April 21, 2019 - Easter

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:

In dir ist Freude – J. S. Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period.  He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.  Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg concertos, the Mass in B minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, two Passions, keyboard works, and more than 300 cantatas, of which nearly 100 cantatas have been lost to posterity.  His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.  Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the nineteenth century.  During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Bach was recognized by several prominent composers.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven,  Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn were among his admirers; they began writing in a more contrapuntal style after being exposed to Bach's music.  Beethoven described him as "Urvater der Harmonie", the "original father of harmony".  He is now generally regarded as the main composer of the Baroque period and as one of the greatest composers of all time.  A highly devout Christian, Bach signed all of his compositions “soli Deo Gloria” (to God alone be the glory).   

The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") is a collection of 46 chorale preludes for organ, which form the first of Bach's masterpieces with a mature compositional style in marked contrast to his previous compositions for the instrument.  Each of them treats a known Lutheran chorale with a motivic accompaniment.  Bach explored a wide diversity of forms in the Orgelbüchlein.  As stated by Spitta in his biography of Bach:

A further step towards perfection this form was taken by Bach when he made the contrapuntal elements in his music a means of reflecting certain emotional aspects of the words.  Pachelbel had not attempted this; he lacked the fervid feeling which would have enabled him thus to enter into his subject.   And it is entering into it, and not a mere depicting of it.  For, once more be it said, in every vital movement of the world external to us we behold the image of a movement within us; and every such image must react upon us to produce the corresponding emotion I that inner world of feeling.

The tune, “In dir ist Freude”, is one of many balletti (dance-like songs) written by Giovanni G. Gastoldi (1554-1609), a priest and composer from Mantua, Italy.  It was originally published in his Balleti a cinque voce (1591), where it was set to "Alieta vi.a, Amor ciinuita", which like so many balletti had a "fa-la-la" refrain.  Cantor Johann Lindemann (1549-1631) wrote this text to fit the tune.  It was published in Lindemann's Amarum Filii Dei Decades Duae (1598).  Catherine Winkworth prepared the English translation for the second series of her Lyra Germanica (1858).  The text confesses with joy the Christian's security of walking intimately with God through the ups and downs of daily life.  Bach has set the melody in complex counterpoint which expresses pure joy in virtual abandon.

In Thee is gladness amid all sadness, Jesus, Sunshine of my heart!    

By Thee are given the gifts of heaven, Thou the true Redeemer art!    

Our souls Thou wakest, our bonds Thou breakest.  Hallelujah.         

Who trust Thee surely hath built securely; through life and death,    

He stands forever:  Hallelujah!

Jesus is ours! We fear no powers, not of earth or sin or death.
He sees and blesses in worst distresses; he can change them with a breath.
Wherefore the story - tell of His glory with hearts and voices;
all heaven rejoices in him forever: Allelujah!
We shout for gladness, triumph o'er sadness, love him and praise him,
and still shall raise him glad hymns forever: Allelujah!

About the Handbell Music:

Now the Green Blade Riseth - Kevin McChesney

Jubilation Ringers

What a metaphor for Jesus' resurrection!  John MacLeod Campbell Crum (1872-1958) wrote this text to be paired with the popular French carol melody NOËL NOUVELET, sometimes referred to by the name FRENCH CAROL.

During his life, Crum was highly active in the Church of England. After his education at Eton and New College in Oxford, he took Holy Orders. The various positions Crum held included chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, Francis Paget (1901-1910), assistant curate at Windsore, vicar of Mentmore at Ledburn (1910-1921), and finally canon at Canterbury (1928-1943).  Crum worked in a variety of theological areas and wrote on biblical and architectural topics, as well as studying historical works, and writing children's books. His works include Road Mending on the Sacred Way (1924), What Mean Ye by These Stones? (1926), The Original Jerusalem Gospel (1927) and St Mark's Gospel, Two Stages of its Making (1936).  Crum's hymn output ranged from translation of Latin hymns by the fourth-century poet Aurelius Clemens Prudentius to children's hymns. He published Songs of Praise for Boys and Girls (1929). Other children's works include a play, The Play of St. George (1911), and a pageant, Children's Missionary Pageant (1910, 1913) with musical score.

This hymn text first appeared in the 1928 edition of the Oxford Book of Carols. It was first printed in the United States in the 1966 edition of The Methodist Hymnal. Interestingly, though the current text has been changed to incorporate more inclusive language, archaic language was maintained.  The text exhibits Crum's ability to capture one's imagination, perhaps an extension of his children's writings. For those in the northern hemisphere who live in areas where springtime usually coincides with Easter, the image of growing plants and vegetation speaks clearly.

