August 20, 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:

Somos del Señor - Emma Lou Diemer

This gentle and assuring Mexican folk hymn has quickly become a favorite song in both Spanish and English speaking churches in a variety of denominations. To date it has been published in over thirteen denominational hymnals or songbooks. While this hymn is lovely in its simplicity of melody and message, its origin is a bit more complicated.  It first made its appearance in the songbook, Celebremos II, 1983. This songbook was published by Discipleship Resources, an in-house publishing arm of The General Board of Discipleship, and developed as a result of MARCHA (Methodists Associated Representing Concerns of Hispanic Americans) recommendations that more Spanish indigenous music be collected for use in Spanish speaking churches. As a result, the first stanza was recorded and transcribed by Gertrude Suppe, serving on this editorial committee, after meeting a Mexican woman in Los Angeles following a worship service. It was then presented to the editorial committee for inclusion in Celebremos II. Elise Eslinger, music editor for Celebremos II, translated the first stanza from Spanish to English. Roberto Escamilla, editor of Celebremos II, added three additional verses in Spanish. These words were translated into English by George Lockwood, thereby creating the hymn as we know it today.

Roberto Escamilla, editor of both Celebremos I and Celebremos II, is a native of Hidalgo, Mexico, and has served many United Methodist churches in Texas and Oklahoma, both Spanish and English-speaking. He has a distinguished career as a pastor and a teacher that has spanned decades and continues to teach at Perkins School of Theology at the Course of Study School in the area of worship, the sacraments, and preaching.  The publishing of Himnario Metodista by United Methodists coincided with an awakening of Latino consciousness and a concern that their hymnals should be a clear voice of Hispanic Methodists rather than translations of hymns brought by Anglo-Saxon missionaries. During the next twenty years, a project task force headed by Roberto Escamilla (1931- ) produced Celebremos: Primera Parte, Colección de Coritos (Nashville, 1979), a collection of familiar choruses) and Celebremos: Segunda Parte, Colección de Himnos, Salmos y Cánticos (Nashville, 1983) containing hymns, psalms, and canticles from a broad global and ecumenical Latino perspective. UMH included eighteen selections in Spanish, of which nine were translations by George F. Lockwood, IV (1946- ). Mil Voces Para Celebrar (Nashville 1996) ed. Raquel Mora Martínez, contained services, psalter with respuestas (antiphons or responses), 394 hymns, prayers and amens.

This hymn’s first stanza references Romans 14:8 and as we can see it follows the biblical text very closely. The meaning is clear that whether living of dying, we are not alone, we belong to God. Furthermore, it reminds us of the resurrection promise and heritage that is ours because Christ died for us and lives again. What an amazing assurance that is for all Christians, and what a great reminder we need every day!  Stanzas 2-4, written by Dr. Escamilla, are based more loosely on John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

The success of “Pues si vivimos” is due in large part to the pairing of this gentle folk melody with the text.  Its composer is unknown.

            When we are living, it is in Christ Jesus, And when we’re dying, it is in the Lord.
            Both in our living and in our dying, We belong to God, we belong to God.

            Through all our living, we our fruits must give. Good works of service are for offering.
            When we are giving, or when receiving, we belong to God; we belong to God.

            'Mid times of sorrow and in times of pain, when sensing beauty or in love's embrace,
            whether we suffer, or sing rejoicing, we belong to God; we belong to God.

            Across this wide world, we shall always find those who are crying with no peace of mind,
            but when we help them, or when we feed them, we belong to God; we belong to God.

Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927) has written many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus (women's, men's), and electronic media. Diemer is a keyboard performer and over the years has given concerts of her own organ works at Washington National Cathedral, The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Grace Cathedral and St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, and others.  Diemer's compositional style over the years has varied from tonal to atonal, from traditional to experimental. She has written works for non-professional and professional performers, originally under the "Gebrauchsmusik" philosophy, but has produced many works, particularly for keyboard, that are difficult and challenging.  She was professor of theory and composition at the University of Maryland 1965-70, and joined the faculty of the University of California (UCSB) in 1971. She is professor emeritus, 1991–present.  While at UCSB, Diemer helped to establish the computer/electronic music program.

The Lone Wild Bird - Wilbur Held

The author, Henry Richard McFadyen (1877-1964), was the son of the Rev. Archibald McFadyen and Miriam Eliza Cromartie, both from North Carolina. He married Myrtle Louise Angle in 1907, and they had several children. He followed in his father’s footsteps, attending the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Union Theological Seminary, Richmond. McFadyen was ordained in El Paso Presbytery (1906), serving churches in Texas and North Carolina, working for the Presbytery of Nashville, and retiring in 1947, where he lived in North Carolina until his death in 1964. This is the extent of the biographical information available on the poet, other than it appears that his name was often misspelled (McFayden) or appears in an alternate spelling (MacFadyen) from time to time.

