July 2, 2017 - Welcome Abril Goforth, new senior pastor

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:

Variation on "Chester" - David Crawford Stills

"Chester" is a patriotic anthem composed by William Billings and sung during the American Revolutionary War. Billings wrote the first version of the song for his 1770 songbook The New England Psalm Singer, and made improvements for the version in his The Singing Master's Assistant (1778). It is the latter version that is best known today.  Although this cannot be established with certainty, it appears that these lyrics are by Billings himself.

Let tyrants shake their iron rod, And Slav'ry clank her galling chains,
We fear them not, we trust in God, New England's God forever reigns.

Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton too, With Prescot and Cornwallis join'd,
Together plot our Overthrow, In one Infernal league combin'd.

When God inspir'd us for the fight, Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc'd,
Their ships were Shatter'd in our sight, Or swiftly driven from our Coast.

The Foe comes on with haughty Stride; Our troops advance with martial noise,
Their Vet'rans flee before our Youth, And Gen'rals yield to beardless Boys.

What grateful Off'ring shall we bring? What shall we render to the Lord?
Loud Halleluiahs let us Sing, And praise his name on ev'ry Chord.

The song was later provided with religious (as opposed to patriotic) words by Philip Doddridge, and in this form is a favorite of Sacred Harp singers. The Doddridge words are as follows:

Let the high heav'ns your songs invite, These spacious fields of brilliant light,
Where sun and moon and planets roll, And stars that glow from pole to pole.

Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise, 'Round the whole earth and never stand,
So when Thy truth began its race, It touched and glanced on ev'ry hand.

David Crawford Stills (b. 1932), a leading Atlanta organist, has concertized throughout the US and Europe and was the organist for the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Beginning with a straightforward introduction of the "Chester" theme, Stills has created five unique variations suitable for the church service or for concert performance. Stills is a graduate of Atlanta College and Morehouse College, and is organist and choir director at Warren Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta.

Sweet Hour of Prayer – Timothy Albrecht

William W. Walford (1772-1850), a blind preacher of England, is the author of the hymn beginning "Sweet hour of prayer." This hymn first appeared in print in the New York Observer September 13, 1845.  Rev. Thomas Salmon, who was settled as the pastor of the Congregational Church at Coleshill in 1838, is believed to have been the contributor who says of the hymn: "During my residence at Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, I became acquainted with W. W. Walford, the blind preacher, a man of obscure birth and connections and no education, but of strong mind and most retentive memory. In the pulpit he never failed to select a lesson well adapted to his subject, giving chapter and verse with unerring precision, and scarcely ever misplacing a word in his repetition of the Psalms, every part of the New Testament, the prophecies, and some of the histories, so as to have the reputation of knowing the whole Bible by heart.  I rapidly copied the lines with my pencil as he uttered them, and send them for insertion in the Observer if you think them worthy of preservation."

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care, 
and bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and wishes known. 
In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, 
and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer! 

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! The joys I feel, the bliss I share 
of those whose anxious spirits burn with strong desires for thy return! 
With such I hasten to the place where God my Savior shows his face, 
and gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer! 

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! Thy wings shall my petition bear 
to him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless. 
And since he bids me seek his face, believe his word, and trust his grace, 
I'll cast on him my every care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer! 

Dr. Timothy Albrecht spent his childhood in Los Angeles and Wisconsin.  He received his Bachelors in organ from Oberlin College and Oberlin Conservatory, and his masters and doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where he won the Performer’s Certificate. Shortly after graduation, he represented the United States at the Sixth International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. He has spent two sabbaticals at Cambridge University in England, which has conferred on him Life Membership.  At Emory University, Albrecht holds a joint faculty appointment as Professor of Music at Candler Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 1982, and in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music  He also serves as University Organist. Albrecht has authored twelve published volumes of organ music and has recorded nine solo compact discs, including several Bach CDs and recordings of his own compositions.

