October 9, 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:

Aus meines Herzens Grunde - Johann Christoph Bach

This chorale was written by David Wolder (d. 1604) and first published in Neu Catechismus Gesangbüchlein, Hamburg, 1598.

            In the depths of my heart Your name and cross alone

            Shine every moment and hour so that I can be blessed.

            Appear to me for comfort in my need.

My inmost heart now raises In this fair morning hour
A song of thankful praises To Thine almighty pow'r,
O God, upon Thy throne. To honor and adore Thee,
I bring my praise before Thee Thro' Christ, Thine only Son.

For Thou from me hast warded All perils of the night;
From ev'ry harm hast guarded My soul till morning light.
To Thee I humbly cry, O Savior, have compassion
And pardon my transgression; Have mercy, Lord most high!

And shield me from all evil, O gracious God, this day,
From sin, and from the devil, From shame and from dismay,
From fire's consuming breath, From water's devastation,
From need and consternation, From evil sudden death.

Let not Thine angel leave me While here on earth I stay
Lest Satan's arts deceive me And lead my soul astray.
Then keep Thine angel near At night and each new morrow
Lest soul and body sorrow And falt'ring cost me dear.

God shall do my advising, Whose might with wisdom blends;
May He bless rest and rising, My efforts, means, and ends!
To God, forever blest, Will I with mine confide me,
And willing let Him guide me As seemeth to Him best.

Amen I say, not fearing That God rejects my prayer;
I doubt not He is hearing And granting me His care.
Thus I go on my way And do not look behind me,
But ply the task assigned me; God's help shall be my stay.

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.

Strengthen for Service – Aaron David Miller

“Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands” is a metrical rendering of a prayer in the Malabar Liturgy, found in The English Hymnal (1906).  It was versified by Mr. C. W. Humphreys (from the prose tr. in Dr. J. M. Neale's Liturgies of S. Mark, S. James, S. Clement, S. Chrysostom and the Church of Malabar, 1859.  The original Latin text was written by Ephraem Syrus (307-373) from northern Mesopotamia, the most celebrated father of the Syrian church, and famous not only as a theologian, but also as a poet and hymn-writer. Historians differ as to the details of his life; but it is known that having first been a pupil of James, bishop of Nisibis, he finished his education at Edessa, where for the rest of his days he chiefly resided. He visited Basil at Caesarea, in Cappadocia, and by him he was ordained to the office of deacon. Ephraim was a most voluminous writer of commentaries, expository sermons, hymns, and metrical homilies. Metrical Homilies, first mentioned in connection with him, are a peculiar kind of composition, to which we know of nothing in other literature exactly similar. The tracts in verse explanatory of the Christian religion, circulated by missionaries in some parts of India, and which the people like to read aloud in a kind of chant, seem most nearly to resemble them. The Homilies are in metre and are divided into strophes, but differ from hymns proper in their greater length and more decidedly didactic character. We might have supposed them to be poems intended to be simply read, but from notes found on manuscripts giving directions as to the singing, it appears as though, at least in some cases, they were actually sung or chanted in connection with religious services. In neither the hymns nor the homilies is any regard paid to accent or quantity, and only occasionally does there seem to have been an attempt at rhyme or assonance. The main characteristics of Syriac poetry are (1) a certain elevation of style, (2) division of the verses into strophep, and (3) the use of lines or verses with a fixed number of syllables.

Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that holy things have taken;
let ears that now have heard thy songs to clamour never waken.

Lord, may the tongues which 'Holy' sang keep free from all deceiving;
the eyes which saw thy love be bright, thy blessèd hope perceiving.

The feet that tread thy holy courts from light do thou not banish;
the bodies by thy Body fed with thy new life replenish.

Aaron David Miller is a renowned concert organist and composer, having won numerous international awards and given concerts across the United States.  Dr. Miller’s performances have been heard on National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, Pipe Dreams, and many television programs.   Dr. Miller’s work was recently honored with the 2004 Hellenikon Idyllion Composition Prize offered by the Olympic Committee in Athens, Greece.  In 1996, Dr. Miller won the Top Prize in Improvisation at the American Guild of Organists National Convention in New York.  In 1998, he went on to win the Bach and Improvisation Prizes at the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition.   His other prizes include the 1999 Helen Cohn Award for Music Research for his study of late Medieval and Renaissance keyboard music.

Dr. Miller attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts and received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.  Dr. Miller completed his graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music, earning his Master of Music degree and his Doctor of Musical Arts.  Dr. Miller was a member of the theory faculty at the Manhattan School of Music from 1996-1999. He served as Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago from 1999-2000.  Dr. Miller is currently the Music Director at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, MN.

Praise Him! Praise Him! – Charles Callahan

Praise Him, praise Him (Praise of Jesus) was written by Fanny Crosby and published in Biglow & Main's Bright Jewels, 1869. Frances Jane Crosby (1820-1915) became blind at the age of six weeks after an illness.  At the age of fifteen, she entered the New York Institution for the Blind. She became a teacher in the institution in 1847.  While teaching at the institution she met Presidents Yan Buren and Tyler, Hon. Henry Clay, Governor Wm. H. Seward, General Winfield Scott, and other distinguished characters of American history. Due to her meeting these notable men, Fanny Crosby had the honor of being the first woman whose voice was heard publicly in the Senate Chamber at Washington. She read a poem there on one occasion. In addition to the thousands of hymns that she has written (about eight thousand poems in all), many of which have not been set to music, she published four volumes of verses.  Crosby married Alex. Van Alstyne, a blind musician who she met at the New York Inst. For the Blind.  She began to write Sunday-school hymns for Wm. B. Bradbury in 1864. She spent regular hours on certain days at the office of The Biglow & Main Co., the firm for which she did most of her writing, and for whom she has composed over four thousand hymns. She could compose at any time and did not need to wait for any special inspiration, and her best hymns came on the spur of the moment. She always composed with an open book in her hand, generally a copy of Golden Hymns, held closely over her eyes, bottom side up. She learned to play on the guitar and piano while at the institution, and  also received a technical training in music, and for this reason she could, and did, compose tunes for some of her hymns.

