October 30, 2016

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:

My Lord, What a Morning – Johannes Michel

The 1790 U.S. census reported over 700,000 African-American slaves. The majority embraced Christianity with its promise of a life beyond suffering and hate. As a result, they created and performed songs, particularly the spiritual, combining European chromatic-scale melody lines with African rhythms and harmonies.  Thus, the spiritual is among the most important, vibrant, and enduring elements of American culture andis our first wholly American musical form. 

Slaves held informal, possibly secret, prayer meetings. Recalled former slave Wash Wilson: “Sometimes us sing and pray all night.” The spirituals sung in these meetings drew from hymns, the Bible, sermons, and African styles of singing. Most slaves could not read, so the spirituals helped to teach them the Bible. 

The spiritual “My Lord, What a Morning!”  proclaims that Jesus will return, just as he left, in his physical bodily form, on a cloud, and “wake the nations underground”—the dead—in supreme victory over the bitter cruelty of the grave (Acts 1:1-11) and was essentially derived from the hymn “Behold the Awful Trumpet Sounds.”  The original hymn, first published in Richard Allen’s 1801 hymnal, show where the slave composer received his inspiration:

Behold the awful trumpet sounds,
The sleeping dead to raise,
And calls the nations underground:
O how the saints will praise! …
The falling stars their orbits leave,
The sun in darkness hide:
The elements asunder cleave,
The moon turn’d into blood! …

Although the original hymn lies forgotten, the spiritual has maintained its popularity, with its uplifting view of a new world to come.

My Lord, what a morning! My Lord, what a morning!
O my Lord, what a morning! When the stars begin to fall.

You will hear the trumpet sound, To wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God’s right hand, When the stars begin to fall.

You will hear the sinner cry, To wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God’s right hand, When the stars begin to fall.

You will hear the Christian shout, To wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God’s right hand, When the stars begin to fall.

Give Me Jesus – Richard Billingham

Give Me Jesus originated as an African-American spiritual written during the time of slavery in the United States.  The lyrics of Give Me Jesus are simple, but poignant. Whether we are in tragedy or triumph, whether we are weathering storms or counting treasures, our hearts’ desire should simply be Jesus.  That Give Me Jesus was written by people stripped of all dignity and every human possession says so much about what Jesus is, what He can give and His very nature!

In the morning, when I rise Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world, Just give me Jesus.

When I am alone, Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world, Just give me Jesus.

I heard my mother say Give me Jesus
You can have all this world Just give me Jesus

Dark midnight was my cry Give me Jesus
You can have all this world Just give me Jesus

And when I come to die, Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world, Just give me Jesus.

Richard Billingham (b. 1934) is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois and organist at First Methodist Church of Chicago and the Chicago Temple.

In Thee is Gladness – Dale Wood

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. 

In Thee is gladness admid all sadness,  Jesus, Sunshine of my heart!                      

By Thee are given the gifts of heaven, Thou the true Redeemer art!                     

Our souls Thou wakest, our bonds Thou breakest.                                        

Who trusts Thee surely hath built securely and stands forever: Allelujah!
Our hearts are longing to see thy dawning. Living or dying, in thee abiding,
Naught can us sever: Allelujah!

Jesus is ours! We fear no powers, not of earth or sin or death.
He sees and blesses in worst distresses; he can change them with a breath.
Wherefore the story - tell of His glory with hearts and voices;
all heaven rejoices in him forever: Allelujah!
We shout for gladness, triumph o'er sadness, love him and praise him,
and still shall raise him glad hymns forever: Allelujah!

Dale Wood (1934-2003) was a prominent composer, organist, choral director, and clinician.  He was honored many times by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for his “very important contribution towards the creation and development of contemporary American church music”.  He wrote many collections of organ works, most of which are based on both old and new hymn tunes.  Over eight million copies of his publications have been purchased in over 50 countries.

