January 28, 2018

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:

Machs mit mir Gott - Sigfrid Karg-Elert

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630) was son of a minister and teacher. At the age of seven, when his father died, he moved with his family to Dresden, where within six years he joined the choir of the Elector of Saxony as a boy soprano. In addition to singing in the choir, he received a thorough musical training with Rogier Michael, the Kapellmeister, who recognized his extraordinary talent. He went on to study at the University of Leipzig (1603), from 1603 to 1607 he studied at Pforta (or Schupforta near Naumburg), and finally, from 1608 to 1612, attended again the University of Leipzig, where he studied law in addition to liberal arts.  Upon graduating, Johann Hermann Schein was employed briefly by Gottfried von Wolffersdorff as the house music director and tutor to his children. Due to his demonstrated abilities, he became Kapellmeister at Weimar, and shortly thereafter became Kantor at the Thomasschule (and Thomaskirche) in Leipzig, a post which he held for the rest of his life. He preceded J.S. Bach in this post by more than a century.  He wrote many chorale texts and their melodies.

Deal with me, God, according to your kindness, help me in my suffering;
when I call to you, do not deny me: when my soul departs,
then take it , Lord, in your hand; all is good, if the end is good.

I shall follow you willingly, dearest Lord, you will not let me perish.
Ah, you are not far from me, even if I must die here at once,
forsake my dearest friends who sincerely love me.

The body rests calmly in the earth, the soul takes flight to you;
in your hands unscathed the soul breaks through death to life.
But here there is only a vale of tears, anxiety, distress, trouble, toil everywhere.

Death, the devil, hell, the world and sin can harm me no more;
in you, O Lord, I find deliverance, I am consoled by your grace.
Through your love and grace your only son has paid for me all the debt.

Why then should I be sad, since I come through so well,
clothed with Christ's pure innocence I go forth like a bride?
Farewell, disdainful world, to live with God delights me.

Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) was a German composer of considerable fame in the early twentieth century.  The cultural climate in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s was very hostile to the internationally oriented, French-influenced Karg-Elert; and although his works were admired outside Germany, especially in the U.K. (the Organ Music Society of London held a ten-day festival in his honor in 1930) and in the U.S.A., in his home country his music was almost completely neglected.  Karg-Elert regarded himself as an outsider. Notable influences in his work include composers Johann Sebastian Bach (he often used the B.A.C.H. motif in Bach's honor), Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy, Max Reger, Aleksandr Scriabin, and early Arnold Schoenberg. In general terms, his musical style can be characterized as being late-romantic with impressionistic and expressionistic tendencies. His profound knowledge of music theory allowed him to stretch the limits of traditional harmony without losing tonal coherence.

Mein Jesu, der du mich - Johannes Brahms

Johann Wilhelm Petersen (1649-1727) was born at Osnabrück; his father Georg Petersen, Kanzlei-beamter at Lubeck, having gone to reside at Osnabrück representing Lübeck in the negotiations which ended in the Peace of Westphalia. Petersen attended the University of Giessen, Leipzig, Wittenberg, and Jena; the degree of M.A. being conferred on him by Giessen in absentia. He returned to Giessen, and began to lecture on philosophy and rhetoric as private docent. About 1675, he visited Spener, at Frankfurt, which was an important turning-point in his life. He began to lecture at Rostock, as Professor of Poetry (D.D. from Rostock, 1686), and in the same year accepted the pastorate of the St. Aegidien church at Hannover. In May, 1678, he was appointed Court preacher at Eutin by Duke August Friedrich of Holstein, and general superintendent of the diocese of Lübeck. In Advent, 1688, he became pastor of St. John's church and superintendent at Lüneburg. He was unpopular with his fellow clergy because he refused to take fees for hearing confessions, he befriended Fraulein Rosamunde Juliane von Asseburg, and began publicly to teach her ideas of the Millennial Kingdom. Being accused of Chiliasm and having his opinions condemned by the theological faculty of Helmstädt, he was removed from his office in the end of January, 1692. Thereafter, he resided at various places, made tours over Germany, during which he propagated his views, and expounded his peculiar doctrines by books and pamphlets.

Apart from his importance as a theological writer, Petersen was the author of hymns. A considerable number of them are in Latin, his manuscript being entitled Cithara sacra. Of these he contributed seven to Freylinghausen's Geistreiches Gesang-Buch , 1704. His German hymns were published as Stimmen aus Zion, in two parts, Halle, 1698 and 1701. These are hymns in prose and not versions of the Psalter. Some are obscure, mystical, and diffuse. Others of his hymns appeared in the Pietistic hymn-books of the period, 1692-1704.

Only one verse of “Mein Jesu, der du mich zum Lustspiel ewiglich” could be found:

My Jesus calls to me, Holds out eternal bliss.
He deigns to choose me. Hear, Lord, Thy servant meek
Sings loud the Bridegroom’s praise, In Thee rejoices.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a German composer and pianist.  Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs".

Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Baroque and Classical masters. He was a master of counterpoint, perfected in the Baroque period, and of thematic development, characteristic of the Classical era. Brahms aimed to honor the "purity" of these established "German" structures and advance them into a Romantic idiom, in the process creating bold new approaches to harmony and melody. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, the diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers.

The last composition of any composer carries a certain level of mystique, and that is true of Brahms’ eleven chorale preludes for organ.  They were written in the summer of 1896 after Clara Schumann’s death, and it is highly probable that Brahms was already aware of his own illness at that point.  While there is evidence that Brahms intended to prepare them for publication, there is also a recorded statement that they could be seen as more private companion pieces to the Vier ernste Gesänge.  Like those songs, the preludes are settings of religious texts - Lutheran hymns and their associated chorale melodies.  The original autograph of all eleven was found on Brahms’s desk after his death in 1897.  The eleven were eventually edited and released by Eusebius Mandyczewski  in 1902.  The pieces were of such obvious significance and quality that they were assigned the posthumous opus number 122, by which they are still known.  As Brahms had no particular personal relationship to the organ, the fact that he turned to it again after forty years for his final opus is remarkable.

The genre of the chorale prelude, forever associated with Johann Sebastian Bach, was for Brahms a means of paying homage to his musical heritage.  He followed the conventions of the form, the most important of which was to paraphrase and elaborate upon the lines of pre-existing Lutheran chorale melodies.  Brahms’s use of counterpoint and harmony show a mixture of baroque techniques with romantic sensibility.  They are all rather short, along the lines of the preludes in Bach’s Orgelbüchlein.  Brahms chose some extremely familiar melodies and some obscure ones.  While several are associated with texts about death and eternity, other topics, including penitence and even Christmas, are also included.  He probably was contemplating thoughts of mortality while composing them, though, and it may not be a coincidence that the last music he would ever write would be No. 11, the second setting of “O Welt, ich muß dich lassen” (“O world, I now must leave thee”) with its fading echoes and transfigured, lingering closing bars.  These masterpieces, their composer’s final testament, remain staples of the romantic organ repertoire. 

Llanfyllin - Wilbur Held

John Ernest Bode, M.A., (1816-1874) was educated at Eton, the Charter House, and at Christ Church, Oxford, earning a B.A. and M.A.. Taking Holy Orders in 1841, he became Rector of Westwell, Oxfordshire; and then of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire. He was Tutor of his College, and Classical Examiner. In addition to his Bampton Lectures, and Ballads from Herodotus, he published Hymns from the Gospel of the Day for each Sunday and Festivals of our Lord, 1860; and Short Occasional Poems, Lond., Longmans, 1858. His well-known hymn, “O Jesu, I have promised" was first published in Hymns from the Gospel.

“O Jesus, I have promised” has been set to several tunes.  This setting uses LLANFYLLIN, a traditional Welsh tune which derives its name from a small town in Powys, Wales.

O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
be Thou forever near me, my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my guide. 

O let me feel Thee near me, the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me, around me and within;
but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin. 

O let me hear Thee speaking in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen, Thou Guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, Thou hast promised to all who follow Thee,
that where Thou art in glory, there shall Thy servant be;
and, Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend. 

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 Choral Music:

Here Am I, Send Me – John Purifoy

John Purifoy (b. 1952) is a composer and arranger with numerous published choral cantatas, anthems and keyboard collections. His stage musical "Lambarene," based on the life of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, received workshop productions at the state theatre of New Jersey and the North Shore Musical Theater near Boston.  Mr. Purifoy served as editor and director of music publishing for Word, Inc. from 1975-1982. He is the recipient of the Freedom’s Foundation Award and five-time recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award. 

Purifoy wrote both the words and music to this mission anthem based on Isaiah 6:8.

            Here am I, send me.  Here am I, Lord, send me.

            Unto thee, willingly, yielded I come.

            Show the path that I must walk, compel me then to go,

            And if I stray bring back the light of day,

            For here am I, send me I pray.

            Send me to be what’s created in me, formed in your image I stand.

            Turn my weakness into your power, power to be at last all I’m able to be.

            Here am I, send me.  Here am I, Lord, send me.

            Precious Holy Spirit, come, fill me anew.

            Give me wisdom, send me strength,

            Grant that I may be a mirror of your never ending love,

            For here am I, send me I pray.

About the Hymns:

Come Christians, Join to Sing

Christian Henry Bateman (1813-1899) was ordained into the Church of England after being a Congregational minister.  His miisterial studies were under the auspices of the Moravian Church, where he served for a time before changing to the Congregational Church at age 30. Following his ministry at Richmond Place Congregational Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, and successive Congregational parishes in Hopton, Yorkshire, and Reading, Berkshire, he took Holy Orders in the Anglican Church at age 56 and served as a curate and vicar in several Anglican parishes.

