nix

          God’s Project

Brad Nix currently serves as Associate Professor of Piano and Chair of the Music Department at Sterling College, located in Sterling, KS. His responsibilities include overseeing the department, teaching applied and group piano, music theory, aural skills, and arranging. He has also taught music appreciation, music history, and piano pedagogy.  Brad received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Brad remains an active recitalist, pedagogue, and freelance pianist.  He makes frequent appearances as an adjudicator for local and statewide piano competitions and recently acted as the Georgia State Chair of the Music Teachers National Association Senior Performance Competitions.  

“Love One Another” is based on I Corinthians 13:4-7 and John 13:34.

            Love is patient; love is kind; love is gentle; love divine.

            Love forgives, is never rude.  Love rejoices in the truth.

            Love is faithful; love is pure; love is hopeful; love endures.

            Love is humble; love is strong; love is such a joyous song.

            Love one another, as God has also loved you.

About the Hymns:

Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above

When Charles Wesley penned and later -- with his brother John -- printed these words, he was not imagining they might be sung as a processional hymn on All Saints Day at Westminster Abbey or Coventry Cathedral. Indeed, such would have been out of the question. "Man-made" hymns such as this were not permitted in worship in the Church of England during his lifetime.

But more than this, as the text of this hymn shows, Charles had a vision of sainthood that was at once more inclusive and more demanding than any impressive public ritual one day a year could express. Charles and his brother John were both convinced that sainthood was the intended destiny not of just a few, but indeed of all Christians. God's intention in salvation is nothing less than to make saints of us all. God's desire for us is not simply to forgive us of our sins, nor even to work in our hearts and lives to deliver us entirely from the power of sin, but rather to work in us and with us "a complete salvation" that will "perfect us in love" in this life.

This hymn isn't and could not be for Wesley "special music for special worship on a special day." It was an "anthem for a lifetime," intended to be sung regularly by the early Methodists in society meetings, class meetings, and in daily life as a constant invitation to "join our friends above who have obtained the prize, and on the eagle wings of love to joys celestial rise."

Blest Be the Tie that Binds

John Fawcett (1740-1817) was born into a poor family in Yorkshire, England, and was orphaned at age 12.  To survive, he accepted a lengthy apprenticeship to a tailor.  While still in his teens, he heard the great George Whitfield preach and became a Christian.  Fawcett became active in a Baptist church and was often asked to speak.  At age 25 (and newly married), he was invited to serve as pastor of a small church at Wainsgate.  The poor people of that little village were able to pay very little, and much of Fawcett's pay came as potatoes and other produce.  Once his wife, Mary, began having children, they found it difficult to survive.

Fawcett learned that the pastor of a large Baptist church in London was retiring, and he let the church know that he would be interested in serving them.  They called him to be their pastor at a much larger salary, so John and Mary packed their household and prepared to move.  But, as the story is told, Mary told John that she didn't think she could leave these people whom they had both learned to love, and John admitted that he shared her sentiment; so, the two of them unpacked the wagon and told the London church know they wouldn't be coming.

Fawcett, who wrote a number of hymns during his lifetime, wrote the hymn, "Blest Be the Tie," to convey his sentiments and those of his wife to the poor people among whom they had chosen to live.  Fawcett served that little church for the rest of his life –– 54 years in all.

For All the Saints

“For All the Saints” is the quintessential hymn for All Saints’ Day, with its uplifting text and triumphant music.  Bishop William Walsham Howe, author of the hymn text, wrote over 60 hymns.  Combining pure poetic rhythms with great directness and simplicity, his hymns are simple and unadorned, but enthusiastic.  “For All the Saints” is his most popular hymn.  Ralph Vaughan Williams composed the tune “Sine Nomine” for this text and published it in the English Hymnal in 1906.  Equipped with a walking bass, it is a glorious marching tune and considered by many to be among the finest of 20^th century hymn tunes.