About the Choral Music:

He Never Failed Me Yet – Robert Ray

Robert Ray is a composer and conductor, and is currently professor of music and coordinator of keyboard studies at the University of Missouri St. Louis. He is also director of the University Community Chorus and Director of the Saint Louis Symphony IN UNISON® Chorus.  Ray received his Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Northwestern University. He has appeared as piano soloist with the Kirkwood Symphony Orchestra, Northwestern University Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and Seoul (Korea) Philharmonic Orchestra. Ray has served as the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Ethnic Music and Multi-Cultural Prospectives for the American Choral Directors Association (Southwestern Division) and has appeared as a lecturer and clinician at numerous universities and colleges, as well as MENC, ACDA, and IAJA conventions.

“He Never Failed Me Yet” was written in 1982 for the Echos of Grace choir at Second Baptist Church in Evanston, Illinois, the oldest black church in Evanston, founded in 1882.

            I will sing of God’s mercy, every day.

Every hour, He gives me power.

            I will sing and give thanks to Thee

for all the dangers, toils, and snares that He has brought me out.

            He is my God, and I’ll serve Him, no matter what the test.

            Trust and never doubt, Jesus will surely bring you out.

            He never failed me yet.

            I know God is able to deliver in time of storm.

            I know that He’ll keep you safe from all earthly harm.

            One day when my weary soul is at rest,

            I’m going home to be forever bless’d.

            Didn’t my God deliver Moses from King Pharoah?

            And didn’t He cool the fiery furnace for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?

            When I think what my God can do,

            He delivered Daniel; I know He will deliver you.

About the Hymns:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" is a hymn based on Joachim Neander's German chorale Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, published in 1680. John Julian, in his A Dictionary of Hymnology, calls the German original "a magnificent hymn of praise to God, perhaps the finest creation of its author, and of the first rank in its class."  Neander wrote this particular hymn while dying and it says much about his faith. While contemplating the words to go along with the melody, he reflected on Psalm 103 with its claim that everything within us should praise the Father’s holy name.  It was the favorite hymn of King Frederick William III of Prussia, who first heard it in 1800.  In the Neander original, first the singer calls himself (my beloved soul) to praise God, then calls for a larger group to join the praise with musical instruments as well as song.  John Julian‍‍ '​‍s A Dictionary of Hymnology lists more than ten English translations of "Lobe den Herren" printed in various nineteenth century hymnals.

The melody used by Neander, first published in 1665, is probably based on a folk tune. The common name given to this melody is "Lobe den Herren". Several variants were published with various secular texts between 1665 to 1680, when Joachim Neander published his German hymn, Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, using its meter. The text paraphrases Psalm 103 and Psalm 150.  

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” was published in 1887 with music by Anthony J. Showalter and lyrics by Showalter and Elisha Hoffman.  Elisha Hoffman (1839-1929) after graduating from Union Seminary in Pennsylvania was ordained in 1868. As a minister he was appointed to the circuit in Napoleon, Ohio in 1872. He worked with the Evangelical Association's publishing arm in Cleveland for eleven years. He served in many chapels and churches in Cleveland and in Grafton in the 1880s, among them Bethel Home for Sailors and Seamen, Chestnut Ridge Union Chapel, Grace Congregational Church and Rockport Congregational Church. In his lifetime he wrote more than 2,000 gospel songs including "Leaning on the everlasting arms" (1894). The fifty song books he edited include Pentecostal Hymns No. 1 and The Evergreen, 1873.

Anthony J. Showalter received letters from two friends who had lost their wives about the same time. He wrote back to express his sympathy, and included a verse of Scripture: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27 KJV). As he thought about that text, he wrote the music and refrain to this hymn. He asked Elisha Hoffman to write the stanzas. The hymn was first published in 1887 in The Glad Evangel for Revival, Camp, and Evangelistic Meetings, for which Showalter was an editor.  The text has three stanzas and a refrain. The theme of the text is the peace that comes from knowing that God will protect us, and how that knowledge removes our fears.

