January 1, 2017

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:

Impression on “We Three Kings” – Alred V. Fedak

"We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, was instrumental in organizing an elaborate holiday pageant (which featured this hymn) for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857 while serving as the seminary's music director.   Although there is no scriptural basis for stating dogmatically that there were three wise men, the fact that three distinct gifts are mentioned has given rise to this traditional idea. Master artists throughout the centuries have depicted three wise men on camels as one of their favorite nativity themes.

We three kings of Orient are Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain, Following yonder star.

O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Born a king on Bethlehem's plain, Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never Over us all to reign.

Frankincense to offer have I. Incense owns a Deity nigh.
Prayer and praising all men raising, Worship Him, God on high.

Myrrh is mine: it's bitter perfume Breaths a life of gathering gloom.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying, Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

Glorious now behold Him arise, King and God and Sacrifice.
Alleluia, alleluia! Sounds through the earth and skies.

Alfred V. Fedak (b. 1953) holds degrees from Hope Colege and Montclair State College.  A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, he is Minister of Music at United Reformed Church, Somerville, New Jersey.

What Star is This? – Franklin Ritter

Charles Coffin (1676-1749) was principal of the college at Beauvais and rector of the University of Paris. He published some of his Latin poems, for which he was already noted, and in 1736 the bulk of his hymns appeared in the Paris Breviaryr. In the same year he published them as Hymni Sacri Auctore Carolo Coffin, and in 1755 a complete edition of his Works was issued in 2 volumes. “What Star is This?” was translated by John Chandler in The Hymns of the Primitive Church, now first Collected, Translated and Arranged, 1837

What star is this, with beams so bright, more lovely than the noonday light?
’Tis sent to announce a newborn king, glad tidings of our God to bring.

‘Tis now fulfilled what God decreed, “From Jacob shall a star proceed;"
and lo! the eastern sages stand to read in heaven the Lord’s command.

While outward signs the star displays, an inward light the Lord conveys
and urges them, with tender might, to seek the giver of the light.

O Jesus, while the star of grace impels us on to seek your face,
let not our slothful hearts refuse the guidance of your light to use.

Franklin Ritter is one of several pseudonymns of Lani Smith (1934-2015), who is an organist best known for his church music compositions. He has been composing for nearly fifty years, and his compositions include choral, organ and piano pieces. He is a regular contributor to the Lorenz Corporation’s keyboard magazines The Church Pianist, The Organist, The Organ Portfolio, and The Sacred Organ Journal, as well as the choral magazines The SAB Choir and The Volunteer Choir.  He served as an editor, composer, and arranger on the Lorenz Publishing editorial staff between 1967 and 1982. During this time, he received composing and arranging credits for over 1000 works.

Brightest and Best – John M. Rasley

Reginald Heber was born in 1783 into a wealthy, educated family. He was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury in the west of England where he remained for 16 years. He took on the task of improving hymn singing in the congregation. When he arrived, they were still singing only metrical psalms. He couldn’t find the hymns he wanted, especially those that would fit the Anglican liturgy and the requirements of the Book of Common Prayer.  Heber decided to prepare his own hymnal and invited other poets to contribute, including Sir Walter Scott and Henry Milman. Hymn singing was not firmly established in the Anglican Church at this time, and the bishop of London refused Heber’s request to publish a hymnal. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and worked tirelessly for three years until the weather and travel took its toll on his health and he died of a stroke. Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today. 

“Brightest and Best” was written in 1811 to be sung at the feast of Epiphany.  It appeared in Heber's widow's compilation of hymns entitled Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Service of the Church Year in 1827.  Images of light, a dominant theme of the Epiphany season, pervade the hymn’s first stanza: “brightest,” “morning,” “dawn,” “star” and “horizon.” The “Star of the East” that once guided the magi now guides us to “where our infant Redeemer is laid.” 

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,

Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall.
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all.

Shall we not yield Him, In costly devotion
Odors of Edom and offerings divine,
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest and gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure.
Richer by far is the heart's adoration;
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

John Rasley (1913-1998) was an American composer, author, conductor, and editor.  He wrote church music, including hymn tunes, organ music, and choir anthems.  He was frequently published by Lorenz under pseudonymns (as is their practice). 

About the Choral Music:

Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar – Peter Cornelius

Carl August Peter Cornelius (1824-1874), German composer, writer about music, poet and translator, was born in Mainz to Carl Joseph Gerhard and Friederike Cornelius, actors in Mainz and Wiesbaden. From an early age he played the violin and composed. He lived with his painter uncle Peter von Cornelius in Berlin from 1844 to 1852, and during this time he met prominent figures such as Alexander von Humboldt, the Brothers Grimm, Friedrich Rückert and Felix Mendelssohn.  Cornelius's first mature works (including the opera Der Barbier von Bagdad) were composed during his brief stay in Weimar (1852–1858). His next place of residence was Vienna, where he lived for five years. It was in Vienna that Cornelius began a friendship with Richard Wagner. At the latter's behest, Cornelius moved to Munich in 1864.  During his last few years in Berlin, Cornelius wrote music criticism for several major Berlin journals and entered into friendships with Joseph von Eichendorff, Paul Heyse and Hans von Bülow. Despite his long-standing association with Wagner and Franz Liszt (the latter on occasion sought Cornelius's advice when it came to matters of orchestration). Cornelius's third and final operatic project, Gunlöd, based on the Norse eddas, was left incomplete at his death (from diabetes) in Mainz.