The text was written for a hymn-writing contest sponsored by the Homiletic and Pastoral Review while McFadyen was serving the Nashville Presbytery. The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion (1993) cites the author on the composition: “The hymn was written on a quiet Sunday afternoon in the fall or winter of 1925 and sent to the Review. It was forgotten until I was surprised with an announcement that I had been awarded the third prize in the contest.” The hymn was published in 1927 and included in The [Presbyterian] Hymnal (1933) with the original first line, “The lone, wild fowl.”

McFadyen’s original two stanzas follow:

            The lone, wild fowl in lofty flight is still with thee, nor leaves thy sight.
            And I am thine! I rest in thee, Great Spirit, come and rest in me.

            The ends of earth are in thy hand, the sea's dark deep and no man's land.
            And I am thine! I rest in thee, Great Spirit, come, and rest in me.

McFadyen’s original choice of words suggests a feral and somewhat inhospitable landscape, certainly what one might find in parts of West Texas. The author places this bleak environment in juxtaposition to the comfort offered by the “Great Spirit.” Perhaps the Native American tribes that once populated the region, especially the Apaches, influenced the author’s choice for addressing God.

David Johnson, while on a voyage by ship from Los Angeles to Bombay (now Mumbai), India in the early 1940s, was inspired by the vision of a solitary white bird in the vast expanse of the South Pacific. This experience seems to have influenced the pairing of this text with PROSPECT. Given the geographical setting of Johnson’s inspiration, changing the text from “fowl” to “bird” and “no man’s” to “far-off lands” makes sense. Seeing a fowl over a stark West Texas landscape is much different from spotting a lone bird in the middle of the rolling waves of the South Pacific.

Marty Haugen (b. 1950), who, in the spirit of McFadyen and Johnson, added three stanzas that amplify the theology of the original text. He took Johnson’s adaptation of McFadyen’s text completely without changes for his arrangement (1991).

The tune PROSPECT was first published in Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1835), only indicating “Graham” as its composer.  The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker, first published in 1835. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern hymnals and shape note collections like The Sacred Harp.

The roots of Southern Harmony singing, like the Sacred Harp, are found in the American colonial era, when singing schools convened to provide instruction in choral singing, especially for use in church services. This practice remained popular with Baptists in the South long after it fell from use in other regions.  In 1801, a book called The Easy Instructor by William Smith and William Little was published for the use of this movement; its distinguishing feature was the use of four separate shapes that indicated the notes according to the rules of solfege. A triangle indicated fa, a circle sol, a square la and a diamond, mi. To avoid proliferating shapes excessively, each shape (and its associated syllable) except for mi was assigned to two notes of the musical scale. A major scale in the system would be noted Fa - Sol - La - Fa - Sol - La - Mi - Fa, and a minor scale would be La - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Fa - Sol - La.  The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion was compiled by William "Singin' Billy" Walker and printed in 1835, with subsequent editions printed in Philadelphia. It contained 335 songs, went through several editions, and became one of the most popular southern tunebooks in the 19th century. In 1867 Walker claimed over 600,000 copies had been sold.

            The lone, wild bird in lofty flight is still with you, nor leaves your sight.

            And I am yours! I rest in you, Great Spirit, come, rest in me, too.

            The ends of earth are in your hand, the sea's dark deep and far off land.

            And I am yours! I rest in you, Great Spirit, come, rest in me, too.

            Each secret thought is known to you, the path I walk my whole life through;

            my days, my deeds, my hopes, my fears, my deepest joys, my silent tears.

            In secret depths you knit my frame,before my birth you spoke my name;

            within my soul, as close as breath, so near to me, in life, in death.

            O search me, God, my heart reveal, renew my life, my spirit heal;

            for I am yours, I rest in you; Great Spirit, come, rest in me, too.

Wilbur C. Held (1914-2015) was born in Des Plaines, Illinois, and received his B.M. and M.M. degrees at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He then attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he earned his S.M.D. A member of the Episcopal Church, for many years Dr. Held was Professor of Organ and Church Music at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.  He remained in this position for over 30 years, and for most of that time was also organist-choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio.  Dr. Held started composing little pieces for the organ because he felt there was a lack of teaching material aimed at developing style and registration, especially for the romantic use of the instrument.  Having written several suites primarily for pedagogical use, he turned his attention to broadening the repertoire for church use, continuing to stress modest technical requirements and flexibility of registration. To date he has published 325 organ works. He has served on the national councils of both the AGO and the Hymn Society of America, and has appeared as recitalist at their national conventions.