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

"The Hymn of Joy" (often called "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" after the first line) is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 with the intention of musically setting it to the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's final symphony, Symphony No. 9.   Van Dyke wrote this poem in 1907 while staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield. He was serving as a guest preacher at Williams at the time. He told his host that the local Berkshire Mountains had been his inspiration. The lyrics were first published in 1911 in Van Dyke's Book of Poems.

Van Dyke wrote of this hymn: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.”

This hymn is generally considered by hymnologists to be one of the most joyous expressions of hymn lyrics in the English language.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906. In 1908–09 Dr. van Dyke was an American lecturer at the University of Paris. By appointment of President Wilson, a friend and former classmate of van Dyke, he became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors.  Among his popular writings are the two Christmas stories, The Other Wise Man (1896) and The First Christmas Tree (1897). Various religious themes of his work are also expressed in his poetry, hymns and the essays collected in Little Rivers (1895) and Fisherman’s Luck (1899).

October 23, 2016

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:

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling – Charles Callahan

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was a prolific hymn writer of the 18th century. Coming from a musical family, he left a lasting legacy of congregational song.  The youngest of 18 children, Charles possessed prodigious talents that soon blossomed. Little did he know that “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” would rise to become one of the most popular and consistently vocalized Christian songs.  Writing hymn texts that are solidly based on the Scriptures gives them an appeal across denominational lines. It is estimated that during his lifetime, Wesley penned more than 9,000 poems of a spiritual nature, 6,000 of which are hymns. What really set Charles apart from other hymn writers was his effective use of scriptural allusions, providing a spiritual roadmap whereby individuals could imagine a Christ-centered life. His writings were passionate and well-crafted, conveying the true essence of Christian teaching. 

A substantial number of his writings were completed while riding on horseback to his evangelical meetings.  Scholars suggest that he was able to compose about 10 lines of verse daily for 50 years. Charles’ brother John sometimes served as editor to his hymns. John’s typical response was, “some were good, some were mediocre, and some were exceptional.” John can also be credited with improving the singability of Charles’ hymns.

Both John and Charles were instrumental in changing the spiritual environment of Britain during the 18th century. In doing so, they formed the bedrock of what Methodism has become worldwide. Their unwavering devotion to expressing Christian spirituality through hymns has impacted individuals across all denominational lines.  We are fortunate to be the recipients of the poetic genius of Charles Wesley. He influenced Methodism more than any other hymn writer. Upon hearing of Charles’ death, an elderly Londoner asked, “Who will write poetry for us now?” 

“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” was first published in a collection of hymns entitled Hymns for those that Seek, and those that Have, Redemption in the Blood of Christ (1747). The incipit (opening line) was a play on the opening line of John Dryden’s (1631-1700) poem “Fairest Isle, All Isles Excelling” set to music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) in the generation before Charles Wesley was born.  The hymn is written around a progression of thoughts: (1) our prayers for the Holy Spirit, (2) praying for the return of our Lord through the second coming, and (3) prayers for the finalization of his new creation.

Stanza 2 expresses the Wesleyan concept of the “second rest.” When Charles referred to this in his hymns, it specifically applies to the “second birth,” “second blessing,” “second gift.” All of these are directed toward achieving full “sanctification” or “Christian perfection.” This is an important theological tenet of Methodist preaching from the very beginning.

There is no better way of describing the culmination of adhering to the biblical teachings of Christ, than in stanza four of this hymn. Wesley’s phrase, “changed from glory into glory” is almost a direct quotation from 2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV). Wesley describes that day in heaven when “we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.”

Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, oh, breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit; let us find the promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty, to deliver, let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never, nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee:
changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.

Charles Callahan (b. 1951) is 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.

