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 Handbell Music:
A Carol for All Seasons - Terry Price
Jubilation Ringers
The text for “Sing We Now of Christmas” comes from a 15th century French Carol, Noël nouvelet. The English text was written by an unknown translator in the 17th or 18th century. The lyrical structure of the carol takes us through the story of Christ’s birth. The text connects to two scripture passages—Luke 2:8-20, which tells the story of the angels and shepherds, and Matthew 2:1-12, which tells the story of the wise men and their gifts. The tune for this hymn comes from the same Traditional French Carol as the text. The importance of this song is that it highlights several of the most important parts of Christ’s birth; from the rejoicing of heaven and earth (with shepherds and angels), to the fulfilling of prophecies (the coming of the wise men). It reminds us that Christ’s birth changed the world. It reminds us that God became man and took a weak body of flesh to become closer to us.
Sing we now of Christmas Noël, sing we here!
Hear our grateful praises To the babe so dear.
Angels called to shepherds "Leave your flocks at rest.
Journey forth to Bethlehem; Find the lambkin blest."
In Bethlehem they found him, Joseph, and Mary mild
Seated by the manger Watching the holy child.
Sing we Noël, the King is born, Noël!
Sing we now of Christmas, sing we now Noël!
Terry Price has been Director of Music at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church since June of 1998. A native of Texas, his degrees are from Tarleton State University and the Perkins School of Theology at SMU, with additional post-graduate study at the University of North Texas. As a church musician, Terry has served as Director of Music at several prominent mainline churches including Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta and now at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. His choirs have sung as the featured choir at the International Church Music Festival in England (1988) and in Rome (2009), for the Cambridge Summer Music Festival in England (2005) and for numerous regional and national music conferences. In 2006, he was awarded the prestigious Choral Excellence Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association.
About the Choral Music:
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light - Benjamin Harlan
Chancel Choir, Genesis Choir, Congregation
Kathleen Thomerson (b. 1934) is Organist and Music Director at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Mississippi, California, and Texas. College music study was at the Universities of Colorado and Texas, the Flemish Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, and privately in Paris. Before retirement in Austin, she lived in Collinsville, Illinois, when her husband was a biology professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Her best-known hymn text is "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light." It was written as a scriptural meditation and prayer. It was inspired by many Bible verses, including Genesis 1:17, Isaiah 60:19, Psalm 75:16, Psalm 139:12, Ephesians 3:17, Ephesians 5:8, Galatians 4:6, Hebrews 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 2 Peter 1:19, 1 John 1:5-7, and Revelation 21:23.
Benjamin Harlan is a Professor of Church Music at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is an internationally known arranger and composer of choral, keyboard and handbell works. He has received awards from ASCAP annually since 1990. Dr. Harlan is a member of ASCAP, American Choral Directors Association and the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference.
I want to walk as a child of the light; I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world; The star of my life is Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world; The star of my life is Jesus.
I want to see the brightness of God. I want to look at Jesus.
Clear Sun of Righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father.
I’m looking for the coming of Christ. I want to be with Jesus.
When we have run with patience the race, we shall know of Jesus.
In him there is no darkness at all; The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.
Advent Alleluia - Keith Christopher
Chancel Choir women
"Salvation is Created" is a choral work composed by Pavel Tchesnokov (1877-1944) in 1912 as the fifth in his Ten Communion Hymns (opus 25). It was one of the last sacred works he composed before he turned to secular arts when the Soviet government began to suppress Christianity. Although he never heard his own composition performed, his children had the opportunity following his death. "Salvation is Created'" was originally published in 1913 by J. Fischer and Bro. and its popularity drove editors to produce many different versions in both Russian and English.
“Let all mortal flesh keep silence” (Greek: Σιγησάτω πᾶσα σάρξ βροτεία) is an ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on words from Habakkuk 2:20, "Let all the earth keep silence before him". The original was composed in Greek as a Cherubic Hymn for the Offertory of the Divine Liturgy of St James; it probably antedates the rest of the liturgy and goes back at least to 275 AD, with local churches adopting arrangements in Syriac.
The text expresses awe at Christ's coming and the mystery of our perception of Christ in the body and blood. With images from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 5, it portrays the glory of Christ and his victory over sin. Although it has eucharistic emphasis, the text pictures the nativity of Christ in a majestic manner and in a much larger context than just his birth in Bethlehem. We are drawn into the awe and mystery with our own alleluias.
Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885) translated the text from the Greek; his English paraphrase was first published in Orby Shipley's Lyra Eucharistica (1864) and entitled "Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn." The Psalter Hymnal alters that paraphrase in part to solve Reformed sensitivities about eucharistic theology. Moultrie's great-grandfather had settled in South Carolina, but after siding with England during the American Revolution, he had moved back to Britain. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, England, Moultrie served as a pastor and chaplain in the Church of England. In addition to writing his own hymns he prepared translations of Greek, Latin, and German hymns. He also edited several hymnals, including Hymns and Lyrics for the Seasons and Saints' Days (1867) and Cantica Sanctorum or Hymns for the Black Letter Saints' Days in the English and Scottish Calendars (1880).
The text contains much language which is unfamiliar today: the concept of approaching God with so much awe that it causes “fear and trembling”. Seraphim are a type of celestial being in the highest rank in the Christian angelic hierarchy. A passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying "holy, holy, holy". This throne scene, with its triple invocation of holiness (a formula that came to be known as the Trisagion), profoundly influenced subsequent theology, literature, and art. Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and apotheosis. Seraphs are mentioned as celestial beings in an influential Hellenistic work, the Book of Enoch, and the Book of Revelation. Cherubim are a winged angelic beings who are represented in ancient Middle Eastern art as a lion or bull with eagles' wings and a human face, and regarded in traditional Christian angelology as an angel of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy. Cherubim are mentioned throughout the Old Testament and once in the New Testament in reference to the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant (Hebrews 9:5).
Keith Christopher is actively involved in music as a composer, arranger, orchestrator and producer. His musical roots go back to Wylie, Texas, where he grew up playing trumpet in band, accompanying in church, and singing in the church youth choir. He holds a Master of Music in Composition from Southern Methodist University.
Salvation is created. O Lord God, Lord God almighty,
We offer praise to Thee above, O Lord. Holy Lord God.
Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in His hand,
Christ, our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Praise to Thee above.
Comfort, My People - Ian Callanan
Chancel Choir, Genesis Choir
Ian Callanan is one of Ireland’s leading composers of liturgical music. He has been involved with liturgical music his entire life and has been composing music for over 25 years. Ian holds an honours masters’ degree in Religion and Culture from Mater Dei, Dublin and an honours degree in Music from NUI Maynooth. He is an active member of the Irish Church Music Association as well as being a director of Music Ministry Together, a national liturgical music formation program for youth and adult leaders. He is also the director of the “Emmanuel” programme, for the Dublin Diocese, and the “Seinn” programme for the Limerick and Killaloe Dioceses, which involve over 3000 secondary (high school) students, learning new liturgical music, culminating in a celebration concert.
The text of this anthem is based on Isaiah 40.
Comfort, my people, and calm all your fear;
the day of salvation is quickly drawing near.
The One you long to see will soon set you free.
O come, Lord Jesus, come.
Silence the thunder, silence sounds of war.
End all destruction and comfort those who mourn.
Your dream draws near; your vision is here.
O come, Lord Jesus, come.
Be light in the darkness; be truth for our lives.
Be strength for the helpless, the poor and lost who cry.
O saving voice, O living choice,
O come, Lord Jesus, come.
Every Valley - John Ness Beck
Chancel Choir
Also based on Isaiah 40 is “Every Valley”. John Ness Beck (1930-1987) graduated from Ohio State with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees with a major in English. After working for a year in Student Union activities at the State College of Washington, he spent two years in the U.S. Army. During this time, he became increasingly involved in arranging for various musical groups. After his discharge from military service, he returned to Ohio State and completed Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts degrees in music with composition as his major. Beck was a faculty member of Ohio State University School of Music for seven years, teaching harmony and theory. He left the university to become owner and manager of The University Music House, a retail sheet music store in Columbus. In this capacity, he was able to observe the business side of the music industry, gaining insight into the complexities of music publishing and merchandising. As his compositions found their way into print and popularity, he joined forces in 1972 with John Tatgenhorst in the creation of Beckenhorst Press. His reputation as a composer and his experience as a choral director soon led to an increasing demand for appearances as guest conductor and lecturer at various musical clinics and festivals throughout the country.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain made low;
and the crooked made straight, and the rough places plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Amen.
Canticle of the Turning - Rory Cooney
Chancel Choir, Michele Anderson, solo
"Star of the County Down" is a traditional Irish ballad set near Banbridge in County Down, in Northern Ireland. The tune is similar to several other works, especially that of the English "Dives and Lazarus", also called "Kingsfold", well known from several popular hymns. Here is it used to set a text based on the Magnificat, Luke 1: 46-58.
