August 27, 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:

Prelude on “Newbury” – Healey Willan

Edwin Paxton Hood (1820-1885) was born in Half-moon Street, London.  He was self-educated. He became the Independent Minister at Nibley, Gloucestershire, and later at Offord Road, London, Brighton, Manchester, and Falcon Square, London. Hood was an excellent preacher, and one of the most voluminous writers his time. His published works, including The Age and its Architects, 1862; Exposition of Swedenborg, 1854; Lamps of the Temple, 1856; Thomas Carlyle, 1875; Oliver Cromwell, 1882, etc., are too numerous to list. He also edited (and was the chief contributor to) The Eclectic Review for 8 years, and The Preacher's Lantern for 2 years. As a hymn-writer, he is best known as the author of hymns for children. These hymns have a freshness and simplicity which are attractive to children. Some of the best and most popular were written for Sunday School Anniversaries at Nibley.  He also edited Our Hymn Book (1862) and The Children's Choir, 1870.  “I Love to Think, Though I am Young” is subtitled “Jesus, the Holy Child”.

The tune NEWBURY was a traditional English tune.  “I love to think, though I am young” appeared in numerous early Methodist Sunday School hymnals.

I love to think, though I am young, My Saviour was a child;
That Jesus walked this earth along, With feet all undefiled.

He kept His Father's word of truth, As I am taught to do;
And while He walked the paths of youth, He walked in wisdom too.

I love to think that He who spake, And made the blind to see,
And called the sleeping dead to wake, Was once a child like me.

That He who wore the thorny crown, And tasted death's despair,
Had a kind mother like my own, And knew her love and care.

I know 'twas all for love of me That He became a child,
And left the heavens, so fair to see, And trod earth's pathway wild.

Then, Saviour, who wast once a child, A child may come to Thee;
And oh! in all Thy mercy mild, Dear Saviour, come to me.

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."

Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen – Kauffmann

Paul Eber  (1511-1569) was a German Lutheran theologian and hymnwriter, known for the hymn for the dying, "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott".  He was born at Kitzingen in Franconia, and was educated at Nuremberg and Wittenberg, where he became the close friend of Philipp Melanchthon. In 1541 he was appointed professor of Latin grammar at Wittenberg, and in 1557 professor of the Old Testament. His range of learning was wide, and he published a handbook of Jewish history, a historical calendar intended to supersede the Roman Saints' Calendar, and a revision of the Latin Old Testament.  In the theological conflict of the time, he played a large part doing what he could to mediate between the extremists. From 1559 to the close of his life he was superintendent general of the electorate of Saxony. He attained some fame as a hymn writer, his best-known composition being Wenn wir in höchsten Nothen sein. 

The chorale melody was written by Wolfgang Figulus (Töpfer) (c. 1525-c.1591) who was Kantor of Thomaskirche in Leipzig from 1549 to 1551, then of the Princess-school in Meissen from 1551 to 1588.  Wolfgang Figulus composed Precatations (1553), cantiones sacrae for 4-8 voices (1575), and published collections of songs: Amores Filii dei (4 voices), 2 books of Christmas songs, hymns with figued bass (1594 and 1605), and Elementa musica (1550).

            Help me to praise God’s goodness, you dear little children,

            With songs and other tunes to be always thankful to him,

            Especially at the time when the year comes to an end,

            The sun is turned towards us, the new year is not distant.

            Let us seriously regard the rich mercy of the Lord

            And so not give slight consideration to his innumerable good deeds,

            But keep continually in mind how during this year he has given

            All the necessities of life and protected us from sorrow.

            How he has kept teachers, schools, and churches in good peace and calm,

            Nourishment for young and old he bestows also and with gentle hand

            He has dispensed what belongs to him, and

            Turned away devastation from this city and country.

            He has spared us in his fatherly mercy;

            But if he had rewarded all our wrongdoing with like punishment and pain,

            We would have long since perished

            Ruined in much distress, sinful as we are.

            Like a faithful father he is so merciful to us;

            If we repent our sins, believe in Jesus Christ

            In our hearts, without hypocrisy,

            He forgives all our sins, mitigates the punishment they bring,

            Stands by us in all troubles.

            We praise all this goodness of yours, Father in heaven,

            Which you reveal to us through Christ your son

            And we pray to you further: give us a joyful year,

                Protect us from all suffering and feed us gently.

Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735) was a Baroque composer and organist from southern Germany who composed primarily sacred works for the organ and voice.  Late in his life, Kauffmann started to publish a complete edition of his organ chorales; however, he died of consumption before they had been completely published. His widow completed the publication of the Harmonische Seelenlust.  While they did not make a great first impression, over the next century they became one of the most significant achievements in German organ music, and remained in high demand well into the 19th century.

About the Choral Music:

Sanctuary – Lloyd Larson

The writer of “Sanctuary”, Randy Lynn Scruggs (b. 1953) is a music producer, songwriter and guitarist. He had his first recording at the age of 13. He has won a Grammy Award and was twice named "Musician of the Year" at the Country Music Association Awards. He is the middle son of Earl Scruggs.  As a songwriter, Scruggs's credits include "We Danced Anyway", "Love Don't Care (Whose Heart It Breaks)", "Love Has No Right", "Don't Make It Easy for Me", "Chance of Lovin' You", and "Angel in Disguise".  Scruggs has worked with many artists, including Michael Card, The Talbot Brothers, Waylon Jennings, George Strait and Emmylou Harris. His career dates back to the 1970 with the release of All the Way Home, a collaboration with his older brother Gary. Scruggs recorded his debut solo LP, Crown of Jewels, in 1998.In 1994, Scruggs teamed up with Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

            Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;

            With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.

            I am a temple, God’s holy temple, for his spirit lives in me;

            Created as a sacred dwelling of the most High God!

Lloyd Larson (b. 1954) is an active composer and arranger for several major publishing companies of church and school music. His compositions and arrangements include well over 1,000 published works—including choral anthems, numerous extended Christmas, Easter and non-seasonal works, keyboard collections, vocal solo and duet collections, instrumental works for solo and ensembles, orchestrations, and handbell settings. It is Lloyd's work in his local church that continues to be the catalyst for much of his writing. He currently directs the adult choir in his home church in addition to being involved in worship planning and leadership.

Peace Like a River – Jay Althouse

          God’s Project

This song is an African-American spiritual, but the time and place of origin are unknown. It is a song of declaration using water as a simile to describe the qualities of peace, joy, and love in three stanzas. The image of the first stanza, “peace like a river,” may have come from Isaiah 66:12, where a similar picture is used.  The first three items of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) are love, joy, and peace. This spiritual compares the peace of God to a placidly flowing river, the joy of Christ to a merrily bubbling fountain, and the love of God to a deep, wide ocean.  The tune of this African-American spiritual developed with the text.

I’ve got peace like a river,

I’ve got love like the ocean,

I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.

Jay Althouse (b. 1951) is a native of Denver, Pennsylvania. He received a B.S. degree in Music Education and an M.Ed. degree in Music from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. For eight years he served as a rights and licenses administrator for a major educational music publisher. During that time he served a term on the Executive Board of the Music Publishers Association of America. As a composer of sacred and secular choral music, Mr. Althouse has more than 600 works in print for choirs of all levels. Althouse has co-written several cantatas and musicals with his wife, Sally K. Albrecht; compiled and arranged vocal solo collections; and is the co-writer of the best-selling books The Complete Choral Warm-up Book, and Accent on Composers.  He is the co-writer, with Sally K. Albrecht, of  I Hear America Singing, a choral work performed at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.

About the Hymns:

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

The Sunday School movement of the 19th and 20th centuries provided the inspiration for many hymns. William Henry Parker (1845-1929) was the head of an English insurance company and a devoted member of Chelsea Street Baptist Church, Nottingham, where he  taught Sunday school.  Early in life, he had written verses and this led him to compose hymns for use in Sunday School.  Thinking of the children in his classes who were always asking him to “tell us another story”, he wrote this text in 1885.  The melody was added when a publisher ran a contest to find an appropriate tune for it.  Fifteen of his Sunday School songs were published in the Sunday School Hymnary, 1905.  This hymn first appeared among Methodists in the 1935 Methodist Hymnal under the heading “Hymns for Children.”

Lord, I Want to Be a Christian

In Negro Slave Songs in the United States (1953), Miles Mark Fisher suggests that this African American spiritual could well have originated in Virginia in the 1750s, based on this story from Hanover, Virginia, 1756: "A black slave asked Presbyterian preacher William Davies, 'I come to you, sir, that you may tell me some good things concerning Jesus Christ and my duty to God, for I am resolved not to live any more as I have done. . . Lord [Sir], I want to be a Christian.'"  Both text and tune were first published in Folk Songs of the American Negro (1907), compiled by brothers Frederick Work and John W. Work, Jr.