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!”