The Arrival – G. F. Handel

Solomon, HWV 67, is an English oratorio by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The anonymous libretto, currently thought to have been penned by the Jewish-born poet/playwright Moses Mendes (d.1758), is based on the biblical stories of wise king Solomon from the First Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles with additional material from Antiquities of the Jews by ancient historian Flavius Josephus. The music was composed between 5 May and 13 June, 1748 and the first performance took place on 17 March, 1749 with Caterina Galli in the title role at the Covent Garden Theatre in London where it had two further performances. Handel revived the work in 1759.

The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas. His opportunities to set English texts to music had at first been more limited; he had spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy Duke of Chandos where he had written church anthems and two stage works, Acis and Galatea and Esther; and had composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of Coronation anthems for George II in 1727, which had made a huge impact. In 1731, a performance of the 1718 version of Esther, a work in English based on a Biblical drama by Jean Racine, was given in London without Handel's participation and had proved popular, so Handel revised the work and planned to present it at the theatre where his Italian operas were being presented. However the Bishop of London would not permit a drama based on a Biblical story to be acted out on the stage, and therefore Handel presented Esther in concert form, thus giving birth to the English oratorio. Such was the success of his oratorios in English that eventually Handel abandoned Italian opera, his last being Deidamia in 1741, and produced a string of masterpieces of oratorio in English.

Opera seria, the form of Italian opera that Handel composed for London, focused overwhelmingly on solo arias and recitatives for the star singers and contained very little else; they did not feature separate choruses. With the English oratorios Handel had the opportunity to mix operatic arias in English for the soloists with large choruses of the type that he used in the Coronation anthems. The oratorios found a wider audience among more social classes than the aristocratic audience who had sponsored and enjoyed Handel's Italian operas. "Solomon" was widely recognized by commentators of the day as a eulogy for Georgian England, with the just and wise King Solomon representing King George II and the mighty, prosperous kingdom of Israel reflecting the similarly happy state of England at the time of the work's premiere, in the view of its creators.

In Act Three we see a state visit from the Queen of Sheba to Solomon's kingdom. Act 3 begins with the very famous Sinfonia known as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba". (Note: "Sinfonia" in this context means a purely instrumental piece.)  The king and his people entertain her with a musical masque of magnificent choruses depicting in turn the "lulling" sound of gentle music, the desire for military glory, the despair of an unhappy lover, and a storm which turns to calm. All celebrate the Israel of the wise ruler Solomon as a Golden Age of peace, happiness, and prosperity.

About the Choral Music:

This is My Song – Marty Haugen

This is of the most stirring tunes in the United Methodist Hymnal. The melody comes from a symphonic tone poem by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) by the name of “Finlandia”, Op. 26. It was adapted for the 1933 hymnal of the Presbyterian Church in the United States to be sung to the text “Be Still, My Soul”.  Not only is the spirit of the music appropriate for “This Is My Song,” but the history of Sibelius’ composition also adds meaning. He wrote “Finlandia” as a patriotic offering in 1899. The composition was performed as the last of seven musical pieces that accompanied a series of tableaus, each reflecting portions of Finnish history. Out of agitated and tumultuous opening music symbolizing the struggles of the Finnish people, the serenity of the hymn-like melody emerges, symbolizing hope and resolution.  In February 1899, a manifesto from Tsar Nicholas II declared Russia’s right to rule Finland without the consent of local legislators. Sibelius’ choice of “Finlandia” as a title for the composition served as a subtle form of protest against Russian censorship; however, that censorship was so intense that it couldn’t be performed publically as “Finlandia”, so other titles were devised including “Happy Feelings at the Awakening of Finnish Spring.”

Lloyd Stone (1912-1993), an American public school teacher who lived in Hawaii, authored 10 books of poetry and two children’s books. He wrote the first two stanzas of “This Is My Song” for its inclusion in the collection, Sing a Tune (1934). During the brief time of peace between two world wars, it was a song of hope for all nations—“for lands afar and mine.” The poet acknowledges love for his own country, but balances that with the love that others feel around the world for their nations.  The second stanza begins by alluding to the blue skies, the ocean, sunlight, “cloverleaf and pine” of Stone’s own country, but then acknowledges that in other countries, “skies are everywhere as blue as mine.” The stanza concludes: “O hear my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.”

