December 31, 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:

As Joseph was a-Walking – Franklin Eddings

Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876, in London) was an English organist and songwriter known in British music circles for his authorship of a large number of hymns and other pieces for the organ.

At age nine, he became the organist at Olney church in Buckinghamshire, where his father was curate. He practiced law until he was almost forty years of age, when he abandoned the profession and devoted himself to music.  He was organist at a number of leading London churches, including St Olave's in Tooley Street, Southwark, where he designed a new grand organ.  Eventually the degree of Mus. Doc. was conferred on him by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first to receive such a degree from that quarter for over 200 years. He did much to raise the standard of church music both mechanically and musically.  In 1852, he patented an "electrical-action apparatus" for organs. He wrote much music and over 1,000 hymn tunes, and edited a large number of hymn books. His most famous tune is "Irby", the tune to which the Christmas carol, "Once in Royal David's City" is usually sung.  He wrote both the words and the music to “As Joseph Was a-Walking”, which was first published in Carols for Use in Church, 1894.

As Joseph was a walking, he heard an Angel sing;
His song was of the Coming of Christ, our Saviour King.
The good man, long dejected, had knelt to Him Who hears;
The blest refrain now swelling, removes his doubts and fears.

"Be no afraid when hearing the Choirs Seraphic sing;
This Night shall be the Birthtide of Christ the Heavenly King:
He neither shall in housen be born, nor yet in hall;
Nor bed, nor downy pillow, but in an oxen stall.

"He neither shall be clothed in purple nor in pall,
But in the fair white linen that usen babies all.
He neither shall be rocked in silver nor in gold;
But in a wooden Manger, that resteth on the mould."

As Joseph was a walking, thus did an Angel sing;
At night the Mother-maiden gave birth to Christ the King.
The Blessed Virgin wrapped Him from nightly winds, so wild;
The lowly Manger held Him Her wondrous Holy Child.

And marshalled on the mountain, the Angels raise their Song;
The Shepherds hear the story in anthems clear and strong.
The Herald-hymn obeying, nor loth, nor yet afraid,
They seek the lowly dwelling, and there the Child is laid!

Then be ye glad, good people, this Night of all the year;
And light ye up your candles, His Star it shineth near.
And all in earth and Heaven, Our Christmas Carol sing: --
Goodwill, and Peace, and Glory! and all the bells shall ring.

Franklin Eddings (1933 – 2014), an accomplished composer and music teacher, was a fixture in Utah music circles for 60 years. Franklin Eddings brought the gift of music to thousands of piano, organ, and at one time, accordion students along the Wasatch Front. At least 35 of his top students were first place winners in statewide, BYU, and national performance competitions. He produced over 250 compositions and arrangements in his career.  A favorite student of Tabernacle organist Dr. Alexander Schreiner, Franklin Eddings' works have been performed by Mormon Tabernacle organists and shared with musicians all around the world.   Eddings has been a devoted member of the LDS Church all his life, a specialist in genealogy, and early in his career, an employee of the LDS Church Genealogy Department.

Il est Né – Dale Wood

"Il est né, le divin Enfant" (English: He is born, the divine Child) is a traditional French Christmas carol, which was published for the first time in 1862 by R. Grosjean, organist of the Cathedral of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, in a collection of carols entitled Airs des Noëls lorrains. The text of the carol was published for the first time in a collection of ancient carols, published in either 1875 or 1876 by Dom G. Legeay.  The text of the carol, which is written in four stanzas, details the birth of Jesus and the wait of 4000 years for the event, as told by the prophets. It both observes the humility of God's birth in a stable and calls on the Kings of the Orient to attend the child.  The carol has been translated into English numerous times. One translation (close in meaning and keeping to the original meter) is by Edward Bliss Reed (1930):

        He is born, the Heav'nly Child, Oboes play; set bagpipes sounding
        He is born, the Heav'nly Child. Let all sing His nativity.

        'Tis four thousand years and more, Prophets have foretold His coming,
        'Tis four thousand years and more, Have we waited this happy hour. 

         Ah, how lovely, Ah, how fair, What perfection is His graces,
         Ah, how lovely, Ah, how fair. Child divine, so gentle there. 

         In a stable lodged is He, Straw is all He has for cradle.
         In a stable lodged is He, Oh how great humility! 

         Jesus Lord, O King with power, Though a little babe You come here,
         Jesus Lord, O King with power, Rule o'er us from this glad hour.

Dale Wood (1934-2003) was a prominent composer, organist, choral director, and clinician.  He was honored many times by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for his “very important contribution towards the creation and development of contemporary American church music”.  He wrote many collections of organ works, most of which are based on both old and new hymn tunes.  Over eight million copies of his publications have been purchased in over 50 countries.