Laudes Domini - Robert Lind

“Beim frühen Morgenlicht” (With the early morning light) is the opening line of the original German hymn. While the exact origins of the text are unknown, it first appeared in Katholiches Gesangbuch für den öffentlich Gottesdienst im Biszthume (Catholic Songbook for Public Worship in the [locale of] Biszthume Würzburg ). It appears in an altered version in am 1855 Franconian collection of folksongs, Frankische Völkslieder.

It was translated in English by Edward Caswall (1814-1878), who was born at Yately, in Hampshire, where his father was a clergyman. In 1832, he went to Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1836, took a second-class in classics. His humorous work, "The Art of Pluck," was published in 1835; it is still selling at Oxford, having passed through many editions. In 1838, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1839, Priest. He became perpetual Curate of Stratford-sub-Castle in 1840. In 1841, he resigned his incumbency and visited Ireland. In 1847, he joined the Church of Rome. In 1850, he was admitted into the Congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, where he remained. He published several works in prose and poetry.

Joseph Barnby (b. York, England, 1838; d. London, England, 1896) composed LAUDES DOMINI for this text. Tune and text were published together in the 1868 Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern and they have been inseparable ever since. An accomplished and popular choral director in England, Barnby showed his musical genius early: he was an organist and choirmaster at the age of twelve. He became organist at St. Andrews, Wells Street, London, where he developed an outstanding choral program (at times nicknamed "the Sunday Opera"). Barnby introduced annual performances of J. S. Bach's St. John Passion in St. Anne's, Soho, and directed the first performance in an English church of the St. Matthew Passion. He was also active in regional music festivals, conducted the Royal Choral Society, and composed and edited music (mainly for Novello and Company). In 1892 he was knighted by Queen Victoria. His compositions include many anthems and service music for the Anglican liturgy, as well as 246 hymn tunes (published posthumously in 1897). He edited four hymnals, including The Hymnary (1872) and The Congregational Sunday School Hymnal (1891), and coedited The Cathedral Psalter (1873).

            When morning gilds the sky, my heart awakening cries: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            In all our work and prayer we ask his loving care: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            To God, the Word on high, the hosts of angels cry: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            Let mortals too upraise their voices in hymns of praise: May Jesus Christ be praised!

           

            Let earth's wide circle round in joyful notes resound: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            Let air and sea and sky from depth to height reply: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            Be this, when day is past, of all our thoughts the last: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            The night becomes as day when from the heart we say: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            Then let us join to sing to Christ, our loving King: May Jesus Christ be praised!

            Be this the eternal song through all the ages long: May Jesus Christ be praised!

Robert Lind studied at North Park College at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, majoring in organ, composition, and music theory. At the age of 20, he worked with Leo Sowerby and became his assistant at the Cathedral of St. James, Chicago. He succeeded his mentor, Dr. Sowerby, as organist-choirmaster at the Cathedral two years later. After serving in the US Army during the Vietnam era, Lind entered the publishing world, while continuing to serve various churches in the Chicago area. He is currently organist at Lord of Life Lutheran church in Schaumburg, IL. He has played recitals in Chicago area for several decades, has presented organ repertory workshops for the American Guild of Organists, and has composed extensively for the church. Mr. Lind has approximately 180 works published for the organ.

About the Choral Music:

Here I Am, Lord - Arnold Sherman

Dan Schutte is a native of Wisconsin, who received his education at St. Louis University with a bachelor’s degree in 1973, a master of divinity degree in 1979 at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, Calif., and a master’s degree in 1980 at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.  Following graduation, Mr. Schutte joined the Jesuits and served as the director of liturgy at Marquette University (1982-1986). He entered parish ministry in Milwaukee serving as director of music at Immaculate Heart of Mary and then Our Lady of Lourdes parishes.   He is currently director of music at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution, and tours extensively as a Christian concert artist. Of his many hymns, “Here I Am, Lord” is the most commonly sung.