“Come, Children, Join to Sing” first appeared in a collection published in Edinburgh, Sacred Melodies for Children (1843), along with a number of other hymns for children by Bateman. The original “Hallelujah, Amen!” was changed by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., in their 1933 hymnal, to “Alleluia! Amen!”  It has remained that way ever since.  The original incipit (opening line of the hymn) was “Come, children, join to sing.” Though changed in the Presbyterian hymnal to include all age groups, Bateman’s text contains direct, uncomplicated language suited for children. Since very few of the words have more than two syllables and “Alleluia! Amen!” is interjected three times in each stanza, the hymn is easy for children to learn and sing.

MADRID, also known as SPANISH HYMN, was a popular Spanish folk melody that was arranged for piano by Benjamin Carr in 1825.  In 1826, it was published in Philadelphia with the following title: Spanish Hymn, arranged and composed for the Concerts of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia by Benjamin Carr.  The Air from an Ancient Spanish Melody.  Printed from the Condensed Score of the Society, and Presented to the Composer as a Tribute of Respect and Regard by Some of the Members, his Friends (Philadelphia, 1826).  Montague Burgoyne published the tune in A Collection of Metrical Versions (London, 1827). 

Benjamin Carr (1768-1831) was born in London and studied with Dr. Samuel Arnold and Charles Wesley, II.  He emigrated to America in 1793, and the following year, he became a publisher in both Philadelphia and New York.  He was organist of St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia, and also music director of St. Joseph’s Roman Cathholic Church from 1801.  His liturgical works were published in Masses, Vespers, Litanies, Hymns, Psalms, Anthems & Motetts (1805) for Roman Catholics and the Collection of Chants and Tunes for the Use of the Episcopal Church in the City of Philadelphia (1816).  In addition, Carr wrote operas and piano pieces.

I Love to Tell the Story

"I Love to Tell the Story" is a well-known hymn which was written as a poem by an English evangelist, Katherine Hankey (1834-1911). Hankey was the daughter of a wealthy banker and was associated with the Clapham sect of William Wilberforce, a group of prominent evangelical Anglicans from the Clapham area. This group helped to establish the British and Foreign Bible Society, promoted the … abolition of slavery, and was involved in improving the lot of England's working classes. Hankey taught Bible classes for shop girls in London, visited the sick in local hospitals, and used the proceeds of her writings to support various mission causes. Her publications include Heart to Heart (1870) and The Old, Old Story and Other Verses (1879).

Hankey had a serious spell of sickness while in a mission in Africa. During her long days of convalescence, she wrote a long on the life of Jesus in 1866 in two parts. The first part was a poem of fifty stanzas, titled "The Story Wanted" (dated January 29, 1866) and second part titled "The Story Told" (dated November 18, 1866). Certain verses were taken from Part I. by Dr. W. H. Doane in 1867 to make the popular and familiar hymn beginning, "Tell me the old, old story". From Part II. certain verses were selected to make the hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story".

Apart from the context of the larger poem, some of the couplets of this text appear rather shallow or repetitious; thus the Psalter Hymnal includes only the original stanzas 1, 3, and 4. But the entire original poem provides a fine autobiographical testimony to Hankey's evangelical fervor, which she expressed in her writings and in her support of foreign and home missions (she taught church school classes to the rich and poor of London). The text simply affirms the Christian's zeal to "tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love" to the unsaved as well as to the saved, here on earth and in glory.

The tune HANKEY was composed by William G. Fischer and appeared in Fischer's Joyful Songs, Nos. 1 to 3 published in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Methodist Episcopal Book Room. Fischer also added a refrain to the original text. The tune set to Hankey's text was published in Joyful Songs (1869) and in many gospel hymnals. The hymn was popularized through its use in the Ira D. Sankey and Dwight L. Moody crusades.

In his youth, Fischer (1835-1912) developed an interest in music while attending singing schools. His career included working in the book bindery of J. B. Lippencott Publishing Company, teaching music at Girard College, and co-owning a piano business and music store–all in Philadelphia. Fischer eventually became a popular director of music at revival meetings and choral festivals. In 1876 he conducted a thousand-voice choir at the Dwight L. Moody/Ira D. Sankey revival meeting in Philadelphia. Fischer composed some two hundred tunes for Sunday school hymns and gospel songs.

