Feberuary, 26, 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:

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling – Paul Manz

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, O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast! 
Let us all in thee inherit; let us find that second rest. 
Take away our bent to 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. 

Paul Manz (1919 – 2009), was an American composer for choir and organ. His most famous choral work is the Advent motet "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come", which has been performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge. His most famous organ works are his volumes of neo-Baroque chorale preludes and partitas. Paul Manz long served the church as recitalist, composer, teacher and leader in worship. He was the director of the newly established Paul Manz Institute of Church Music, and was Professor Emeritus of Church Music at Christ Seminary Seminex at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Paul Manz concertized extensively in North America.  As a performer, Manz was most famous for his celebrated hymn festivals. Instead of playing traditional organ recitals, Manz would generally lead a "festival" of hymns from the organ, in which he introduced each hymn an organ improvisation based on the hymn tune in question. The congregation would then sing the hymn with his accompaniment. Many volumes of these improvisations have been written out and published and are played by church organists throughout the world.

The esteem and respect with which Paul Manz is regarded can be seen in the many honors he received. He was twice named one of the “Ten Most Influential Lutherans,” served as National Councilor of the American Guild of Organists and is listed as one of the “101 Most Notable Organists of the 20th Century.”  The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago presented him with the distinguished "Confessor of Christ Award"; The Chicago Bible Society presented him with the “Gutenberg Award; and the Lutheran Institute of Washington, DC honored him with the first “Wittenberg Arts Award.”

Prelude on "In Heavenly Love Abiding" - Murray Bradshaw

Anna Laetitia Waring was a child prodigy, born in Wales in 1823. She learned Hebrew as a child and read the Old Testament in its original language daily. Although raised a Quaker, she joined the Anglican Church of England as an adult.  She published two works that contained dozens of her hymns, Hymns and Meditations in 1850 (in which “In Heavenly Love Abiding” appears) and Additional Hymns in 1858. She was also involved in prison ministry and the Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society.  Her hymn texts, particularly for “In Heavenly Love Abiding”, express strength and faith in times of struggle.

In Heavenly Love abiding, No change my heart shall fear,
And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me, My heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me, And can I be dismayed?

Wherever He may guide me, No want shall turn me back;
My Shepherd is beside me, And nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waketh, His sight is never dim, —
He knows the way He taketh, And I will walk with Him.

Green pastures are before me, Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o'er me, Where the dark clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure, My path to life is free,
My Savior has my treasure, And He will walk with me.

Murray Bradshaw (b. 1930) studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and received his PhD from the University of Chicago.  He is former Chair of Musicology at UCLA, and the author of several books and scholarly editions of music, including The Origin of the Toccata (1972), The Falsobordone: A Study in Renaissance and Baroque Music (1978), and Early Sacred Monody (4 vols; 1985-). His translation and study of Giovanni Luca Conforti's Breve et facile maniera s'essercitarsi(1593) appeared in 1998, and an earlier facsimile edition and translation, with Edward J. Sohnlen, of Girolamo Diruta's Il Transilvano (1593, 1603) appeared in 1983 and 1984. Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di anima e di corpo (1600), the first dramatic composition sung throughout, appeared in 2007 as the fourth volume of his series on "Early Sacred Monody." He has published numerous articles in many scholarly journals as well as compositions for the organ. He also served as the general editor of "Musicological Studies and Documents" and the "Miscellanea" series for the American Institute of Musicology.  He is organist at the 43^rd Church of Christ Scientist, Woodland Hills, California.

Prelude on "St. Thomas" - Healey Willan

“I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord” (1801) is perhaps the earliest hymn still currently used that was composed by a citizen of the United States. The author, Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), was one of the outstanding leaders of his time. Dwight was the grandson of the Calvinist preacher Jonathan Edwards. He demonstrated a precocious spirit at a young age, reading the Bible at age 4, learning Latin during grammar school and entering Yale College at age 13.  Graduating from Yale at 17, he taught grammar school in New Haven and then became a tutor at Yale. Dwight obtained a preacher’s license and served as a chaplain during the Revolutionary War with George Washington. Hymnologist Albert Bailey notes Dwight’s sermons and songs were an inspiration for the soldiers he served.