A salient feature of Catholic renewal hymnody since the Second Vatican Council is a stirring and memorable refrain. “Here I Am, Lord” recalls immediately Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’”

An unusual attribute of this hymn is the change in point of view that the singer makes between the stanzas and the refrain. The stanzas speak from the perspective of God in the first person singular, while the refrain, though remaining in first person, is from the perspective of the singers of the hymn offering their lives to God.   Each stanza reflects a paradox. The powerful God, creator of “sea and sky,” “snow and rain” and “wind and flame” is also the God who hears the “people cry,” bears the “people’s pain” and “tend[s] the poor and lame.”  This is a hymn of transformation. God transforms the darkness into light in stanza one, melts “hearts of stone” with love in stanza two and nourishes the “poor and lame” with the “finest bread”—a clear Eucharistic reference.  Each stanza ends with the question, “Whom shall I send?” Rhetorical questions are very common poetical devices in Christian hymnody, but this is not one of them. The refrain immediately offers the response, “Here I am, Lord.”

Arnold Sherman (b. 1948), currently living in Tyler, Texas, is a free-lance composer and co-founder of Red River Music. Sherman is the founder and Director of the East Texas Handbell Ensemble.  A clinician and guest conductor, he has led choral and handbell workshops, festivals, and reading sessions throughout the United States, Canada, England, Japan and the Bahamas. Arnold has over three hundred choral and handbell pieces in print and has been an active member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers where he has served as Area IX Chairman.

            Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.

            I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.

            I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.

            All who dwell in dark and sin my hand will save.

            I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.

            Who will bear my light to them?  Whom shall I send?

            I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have heard my people’s pain.

            I have wept for love of them.  They turn away.

            I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.

            I will speak my word to them.  Whom shall I send?

            I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame,

            I will set a feast for them.  My hand will save.

            Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.

            I will give my life to them.  Whom shall I send?

            I will hold your people in my heart.

About the Hymns:

Be Thou My Vision
"Be Thou My Vision" (Old Irish: Rop tú mo baile or Rob tú mo bhoile) is a traditional hymn from Ireland. The most well-known English version, with some minor variations, was translated by Eleanor Hull and published in 1912. In 1919, the lyrics were set to the tune of the Irish folk tune "Slane", to which the song is sung to this day, both in English and Irish. The song dates from at least the eighth century, though the text dates to the sixth-century.

The original Old Irish text, "Rop tú mo Baile" is often attributed to Saint Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. Eochaid Mac Colla (c. 530 – 598), better known as Saint Dallan or Dallán Forgaill (Old Irish: Dallán Forchella; Latin: Dallanus Forcellius), was an early Christian Irish poet whose writings include the "Amra Choluim Chille" ("Elegy of Saint Columba") and "Rop Tú Mo Baile" ("Be Thou My Vision").  Saint Dallan was Chief Ollam of Ireland (similar to poet laureate), as well as a scholar of Latin scriptural learning. He helped to reform the Bardic Order at the Convention of Drumceat.  He reputedly wrote Amra Choluim Chille, which he completed shortly after the death of Saint Columba in 597, because Columba had successfully saved poets from expulsion from Ireland at the assembly of Druim Cett in 575. The “Amra Choluim Chille,” is the earliest Irish poem that can be dated.

"Rop tú mo Baile" had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries before its setting to music. It was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne in Ériu (the journal of the School of Irish Learning), in 1905. The English text was first versified by Eleanor Hull, in 1912, and is now the most common text used.

Let There be Peace on Earth

The folksong movement of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s produced many songs known for their ease of singing, straightforward texts and prophetic messages. Sy Miller (1908-1971) and his wife Jill Jackson-Miller (1913-1995) collaborated to produce a song that has become a signature composition devoted to world peace and harmony among peoples.  In 1955, she wrote the lyrics for “Let There Be Peace on Earth” while her husband wrote the melody. The song was introduced at a California retreat to a group of young people who were from a wide variety of religious, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The young people had come together for a weeklong experience devoted to developing friendship and understanding through education, discussion and working together. The song’s focus on peace and God made it easy to cross many boundaries.

Sy Miller wrote about the effect of the song: “One summer evening in 1955, a group of 180 teenagers of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment—‘Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me’—helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding.  When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with them and started sharing it. And, as though on wings, ‘Let There Be Peace on Earth’ began an amazing journey around the globe. It traveled first, of course, with the young campers back to their homes and schools, churches and clubs.”

Miller noted that the song was then shared in all 50 states at school graduations, PTA meetings, holiday gatherings, celebrations of Brotherhood Week, Veterans Day, Human Rights Day and United Nations Day. Kiwanis clubs sang it, as well as 4-H clubs, United Auto Workers, the American Legion, the B’nai B’rith and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).  The song was taped, copied, printed in songbooks and passed by word of mouth. Eventually it spread overseas, sung by Maoris in New Zealand and Zulus in Africa.  It received the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for “Outstanding achievement in helping to bring about a better understanding of the American Way of Life.” The National Conference of Christians and Jews has also honored the composers with the Brotherhood Award.