January 21, 2018

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:

Mir nach, spricht Christus, unser Held - Johann Oley

Johann Scheffler  (1624-1677) was born in Silesia. His father, Stanislaus Scheffler, was a member of the Polish nobility, but had been forced to leave his fatherland because of his adherence to Lutheranism. Johann was thus educated as a strict Lutheran. After passing through the St. Elisabeth's Gymnasium at Breslau, he attended at the University of Strassburg to study medicine. He went to Leyden and Padua, where he graduated with a Ph.D. and M.D.. Thereafter he returned to Silesia and, was appointed private physician to Duke Sylvius Nimrod of Württemberg-Oels. The Duke was a staunch Lutheran, and his court preacher, Christoph Freitag, administered the ecclesiastical affairs of the district according to the strictest Lutheran churchly orthodoxy. Scheffler had become acquainted with the writings of Jakob Böhme, and had become a personal friend of Abraham von Frankenberg, the editor of Böhme's works. He soon found that the spiritual atmosphere of Oels did not suit him. His own leanings at this time were distinctly to Mysticism and Separatism. He withdrew from public worship, from confession, and from the Holy Communion. When he wished to publish his poems, and submitted them for this purpose to Freitag, he was refused permission to print them on the grounds of their mystical tendencies. He resigned his post and went to Breslau where he became acquainted with the Jesuits, and through them was introduced to the study of the mediaeval mystics of the Roman Catholic Church.  He was formally received into the Roman Catholic communion, and at his confirmation on that day at St. Matthias's Church in Breslau, he took the name of Angelus, probably after a Spanish mystic of the 16th cent, named John ab Angelis.  The Emperor Ferdinand III conferred on him the title of Imperial Court Physician, but this was purely honorary, and Scheffler remained at Breslau. He entered the order of St. Francis, was ordained priest at Neisse in Silesia, and was appointed Rath and Hofmarschall to his friend Sebastian von Rostock, the newly created Prince Bishop of Breslau. After the Bishop's death in 1671, Scheffler retired to the monastery of St. Matthias in Breslau,

Scheffler's most important hymnological work is his Heilige Seelenlust, oder geistliche Hirten-Lieder, der in ihren Jesum verliebten Psyche, gesungen von Johann Angelo Silesio, und von Herrn Georgio Josepho mit aussbündig schönen Melodeyen geziert, &c.  These hymns are the work of a true poet, almost perfect in style and in beauty of rhythm, concise and profound; the fruits indeed it may be said of Mysticism, but of Mysticism chastened and kept in bounds by deep reverence and by a true and fervent love to the Saviour. Scheffler holds a high place among German sacred poets, and is the finest of the Post-Reformation  Roman Catholic hymn-writers.

In some English books Scheffler appears as a composer of hymn-tunes. This is a mistake, for the melodies in the Heilige Seelenlust are by Georg Joseph, a musician living at that time in Breslau.

“Mir nach, spricht Christus, unser Held”, founded on Matthew 16:24, has been characterised as a masterpiece of Scriptural didactic poetry. It was published in Scheffler's Heilige Seelenlust  in 6 stanzas, titled "She [the Soul] encourages to the following of Christ."   “Come, follow me, our Lord doth call” is a good translation of four stanzas by A. T. Russell, as in the Dalston Hospital Hymn Book, 1848.

            “Come follow me,” our Lord doth call, “self and the world forsaking:

            My path pursue: O come ye all, your cross upon you talking.

            I am the Light, and I the Way, So shall you not in darkness stray.

            “My heart is all humility; My soul with love o’erfloweth,

            Sweet peace on you, peace from on high, My every word bestoweth.

            All ill to shun, - to cleanse the heart, - Such knowledge do my lips impart.

            “I am the refuge of the soul; I am the gate of heaven;

            Is danger near? I all control; To guide you, I am given.

            I go before you.  Shame to those Who fear with me to meet their foes.”

            Then let us each his cross sustain, Our Savior’s path pursuing;

            Each willingly endure the pain, With Him our strength renewing.

            For ne’er to him who fears the strife, will Jesus give the crown of life.

Johann Christoph Oley (1738-1789)  was a German organist and composer who may have studied with J.S. Bach for a short time in 1749. In 1755,  he became organist of the church in Bernburg, but moved to the church of St Stephan in neighbouring Aschersleben because of its superior organ. To augment his salary, he assumed the duties of assistant schoolmaster as well.  Contemporaries praised Johann Christoph Oley’s skill on the keyboard and organ, and his compositions attracted some interest.