In Britain to this day, Cornelius's best-known work is The Three Kings, a song for voice and piano in which the soloist sings "Three Kings from Persian lands afar ...", while from the piano is heard the chorale tune of Philipp Nicolai, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern ("How brightly shines the morning star") underneath. An arrangement by Ivor Atkins of "The Three Kings" for solo voice and choir is included in the first volume of the popular David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques compilation Carols for Choirs.

 “How Brightly Shines the Morning Star” appeared as a hymn in German hymnals and in several translations in English hymnals, starting with How bright appears the Morning Star! by John Christian Jacobi (1670–1750), in his Psalmodica Germanica, 1722  The words are based on Psalms 45. Jesus is identified with the morning star, according to Revelation 22:11, and with the bridegroom of the Psalm. Nicolai wrote the words in response to a pestilence in 1597. He published the chorale first in 1599 in his book Frewdenspiegel deß ewigen Lebens ("Mirror of Joy of the Life Everlasting") in Frankfurt, together with "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". He introduced it: "Ein Geistlich Brautlied der Gläubigen Seelen / von Jesu Christo irem himlischen Bräutgam: Gestellt ober den 45. Psalm deß Propheten Dauids" (A spiritual bridal song of the believing souls / concerning Jesus Christ, her heavenly bridegroom, founded on the 45th Psalm of the prophet David).  The chorale theme "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" was codified then, but research by C. S. Terry has shown the tune to predate Nicolai's publication by at least 61 years.

            Three kings from Persian lands afar To Jordan follow the pointing star;

            And this the quest of the travelers three, Where the newborn King of the Jews may be.

            Full royal gifts they bear for the King: Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering.

            The star shines out with a steadfast ray; The kings to Bethlehem make their way,

            And there in worship they bend the knee, As Mary’s child in her lap they see;

            Their royal gifts they show to the King; Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering.

            Thou child of man, lo to Bethlehem The kings are travelling, travel with them!

            The star of mercy, the star of grace, Shall lead they heart to its resting place.

            Gold, incense, myrrh thou canst not bring; Offer thy heart to the infant King.

            Offer thy heart!

            How brightly shines the morning star!

With grace and truth from heaven afar Our Jesse tree now bloweth.

Of Jacob’s stem and David’s line, For thee, my Bridegroom, King Divine,

My soul with love o’er floweth.

Thy word, Jesu, Inly feeds us, Rightly leads us, Life bestowing.

Praise O praise such love o’er flowing.

About the Hymns:

Angels from the Realms of Glory

This hymn was written by James Montgomery (1771-1854), who was born in Scotland of Irish parents.  His father, John Montgomery, was a Moravian pastor - apparently the only Moravian pastor serving in Scotland at the time. James Montgomery was just six years old when heard of the death of both his parents who had been in Barbados on a missionary trip. He spent the remainder of his childhood being raised within the school system in Ireland, where he did not excel academically. As a teenager, James was placed in an apprenticeship position to a baker. He grew frustrated with that position and so ran away to Sheffield, England. There he took on various jobs to support himself, while trying to find his niche.

In his early 20s, James was hired to work for a politically active newspaper, the Sheffield Register. James found that he loved to write, and that he was good at it. When the owner of the paper had to flee the country in order to avoid imprisonment, James purchased the newspaper, after which he himself was imprisoned twice for political articles that did not sit well with the governing authorities.

Throughout all his ups and downs, James remained a devout Christian. He remembered well the lessons taught to him by his missionary parents. He chose to follow in their footsteps and to champion the cause of Christ. His newspaper was his pulpit to speak out against social and moral injustice. And in that same paper he published his original hymns of praise. Angels From the Realms of Glory appeared in print on Christmas Eve, 1816.

The tune associated with this hymn is "Regent Square", written by Henry Smart (1813-1879), an English organist and composer, in 1867.  Smart named the tune after the Regent Square Presbyterian Church in London.  Smart was quite influential in persuading the Anglican Church to adopt congregational singing of hymns.  Luther (1483-1546) had introduced congregational singing much earlier in Germany, and had even written a number of hymns.  Isaac Watts (1674-1748) had written hundreds of hymns and had popularized hymn singing in non-conforming English churches. Charles Wesley (1707-1788) had done the same for Methodist Churches.  The Anglican Church, however, resisted hymn singing until quite late.  But Smart was a man of substantial energy and reputation, and was able to turn the tide and to persuade the Anglican Church to adopt hymn singing.

The First Noel

Although no Christmas season would be complete without “The First Noel”, very little is known about its origin. It is believed to have had its rise in France during the fifteenth century. Noel is a French word originating from Latin meaning "birthday." The song is thought to have been brought across the channel to England before 1823 by the wandering troubadours. The carol under the English form, "Nowell," became a great favorite for Christmas Eve, especially in the west of England. This was when the entire village gathered for singing and celebrating the bringing in of the Yule log. At this time carols were thought of as popular religious songs meant to be sung outside the church rather than within.

"The First Noel" portrays in vivid narrative style the story of the birth of Christ. All stanzas are needed to complete the entire event when the hymn is sung. The sixth stanza, which has been omitted from our current hymnal, urges us to join together to sing praises to God for the marvels of His creation and for the salvation provided through Christ's shed blood and reminds us that Christ came to redeem the whole world.