Rory Cooney (b. 1952) is an accomplished composer, skilled liturgist and parish music director. His music expresses a deep reverence for the text as well as a lively concern for the practical needs of the parish. He has published several recordings and his compositions have appeared in Glory & Praise, Breaking Bread and Music Issue. He has a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Missouri and a two year certificate from Corpus Christi Center for Advanced Liturgical Study. Rory works with various institutes of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate and Institutes on the Christian Initiation of Children. He is currently the parish music director at St. Anne’s Church in Barrington, Illinois.
My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great,
and my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight, and my weakness you did not spurn,
so from east to west shall my name be blest. Could the world be about to turn?
Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me,
and your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame, and to those who would for you yearn,
you will show your might, put the strong to flight, for the world is about to turn.
From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears every tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more, for the food they can never earn;
there are tables spread, every mouth be fed, for the world is about to turn.
Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound,
’til the spear and rod can be crushed by God, who is turning the world around.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn!
Do You Hear What I Hear - Emily Crocker
Chancel Choir
Many people mistakenly assume this Christmas classic has been around for years and that it is of European origin. But it was written in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a powerful plea for peace by a man who had experienced the horrors of war. The song’s message of peace is as desperately needed today as it was then.
A brilliant musical career seemed assured for the French-born Noel Regney (1922-2002). He had studied at Strasbourg Conservatory and at the Conservatoire National de Paris. Then came the Second World War, when France was overwhelmed by Hitler’s German troops. Much against Regney’s will, he was drafted into the German army. He hated the Nazis who occupied the land where he was born. So, while still in the German army, Regney became a member of the French underground. His assignments required him to remain in a German uniform. He collected information and, when possible, warned French resistance fighters of attacks the Germans were planning against them. One mission would continue to haunt Noel Regney: He was assigned the task of leading a group of German soldiers into a trap where the French fighters could catch them in a crossfire. Although Regney was shot that day, he survived. The French suffered only minor injuries. But the memory of the enemy soldiers falling to the ground, most of them dead, was etched in Noel Regney’s mind. He never commented publicly on what took place that terrifying day. It has been said that he was intentionally wounded by the French to protect him from the Germans, in the belief that his injury would indicate he had no knowledge of the trap that had been set for the enemy. Not long after this encounter, Regney deserted the German army and lived underground with the French for the rest of the war. “Only then did I feel free,” he once observed.
After the war, he worked for a number of years as the musical director of the Indochinese Service of Radio France and as music director at Lido, a popular nightclub in Paris. In 1952, Noel Regney moved to Manhattan. He composed music for many early TV shows and commercial jingles, in addition to writing serious musical compositions. In the late ’50s, Noel Regney married pianist Gloria Shayne. In October 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States were involved in a crisis centered on missiles the Russians had installed in Cuba. The United States threatened military action if the missiles were not removed. The world trembled and prayed as these two nuclear powers stood eyeball-to-eyeball. That October, as Noel Regney walked through the streets of New York, a sense of despair was in the air. Christmas, which was supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill, was approaching. Noel Regney had been asked by a record producer to write a holiday song. “I had thought I’d never write a Christmas song,” he recalled. “Christmas had become so commercial. But this was the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the studio, the producer was listening to the radio to see if we had been obliterated. “En route to my home, I saw two mothers with their babies in strollers. The little angels were looking at each other and smiling. All of a sudden, my mood was extraordinary.” A glimpse of these babies filled Noel Regney’s heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs. Thus, the song begins, “Said the night wind to the little lamb….” As soon as Noel arrived home, he jotted down the lyrics. Then he asked Gloria to write the music to accompany his words. “While walking down the street in New York, my mother heard trumpets playing the melody in her head,” explains Gabrielle Regney. “Noel wrote a beautiful song,” Gloria said later, “and I wrote the music. We couldn’t sing it, through; it broke us up. We cried. Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at that time.”
There have been over 100 versions of “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” but it was the Bing Crosby 1963 recording that brought Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne’s song of peace to the nation’s attention.“Do You Hear What I Hear?” carried a beautiful message close to people in all walks of life. It became a popular Christmas carol, “a song high above the tree, with a voice as big as the sea.” But the message of peace was lost on many people. “I am amazed that people can think they know the song and not know it is a prayer for peace,” Noel Regney once told an interviewer. “But we are so bombarded by sounds and our attention spans are so short.” Let us hope and pray that this song of peace will remind us that “The Child, The Child sleeping in the night” came to “bring us goodness and light.”