The vivid imagery of the hymn is biblically based: John 12:23-24: "And Jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."  In addition, 1 Corinthians 15:37-38 connects the image with the resurrection: "And that which sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."  The connection of the Easter event - the rising of Jesus -- is unmistakable. The simple phrase "Now the green blade riseth" reminds us that Jesus is risen today just as he rose on that first Easter morning. In the third line, we find "Love" being used as a metaphor for Jesus. We are now reminded why Jesus came to the earth in the first place: "For God so loved the world…" (John 3:16). After speaking directly about Jesus' death and resurrection, Crum turns to our lifetime struggles. In the fourth stanza, Crum emphasizes that no matter what we are going through, "Jesus' touch can call us back to life again.”

Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,

Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love who had been slain,

Thinking that He never would awake again,

Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen: 

Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain,

Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;

Quick from the dead the risen One is seen:

Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,

Jesus' touch can call us back to life again,

Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been: 

Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

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.

Change Ringing

The tradition of ringing church bells dates back to 400 A.D., when Paulinus of Nola first introduced bells in association with a church. In 604 Pope Sabinianus officially sanctioned their use. By the early Middle Ages, church bells had become common in northern Europe, reflecting the influence of Irish missionaries. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a long and complex history of bell ringing and the custom is particularly sophisticated in the Russian Orthodox Church.

In medieval times, swinging bells were first used as a way of notifying people of fires, storms, wars and other events. A ringing of bells from the lowest note to the highest note indicated that an attack had taken place. 

The use of bells in a musical fashion originated in the 16th century.  A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in the bell tower (or belfry) of a church. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are serially played to produce a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A traditional manual carillon is played by striking a keyboard to activate levers and wires that connect to metal clappers that strike the inside of the bells, allowing the performer on the bells to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key.  The first carillon was in Flanders, where a "fool" performed music on the bells of Oudenaarde Town Hall in 1510 by making use of a baton keyboard. The word "carillon" is from the French “quadrillon,” meaning four bells.

The first tuned handbells were developed by brothers Robert and William Cor in Aldbourne, Wiltshire, England, between 1696 and 1724. Originally, tuned sets of handbells were used by change ringers to rehearse outside their towers. Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called “changes.”  Tower bell ringers' enthusiasm for practicing the complicated algorithms of change ringing tended to exceed the neighbors’ patience, so handbells offered them a way to continue ringing without becoming too obtrusive.

A handbell choir or ensemble (in the United States) or a handbell team (in England) is a group that rings recognizable music with melodies and harmony, as opposed to the mathematical permutations used in change ringing.

The primary purpose of ringing church bells in modern times is to signify the time for worshippers to gather for a church service. Many Anglican, Catholic and Lutheran churches also ring their bell tower bells three times a day (at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m.), summoning the faithful to recite the Lord's Prayer. This tradition was influenced by the Jewish practice of praying three times a day. The ringing of church bells three times a day also resembles the Islamic tradition of the adhan in which the faithful are called to prayer from a minaret.

The idea that the sound of bells ringing has spiritual value is thought to have originated with ancient winter celebrations in which bells were rung to drive out evil spirits. Some churches still refer to the so-called apotropaic power of bells in their descriptions of sanctus bells. In later centuries, bells were rung on Christmas Eve to welcome Christmas with a “joyful noise.”

About the Choral Music:

He is not Here!  He has Risen! - Allen Pote

“Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hearts to heaven and voices raise” was written by Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln and was first published in Holy Year, 1862, as the first of two hymns for Easter-day. it ranks with the best of the author's hymns.

Dr. Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) was the nephew of the great lake-poet, William Wordsworth--was born in 1807. He was educated at Winchester, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected Fellow of his College in 1830, and public orator of the University in 1836; received Priest's Orders in 1835; head master of Harrow School in 1836; Canon of Westminster Abbey in 1844; Hulsean Lecturer at Cambridge in 1847-48; Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale, Berks, in 1850; Archdeacon of Westminster, in 1865; Bishop of Lincoln, in 1868.  His writings are numerous, and most are in prose.  Of his many works, however, the only one which claims notice from the hynmologist's point of view is The Holy Year, which contains hymns, not only for every season of the Church's year, but also for every phase of that season, as indicated in the Book of Common Prayer. Dr. Wordsworth, like the Wesleys, looked upon hymns as a valuable means of stamping permanently upon the memory the great doctrines of the Christian Church. He held it to be "the first duty of a hymn-writer to teach sound doctrine, and thus to save souls." He thought that the materials for English Church hymns should be sought (1) in the Holy Scriptures, (2) in the writings of Christian Antiquity, and (3) in the Poetry of the Ancient Church. 