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!

Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory,
strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children;
in His arms He carries them all day long:

Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness!
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins, He suffered and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong.

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
crown Him! crown Him! prophet and priest and King!
Christ is coming, over the world victorious,
power and glory unto the Lord belong.

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.

About the Choral Music:

Many Gifts, One Spirit  - Allen Pote

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but in all of them, and in everyone, it is the same God at work.”  I Corinthians 12:4–6

The lyrics of Allen Pote’s beautiful song simultaneously describe the diversity and the unity of the church. While we walk on different paths, with different programs and services, there are many intersections as we all work to reach and uplift those most in need.

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.

Many gifts, one spirit, many songs, one voice
Many reasons, one promise, many questions, one choice.
O, God, we pray for unity, give guidance from above.
In our differences unite us in the circle of your love.
O, God, remind us we are not alone.
Though we move on different pathways, we are walking to your throne.

Help us learn to love each other, show us ways to understand.
We are members of one family, growing strong by joining hands.
Take our many ways of working, blend the colors of each soul 

into the beauty of a rainbow.

            Give us life, Lord, make us whole.

About the Hymns:

Christ for the World We Sing

Samuel Wolcott (1813-1886) was the pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio when the local branch of the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) asked to hold a meeting in his sanctuary.  Wolcott not only agreed to allow their meeting, but also made it a point to attend.  As he listened to the speakers, he couldn't help but notice the large banner that the YMCA sponsors had hung over the pulpit to announce the theme of the rally.  The banner read, "Christ for the World and the World for Christ."  Wolcott was very much in sympathy with that motto, having served as a missionary for several years.  He knew the need that existed in other countries, but he also thought of Cleveland and the other cities of this country as part of the world that needed Christ.  Wolcott had tried his hand at hymn-writing on a previous occasion, and was surprised when “Christ for the World We Sing” was published in 1869.  Wolcott wrote two hundred hymns during his lifetime, but this is the only one in common usage today.

A Charge to Keep I Have

As is the case with hymns by Charles Wesley, “A charge to keep I have” is grounded in Scripture. In this case, Leviticus 8:36 is the primary source: “Keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not” (KJV). The hymn was included in Short Hymns on Select Passages of Holy Scripture (1762), a massive two-volume collection of 2,030 hymns based on biblical texts from Genesis to Revelation. 

Wesley scholars F. Hildebrandt and Oliver A. Beckerlegge propose in their commentary on the important Wesley hymnbook A Collection of Hymns for Use of the People Called Methodists (1780) that Charles Wesley (1708-1788) based his text on Mathew Henry’s Commentary on Leviticus. Henry notes: “We have every one of us a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, needful duty to be done, our generation to serve; and it must be our daily care to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will shortly call us to an account about it, and it is our peril if we neglect it. Keep it ‘that ye die not’; it is death, eternal death, to betray the truth we are charged with.”

This hymn is an unequivocal call to commitment to follow the Master and to fulfill our vocation through service. The language is unambiguous. Our calling is to save a “never dying soul” and “fit it for the sky”—that is for eternal life with Christ. This eschatological goal is central to Charles Wesley’s hymns: Our goal is heaven. In the second stanza, we find that we fulfill this calling by our service to “the present age.” Fulfilling this calling requires us to engage “all [our] powers.” The third stanza is a petition that God should “arm [us] with jealous care” as we live in God’s sight. Wesley is not afraid to offer a stern admonition that we will one day be required to give “a strict account” of our activities in pursuit of our calling. The final stanza is perhaps the most uncompromising. The singer begins with the imperative verb—a petition to the unnamed Holy Spirit—to “Help me to watch and pray . . . ” Rather than suggesting a positive reward for faithfulness, Wesley warns us of the outcome “if [we] our trust betray”: we “shall forever die.”

The tune BOYLSTON was composed by the famous New England music educator Lowell Mason (1792-1872) and was first found in his The Choir, or Union Collection of Church Music (1832).

Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service

Albert F. Bayly (1901-1984) was ed­u­cat­ed at Lon­don Un­i­ver­si­ty and Mans­field Coll­ege, Ox­ford.  Be­gin­ning in the late 1920’s, he served at four Cong­re­ga­tion­al church­es in North­um­ber­land, Lan­ca­shire and East York­shire; in 1962, he be­came pas­tor in Thax­ted, Es­sex.  Af­ter re­tir­ing in 1971, he moved to Spring­field, Chelms­ford, and was ac­tive in the local Unit­ed Re­formed Church.  He wrote sev­er­al pa­geants on mis­sion themes, and li­bret­tos for can­ta­tas by W. L. Lloyd Web­ber (father of Andrew). 

Bayly wrote this text in response to a Hymn Society of America search for new hymns on social welfare. It was chosen as the theme hymn for the Second National Conference on the Churches and Social Welfare held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 23-27, 1961. The Hymn Society published the text in Seven New Social Welfare Hymns (1961).