Shepherds – Wilbur Held

 A song which encourages us to honor Christ based on the account of the angels’ appearance to the shepherds of Bethlehem after the birth of Christ is "Come, All Ye Shepherds." The text is a Bohemian folk song.  The carol owes its existence to a custom in Bohemia (and in other parts of Europe) of presenting religious plays on festival days.  On such occasions many of the songs used have been of anonymous origin.  All the evidence concerning this carol indicates that it is of rather recent origin, for it cannot be found in the compilations of folk-lore of Czechoslovakia until one gets up almost to the threshold of the twentieth century.  The tune (Kommet Ihr Hirten or Hirtenlied) is a Bohemian folk melody.

Come, all ye shepherds, ye children of earth,
Come ye, bring greetings to yon heavenly birth.
For Christ the Lord to all men is given,
To be our Savior sent down from heaven:
Come, welcome Him!

Hasten then, hasten to Bethlehem’s stall,
There to see heaven descend to us all.
With holy feeling, there humbly kneeling,
We will adore Him, bow down before Him,
Worship the King.

Angels and shepherds together we go
Seeking the Savior from all earthly woe;
While angels, winging, His praise are singing,
Heaven’s echoes ringing, peace on earth bringing,
Good will to men.

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.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

Sweet Little Jesus Boy – Robert MacGimsey

Robert MacGimsey (1898-1979) was born in Pineville, Louisiana.  MacGimsey spent most of his formative years in the company of blacks who lived and worked for and with his family. Due to their influence he wrote in an "African American" style, and he is often mistakenly assumed to be a black composer. His most famous song was "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" (1934), a well-known Christmas carol written in the style of an African-American spiritual.

Sweet little Jesus Boy They made You be born in a manger
Sweet little Holy Child They didn't know who You were

Didn't know You'd come to save us Lord, to take our sins away.
Our eyes was blind; we could not see.
We didn't know who You were

Long time ago You were born.

Born in a manger, Lord, Sweet little Jesus Boy.
The world treat You mean, Lord; Treat me mean, too.
But that's how things is down here.
We didn't know ‘twas You.

You done told us how we been a-tryin'
Master, You done showed us how Even when You’s dyin'.

            It just seems like we can't do right; Look how we treated You
            Please, please, forgive us, Lord,
            We didn't know ‘twas You.

                        Sweet little Jesus Boy Born a long time ago
                        Sweet little Holy Child
                        We didn't know who You were.

About the Hymns:

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" was written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts.  It first appeared on December 29, 1849, in the Christian Register in Boston. Sears is said to have written these words at the request of his friend, William Parsons Lunt, pastor of United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts.

This may be the only commonly sung Christmas carol in our hymnals that does not mention the birth of Christ! The focus is rather on the song of the angels, “Peace on the earth, good will to men,” taken from Luke 2:14.   The hymn’s central theme contrasts the scourge of war with the song of the angels’ “peace to God’s people on earth.” This is one of the earliest social gospel hymns written in the U.S.  Sears’ context was the social strife that plagued the country as the Civil War approached. This hymn comes from a Boston publication, Christian Register, published on Dec. 29, 1849.   The original stanza three, missing from our hymnals, sheds light on the poet’s concerns about the social situation in the U.S. in the mid-19th century.

      But with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long;
      Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong;
      And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song, which they bring:
      O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing!”

December 24, 2017, 7 & 11 pm candlelight communion

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:

Away in a Manger - John Ferguson

The origin of this popular Christmas hymn is shrouded in apocryphal associations with Martin Luther (1483-1546).  Methodist hymnologist Fred Gealy (1894-1976) noted that “evidence suggests that [“Away in a Manger”] is wholly an American product. The original two-stanza form probably originated among German Lutherans in Pennsylvania about 1885.”  The hymn first appeared with two stanzas in Little Children’s Book for Schools and Families, a Sunday school collection published in 1885 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America.

Stanza three first appeared unattributed in Gabriel’s Vineyard Songs (1892), compiled by gospel composer Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932).  Gealy conjectured “the song may have been contributed by an editor or publisher who thought the two narrative stanzas needed to be supplemented by a prayer.”

The only German version of the carol is clearly a translation from the English because the metrics are not natural to the German language. Furthermore, this version was first included in Herbert W. Werneke’s Christmas Songs and Weihnachts-Lieder (1934), a privately published collection. The false association between “Away in a Manger” and Luther appears to have been made by James R. Murray (1841-1905), who in his Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses (1887) called it “‘Luther’s Cradle Hymn,’ composed by Martin Luther for his children and still sung by German mothers to their little ones.” However, no one has uncovered an original German version by the reformer. Theophilus Baker Stork (1814-1874)  wrote Luther at Home (1872), in which he stated, “Luther’s carol for Christmas, written for his own child Hans, is still sung.” The irony of this assertion is that we actually have a Luther hymn that may have been written for young Hans, “Von Himmel hoch da komm ich her” (1531), published in Joseph Klug’s Gesangsbuch (1535).

        Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
        The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
        The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay,
        The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

       The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes ,
       But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.
       I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,
       And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

       Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay
       Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
       Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
       And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.

John Allen Ferguson (b. 1941) is an American organist, teacher, and composer.  Ferguson is probably best known for his many choral compositions. He has also published alternate accompaniments and festival arrangements for organ, brass, and percussion of hymns and Lutheran liturgy, and has appeared on several recordings. He has more than 100 titles to his credit.   Ferguson earned a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, an M.M. from Kent State University, and a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Russell Saunders. Ferguson is a well-respected organ teacher and leader of congregational singing via the organ. He has been invited as a visiting professor by the faculties of the University of Notre Dame and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Long associated with the Holtkamp Organ Company, Ferguson's doctoral dissertation was on the work of Walter Holtkamp Sr. "Walter Holtkamp: American Organ Builder" was published in 1979 by Kent State University Press. He also served as music editor of the United Church of Christ Hymnal, published in 1974.  He worked as both professor of music at Kent State University and organist-choirmaster at Kent United Church of Christ until 1978. He later worked as the director of music at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1983 he became the Elliot & Klara Stockdahl Johnson professor of organ and church music at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and later became the conductor of the St. Olaf Cantorei.

In the Bleak Midwinter - Mark Lochstampfor

"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti written before 1872 in response to a request from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem. It was published posthumously in Rossetti's Poetic Works in 1904.  The poem became a Christmas carol after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst.  In verse one, Rossetti describes the physical circumstances of the Incarnation in Bethlehem. In verse two, Rossetti contrasts Christ's first and second coming. The third verse dwells on Christ's birth and describes the simple surroundings, in a humble stable and watched by beasts of burden. Rossetti achieves another contrast in the fourth verse, this time between the incorporeal angels attendant at Christ's birth with Mary's ability to render Jesus physical affection. The final verse shifts the description to a more introspective thought process.  The poem became a Christmas carol after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst.

            In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow,  

In the bleak mid-winter Long ago.    

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him Nor earth sustain;    

Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign:       

In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed     

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

Enough for Him, whom cherubim Worship night and day,   

A breastful of milk, And a mangerful of hay;  

Enough for Him, whom angels Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel Which adore.   

Angels and archangels May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air.       

But only His mother In her maiden bliss     

Worshipped the Beloved With a kiss.  

What can I give Him, Poor as I am?    

If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb;     

If I were a wise man I would do my part;       

Yet what I can, I give Him - Give my heart.

Mark Lochstampfor, Ph.D., is professor of music at Capital University, where he serves as chair of the Conservatory of Music. As a keyboardist, Professor Lochstampfor has played in a number of ensembles, focusing on contemporary compositions and American musical idioms such as rock and jazz.

Joy to the World - Gordon Young

Our Christmas season would hardly seem complete without the singing of Joy to the World, the most joyous of the carols. Yet Isaac Watts, its author, never intended it to be a Christmas carol at all. Rather, it was a part of his Psalms of David Imitated, published in 1719, which contained paraphrases of many of the Psalms in New Testament language.

The story of the hymn, Joy to the World, is the story of the author, Isaac Watts (1675-1748), who is universally acknowledged as "The Father of English Hymnody". He has earned the title, not because he was first to write English hymns, but because he gave impetus to hymnody and established its place in the worship of the English church.  For over one hundred years, congregational singing had been strictly limited to the Psalms of the Old Testament in poetic form. Many of these rhymed Psalms were so unnatural that Samuel Wesley, father of the famous brothers Charles and John, called them "scandalous doggerel," and his opinion was shared by many.

The birth of Isaac Watts to a dissenting deacon and the daughter of a Huguenot refugee was followed by fourteen years of persecution and hardships for the entire family. Perhaps this suffering was responsible for Isaac Watts’ ill health, for he grew only to a height of just over five feet and was weak and sickly all his life.  Though weak in body, the boy was strong in mind and spirit and early in life showed promise of poetic capability. After one Sunday morning service, Isaac, then fifteen years old, complained of the atrocious worship in song. One of the deacons challenged him: "Give us something better, young man." His answer was to write hundreds of hymns that are still sung today.

 Joy to the World is the "imitation" of the last half of Psalm 98. The author transformed the old Jewish psalm of praise for some historic deliverance into a Christian song of rejoicing for the salvation of God that began to be manifested when the Babe of Bethlehem came "to make his blessing flow far as the curse is found." This is one of the most joyous hymns in all Christendom because it makes so real what Christ’s birth means to all mankind.  The tune to which the hymn is sung is attributed to George Frederick Handel and bears resemblance to phrases of his great oratorio, Messiah. Notably the first four tones match the beginning of the chorus, "Lift Up Your Heads."

        Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king;
        Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.

        Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let all their songs employ;
        While fields and floods, rocks hill, and plains repeat the sounding joy.

        No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;
        He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.

        He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
        The glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love.