Emily Holt Crocker, former Director of the Milwaukee Children's Choir, is recognized nationally as one of the leading experts in children's choirs. After a successful 15-year career as a music teacher and choral director in her native Texas, she joined the music publishing industry, and became Vice President of Choral Publications for Hal Leonard in Milwaukee and is Senior Author and Editor of the Essential Elements for Choir textbook series. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. She retired from Hal Leonard in 2017 but continues to write and consult for the company.
Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see?
‘Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night, with a tail as big as a kite.
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the tree, with a voice as big as the sea.
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king, do you know what I know?
A child, a child, shivers in the cold, let us bring him silver and gold.
Said the king to the people everywhere, listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people everywhere. Listen to what I say!
A child, a child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light.
Gloria in Excelsis - Dan Edwards
Genesis Choir
A part of all solemn liturgies, the Glory to God in the Highest (Gloria in excelsis Deo) is one of the ancient hymns of the church. While it relies on the Scriptures for some of its content, it was composed as a kind of supplemental psalm, what dictionaries on the liturgy call psalmi idiotici, and not because it was composed by an idiot, but rather because it is not part of the Bible, idiotici meaning "private." There are several examples of this type of ancient hymns: the Te Deum, which is a hymn of praise, and the Phos Hilaron (O happy light), both of which find a home in the Liturgy of the Hours. In most Church settings you can refer to this text as the Gloria, the Glory to God, the Gloria in excelsis, and in some traditions even as the Greater Doxology. It is called this for two reasons: when we look at it, the Glory to God is a doxology—from the Greek Δόξα (doxa), meaning praise, and Λόγια (logia), meaning words—so the Glory to God is all about praise words like laudamus te (we praise you). It's called "greater" to distinguish it from another common doxology, the gloria patri (Glory [or Glory be] to the Father).
It will be no surprise that the first concept for this hymn comes from the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:14, when a multitude of the heavenly host appears with the angel, saying "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." Maybe we should pause here a moment and think about what it means that the Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the highest), sung at Jesus' birth, was actually directed to God the Father. As a hymn it first appears in the East Syrian liturgy, and in a fuller form in the Apostolic Constitutions, so the hymn probably dates to around the fourth century. We find the first complete Latin version—in the form we use today—in the Antiphonary of Bangor from around the year 690.
Dan R. Edwards (b. 1951) holds an A.A. in music from Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth and a B. M. Ed. and M. A. Ed. from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dan has taught choral, guitar, music theory, and general music in elementary, middle, and high school settings in Virginia and has served as music director, organist, choir director, and minister of worship in several denominations.
Dan has been a published composer since 1987 and his works now include over 300 pieces for adult and children's choirs, handbell choirs, and small instrumental ensembles. He was selected as 2004 Composer of the Year by Jeffers Handbell Supply of Irmo, South Carolina. Presently, he serves as Minister of Worship at Centerville Baptist Church in Chespeake, Virginia.
Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Glory to God in the highest.
Et in terra pax hominibus. And on earth peace to all people.
Soon and Very Soon - Andrae Crouch
Chancel Choir, Genesis Choir, Congregation
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Andraé Crouch (1942-2015) in the gospel music field during the last fifty years. Few have had such a sustained level of accomplishment and recognition in gospel music — seven Grammys, six Dove awards, an Oscar nomination, induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998, and much more. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. A San Francisco native who grew up in the Church of God in Christ, Crouch wrote his first gospel tune at age 14. By 1960, he had formed the Church of God in Christ Singers, a group that featured Billy Preston on keyboards. He started another group, Andraé Crouch & the Disciples, in 1965, eventually signing to a contemporary Christian label, Light Records. Crouch brought a contemporary pop and R&B melodic sensibility to gospel, making him uniquely suited to appeal to both black and white audiences during the early days of the countercultural "Jesus movement" and also bringing him attention beyond the church. Throughout his life, Crouch struggled with dyslexia, sometimes memorizing words by the shapes of their combination of letters. He often drew simple pictures to help him comprehend words and write songs. Crouch's sister, Sandra Crouch, served as his spokeswoman, and the siblings were pastors at the New Christ Memorial Church in San Fernando, Calif., carrying on a work begun by their parents.
“Soon and very soon” (1978) is based on Revelation 21:3-4: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. >He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Soon and very soon, We are going to see the King,
Hallelujah, hallelujah, We are going to see the King.
No more crying there, We are going to see the King,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, We are going to see the King.
No more dying there, We are going to see the King,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, We are going to see the King.
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