Allen Pote (b. 1945) was born in Halstead, Kansas, and educated at Texas Christian University, where his diploma was in Church Music. A Fulbright Scholar, he studied in Brussels, Belgium, and took advanced work at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. For twenty-two years he served as a full-time Director of Music in churches in Texas and Florida. He is currently a full-time composer living in Pensacola, Florida, where, with his wife Susan, he is co-director of the Pensacola Children's Choir, an organization of over 200 singers which has achieved national recognition.

In this anthem, he has combined text based on Luke 24: 1-10 with the text of Dr. Wordsworth’s hymn to create an exultant Easter song.

Early in the morning came women bringing spices and perfume,

to anoint the body of Jesus, lying in the tomb.

But the stone was rolled away, and the body was not there.

Then two men in dazzling clothes spoke to them:

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?  

He is not here, he is not here for he has risen.”

He is not here for he has risen from the dead.

He is not here!  Jesus is alive!

Go and tell all the apostles, go and tell Peter and John.

Go and tell those who will listen, Jesus is risen, He is alive!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to heaven and voices raise,

Sing to God a hymn of gladness, sing to God a hymn of praise;

he who on the cross a victim for the world’s salvation bled,

Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, now is risen from the dead!

He is not here, he has risen.  Alleluia!

Glory Hallelujah to the Risen Lamb! - Victor C. Johnson

Victor is a native of Dallas, Texas, and is currently in his 12th year of teaching at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts. He is also in his twelfth year as director of the Children’s Choir of Texas. Victor attended the University of Texas at Arlington where he majored in music education with a concentration in organ. While attending UTA, he served as student conductor of the university’s choral ensembles and opera workshop accompanist. He was also honored with the awards of “Outstanding Music Freshman” in 1997 and also “Outstanding Musician” in 2001.  As a composer, Victor has won numerous composition contests and has received ASCAP Awards for the past 12 years.  Victor has led reading sessions and choral workshops in numerous states and has conducted All-State and Regional Honor choirs in Texas, California, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky.

Glory! Glory, glory hallelujah to the risen Lamb!

Jesus hung on the cruel tree; and he gave His life for the likes of me.

Women came at the break of day; the angel rolled the stone away!

Hallelujah, from Messiah – G. F. Handel

Georg Friederich Handel (1685-1759) became a musician and composer despite objections from his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer. Handel studied music with Zachau, organist at the Halle Cathedral, and became an accomplished violinist and keyboard performer. He traveled and studied in Italy for some time and then settled permanently in England in 1713. Although he wrote a large number of instrumental works, he is known mainly for his Italian operas, oratorios (including “Messiah”, 1741), various anthems for church and royal festivities, and organ concertos, which he interpolated into his oratorio performances. He composed only three hymn tunes, one of which still appears in some modern hymnals. A number of hymnal editors, including Lowell Mason, took themes from some of Handel's oratorios and turned them into hymn tunes.

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. 

Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the "Hallelujah" chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven.

Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928; since then the work has been recorded many times.

Part II closes with the chorus "Hallelujah", in the key of D major with trumpets and timpani. This chorus is often performed out of context, especially around Christmas and Easter. The choir introduces in homophony a characteristic simple motif on the word, playing with the interval of a second, which re-appears throughout the piece. Several lines from the Book of Revelation (Revelation 19:6,16, Revelation 11:15) are treated differently, as in a motet, but unified by "Hallelujah" as a conclusion or as a countersubject in a fugal section. The line "for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" is sung by all voices, first in unison, then in imitation with Hallelujah-exclamations interspersed. The second line "The kingdom of this world is become" is sung in a four part setting like a chorale. The third idea "and he shall reign for ever and ever" starts as a fugue on a theme with bold leaps, reminiscent in sequence of Philipp Nicolai's Lutheran chorale Wachet auf. As a countersubject, the words "forever – and ever" assume the rhythm of the Hallelujah-motif. The final acclamation "King of Kings...and Lord of Lords" is sung on one note, energized by repeated calls "Hallelujah" and "forever – and ever", raised higher and higher (the sopranos and the trumpets part), up to a rest full of tension and a final solemn "Hallelujah".