Gordon Young (1919-1998) was born in McPherson, Kansas, and during his lifetime was recognized as one of this country's great church organists. He was a prolific and talented composer for both organ and choir, with nearly 1000 published works.  During the course of his career, he was a radio organist in Tulsa, a music critic and columnist for daily newspapers in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and choirmaster in churches in Philadelphia and Kansas City. Mr. Young taught organ in conjunction with Wayne State University and for 15 years was organist and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Detroit.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

Breath of Heaven - Amy Grant & Chris Eaton

Chris Eaton wrote the first version of “Breath of Heaven,” but when Amy Grant heard it, she asked for permission to rewrite it from a woman’s perspective. In an interview she explained what happened next:  "That song is so profound, but the chorus is so simple. It's authentic and perfectly written, because it uses an incredibly moving economy of words. And, selfishly, I just really wanted to be able to use the song on my Christmas record. So finally Chris said, 'Well, OK, just for this one version, we'll let you put a different lyric on there.' I said, 'Well, you couldn't possibly have written the lyric I'm thinking of, because I'm going to write it from a woman's perspective.' I was very pregnant at the time, and I felt that was part of the inspiration as I tried to imagine Mary's experience.”

This song imagines what Mary must have felt like as a frightened young girl who has just learned she has been chosen to carry the Son of God in her womb. Mary could not know what the future would hold. Before it was over, she would experience heartache, opposition, slander, confusion, anguish, despair and loneliness. She would face the greatest pain a mother can endure when she watched her son die on the cross (John 19:25).  Amy Grant commented that the song connects with people because it touches a universal chord in the human heart. "It is a prayer that fits a lot of circumstances because it is a cry of mercy.”

Christopher Neville Eaton (b. 1958) is a British Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter.  Eaton was a member of the 1980s bands Lyrix and the Mark Williamson Band prior to his solo career. He has toured the US to promote his albums, and also toured Europe as opening act for Art Garfunkel in 1998.  He worked on Roger Daltrey's 1987 solo album Can't Wait to See the Movie, singing backing vocals.

Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, author and media personality. She is known for performing contemporary Christian music (CCM) and for a successful crossover to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop”.  She had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, won six Grammy Awards and 22 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, and had the first Christian album ever to go Platinum. She was honored with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006[5] for her contributions to the entertainment industry. She made her debut as a teenager, and gained fame in Christian music during the 1980s with such hits as "Father's Eyes", "El Shaddai", and "Angels". In the mid-1980s, she began broadening her audience and soon became one of the first CCM artists to cross over into mainstream pop.

        I have traveled many moonless nights, cold and weary with a babe inside.
        And I wonder what I’ve done.
        Holy Father, You have come and chosen me now to carry Your Son.

        I am waiting in a silent prayer.  I am frightened by the load I bear.
        In a world cold as stone, must I walk this path alone?
        Be with me now, Be with me now.

        Do you wonder as You watch my face, if a wiser one should have had my place?
        But I offer all I am for the mercy of Your plan.
        Help me be strong, help me be, help me.

        Breath of heaven, hold me together.  Be forever near me, breath of heaven.
        Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness.  Pour over me Your holiness,
        for You are Holy, breath of heaven.

About the Choral Music:

Were You There on that Christmas Night? – Natalie Sleeth

Natalie Sleeth (1930-1992) was born in Evanston, Illinois. In 1952, she received an Academic major in music theory and a BA in music theory at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. In her later life she received an honorary doctorate from West Virginia Wesleyan College and from Nebraska Wesleyan College. She wrote over 180 works for organ for church and school. She was a member of the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX.

One of Sleeth's best-known anthems for choir is entitled "Joy in the Morning" and was written on the occasion of her husband's inauguration as the president of West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1977.  Another favorite is "In the Bulb There is a Flower", which was composed as an anthem for the Pasadena Community Church, St. Petersburg FL It appears under the title "Hymn of Promise" in the United Methodist Hymnal  and has been translated into German for the Gesangbuch der Evangelisch-methodistischen Kirche (2002).   “Were You There on that Christmas Night?” was originally written for 2-part choir in 1976.  It has since been published for mixed choir with piano and handbells and has been arranged as a congregational hymn and appears in Worship and Rejoice.

            Were you there, were you there on that Christmas night

            When the world was filled with a holy light?

            Were you there to behold, when the wonder foretold came to earth?

            Did you see, did you see how they hailed Him King

            With the gifts so rare that they chose to bring?

            Did you see how they bowed as they praised Him aloud at His birth?

            Did you hear how the choirs of Angels sang at the glory of the sight?

            Did you hear how the bells of Heaven rang all through the night?

            Did you know, did you know it was God’s own Son,

            The salvation of the world begun?

                Did you know it was love that was sent from above to the earth?

