December 9, 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:

As Joseph was a-Walking - Frank 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.

O Come, all Ye Faithful - Gordon Young

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. 

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;

Refrain
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Very God, Begotten not created.

Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation;
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, In the highest; 

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning;
Jesu, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, Now in flesh appearing.

See how the shepherds, Summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither Bend our hearts' oblations

There shall we see Him, His Eternal Father's
Everlasting Brightness now veiled under flesh;
God shall we find there, a Babe in infant clothing;

Father eternal, Thine eternal splendour
Now veiled in flesh our eyes shall see:
God as an infant, swaddling clothes about him.

Child, for us sinners Poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, Loving us so dearly? 

  Lo! Star-led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,
    Offer Him frankincense and gold and myrrh;
    We to the Christ-child, Bring our hearts oblations: 

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 Handbell Music:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Kevin McChesney

Tintinabulators

O come, O come, Emmanuel is a Christian hymn for Advent. While it is most commonly known by that English title, it is in fact a translation of the original Latin, Veni, Veni, Emmanuel; translations into other modern languages (particularly German) are also in widespread use. The 1861 translation from Hymns Ancient and Modern is the most prominent by far in the English-speaking world, but other English translations also exist.  The hymn is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, a series of plainchant antiphons attached to the Magnificat at Vespers over the final days before Christmas.  The words and the music of "O come, O come, Emmanuel" developed separately. The Latin text is first documented in Germany in 1710, whereas the tune most familiar in the English-speaking world has its origins in 15th-century France.  

The pre-history of the text stretches back to the origins of the O Antiphons, which were in existence by, at the latest, the eighth century.  They were paraphrased extensively by the English poet Cynewulf in a poem written before the year 800.  While "O come, O come, Emmanuel" is often linked with the 12th century, the earliest surviving evidence of the hymn's text is in the seventh edition of Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, which was published in Cologne in 1710. That hymnal was a major force in the history of German church music: first assembled by Jesuit hymnographer Johannes Herringsdorf in 1610 and receiving numerous revised editions through 1868, it achieved enormous impact due to its use in Jesuit schools. 

The text of the Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum version is essentially expanded, rather than altered, over the subsequent centuries. That version exhibits all of the hymn's characteristic qualities: it is strophic and metrical, and the order is altered so that the last of the O Antiphons (the titular "Veni Emmanuel") becomes the first verse of the hymn. Each stanza consists of a four-line verse, which adapts one of the antiphons, and a new two-line refrain ("Gaude, gaude! Emmanuel \ nascetur pro te, Israel," i.e. "Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel \ Shall come to thee, O Israel"), which provides an explicitly Advent-oriented response to the petition of the verse.

The familiar tune called Veni Emmanuel was first linked with this hymn in 1851, when Thomas Helmore published it in the Hymnal Noted, paired with an early revision of Neale's English translation of the text. The volume listed the tune as being "From a French Missal in the National Library, Lisbon."  The pairing of the hymn text with the Veni Emmanuel tune was an extremely significant combination. The hymn text was embraced both out of a Romantic interest in poetic beauty and medieval exoticism and out of a concern for matching hymns to liturgical seasons and functions rooted in the Oxford Movement in the Church of England. The Hymnal Noted, in which the words and tune were first combined, represented these goals. This hymnal consisted entirely of versions of Latin hymns, designed for use as Office hymns within the Anglican Church despite the fact that Office hymns had no part in the authorized liturgy. The music was drawn chiefly from plainchant, as was the case with the Veni Emmanuel tune for "O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear,

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh;

To us the path of knowledge sho and cause us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Root of Jesse’s tree, and ensign of they people be;

Before thee rulers silent fall; all people on Thy mercy call.

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Kevin McChesney (b. 1963) graduated with highest honors from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BMus in Composition and Theory. A composer and arranger of handbell music, Kevin currently has nearly 1000 titles in print and is one of the very few musicians who makes handbells a full-time vocation. He has won numerous awards for his work, including winning American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Composition Contests and Jeffers Composer of the Year.  He is Music Director of the Pikes Peak Ringers and his work with that organization for over 20 years has brought them to national prominence, including a recording with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Kevin is also Music Director of the Atlanta Concert Ringers.

About the Choral Music:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Timothy Bandy

This setting for choir and clarinet is by Timothy Bandy, who is Associate Minister of Music at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, Al.  