In many parts of the world, it is the accepted practice for the audience to stand for this section of the performance. The tradition is said to have originated with the first London performance of Messiah, which was attended by King George II. As the first notes of the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus rang out, the king was so moved that he rose to his feet and remained standing until the end of the chorus. Royal protocol has always dictated that when the monarch stands, everyone in the monarch's presence is also required to stand. Thus, the entire audience and orchestra stood when the king stood during the performance, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries. 

There is another story told about this chorus that Handel's assistant walked in to Handel's room after shouting to him for several minutes with no response. The assistant reportedly found Handel in tears, and when asked what was wrong, Handel held up the score to this movement and said, "I thought I saw the face of God." 

Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.  Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ.

And He shall reign forever and ever, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Hallelujah!

About the Hymns:

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

"Hymn for Easter Day" was written by Charles Wesley in 1739 for the inaugural service at the Foundry Meeting House, London's first Wesleyan chapel.  As with many of the most popular hymns, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" has survived the centuries thanks to a successful marriage of lyrics and music.  The tune first circulated in 1708 with the Lyra Davidica hymnal, but no composer has ever been acknowledged.  It was first published in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists, John Wesley's hymnbook first published in 1780. Charles Wesley's original text does not include the song's most distinctive characteristic—the "Alleluia!" that ends each line.  An unknown editor added the alleluias later.

“Alleluia”, meaning "Praise the Lord," prominently leads off Psalms 106, 111, 112, 113, 117, and 135 in the Hebrew hymnal.  In the years immediately following Christ's resurrection, “alleluia” particularly connoted praise for Jesus' victory over death.  Early Christians began greeting each other on Easter with the now-familiar call and response:  "Alleluia! He is risen!" "Alleluia! He is risen indeed!"  Alleluia is meant to convey emphatic joy, thanksgiving, and triumph.  

John captures the triumph in Revelation 19 with his vision of the great multitude in heaven roaring, "Alleluia!"   Jerome, translator of the Latin Vulgate, conveyed the joy when he wrote that Christian houses of worship in the fourth and fifth centuries shook from the intense alleluias shouted by believers.  Roman Catholics and Anglicans refrain from speaking or singing alleluia during Lent, but they reintroduce the word into their liturgies to express their thanksgiving on Easter morning. Even in nonliturgical churches, alleluia retains a kind of liturgical significance. Bernard Lord Manning, a hymnologist, historian, and observer of Methodism during the early 20th century, explained how hymns like "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" functioned as a liturgy for John and Charles Wesley's spiritual descendants.

But in the evening at the chapel [the Dissenting church], though I was uncertain about the prayers, there was no gamble about the hymns.  I knew we should have Charles Wesley's Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," with its 24 "Alleluias": and we did have it.  Among any Dissenters worth the name that hymn is as certain to come on Easter Day as the Easter Collect in the Established Church.  And mark this further—those 24 "Alleluias" are not there for nothing: the special use of "Alleluia" at Easter comes down to us from the most venerable liturgies.  Our hymns are our liturgy, an excellent liturgy. Let us study it, respect it, use it, develop it, and boast of it.

This melodic liturgy conveys the triumphant joy that is ours on Easter morning.  Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Easter People, Raise Your Voices

Following in the tradition of many pastors who write hymns, William Marceus James (1913-2013) wrote "Easter People, Raise Your Voices" for his congregation at Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in New York City.  Born in Meadville, Mississippi, and educated at Mt. Beulah College, Butler University, and Drew University, the Rev. James received his license to preach in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1936 and was ordained an elder in 1940.  In 1944, he was appointed to the Trinity (Morrisania) Methodist Church in the Bronx, a church he founded with no members. In only eight years, it grew into a 900-member congregation. In an interview with the United Methodist Interpreter, James noted, "It was during that time I learned to minister to gangs and street people."  In 1952 he began serving Community Methodist Church in Harlem, which later became the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in 1971. The Rev. James ministered to this congregation for 33 years until "retiring" in 1985, but he continued his ministry to young people and to the Harlem community.

The author of more than fifty hymns, James noted to this writer in 2005 that "I wrote hymns for my congregation whenever I needed one. 'Easter People' is not the greatest hymn I have, but it took better than the others. Most of my hymns have themes around the social gospel." Originally in five stanzas, the hymn first appeared in the United Methodist collection, Songs of Zion (1981), in its present form.  The triumph of the Resurrection over evil is the theme of "Easter People." In stanza two, the poet reminds us that the "fear of death" cannot stop us from doing all we can to overcome evil "here below." The final stanza insists: "Every day to [Christians] is Easter" because our God is one who "rights the wrong.”