O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee – Dale Wood

In the years following the Civil War and the birth of the Industrial Revolution, the social gospel emerged. Washington Gladden (1838-1918) was one of the most distinguished clergymen of his era and a leader in the social gospel movement. Gladden was a native of Pennsylvania, and served churches in New York and Massachusetts before accepting a call to First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio, a parish he served for 32 years. Educated at Owego Academy and Williams College, he was the moderator of the National Council of Congregational Churches from 1904-1907. He served as one of the editors of the Pilgrim Hymnal (1904). As editor of the Independent, he made important contributions to the cause of social justice. While a pastor in Massachusetts, Gladden began preaching about labor-management problems, encouraging cooperation between employers and employees. This theme aroused opposition from those who felt the role of a minister was “to save souls, not to regulate business.” Furthermore, he challenged the idea that the Bible was inerrant in matters of science and history. Albert Bailey notes that “he found his fellow-clergymen without courage to follow him, for heresy trials were beginning in the Congregational Church.” From the Ohio pulpit, Gladden found willing listeners to his message at the State University of Columbus. He received invitations to deliver lectures at a number of universities including the Yale Divinity School. His tracts, Social Facts and Forces (1897) and Organized Labor and Capital (1904), were very influential.

Perhaps this hymn is a paradox. Few realize that behind the relatively peaceful words of Gladden’s poem, sung to a placid Victorian melody, one can find the witness of a champion for social justice. This hymn was published in 1879 in three eight-line stanzas in Sunday Afternoon, a magazine prepared by the author, under the title “Walking with God.” C.H. Richards discovered the poem and included it in his 1880 hymnal, Christian Praise.

After various tunes had been set to this text, Gladden insisted on the use of MARYTON. Composed by H. Percy Smith (b. Malta, 1825; d. Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, 1898), the tune was originally published as a setting for John Keble's "Sun of My Soul" in Arthur S. Sullivan's Church Hymns with Tunes (1874).  Henry Percy Smith (1825-1898) was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, England, and ordained a priest in the Church of England. He served five churches, including St. Michael's York Town in Farnborough, Great Barton in Suffolk, Christ Church in Cannes, France, and the Cathedral in Gibraltar. MARYTON is his only tune found in contemporary hymnals and is thought to be the only tune he published.

O Master, let me walk with Thee in lowly paths of service free;
tell me Thy secret; help me bear the strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move by some clear, winning word of love;
teach me the wayward feet to stay, and guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me Thy patience, still with Thee in closer, dearer company,
in work that keeps faith sweet and strong, in trust that triumphs over wrong.

In hope that sends a shining ray far down the future's broad'ning way;
in peace that only Thou canst give, with Thee, O Master, let me live.

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.

Kommt her zu mir – Johann Nicolai

The hymn-writer, Georg Grünwald (1490-1530) was a shoemaker from Kitzbühl in the Tyrol (Austria). He was an Anabaptist and was accused and found guilty of heresy.  He was executed by being burned at the stake in Kufstein (Tyrol).  He wrote this text in 1530, based on Matthew 11:28.

          “Come to me”, says God’s Son, “all you who are burdened,

            Heavily laden with sins, people young and olde, men and women,

            What I want to give you will cure your troubles.

My yoke is easy, my burden light, and everyone who willingly takes it up
will escape from hell. I help each person to carry what is difficult;
with my health and strength he will win the kingdom of heaven.

Today someone is handsome, young and active, look, tomorrow he is weak and ill,
soon he even has to die; just as the flowers in the field
so also will this beautiful world perish in an instant.

The rich man is not helped by his wealth, nor the young man by his proud spirit,
he must go away in the springtime, even if someone had the whole world,
silver and gold and all money, he must still take his turn.

The learned man is not helped by his expertise, worldly splendour is useless,
we must all die. Whoever does not prepare himself in Christ,
while the time of grace still lasts, must perish eternally

Hear and take note, dear people, what God has given to you:
do not let trouble disturb you hold fast to God’s holy word,
that is your consolation and greatest treasure, God will give you joy.

And what the eternally good God has promised in his word,
sworn by his name, that he upholds and fulfils most surely.
May he help us to join the company of saints through Jesus Christ!

Johann Michael Nicolai (1629-1685) was a German composer and teacher. Although nothing is known of his musical studies, they must have reflected the high level of the musical tradition of Thuringia. He was a member of the court orchestra of the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, whose musicians were often invited to play for the Margrave of Brandenburg; in 1675, he dedicated his first set of Instrumentalische Sachen to Margrave Christian Ernst in remembrance and gratitude. He was an instrumentalist in the Stuttgart court orchestra, and he also taught the choirboys. Among other instruments he played the violone. According to contemporary accounts, members of the court orchestra met regularly in his house for an ‘exercitium musicum’. Nicolai’s Geistliche Harmonien consists of three-part settings of ten German and two Latin psalm texts; the dedication shows that in spite of their uncommitted nature, they were intended for the Protestant liturgy. 