Methodist theologian Georgia Harkness (1881-1974) added a third stanza at the request of Marion Norris, then executive secretary of the Wesleyan Service Guild of the Methodist Church. Harkness related: “[Marion Norris] wrote me that they had been using the first two verses but wanted something with a more distinctly religious note as a supplement to them. I cannot tell you exactly how long ago this was, but since I can recall writing the stanza at my desk when I was teaching at Mount Holyoke 1937-39, it was within this period.”  The hymn was adopted as the official hymn of the Wesleyan Service Guild and was widely sung throughout the former Methodist Church.

Harkness, one of the first women ordained in the Methodist Church and a leading ecumenical theologian of her day, added two additional stanzas, the second of which appears in our hymnal as the final stanza of the hymn. It is a prayer to the “Lord of all earth’s kingdoms.” Harkness skillfully ties the reference to “earth’s kingdoms” to a petition found in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.” Christ becomes the central figure in Harkness’ stanza, as one who will unite us in service to each other and help us to “learn to live as one.” Her stanza ends with a personal dedication: “Myself I give thee; let thy will be done.”  In this stanza, Harkness transforms a hymn of peace with vague religious overtones into a prayer for peace that comes from the author of peace, Jesus Christ.

Marty Haugen (b. 1950) is a liturgical composer, workshop presenter, performing and recording artist, and author from Eagan, Minnesota. For the past 30 years, Marty has presented hundreds of workshops and concerts across North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim. He has over 30 recordings and more than 400 separate printed editions available through GIA Publications, Inc. and other publishers. He has a number of published mass settings for Roman Catholic communities, including Mass of Creation, and several worship settings for Lutheran congregations, including Holden Evening Prayer and Now the Feast and Celebration, as well as a communion setting for the new Evangelical Worship Book (ELW-Augsburg Fortress).

            This is my song, O God of all the nations,

            A song of peace for lands afar and mine.

            This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.

But other hearts in other lands are beating

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine;

But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

So hear my song, O God of all the nations,

A song of peace for their land and for mine.

Teach us to sing, O God of all creation,

A song of hope for ocean, sky, and pine.

Teach us to walk the way that ends division,

Till every land and nation love entwines.

Then will all peoples see your glorious vision:

            The world at peace, beloved and divine.

About the Hymns:

 Forward Through the Ages

Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840-1929) was a Harvard-trained Unitarian minister. Known for his interest in hymns and worship, he served congregations in Massachusetts, Illinois, Missouri and California. The Thought of God in Hymns and Poems (1918) contains 50 of his hymns.  Eminent British hymnologist John Julian noted in 1896: “Amongst Unitarian hymn writers of the last twenty years Mr. Hosmer is the most powerful and original known to us.”  Though he displayed an aptitude for poetry at a young age, most of Hosmer’s hymns were written after he turned 40.  He wrote the hymn in 1908 for the installation of a minister for the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, Calif.  It is typical of the social gospel hymns which were the product of the turn-of-the-20th-century theology that expressed optimism and the evolving perfection of humanity. Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) solidified the social gospel in his volume Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907). By the 1930s the social gospel hymn had become the marching song of liberal Protestantism in the United States.

O Church of God, United

"O Church of God, United" was composed for a hymn search conducted by The Hymn Society of America (now The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada) for the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Evanston, Illinois, on the campus of Northwestern University, August 15-31, 1954, on the theme, "Jesus Christ – the Hope of the World." This contest attracted nearly 500 submissions. Though the hymn did not win the competition, its merit was recognized, appearing in the July 1954 issue of The Hymn, the journal of the Society, and included in a small collection entitled Eleven Ecumenical Hymns; written at the invitation of The Hymn Society of America in recognition of the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Evanston. Illinois. August, 1954.

The author, Frederick B. Morley (1884-1969) was born in Canada and educated at Syracuse University and Boston University School of Theology. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1915 and served churches in New Jersey and New York.