Blessed Assurance – J. Bert Carlson

Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915), born in New York and died in Connecticut, wrote over 8,500 gospel hymns. In 1972, Hope Publishing Co. found over 1,000 unpublished manuscripts. Her work defined what it meant to be a successful writer of gospel hymns.  By the age of six weeks, Fanny Crosby was completely blind. She entered the New York School for the Blind at age twelve. She began writing hymns and poetry at age twelve.  Her collaborators in publishing gospel hymns included the most successful and popular composers of her day, including William Bradbury, William Doane, Robert Lowry, Ira Sankey, and William Kirkpatrick. Crosby used numerous pen names in publishing her songs, including: Ella Dale, Mrs. Kate Gringley and Miss Viola V. A.  She married blind musician Alexander Van Alstyne, and the British most often refer to her by her married name rather than Fanny Crosby.  She was a lifelong Methodist and her contributions to The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) include: “Blessed Assurance,” “Close to Thee,” “I Am Thine, O Lord,” “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Rescue the Perishing,” and “To God Be the Glory.”

Phoebe Knapp (1839-1908) was a composer of music for hymns and an organist.  Knapp was born in New York City. Her parents were Walter C. Palmer and Phoebe Worrall Palmer.  She married Joseph Fairchild Knapp, one of the founders and the second president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and he had a pipe organ installed in their apartment.  She and her husband were members of the John Street Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City. The hymn writer Fanny Crosby was also a member of that church and a friend of the Phoebe’s.  She wrote over 500 hymn tunes, the most familiar being the tune now called Assurance for Fanny Crosby's lyrics “Blessed Assurance”.

Crosby was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as the Knapp home was having a large pipe organ installed. The organ was incomplete, so Mrs. Knapp, using the piano, played a new melody she had just composed. When Knapp asked Crosby, "What do you think the tune says?", Crosby replied, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine."  The hymn appeared in the July 1873 issue of Palmer's Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany, a magazine printed by Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Palmer. 

Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

J. Bert Carlson (b. 1937), retired pastor, holds a master of music from Duquesne University School of Music and has served as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Whiting, NJ since 1997. Carlson wears many diverse hats as a piano teacher, organ recitalist, tenor soloist, musical director, and conductor as well as cofounder of the Chicago Oratorio Society and clinician for numerous workshops with an emphasis on choral methods, organ and hymn composition. His prodigious list of publications includes anthems, vocal songs, organ works, and piano works.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty – Johannes Michel

"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" is a hymn based on Joachim Neander's German chorale Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, published in 1680. John Julian, in his A Dictionary of Hymnology, calls the German original "a magnificent hymn of praise to God, perhaps the finest creation of its author, and of the first rank in its class."  Neander wrote this particular hymn while dying and it says much about his faith. While contemplating the words to go along with the melody, he reflected on Psalm 103 with its claim that everything within us should praise the Father’s holy name.  It was the favorite hymn of King Frederick William III of Prussia, who first heard it in 1800.  In the Neander original, first the singer calls himself (my beloved soul) to praise God, then calls for a larger group to join the praise with musical instruments as well as song.  John Julian‍‍ '​‍s A Dictionary of Hymnology lists more than ten English translations of "Lobe den Herren" printed in various nineteenth century hymnals.

The melody used by Neander, first published in 1665, is probably based on a folk tune. The common name given to this melody is "Lobe den Herren". Several variants were published with various secular texts between 1665 to 1680, when Joachim Neander published his German hymn, Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, using its meter. The text paraphrases Psalm 103 and Psalm 150. 

One interesting piece of history is the later use of Neander’s name. He often taught in a valley near the Düssel river, and over 100 years after his death the valley was named after him. It was in that valley that bones were later found, from which we get the name “Neanderthal.”

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near, join me in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning;
sheltering you under his wings, and so gently sustaining!
Have you not seen all that is needful has been sent by his gracious ordaining?

Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, if with his love he befriends you.

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen sound from his people again; gladly forever adore him.