About the Hymns:

O Come, all Ye Faithful

The original text  of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” has been from attributed to various groups and individuals, including St. Bonaventure in the 13th century or King John IV of Portugal in the 17th, though it was more commonly believed that the text was written by an order of monks, the Cistercian, German, Portuguese and Spanish orders having, at various times, been given credit.
The original text consisted of four Latin verses, and it was with these that the hymn was originally published. John Francis Wade (1711=1786) had written the hymn in Latin in 1744, and was first published in 1751. The Abbé Jean-François-Étienne Borderies wrote an additional three verses in the 18th century; these are normally printed as the third to fifth of seven verses, while another, anonymous, additional Latin verse is rarely printed. The text has been translated innumerable times, but the most used version today is the English "O Come, All Ye Faithful". This is a combination of one of Frederick Oakeley's translations of the original four verses and William Thomas Brooke's of the three additional ones, which was first published in Murray's Hymnal in 1852. Oakeley originally titled the song “Ye Faithful, approach ye” when it was sung at his Margaret Church in Marylebone before it was altered to its current form.

Silent Night

Over 180 years ago the carol "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht" was heard for the first time in a village church in Oberndorf, Austria. The congregation at that Midnight Mass in St. Nicholas Church listened as the voices of the assistant pastor, Fr. Joseph Mohr (1792-1848), and the choir director, Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863), rang through the church to the accompaniment of Fr. Mohr's guitar.   On that Christmas Eve, a song was born that would wing its way into the hearts of people throughout the world. Now translated into hundreds of languages, it is sung by untold millions every December from small chapels in the Andes to great cathedrals in Antwerp and Rome. 

Today books, films and Internet sites are filled with fanciful tales purporting to tell the history of "Silent Night." Some tell of mice eating the bellows of the organ creating the necessity for a hymn to be accompanied by a guitar. Others claim that Joseph Mohr was forced to write the words to a new carol in haste since the organ would not play. A recent film, created for Austrian television places Oberndorf in the Alps and includes evil railroad barons and a double-dealing priest, while a recent book by a German author places a zither in the hands of Franz Gruber and connects Joseph Mohr with a tragic fire engulfing the city of Salzburg. You can read claims that "Silent Night" was sung on Christmas Eve in 1818 and then forgotten by its creators. Of course, the latter are easily discounted by manuscript arrangements of the carol by both Mohr and Gruber which were produced at various times between 1820 and 1855.

The German words for the original six stanzas of the carol we know as "Silent Night" were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, when he was a young priest assigned to a pilgrimage church in Mariapfarr, Austria. His grandfather lived nearby, and it is easy to imagine that he could have come up with the words while walking thorough the countryside on a visit to his elderly relative. The fact is, we have no idea if any particular event inspired Joseph Mohr to pen his poetic version of the birth of the Christchild. The world is fortunate, however, that he didn't leave it behind when he was transferred to Oberndorf the following year (1817).  On December 24, 1818 Joseph Mohr journeyed to the home of musician-schoolteacher Franz Gruber who lived in an apartment over the schoolhouse in nearby Arnsdorf. He showed his friend the poem and asked him to add a melody and guitar accompaniment so that it could be sung at Midnight Mass. His reason for wanting the new carol is unknown. Some speculate that the organ would not work; others feel that the assistant pastor, who dearly loved guitar music, merely wanted a new carol for Christmas.  Later that evening, as the two men, backed by the choir, stood in front of the main altar in St. Nicholas Church and sang "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" for the first time, they could hardly imagine the impact their composition would have on the world.

Karl Mauracher, a master organ builder and repairman from the Ziller Valley, traveled to Oberndorf to work on the organ, several times in subsequent years. While doing his work in St. Nicholas, he obtained a copy of the composition and took it home with him. Thus, the simple carol, began its journey around the world as a "Tyrolean Folk Song."

Two traveling families of folk singers from the Ziller Valley, similar to the Trapp Family Singers of "The Sound of Music" fame, incorporated the song into their repertoire. According to the Leipziger Tageblatt, the Strassers sang the song in a concert in Leipzig in December 1832. It was during this period, several musical notes were changed, and the carol evolved into the melody we know today. On another occasion, according to an historical plaque, the Rainer Family sang the Christmas carol before an audience which included Emperor Franz I and Tsar Alexander I. In the year 1839, the Rainers performed "Stille Nacht" for the first time in America, at the Alexander Hamilton Monument outside Trinity Church in New York City.

Joseph Bletzacher, the Court Opera singer from Hannover, reported that by the 1840s, the carol was already well known in Lower Saxony. "In Berlin," he says, "the Royal Cathedral Choir popularized it especially. It became in fact the favorite Christmas carol of the artistically appreciative King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who used to have the Cathedral Choir sing it for him during the Christmas season each year."   During his lifetime, Franz Xaver Gruber produced a number of orchestral arrangements of his composition. The original guitar arrangement is missing, but five other Gruber manuscripts of the carol exist. The manuscript by Joseph Mohr (ca. 1820) is for guitar accompaniment and is probably the closest to the arrangement and melody sung at Midnight Mass in 1818.