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here until the son of God appear.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Oh, come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind;

        bid thou our sad divisions cease, and be thyself our king of peace!

About the Hymns:

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Charles Wesley wrote “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” and printed it in his Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord (1744). Like so many of Wesley's texts, "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" alludes to one or more Scripture passages in virtually every phrase. The double nature of Advent is reflected in this text, in which we remember Christ's first coming even while praying for his return. Stanzas 1 and 2 recall Advent prophecies in the Old Testament; stanza 3 speaks of Christ's birth and kingdom, and stanza 4 is a prayer for Christ's rule in our hearts.

We express longing when we sing the words of Charles Wesley’s beautiful Advent hymn, for though we know that Christ goes with us and before us every day, we long for the day when we are with Him in all of the fullness and glory He will bring. We long for the day when we are with Him in a New Heaven and New Earth, when all things are made new. And just as a four-year-old crawls into his father’s arms after an extended absence, so too we long for the day when we will be at rest in Christ, enfolded in the embrace of our Savior.

Hyfrydol is a Welsh hymn tune that appears in a number of Christian hymnals in various arrangements. Composed by Rowland Prichard, it was originally published in the composer's handbook to the children's songbook Cyfaill y Cantorion ("The Singers' Friend"). Prichard composed the tune before he was twenty years old.  The best-known arrangement is probably that by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which he originally produced for his revision of the English Hymnal, and is the version which appears in our hymnal.  

Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne. 

Blessed Be the God of Israel

Canon Michael Perry (1942-1996), a most beloved Anglican priest and hymn writer, was born in Beckenham, Kent, England. He was elected to the General Synod of the Church of England in 1985. In 1989 he was appointed to his last posting as Vicar of Tonbridge, Kent. He was appointed chairman of the Church Pastoral Aid Society in 1993. In the early 1960s, Michael Baughen founded the Jubilate group. According to Perry, the group pooled their talents to meet the challenge of a new generation in the UK who wished to extend their singing beyond the foursquare ways of metrical hymnody and the unpredictability of Anglican chant. With the newfound popularity of his “Calypso Carol” and the support of the Church Pastoral Aid Society, Youth Praise 2 was published in 1969. 

In that same year, Baughen began a new project to revitalize the use of Psalms. Perry had been working on paraphrases, including his famous paraphrase of the “Benedictus,” “O praise the God of Israel,” as well as several Psalms. Baughen asked him to join this project, which was published in 1973 as Praise Psalms.  Perry felt that chant settings of the canticles were difficult for ordinary congregations to easily sing. Soon after his ordination, he began to render the canticles from the Book of Common Prayer (1662) into metrical paraphrases. He wanted not only to make them easier to sing, but also to be more easily understood. “Blessed be God” is one such paraphrase of the “Benedictus” or the “Song of Zechariah.”  One of 300 hymns, Perry first published his paraphrase in Praise Psalms under the title “O Praise the God of Israel.” 

The text of the “Benedictus” comes from Luke 1:68-79. Zechariah had been made dumb during his wife Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist. When he hears of his son’s birth, his tongue is loosed for his song of praise to the Lord God of Israel.  The first eight verses of the “Benedictus” parallel the “Magnificat” and the last four identify John the Baptist as Jesus’ forerunner. Because of its imagery of Christ as the “dayspring” or “dawn” of God’s new creation, it became associated with the morning office of Constantinople and with lauds in the Roman and Benedictine offices.  A variety of terms refer to John the Baptist in stanza two including “herald,” “forerunner,” “prophet of salvation” and “harbinger.” Perry condenses the metaphor in the canticle referring to Christ as the “day-spring from on high” and John as the messenger as the “harbinger of Day.”  The last line of the hymn—“with songs that never cease!”—would seem to be a hyperbole at first glance, but the text is a literal understanding of eschatology. Our songs will never cease in heaven.

MERLE’S TUNE is a hymn tune composed by American composer Hal Hopson (b.1933) in 1983.  Hal Hopson was born in Mound, Texas, in a family of thirteen children where music making figured prominently. His first piano teacher was his older sister, Merle, whom he holds in deep regard for her enormous musical and personal influences on his life. The hymn tune, MERLE'S TUNE, is named in her honor.