After the war, Dwight became a Congregational minister in Fairfield, Conn.  Dwight supplemented his insufficient pastoral salary by opening a private academy. The success of this academy led to his election in 1795 as president of Yale College.  Dwight left a legacy of improved scholastic standards at Yale College, serving not only as the school’s president, but also as professor of literature, oratory and theology, and college chaplain. He is credited with fostering a revival among the students through his sermons in the college chapel, a revival that spread to other New England colleges.

Dwight’s literary accomplishments were many. He may be best known today for his 1797 revision of Isaac Watts’ 1719 Psalms of David, to which he added 33 of his own texts. “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord,” published in the 1801 revision of Watts’ Psalms of David, is the only remaining text from Dwight’s Watts, prepared at the request of the General Association (Congregational) of Connecticut, that has survived. The original eight stanzas have been reduced to four or five in most hymnals. This paraphrase of a portion of Psalm 137 appeared originally under the title, “Love to the Church.”

I love thy kingdom, Lord, the house of thine abode, 
the church our blest Redeemer saved with his own precious blood. 

I love thy church, O God! Her walls before thee stand 
dear as the apple of thine eye, and graven on thy hand. 

For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend, 
to her my cares and toils be given, till toils and cares shall end. 

Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways, 
her sweet communion, solemn vows, her hymns of love and praise. 

Sure as thy truth shall last, to Zion shall be given 
the brightest glories earth can yield, and brighter bliss of heaven. 

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."

About the Choral Music:

Take My Heart – Roger Summers

Roger Summers wrote both the words and music for this anthem for treble voices.

            Take my heart, dear Lord, fill it with your love.

            Teach it faithfulness that is from above.

            Take my heart, dear Lord, it is all I have,

            I give my heart to you.

            Lord, my heart I offer, filled with love for you.

            Use it in your service; I give it to you.

            Take my hands, dear Lord, let them work for love.

            Teach them gentleness that is from above.

            Take my hands, dear Lord, they are all I have,

            I give my hands to you.

            Lord, my hands I offer, let them work for you.

            Use them in your service; I give them to you.

            Take my life, dear Lord, may it show your love.

            Teach me how to share what is from above.

            Take my life, dear Lord, it is all I have,

            I give my life to you.  

About the Hymns:

I Love to Tell the Story

"I Love to Tell the Story" is a well-known hymn which was written as a poem by an English evangelist, Katherine Hankey (1834-1911). Hankey was the daughter of a wealthy banker and was associated with the Clapham sect of William Wilberforce, a group of prominent evangelical Anglicans from the Clapham area. This group helped to establish the British and Foreign Bible Society, promoted the … abolition of slavery, and was involved in improving the lot of England's working classes. Hankey taught Bible classes for shop girls in London, visited the sick in local hospitals, and used the proceeds of her writings to support various mission causes. Her publications include Heart to Heart (1870) and The Old, Old Story and Other Verses (1879).

Hankey had a serious spell of sickness while in a mission in Africa. During her long days of convalescence, she wrote a long on the life of Jesus in 1866 in two parts. The first part was a poem of fifty stanzas, titled "The Story Wanted" (dated January 29, 1866) and second part titled "The Story Told" (dated November 18, 1866)

Certain verses were taken from Part I. by Dr. W. H. Doane in 1867 to make the popular and familiar hymn beginning, "Tell me the old, old story". From Part II. certain verses were selected to make the hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story".

The tune was composed by William G. Fischer and appeared in Fischer's Joyful Songs, Nos. 1 to 3 published in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Methodist Episcopal Book Room.