Perhaps this is part of the miracle of "Silent Night." The words flowed from the imagination of a modest curate. The music was composed by a musician who was not known outside his village. There was no celebrity to sing at its world premiere. Yet its powerful message of heavenly peace has crossed all borders and language barriers, conquering the hearts of people everywhere.

December 24, 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:

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen – Max Drischner

"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" ("A rose has sprung up"), most commonly translated to English as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" or "A Spotless Rose", is a Christmas carol and Marian Hymn of German origin.  The text is thought to be penned by an anonymous author, and the piece first appeared in print in the late 16th century.  The English translation "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" was written by Theodore Baker in 1894.

This German carol from the Rhineland region combines the story of Luke 1-2 and Matthew 2 with Isaiah's prophecies about the "rose" from the "stem of Jesse " (Isa. 11:1; 35:1-2). Stanzas 1 and 2 are a combination of folklore ("amid the cold of winter") and Christological interpretation of Isaiah 11:1 and 35: 1-2. Stanza 3 introduces imagery from John 1.

"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen," may date to the fifteenth century. However, the earliest manuscript containing the text, found in St. Alban's Carthusian monastery in Trier and preserved in the Trier municipal library, is dated around 1580. It was first published with twenty-three stanzas in Alte catholische geistliche Kirchengesiinge (Cologne, 1599). Originally stanza 2 interpreted the "rose" as being Mary, mother of Jesus, but in Musae Sionae (1609) Michael Praetorius changed the interpretation to point to Christ as the rose in accord with actual biblical imagery.

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns, many of which reflect an effort to improve the relationship between Protestants and Catholics.  After receiving his musical education, from 1587 he served as organist at the Marienkirche in Frankfurt. From 1592/3 he served at the court in Wolfenbüttel, under the employ of Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He served in the duke's State Orchestra, first as organist and later (from 1604) as Kapellmeister. 

His first compositions appeared around 1602/3. Their publication primarily reflects the care for music at the court of Gröningen. The motets of this collection were the first in Germany to make use of the new Italian performance practices; as a result, they established him as a proficient composer.  These "modern" pieces mark the end of his middle creative period. The nine parts of his Musae Sioniae (1605–10) and the 1611 published collections of liturgical music (masses, hymns, magnificats) follow the German Protestant chorale style.

From 1613 until his death, Praetorius was employed by the court in Dresden, where he was declared Kapellmeister von Haus aus and worked with Heinrich Schütz.  Michael Praetorius died on his 50th birthday, in Wolfenbüttel, Germany and is entombed in a vault beneath the organ of the Marienkirche there.

A literal translation of the original German text is:

A rose has sprung up, from a tender root.
As the old ones sang to us, Its lineage was from Jesse.
And it has brought forth a floweret In the middle of the cold winter
Well at half the night.

The rosebud that I mean, Of which Isaiah told
Is Mary, the pure, Who brought us the floweret.
At God’s immortal word, She has borne a child
And remained a pure maid. Who makes us blessed.

            The floweret, so small That smells so sweet to us
            With its clear light Dispels the darkness.
            True man and true God! He helps us from all trouble,
            Saves us from sin and death.

Max Drischner (1891-1971) was a German composer, Kantor, organist, and harpsichordist.  Drischner was born in Silesia. After completing his secondary education, he pursued studies in theology in Leipzig and Breslau, beginning in 1910. By 1914, however, he had decided to quit his theological studies in favor of studying music. At this time, Drischner relocated to Berlin, and was enrolled in the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied harpsichord.  In 1924, Drischner was named Kantor and organist of St. Nicholas Church in Brieg.  While in Brieg, Drischer built a reputation for himself as a choirmaster, as well, organizing and directing many successful events, and founding a youth choir. This earned him a renown that stretched beyond Brieg. His efforts earned him the title of Kirchenmusikdirektor ("Church music director"), a very high honor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Joy to the World – John Ferguson

Our Christmas season would hardly seem complete without the singing of Joy to the World, the most joyous of the carols. Yet Isaac Watts, its author, never intended it to be a Christmas carol at all. Rather, it was a part of his Psalms of David Imitated, published in 1719, which contained paraphrases of many of the Psalms in New Testament language.

The story of the hymn, Joy to the World, is the story of the author, Isaac Watts (1675-1748), who is universally acknowledged as "The Father of English Hymnody". He has earned the title, not because he was first to write English hymns, but because he gave impetus to hymnody and established its place in the worship of the English church.  For over one hundred years, congregational singing had been strictly limited to the Psalms of the Old Testament in poetic form. Many of these rhymed Psalms were so unnatural that Samuel Wesley, father of the famous brothers Charles and John, called them "scandalous doggerel," and his opinion was shared by many.