About the Choral Music:

Praise and Adore – Tom Fettke

“Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore Him” first appeared in a four-paged tract which is found pasted at the end of some copies of the 1796 musical edition of the Psalms, Hymns, and Anthems of the Foundling Hospital, London and again at the end of the edition of words only, published in 1801.  A post-exilic hymn based on Psalm 148, it maintains that God's glory displayed in creation and redemption is so great that the praise on Israel's lips needs to be supplemented by a chorus from all creation. Let everything created in the heavens praise God for the majesty and ordered goodness of the celestial realm. Let all created things on earth and in the seas praise their Maker. Let all people join in praising God for salvation "from sin and shame".  The question of the authorship of this hymn has been a matter of serious inquiry for some years, with the result that on the one hand it is attributed to John Kempthorne, and on the other to Bishop Mant, and both in error.   The leaflet found in the 1796 hymnal is neither signed nor dated. The authorship and date of the writing and first printing of the hymn are therefore still open to investigation and research.

Tom Fettke has taught music in both public and Christian schools and has served as a church choir director and minister of music in churches large and small for over 30 years. He is a composer, arranger, clinician, and producer of Christian music recordings.  Fettke was the creator and senior editor of the Hymnal for Worship and Celebration (1986). 

            Praise the Lord! O heavens adore Him; praise Him, angels in the height;

            Sun and moon rejoice before Him; praise Him, shining stars of light.

            Praise the Lord, for He has spoken; worlds His mighty voice obeyed;

            Laws, which never shall be broken, for their guidance He has made.

            Praise the Lord, for He is gracious; never shall His promise fail;

            God has made His saints victorious, sin and death shall not prevail.

            Praise the God of our salvation; hosts on high, His power proclaim.

            Heaven and earth, and all creation, praise and magnify His name!

            Worship, honor, glory, blessing, Lord, we offer as our gift;

            Young and old, Your praise expressing, our glad songs to you we lift.

            All the saints in heaven adore You; we would join their glad acclaim;

            As Your angels bow before You, so on earth we praise Your name.

            Amen!

About the Hymns:

All Creatures of Our God and King

The words of the hymn were initially written by St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) in 1225 in the Canticle of the Sun poem, which was based on Psalm 148. The words were translated into English by William Draper, who at the time was rector of a Church of England parish church at Adel near Leeds. Draper paraphrased the words of the Canticle and set them to music. It is not known when Draper first composed the hymn but it was between 1899 and 1919. Draper composed the hymn for his church's children's Whitsun festival celebrations and it was later published in 1919 in the Public School Hymn Book. The hymn is currently used in 179 different hymn books. The words written by St Francis are some of the oldest used in hymns after "Father We Praise Thee", written in 580 AD. The hymn is set to the tune of "Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr", a German Easter hymn written by Friedrich Spee, published in 1623 in his book Auserlesene, Catholische, Geistliche Kirchengesäng. It was first used in English hymn books in 1906.

St. Francis is famous for many things, including love of animals.  Pictures of him usually have birds flying nearby and small animals at his feet.  A popular story tells of him stopping to preach a sermon to a flock of birds.  He reminded them that God had blessed them with beautiful clothing even though they had never learned to spin or weave–– and that God had blessed them with food even thought they had never learned to sow or reap.  Then he called them to sing their songs as praises to God.  St. Francis wrote this hymn near the end of his life.  Sick and suffering bouts of blindness, he was going home to die when he stopped to visit friends at the St. Damien monastery.  While there, he felt the inspiration to compose this joyful hymn.  It calls all God's creatures ––sun and moon ––wind and water––fruits and flowers––and all who are of tender heart––to sing, "Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!" to honor our God.

Take My Life, and Let It Be

Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) originally composed her text in eleven couplets as a hymn of "self-consecration to Christ" on February 4, 1874. She told the following story about writing this hymn:

I went for a little visit of five days [to Areley House, Worcestershire, in December 1873]. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. [God] gave me the prayer, "Lord, give me all this house." And He just did! Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit. . . I was too happy to sleep and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart, one after another, till they finished with "Ever, only, all, for Thee."

The text is a "catalog" hymn that lists aspects of our lives and offers them in Christ's service.  "Take My Life and Let It Be" was first published in the 1874 appendix to Charles B. Snepp's Songs of Grace and Glory (1872). A twelfth couplet was added at some later point, producing the six stanzas published in the Psalter Hymnal.

Although her formal education was sporadic because of poor health, Havergal learned six foreign languages, including Greek and Hebrew, and was well read in many subjects. She began writing poetry at an early age and was also an accomplished singer and pianist. The daughter of a clergyman, she had a conversion experience at the age of fourteen and was confirmed in the Church of England in 1853. Taking seriously her own words "take my silver and my gold," she sent all her jewelry to the Church Mission Society to be sold. She also supported other charitable organizations. Her more than one hundred hymns were originally published in leaflets and later gathered into seven collections: Ministry of Song (1869), Twelve Sacred Songs for Little Singers (1870), Under the Surface (1874), Loyal Responses (1878), Life Mosaic (1879), Life Chords (1880), and Life Echoes (1883), as well as in one large volume, Poetical Works (1884).