Johannes Matthias Michel (b. 1962) is a German conductor and organist who gained first musical experience with his father, the composer and church musician Josef Michel.    He is director of church music at the Christuskirche Mannheim, regional cantor of Mannheim and state cantor of Nordbaden, where he leads the Bachchor Mannheim and the Kammerchor Mannheim.  Johannes-Matthias Michel teaches organ  at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Heidelberg, as well as the Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik in Mannheim. Apart from extensive concert activity, he has participated in numerous broadcast and TV and CD recordings.

About the Choral Music:

Holy, Holy, Holy – Jeffrey LaValley

Jeffrey LaValley (b. 1954) was born in Milwaukee and brought up at the Emmanuel Church of God in Christ until age ten, when a new church was formed in his living room: New Hope Church of God in Christ.  He began his musical career on a piano purchased for his older sister at the age of five He began writing music at age thirteen. LaValley studied journalism at Pennsylvania State University in Monaca, Pennsylvania, and at Marquette University in Milwaukee. In 1986, Jeffrey began his formal musical studies, and enrolled in the music studies program at Mott Community College in Flint.  He has been music minister at New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Flint, Michigan since 1979. 

As a writer, musician, director, and/or producer, Jeffrey has appeared on over 270 projects including the New Jerusalem Baptist Church Choir, Wilmington-Chester Mass Choir, Florida Mass Choir, Charles Fold & The Charles Fold Singers, The Full Gospel Baptist Church Mass Choir [which he produced, and was nominated for 1996 Stellar, Soul Train and Grammy Awards], and many others. For three years, he served as the musical director for the Tramaine Hawkins Road Band, and formerly served as the concertmaster for the Gospel Music Workshop of America Mass Choir.  In 1987, Jeffrey was commissioned to compose a song for Pope John IV during his Papal visit to Detroit, and in 1989, he was awarded the G.M.W.A. Excellence Award for Song of the Year—Contemporary, “No Greater Love”. He was also featured as one of the top producers of 1994 in the Gospel Music Industry Roundup, the 1996 edition of the Gospel Music Industry Roundup, and was featured in the 1997 and 1998 editions of the Gospel Music Industry Roundup, as one of the most sought-after producers in Gospel music. In 2001, Jeffrey received the Vision Award from the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Black Sacred Music Symposium for his achievements in gospel music.  His composition, “Revelation 19:1”, was chosen as the entrant for the Papal Celebration at the Vatican in June, 2006.

            Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

            Worthy, worthy of the honor, worthy of the glory is the Lord of hosts.

            He shall reign forever.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Lord of hosts.

                He shall reign forever.  He shall reign.

Give Me Oil in My Lamp – Joseph Martin

          God’s Project

"Oil in My Lamp", also known as "Give Me Oil in My Lamp" and "Sing Hosanna", is based on the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. Jesus’ parable, a simple story drawn from everyday life intended to illustrate an important lesson, is straightforward enough.   In this particular parable, the original listeners would immediately have understood that the ten virgins were the bridesmaids who were responsible for preparing the bride to meet the bridegroom.  Jesus uses this illustration of the bridegroom and the ten virgins as an example of the way in which the followers of Christ (the bridesmaids) are tasked with making sure that the Church (Christ’s bride) is ready to meet the bridegroom (Jesus) when he comes again. Prepare and watch.

Joseph Martin (b.1959), a native of North Carolina, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Furman University and a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas, Austin. Joseph taught for five years in the Piano Pedagogy Department of the University of Texas. He is a member of the staff of Shawnee Press as Director of Sacred Publications, with responsibilities for overseeing the editorial and creative direction of the company’s sacred publications and also coordinating the recording and production aspects of future sacred publishing efforts. Joseph has performed solo piano recitals and has been the featured artist with symphony orchestras in the United States and Mexico. As winner of the Nina Plant Wideman Competition, he performed with the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. His solo recital in Ex-convento del Carmen was broadcast nationally. Though he continues to perform in concert, he now devotes his efforts to playing in churches and for conferences of church musicians. Recognized throughout the United States for his many choral compositions, over 1200 compositions are currently in print.

            Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.  Give me oil in my lamp, I pray.

            Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, keep me burning ‘til the break of day.

            I sing praise and give thanks for your blessings.  I sing praise every day I live.

            I sing praise and give thanks for your blessings, for the blessings you alone can give.

            Give me joy in my heart, keep me singing.  Give me joy in my heart each day.

            Give me joy in my heart, keep me singing, keep me singing ‘til the break of day.

            Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King of kings.

            Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King.

About the Hymns:

Holy, Holy, Holy

Reginald Heber  (1783-1826) wrote this text for Trinity Sunday, the day for which lectionary in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer prescribes the reading of Revelation 4. Using reverent and apocalyptic language, "Holy, Holy, Holy!" alludes to Revelation 4:6-11; 5:13; 15:2-4; and Isaiah 6:1-3 to sing the great majesty of the triune God. Note the cosmic scope of the text: human beings (st. 1), saints and angels in glory (st. 2), and all creation (st. 4) praise the name of the Lord. Though God's holiness, love, and purity are cloaked in mystery, we can still experience God's mercy and mighty power, and we can participate in praising God.  It references the Sanctus, which is often called the "Holy holy holy" in English. The name is a tribute to the First Council of Nicaea which formalized the doctrine of the Trinity in 325.

It was first published in the third edition (1826) of  A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury  and was also published posthumously in Heber's Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Services of the Year (1827). The unusual single rhyme (all on the "ee" sound) and the uneven number of syllables in some lines have not detracted from the hymn's popularity.  It was soon adopted by hymn-book compilers, and is the best known and most widely used of the author's hymns.

I Love you, Lord

Laurie Klein was 24 and she and her husband had just had their first child when she wrote “I Love You, Lord”.  She relates this story about that time:

“It was a dark time in my life. We had no extra money, no friends nearby, no church home and my husband was busy all of the time with his studies. I didn’t drive, so I couldn’t get away. We lived on a highway in a mobile home, so I couldn’t even put the baby in a stroller and go for a walk. Our only neighbors were people long retired and tired of life. When I needed some encouragement there was no extra money for long distance calls to family or friends. I was lonely. The only thing I was committed to was trying to get up each morning before our baby, then a toddler, and spend some time with Jesus. I knew that was where the ‘life’ was.

The day the song came, I had gotten up early and was sitting with my Bible and my guitar. I realized that I didn’t have anything in me to sing to Jesus. I just didn’t have anything in me to offer Him. I was so empty. So, I prayed and said to the Lord, ‘If you want to hear me sing, would you give me something that you would like to hear?’  I started strumming on the guitar and the first words came out of my mouth with absolutely no effort. I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You. I scribbled them on a piece of paper, just in case I would want to remember them, and sing them again. Those words meant a lot to me. I wondered if I could play the melody again — if I would even remember. I played and sang the two lines again. They were still there, in my mind. The last two lines just followed as effortlessly as the first two had come. It was a gift from God that just wrote itself.

Though it is a very simple song, it changed everything for me, and it still is changing life for me. When you are in a dark valley and the Lord gives you light, it makes all the difference, and you keep growing.”

Majesty, Worship His Majesty

Jack William Hayford (b. 1934) is a native of Los Angeles, Calif. He grew up in the Foursquare Pentecostal tradition, attending L.I.F.E. Bible College (now Life Pacific College), graduating in 1956 and completing his studies at Azusa Pacific University in 1970.  In 1969, he became pastor of the First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, Calif., which was then a struggling, aging congregation with only 20 members. He was also dean of students at L.I.F.E. and agreed to lead the congregation on a temporary basis for six months.  But after receiving a call to a much larger congregation, he decided to stay with the smaller church in Van Nuys. By 1980, it had been renamed The Church on the Way, and membership was over 3,500. A prolific writer with at least 55 books, Mr. Hayford has received numerous awards as a pastor and author. He has received honorary doctorates from Oral Roberts University, California Graduate School of Theology and Life Pacific College. Most recently he has served as the fourth president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.   Hayford has composed over 400 hymns, songs and other musical works.