The birth of Isaac Watts to a dissenting deacon and the daughter of a Huguenot refugee was followed by fourteen years of persecution and hardships for the entire family. Perhaps this suffering was responsible for Isaac Watts’ ill health, for he grew only to a height of just over five feet and was weak and sickly all his life.  Though weak in body, the boy was strong in mind and spirit and early in life showed promise of poetic capability. After one Sunday morning service, Isaac, then fifteen years old, complained of the atrocious worship in song. One of the deacons challenged him: "Give us something better, young man." His answer was to write hundreds of hymns that are still sung today.

 Joy to the World is the "imitation" of the last half of Psalm 98. The author transformed the old Jewish psalm of praise for some historic deliverance into a Christian song of rejoicing for the salvation of God that began to be manifested when the Babe of Bethlehem came "to make his blessing flow far as the curse is found." This is one of the most joyous hymns in all Christendom because it makes so real what Christ’s birth means to all mankind.  The tune to which the hymn is sung is attributed to George Frederick Handel and bears resemblance to phrases of his great oratorio, Messiah. Notably the first four tones match the beginning of the chorus, "Lift Up Your Heads."

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king;

Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let all their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks hill, and plains repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love.

John Allen Ferguson (b. 1941) is an American organist, teacher, and composer.  Ferguson is probably best known for his many choral compositions. He has also published alternate accompaniments and festival arrangements for organ, brass, and percussion of hymns and Lutheran liturgy, and has appeared on several recordings. He has more than 100 titles to his credit.   Ferguson earned a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, an M.M. from Kent State University, and a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Russell Saunders. Ferguson is a well-respected organ teacher and leader of congregational singing via the organ. He has been invited as a visiting professor by the faculties of the University of Notre Dame and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Long associated with the Holtkamp Organ Company, Ferguson's doctoral dissertation was on the work of Walter Holtkamp Sr. "Walter Holtkamp: American Organ Builder" was published in 1979 by Kent State University Press. He also served as music editor of the United Church of Christ Hymnal, published in 1974.  He worked as both professor of music at Kent State University and organist-choirmaster at Kent United Church of Christ until 1978. He later worked as the director of music at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1983 he became the Elliot & Klara Stockdahl Johnson professor of organ and church music at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and later became the conductor of the St. Olaf Cantorei.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

Sing Joy! – Mark Hayes

Mark Hayes is an award-winning concert pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. His personal catalog, totaling over 1,000 published works, includes work for solo voice, solo piano, multiple pianos, orchestra, jazz combo, small instrumental ensembles, and choruses of all kinds.  Mark received a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in Piano Performance from Baylor University in 1975. He has conducted the SWACDA and MCDA Community and Church Honor Choir, and served as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, featuring his Te Deum and Magnificat. In 2010, Baylor University Center for Christian Music Studies awarded Mark the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music. Mark arranged and orchestrated the music for Civil War Voices, which won six awards including "Best Musical" in the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York. He conducted the world premiere of his work for chorus, orchestra and narrator, The American Spirit, at Lincoln Center in May 2011 and the world premiere of his Requiem in Lincoln Center in May 2013.  Whether concertizing on the other side of the globe or composing at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, Mark is blessed to live out his mission "to create beautiful music for the world".

        Joy to the world! The Lord is come; let earth receive her King.

        Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing.

        For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,

        And His name shall be called: Wonderful, Counselor, 

the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem!

Come and behold Him, born the King of angels!

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation.

O sing, all ye bright hosts of heaven above!

Flory to God, all glory in the highest!

Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns.  Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy.

Sing joy! Repeat the sounding joy!

Joseph’s Song – Jim Strathdee

Internationally known artists, Jim and Jean Strathdee sing with thousands of people each year as they offer their music in concerts, worship, conferences, reteats, and workshops.  Most often they travel throughout the United States and Canada, but over the 40 year span of their ministry they have shared their music in India, New Zealand, Cuba, and Central America.  Their music spans a diversity of sound and style and includes use of guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica, African drums, and Native American flute. They see music as an agent of transformation where ecumenical and inter-faith communities come together to make a stand for positive change. Jim and Jean have served on the staff of United Methodist churches in southern and northern California and Hawaii.  They have written hundreds of hymns, songs, and anthems.

Mary, Mary, rock your baby, tiny crying child of ours.

Mary, wrap the baby warmly, chilly this night of shining stars.

How can it be that the Son of God could be born on such a night as this?

Mary, Mary, I love your baby.  What peaceful joy and bliss.

Mary, Mary, I’ll hold the baby.  You are so tired and need to sleep.

Under my coat you may rest safely, I’ll stay awake the watch to keep.

How can it be that the Son of God could be born to such a man as I?

Mary and baby quietly sleeping, God’s peace to you this night.