The Summons

One of the most important intentional communities of the 20th and 21st centuries is Scotland’s Iona Community. Founded on the remote Island of Iona in far western Scotland, the community traces its inspiration back to the 6th century, when St. Columba found his way from Ireland and established an outpost from which he evangelized all of Scotland. Eventually, he spread a Celtic form of Christianity that still resonates strongly today. George MacLeod (1895-1991), an iconoclastic spirit, left a popular parish in Glasgow and established the Community in the 1930s to train ministers in engaging the poor working-class people of Glasgow and also in working alongside artisans to rebuild the abandoned Benedictine Abbey on the Island of Iona.

John Bell (b. 1949) grew up in Kilmarnock, a rural town south of Glasgow. He received degrees in arts and theology from the University in Glasgow. He was ordained by the Church of Scotland in 1978 and appointed youth coordinator for the Presbytery of Glasgow. In 1980, he was admitted to membership of the Iona Community, having applied not primarily because it was a place of liturgical innovation, but because it was “a place where the potentials of the socially marginalized as well as the socially successful would be attested.” Since then he has become the international troubadour of the Community, guiding its publications in worship and music, preaching at conferences around the world and composing many songs that enumerate the themes of the Community.

“Will you come and follow me” (called “The Summons” in The Faith We Sing) is perhaps the most famous of Mr. Bell’s hymns. The hymn appeared initially in the first collection of music produced by the Wild Goose Worship Group, Heaven Shall Not Wait: Songs of Creation, the Incarnation, and the Life of Jesus (1987). Characteristic of Mr. Bell’s style, the text is prophetic, using many words not usually found in traditional hymns. “The Summons” of Christ is to a radical Christianity. We are challenged to “leave yourself behind” and to “risk the hostile stare”, “set the prisoner free” and “kiss the leper clean”, and “use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around”.

The tune is a traditional Scottish ballad entitled KELVINGROVE, named after a section of Glasgow. Mr. Bell often uses traditional melodies from Ireland, Scotland and England for his hymns. These tried and true tunes provide a Celtic flavor. For Mr. Bell, the purpose of congregational singing is to engage people in a fuller participation, to stretch their faith, and to encourage them to live in a manner that reflects justice.

January 14, 2018

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:

Here I Am, Lord – Timothy Albrecht

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.”

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 born my peoples 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?

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.

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

Quietude – George Blake

"Speak, Lord, in the Stillness" was written by Emily May Grimes Crawford (1864-1927), who was born at Lambeth in Surrey, England. In 1893, she went as a missionary to Pondoland in South Africa, where she married Dr. T. W. W. Crawford, an Anglican minister with the Christian Missionary Society of Kikuyu in British East Africa. While in South Africa, she penned "The Master Comes! He Calls for Thee" in 1896, and these words under the title "The Quiet Hour." They were first published in her 1920 work Unseen Realities.

The tune (Quietude) was composed by Harold Green (1871-1930).  The son of a minister from Helme near Huddersfield in Yorkshire, England, and also a missionary in Pondoland, Green provided this music for Mrs. Crawford’s words around 1925, about five years before his death on the mission field. The song quickly became a favorite at the Keswick Convention in northern England and appeared in The Keswick Hymnbook of 1936 in England. 

Speak, Lord, in the stillness, While I wait on Thee;
Hushed my heart to listen, In expectancy.

Speak, O blessed Master, In this quiet hour;
Let me see Thy face, Lord, Feel Thy touch of power.

For the words Thou speakest, They are life indeed;
Living bread from heaven, Now my spirit feed!

All to Thee is yielded, I am not my own;
Blissful, glad surrender, I am Thine alone.

Speak, Thy servant heareth, Be not silent, Lord;
Waits my soul upon Thee For the quickening word.

Fill me with the knowledge Of Thy glorious will;
All Thine own good pleasure In Thy child fulfill.

Like a watered garden, Full of fragrance rare,
Lingering in Thy presence, Let my life appear.

At age fourteen, George Blake (1912–1986) began to play the theater organ professionally at the Franklin Theatre in Nutley, New Jersey. His father having died when he was very young, Blake quickly became the primary supporter of his family through his performing, and he lived with his mother in New Jersey for many years until her death. His younger brother was the cartoonist Bud Blake (of the popular comic strip "Tiger.") A student and protégé of Lew White (organist of the original Roxy Theatre), George Blake served as principal organist for a number of theaters in New Jersey and New York City, including the New Roxy (later the Center Theatre) in Rockefeller Center. He was also a regular performer on several radio programs of the day, including the "Lucky Strike Hour." As the age of the cinema organist ended, Blake focused primarily on sacred music. During his cinema years, he was organist at several churches in New Jersey including St. Andrew's Episcopal (South Orange) and Grace Episcopal (Nutley) and was the school organist for Columbia High School (Maplewood). Blake composed and published extensively in both sacred and secular genres. He co‑wrote a number of popular songs with Richard Leibert, organist of Radio City Music Hall, several of which were performed and recorded by leading artists of the day, including Mario Lanza.