Hayford says that in 1987 while he was traveling in Great Britain, he developed interest in the actions and symbols of the royal family, relating them to Christ and his kingdom. “We need to cultivate a sense of the majestic presence of God.  He is a close friend, by his grace, but he is also the majestic, holy awesome God of the universe and we need constant reminding not to take His royal presence lightly. In this short song we are called to recognize His majesty and then ascribe the glory due His name.”  In “How God Evaluates Worship,” an article published in a series of pamphlets entitled “Survival Guides,” Hayford describes a theology of worship that sheds some light on his songs: “In my experience, theological discussions about worship tend to focus on the cerebral, not the visceral—on the mind, not the heart. True worship, we are often taught, is more about the mind thinking right about God (using theologically correct language and liturgy), rather than the heart's hunger for him.”  The central theological theme is straightforward: Christ is King, and as King of all, he is the sovereign of all (“kingdom authority”) and his name is to be exalted. “Majesty” is now one of the classic songs of the contemporary Christian genre, approaching 30 years of continuous use. 

October 16, 2016

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:

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven – Robert Hobby

The psalms are a source of inspiration for hymn writers. Psalm 103 is the basis of "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven" by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847). Born in Scotland and educated at Enniskillen and Trinity College in Dublin, Lyte's most significant appointment was as Anglican curate at Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England, where he served for 24 years. Lyte was known as a man frail in body but strong in faith and spirit. Suffering from chronic asthma and tuberculosis, he retired from his parish in September 1847. Seeking a better climate in Italy, he died that November in Nice, France, on his way to Rome.  Lyte's poetry earned him several honors. His collections include Tales on the Lord's Prayer in Verse (1826), Poems, Chiefly Religious (1833, 1845), and The Spirit of the Psalms (1834). His most famous hymn was "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide", which represents the heart of the Romantic style. This hymn was published as one of 280 free psalm paraphrases in The Spirit of the Psalms. One of three paraphrases of Psalm 103, Lyte took a very free approach to his interpretation. 

An Anglican minister, he drew upon Miles Coverdale's translation as found in the Book of Common Prayer rather than the Authorized King James Version. Instead of beginning with "Bless the Lord, O my soul," this translation opens with: "Praise the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me praise his holy Name. Praise the Lord, O my soul: and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sin: and healeth all thine infirmities; Who saveth thy life from destruction: and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness." One can see these theological ideas in the opening stanza of Lyte's hymn, but in a free poetic form. When the hymn appeared in the influential collection Hymns Ancient and Modern, the editors substituted "Alleluia! Alleluia!" for "Praise him! Praise him!", a change that not only improved the ease of singing, but elevated the exaltation. 

A missing stanza four corresponds very closely with verses 15-17:

     Frail as summer's flower we perish: Blows the wind and it is gone.
     But, while mortals rise and perish, God endures unchanging on.
     Praise him! Praise him! Praise the high eternal One! 

Besides a sense of jubilation, this hymn emphasizes God's providence. The poet consistently emphasizes the reliability of God.

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia! Praise the everlasting King!

Praise him for his grace and favor to his people in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever, slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia! Glorious in his faithfulness!

Fatherlike he tends and spares us; well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia! Widely yet his mercy flows!

Angels, help us to adore him; you behold him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before him, dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace! 

Robert A. Hobby (b. 1962) currently serves as Director of Music for Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his responsibilities include playing for many of the worship services, overseeing the graded choral program, and managing the concerts the church offers. Numerous activities during his tenure include Trinity Church establishing a choral series with seventeen composers commissioned thus far, hosting a regional convention of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, producing four recordings, and expanding the opportunities for music ministry.

