Musings: January 6, 2019

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:

Meditation on “I Wonder as I Wander" - John Barr

"I Wonder as I Wander" is a folk hymn written by folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles. The hymn has its origins in a song fragment collected by Niles on July 16, 1933. While in the town of Murphy in Appalachian North Carolina, Niles attended a fundraising meeting held by evangelicals who had been ordered out of town by the police. In his unpublished autobiography, he wrote of hearing the song:

A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins.... But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song.

The girl, named Annie Morgan, repeated the fragment seven times in exchange for a quarter per performance, and Niles left with "three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material—and a magnificent idea".Based on this fragment, Niles composed the version of "I Wonder as I Wander" that is known today, extending the melody to four lines and the lyrics to three stanzas. It was originally published in Songs of the Hill Folk in 1934.

Although often sung at Christmas, the text of the first verse is very appropriate for Lent.

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.
For poor on'ry people like you and like I…

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall

With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all,

But high from God's heaven, a star's light did fall,

And the promise of ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing:

A star in the sky or a bird on the wing

Or all of God's Angels in heaven to sing,

He surely could have it, 'cause he was the King

John G. Barr (b. 1938) graduated in 1960 from Manchester College in northern Indiana, receiving a B.S. in Music Education. He received masters and doctoral degrees in sacred music from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Barr was the music teacher at Hillcrest School for Missionary Children in Jos, Nigeria, 1962–65; Organist/Choir Director at University Presbyterian Church, Madison, Wisconsin, 1965–68; and Professor of Organ and Piano at Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia, 1968–2003 retiring as Professor Emeritus. For much of this time he was also organist at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren.

Brightest and Best - John Rasley

“Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning” (the original title) was written by Bishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826), one of the finest Romantic hymn writers. Heber was bright and a diligent student of the Bible, even at a young age, as was evidenced by his Latin studies at age seven, translating a classical Latin text into English. Heber entered Oxford at 17 and soon won two prizes for poetry. He took orders in the Anglican Church in 1807 and became a rector in his father’s church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury. During his 16 years at this parish, he took on the task of improving hymn singing in the congregation. When he arrived, they were still singing only metrical psalms. He couldn’t find the hymns he wanted, especially those that would fit the Anglican liturgy and the requirements of the Book of Common Prayer. Heber decided to prepare his own hymnal and invited other poets to contribute, including Sir Walter Scott and Henry Milman. Hymn singing was not firmly established in the Anglican Church at this time, and the bishop of London refused Heber’s request to publish a hymnal. “Brightest and Best” was thus first published in the Christian Observer in November 1811 before his wife Amelia Heber published it in 1827 as Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Service of the Church Year. Heber’s most famous hymn is “Holy, Holy, Holy”.

In 1823 Heber was appointed the Bishop of Calcutta. He was known for his tireless labor, enthusiasm and administrative abilities. He died prematurely in 1826 in India on a trip to Trichinopoly, epitomizing what British hymnologist J.R. Watson calls “the dedicated missionary-bishop, giving his life for the furtherance of the gospel.” This hymn was written early in Heber’s career, before he knew his ministry would take him to the poverty of India to serve in the East. In a sense, the image of stanza two where the infant in a lowly cattle stall is worshipped by angels as the “Maker and Monarch . . . of all” is reversed: Bishop Heber, described by hymnologist Albert Bailey as “the darling of fortune,” died among the poor of Calcutta.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning;
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining,
Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall:
Angels adore him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all.

Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest or gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would his favor secure,
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

John M. Rasley (1913-1998) worked as a musical editor and composer at Lorenz Publishing and Singspiration Publishing.

About the Piano Music:

We Three Kings - Jim Brickman

”We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, was instrumental in organizing an elaborate holiday pageant (which featured this hymn) for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857 while serving as the seminary's music director. Although there is no scriptural basis for stating dogmatically that there were three wise men, the fact that three distinct gifts are mentioned has given rise to this traditional idea. Master artists throughout the centuries have depicted three wise men on camels as one of their favorite nativity themes.

We three kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we traverse afar,
field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown him again,
King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign.

Frankincense to offer have I; incense owns a Deity nigh;
prayer and praising, voices raising, worshiping God on high.

Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom;
sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

Glorious now behold him arise; King and God and sacrifice:
Alleluia, Alleluia, sounds through the earth and skies.

O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.

Jim Brickman (b. 1961) is an American songwriter and pianist of pop music, as well as a radio show host. Brickman has earned six Gold and Platinum albums. He has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums Peace (2003) for Best Instrumental, and Faith (2009) for Best New Age Album; an SESAC "Songwriter of the Year" award; a Canadian Country Music Award for Best Vocal/Instrumental Collaboration; and a Dove Award presented by the Gospel Music Association.

About the Choral Music:

Will You Come and See the Light? - David Haas

“Will You Come and See the Light?” was written by Brian Wren (b. 1936), an internationally published hymn writer. He was ordained in Britain’s United Reformed Church and holds BA and PhD degrees from Oxford University. In 2000 he was appointed the first John and Miriam Conant Professor of Worship at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta.

David Robert Haas (born 1957 in Bridgeport, Michigan), is an American author and composer of contemporary Catholic liturgical music. Haas studied vocal music performance and conducting at Central Michigan University, and has his degree in theology and music from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In addition to serving in parish liturgical ministry in Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota over the years, he also served as composer-in-residence at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minnesota; and was also campus minister and artist-in-residence at Benilde-St. Margaret's in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, where he taught in the music and theology departments. In 1999, Haas began the program MUSIC MINISTRY ALIVE!, a five-day liturgical program for youth and adult leaders that takes place on the campus of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has produced over forty-five original collections and recordings of liturgical music. He is also the author of over 20 books on the topics of liturgy, music ministry, spirituality, religious education, and youth ministry. Haas lives in Eagan, Minnesota, where he is the director of the Emmaus Center for Music, Prayer and Ministry. In the fall of 2011, Haas began work at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a member of the Campus Ministry team there and is leader of the liturgical choir that sings at prayer gatherings throughout the school year. Haas is active as a cantor at St. Cecilia's Parish in St. Paul.

Will you come and see the light from the stable door?

It is shining newly bright, though it shone before.

It will be your guiding star; it will show you who you are;