Gagliarda – Bernhard Schmid

The galliard (French: gaillarde; Italian: gagliarda) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.  The galliard is an athletic dance, characterized by leaps, jumps, hops and other similar figures.  The galliard was a favorite dance of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and although it is a relatively vigorous dance, in 1589 when the Queen was aged in her mid-fifties, John Stanhope reported, "the Queen is so well as I assure you, six or seven galliards in a morning, besides music and singing, is her ordinary exercise.”

Alsatian organist and composer Bernhard Schmid the Elder  was educated in Strasbourg and first mention of him comes from his marriage certificate dated October 31, 1552. In 1562, Schmid assumed the dual posts of organist at Strasbourg Cathedral during the Christmas season and at the Thomaskirche in Strasbourg through the rest of the year. In 1577, Schmid the Elder published Zwey Bücher einer Neuen Kunstlichen Tabulatur auff Orgel und Instrument, an important and popular early print consisting of two volumes, the first entirely devoted to keyboard intabulations of vocal works -- mostly by Orlandus Lassus -- and the second continuing the intabulations but adding 16 dances that are apparently original or adapted from folk material.  Schmid's publication includes a useful guide to reading the tablature employed, which is in the "new German" format, and quite detailed in its use of ornamentation, unusual in keyboard prints this early. While the publication is ostensibly for organ, Schmid clearly designed it for use on all keyboard instruments of the time.

About the Choral Music:

We are Called to Proclaim – John Purifoy

John Purifoy (b. 1952) is a composer and arranger with numerous published choral cantatas, anthems and keyboard collections. His stage musical "Lambarene," based on the life of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, received workshop productions at the state theatre of New Jersey and the North Shore Musical Theater near Boston.  Mr. Purifoy served as editor and director of music publishing for Word, Inc. from 1975-1982. He is the recipient of the Freedom’s Foundation Award and five-time recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award. 

“We are Called to Proclaim” was written for the 25^th anniversary of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and is based on Luke 4: 18-19.

            We are called to proclaim and to set the captive free

            By the power of One who came to make our blind eyes see.

            His kingdom lies within us.  Let peace and justice reign.

            By the truth of God within us we are called to proclaim!

            We are called to proclaim now the favor of the Lord.

            We are called in His name to help the sick and poor,

            To tell now of the freedom that has come to all the earth.

            With His Spirit now upon us we are called to proclaim

            Now the year of the favor of the Lord.

            With His Spirit now upon us we are called to proclaim!

            To proclaim!

About the Hymns:

Maker, in Whom We Live

"Maker, in whom we live" is well-known in the Methodist tradition. The text was written by Charles Wesley in 1747. Originally, Wesley titled the hymn "To the Trinity" and published it in the Hymns for Those that Seek and Those that Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ in 1747.  Wesley was one of the first to incorporate the idea of the Trinity in hymns and poetry. In each stanza, he described a member of the Trinity, with the final stanza focusing on God, the Three-in-One. The hymn entered the Methodist hymnal in 1821. It was omitted in the 1905 and 1935 editions but returned in 1966.

"Maker, In Whom We Live" first appeared in the 1822 hymnal titled A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The hymn, for the most part, remains in its entirety in today's modern hymnal. Despite some minor alterations in grammatical structure, there are really only two significant changes to the text. The principal changes were made in order to make the hymn's language more inclusive, avoiding male-only imagery for God. The original version begins with "Father" instead of "Maker." In the last stanza, Wesley originally wrote, "Let all the sons of men," which has now been changed to "Let all on earth below."

Each stanza in this hymn describes a member of the Trinity. The first stanza discusses angels and earth giving praise and singing to God, the Maker and Creator. The second stanza expresses praise to God the Son, who gives redeeming grace to all, even sinners. The third stanza conveys God as the Holy Spirit, with all energy and power, and expresses how we cannot explain God's love for us. The last stanza invites all to sing and praise God the Three-in-One. The first three stanzas have strong scriptural references. The first stanza refers to Acts 17:28 and Luke 2:14. The second stanza recalls Revelation 7:10 and the third stanza alludes to Titus 3:5.

The tune most commonly associated to this hymn is DIADEMATA, composed by George J. Elvey, during the Romantic Era, in 1868. In the 1878 hymnal, this hymn was paired with the tune WAUGH, and only contained the first two stanzas. Both in the original form and in today's modern hymnal, the text is set in the familiar four-part style. The tune works well with the text, complementing the rise and fall of the lines. 

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.