About the Choral Music:

A Covenant Prayer – Allen Pote

In 1663 Richard Alleine, a Puritan, published  Vindiciae Pietatis:  or, “A Vindication of Godliness in the Greater Strictness and Spirituality of It”. In 1753, it was again published in John Wesley's  A Christian Library. Wesley used one chapter, "The Application of the Whole," on Monday, August 11, 1755, in what probably was the first real celebration of the Covenant Service in the Methodist movement.  Wesley found the service rich and meaningful, as expressed in his Journal: "Many mourned before God, and many were comforted" (April 1756); "It was, as usual, a time of remarkable blessing" (October 1765). "It was an occasion for a variety of spiritual experiences ... I do not know that ever we had a greater blessing. Afterwards many desired to return thanks, either for a sense of pardon, for full salvation, or for a fresh manifestation of His graces, healing all their backslidings" (January 1, 1775). In London these services were usually held on New Year's Day. Around the country the Covenant Service was conducted whenever John Wesley visited the Methodist Societies.  The heart of the service, focused in the Covenant Prayer, requires persons to commit themselves to God.  Allen Pote has adapted the text of this prayer.

Allen Pote (b. 1945) was born in Halstead, Kansas, and educated at Texas Christian University, where his diploma was in Church Music. A Fulbright Scholar, he studied in Brussels, Belgium, and took advanced work at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. For twenty-two years he served as a full-time Director of Music in churches in Texas and Florida. He is currently a full-time composer living in Pensacola, Florida, where, with his wife Susan, he is co-director of the Pensacola Children's Choir, an organization of over 200 singers which has achieved national recognition.

            Lord, make me what you will. I put myself into your hands.

            Put me to doing, put me to suffering,

let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you.

Lord, make me what you will.  I will no longer be my own.

Let me be full, let me be empty,

Let me have all things, let me have nothing,

Lord, I freely and with a willing heart give it all to you,

To your pleasure and disposal.

                Lord.  Make me.  Make me what you will.

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.

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.

Where Charity and Love Prevail

Omer Westendorf (1916-1997) was one of the leading composers following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.  Beginning at age 20, he received his master’s degree in music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and for most of his professional musical career served as organist and choirmaster at St. Bonaventure Church in Cincinnati. Under his direction the Bonaventure Choir sang concerts and recorded sacred music for several decades.  One of his greatest achievements was the founding of the World Library of Sacred Music in 1950 and World Library Publications in 1957. These organizations have been primary distributors of music for the Mass in the United States and beyond.

Westendorf was also known for his lectures and seminars on sacred music, consultations on liturgical music and as a hymn writer.  Westendorf’s People’s Mass Book, 1964, was the first vernacular hymn and service book to implement the Catholic liturgies decreed by Vatican Council II. He wrote Music Lessons for the Man in the Pew to teach the art of sight reading choral music.

“Where charity and love prevail” (1961) provides an English hymn version of a 9th-century Latin hymn, “Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est” (Where there is charity and love, God is there) based on 1 John 4:16. Traditionally, this is the final hymn on Maundy Thursday, called in the Latin tradition Mandatum novum (New Commandment), referring to the act of washing of the disciples’ feet initiated by Jesus.

Scholar H. Myron Braun comments on this ancient ritual: “[The Latin chant] is said to date from the ninth century . . . with its emphasis on community within the faith, on Christians holding one another in love and concern . . . It is appropriate for . . . [Maundy Thursday] when we note the “new commandment” that we love one another, and also several times in Eastertide when the lectionary leads us to reading on love from the Gospel and the epistles of John.”

The text draws directly on John 13:34, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” This version appeared first in Westendorf’s People’s Mass Book (1976). Before the publication of The UM Hymnal in 1989, the hymn appeared in the Supplement to the Book of Hymns (1982) with a plainsong melody.