About the Hymns:

Good Christian Friends, Rejoice

In dulci jubilo ("In sweet rejoicing") is a traditional Christmas carol. In its original setting, the carol is a macaronic text of German and Latin dating from the Middle Ages. Subsequent translations into English, such as J.M. Neale's arrangement "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" have increased its popularity, and Robert Pearsall's 1837 macaronic translation is a mainstay of the Christmas Nine Lessons and Carols repertoire.  The original song text is thought to have been written by the German mystic Heinrich Seuse circa 1328. According to folklore, Seuse heard angels sing these words and joined them in a dance of worship. In his biography (or perhaps autobiography), it was written:  “Now this same angel came up to the Servant (Suso) brightly, and said that God had sent him down to him, to bring him heavenly joys amid his sufferings; adding that he must cast off all his sorrows from his mind and bear them company, and that he must also dance with them in heavenly fashion. Then they drew the Servant by the hand into the dance, and the youth began a joyous song about the infant Jesus ...” 

The tune first appears in Codex 1305, a manuscript in Leipzig University Library dating from c.1400, although it has been suggested that the melody may have existed in Europe prior to this date. In print, the tune was included in Geistliche Lieder, a 1533 Lutheran hymnal by Joseph Klug. It also appears in Michael Vehe's Gesangbuch of 1537. In 1545, another verse was added, possibly by Martin Luther. This was included in Valentin Babst's Geistliche Lieder, printed in Leipzig. The melody was also popular elsewhere in Europe, and appears in a Swedish/Latin version in the 1582 Finnish songbook Piae Cantiones, a collection of sacred and secular medieval songs.  The tune appears in Michael Praetorius's Polyhymnia Caduceatrix & Panegyrica collection of 1619.

The Oxford Movement of 19th-century England resurrected many ancient Greek and Latin hymns and translated them for modern use. The chief proponent of this movement was John Mason Neale (1818-1866).  “Good Christian friends, rejoice” is rather unusual compared to other translations rendered by Neale in that the original song was in two languages—Latin and German. The technical term for this is macaronic, meaning Latin plus the vernacular language, thus this song is classified as a macaronic carol. Macaronic carols were most certainly not sung as a part of the medieval Roman Catholic liturgy for at least three reasons: only Latin would have been sung in the Mass at this time; macaronic carols used dance-like rhythms in contrast to unmetered flow of plainsong chant; and folk instruments including percussion were often used to accompany these songs, instruments usually not permitted in the Mass. Folk carols were music the people used in more civic and domestic festival celebrations outside of the liturgical structure of the Mass. 

Love Came Down at Christmas

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) came from a family steeped in the arts. The author of three collections of mostly religious poetry and four devotional books, she suffered poor health from age 16. Her deep faith is thought to be partially due to the solace she found in writing.
Her father, Gabriele Rossetti, was a professor of Italian at King’s College, London, living in exile in England. Her brothers Dante Gabriel and William Michael gave birth to a 19th-century art movement, the Pre-Raphaelites, for which the beautiful Christina often served as a model, especially for portraits of the Madonna. Among the family friends was Charles Dodgson—under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll he wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Rossetti’s best-known hymns are the Christmas carols “In the Bleak Midwinter” (1872) and “Love Came Down at Christmas,” the latter appearing first in Time Flies: a Reading Diary (1885), as her entry for Dec. 29.  While the first stanza of “In the Bleak Midwinter” paints a vivid picture of an unwelcoming and desolate landscape—a symbolic representation of the state of the world encountered by the incarnate God—“Love Came Down at Christmas” presents an inviting image of incarnate “Love” descending to Earth, heralded by “star and angels.” Indeed, if one includes the word “lovely,” “Love” is mentioned 12 times in three short stanzas.  The personification of “Love,” an inanimate concept, as the name for the incarnate God is not a new idea in Christian hymnody. More than a century before Rossetti’s hymns, Charles Wesley’s “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown” (UMH No. 386) and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” (UMH No. 384) show a similar anthropomorphic use of “Love.”

Though Rossetti’s poems were not composed as hymns for congregational use, this one first appeared in the Oxford Hymn Book (1908) as a hymn. Hymnal editor Percy Dearmer (1867-1936), editor of the famous Oxford Book of Carols (1928), championed the cause of incorporating English poems as hymns. He included this text in the influential Songs of Praise (1925).

The poem is based on 1 John 4:7-11, a passage that mentions “love” in some form 11 times: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

The author modified the original final line herself from “Love the universal sign” to “Love for plea and gift and sign.” In doing so, she eliminated the one four-syllable word “universal,” and maintained the utter simplicity of one- and two-syllable words throughout with the exception of “incarnate” in stanza two.  As British hymnologist Richard Watson notes, “The sublime simplicity of this hymn is the mark of a very great writer.”

This poem is the perfect antidote for those who find themselves recovering from the stress of the Christmas season induced by materialism, extensive shopping, travel and multiple gatherings of family and friends—in short, everything except for a moment to reflect on the gift of “Love incarnate, Love divine.”