Apart from the context of the larger poem, some of the couplets of this text appear rather shallow or repetitious; thus the Psalter Hymnal includes only the original stanzas 1, 3, and 4. But the entire original poem provides a fine autobiographical testimony to Hankey's evangelical fervor, which she expressed in her writings and in her support of foreign and home missions (she taught church school classes to the rich and poor of London). The text simply affirms the Christian's zeal to "tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love" to the unsaved as well as to the saved, here on earth and in glory.

Pass it On

If you are a baby boomer, raised in the church, and born in the late 1940s or 1950s, you probably grew up singing Kurt Kaiser's "Pass It On" around a campfire or at youth group meetings.  Kurt Frederic Kaiser was born in 1934 in Chicago. He received his musical education from the American Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University.  Kaiser joined Word, Inc., in 1959 as director of artists and repertoire, and later became vice president and director of music for Word. Kaiser has received many honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for his contributions to the Christian music industry (1992); an honorary Doctor of Sacred Music degree from Trinity College in Illinois; and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Baylor University. In 1993 his album Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs was recognized with a Dove Award. In 2001 he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and was placed in the Hall of Honor by the Christian Booksellers Association. The Faithfulness in Service Award was presented to him in 2003. In 2011 he received the Hines Sims Award, named for the editor of the Baptist Hymnal (1956), one of the most successful hymnals in the history of the denomination. While known primarily for his youth musicals, Mr. Kaiser is an accomplished pianist and has written music for a variety of performing media in varied styles. He has composed more than sixty hymn texts and tunes, the most famous of which are “O how he loves you and me” (1975), and “Pass It On.”

In correspondence with the author, Mr. Kaiser provided the background to "Pass It On," one of his most famous songs: "In 1969, Ralph Carmichael and I collaborated on a musical, Tell It Like It Is. It was written to get young people involved in the Church. After reviewing what we had written, we decided there needed to be a closer, a modern 'Just As I Am'. On a Sunday night I was sitting in our den by the fireplace where there were remnants of a fire, and it occurred to me that it only takes a spark to get a fire going . . . and the rest came very quickly. My wife suggested that I should say something about shouting it from mountain tops, and that ended up in the third verse. It only took about 20 minutes to write the lyrics. Afterwards my wife and I went for a walk, letting the song ruminate in our minds."

“Pass It On” gained traction in broader congregational circles when it appeared in Hymns for the Living Church (1974) and Hymns for the Family of God (1976). While this song has received theological criticism by some, Kurt Kaiser joined a number of other composers in the late 1960s, 1970s, well into the 1980s who sought to offer an alternative to, in the words of Dr. Young, “the lifestyle of drug and sexual permissiveness of the youth counterculture, embodied in the Haight-Asbury flower children.” One cannot separate the text from its folk guitar-based music. Many lifelong faith commitments to Christ were made by post-World War II baby boomers around campfires singing this song. Few songs from this era have reached the iconic status of “Pass It On,” which, though informal in its jargon, might be seen as an extension of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20.

Lord, You Give the Great Commission

Jeffery W. Rowthorn (b. 1934) wrote this text in 1978 while he was Chapel Minister at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut. The text was first published in Laudamus (1980), a hymnal supplement edited by Rowthorn and used at the Yale Divinity School.  This powerful text about the various ministries of the Christian church has two striking features: each stanza includes a quotation of Christ's words (usually from Matthew), and a concluding refrain line turns each stanza into a prayer. Christ's words are applied to the tasks of God's people in the world with a fervent prayer that the Spirit will equip the saints to carry out these ministries faithfully.

Rowthorn graduated from Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Union Theological Serninary in New York, and Cuddeson Theological College in Oxford. Ordained in 1963 in the Church of England, he served several congregations in England before immigrating to the United States, where he was chaplain at Union Theological Seminary and a faculty member in liturgics at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, which he helped to establish. He was then elected Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. The writer of several hymns, Rowthorn was also coeditor with Russell Schulz-Widmar of A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools (1991). Rowthorn has since moved to Paris, where he is Bishop in Charge of the American Churches in Europe.