September 29, 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:

Prelude on Two American Folk Hymns - Charles Callahan

The authorship of “How Firm a Foundation” is one of the great hymnological mysteries.  When John Rippon, pastor of Carter Lane Baptist Church in London, published A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors in 1787, the attribution for this hymn appeared only as “K”.  Hymnologist William Reynolds notes that the 1822 edition designated the author as “Kn”, and the 1835 edition of the collection indicated “Keen”.  Finally, an 1844 edition ascribed authorship to “Kirkham”.  Robert Keene (Or Keen), a close friend of Rippon’s, was the song leader at the Carter Lane Church from 1776-1793.  Reynolds believes that Keene assisted Rippon in preparing the compilation.  But no hymn in the early editions appears to have been written by Keene.  Six tunes bear the attribution “R. Keene” or ‘Keene”, and logic would dictate that if Keene had written the text, this wold have also been clearly indicated.  It is safe to say that compilers in the 18th and 19th centuries did not take the same care to assign authorship as we have come to expect in modern hymnals.  

We know that Rippon’s Selection was very popular, with 11 editions published in England and one in the U.S. (1820) before his death in 1836.  “How firm a foundation” was sung frequently in both the North and the South before the Civil War.  Mr. Reynolds notes that it was a favorite hymn of Theodore Roosevelt, and that Andrew Jackson requested it be sun at his deathbed, and that Robert E. Lee asked it be sung at his funeral.

The anonymous folk tune FOUNDATION is an American contribution to the hymn that first appears with the text in Joseph Fund’s 1832 Genuine Church Music under the tune name PROTECTION.  Hymnology scholar Harry Eskew has concluded that PROTECTION was a new tune and not previously published.  The composer remains unknown.  The tune appears in other famous American 19th-century collections such as The Sacred Harp (1844) and Southern Harmony (1854) with some melodic variations and with changes in harmony, but R. M. McIntosh’s Tabor: or, the Richmond Collection of Sacred Music (1866) provides us the present form found in most hymnals.

Originally written with seven four-line stanzas, five are included in The United Methodist Hymnal with only one small alteration.  Much of the hymn’s text is straight from the Bible, such as Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:2, II Corinthians 12:9, and Hebrews 13:5.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said, 

You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health; 

In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;

At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, 

As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, 

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand 

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go, 

The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, 

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie, 

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design 

Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove 

My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn, 

Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, 

I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, 

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

"Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett (1797–1882). Brackett, a lifelong resident of Maine, first joined the Shakers at Gorham, Maine, when his father's farm helped to form the nucleus of a new Shaker settlement.  The song was largely unknown outside Shaker communities until Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet Appalachian Spring.

’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

When Brackett wrote “Simple Gifts” in 1848, the Shakers—their full name is the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing—had been in America for close to 75 years. Formed in France during the 17th century, members of the sect had migrated to England in the 18th and then crossed the Atlantic to America in 1774. Their leader, Ann Lee, settled her followers along the Hudson River region of New York.

The Shakers were fundamentally Christian, but with some significant twists. Believing that the end of the world was fast approaching, they discouraged marriage and having children. Instead, they demanded celibacy—a life without marriage and sex—, believing that the demands of marriage and childrearing would distract believers from what should be their focus: preparing for the Second Coming of Christ.

During the 1800s, the most radical aspect of Shaker life was their treatment of women. In the Shaker community, women were elevated to positions of leadership. They preached, became elders, and were selected to govern several communities. Ann Lee set the example when she rose to prominence among English Shakers through her eloquent evangelism and courageous opposition to restrictions on religious speech.

Apocalyptic, communist, and implicitly feminist, the Shakers held some unusual beliefs even by some people’s standards today, but it was their dancing that really drew attention. Shakers believed that God continued to reveal Him/Herself and that through prayer they might receive an energizing infusion of His/Her Spirit. God’s Spirit might inspire them to preach, or it might inspire them to sing or dance, so music and dance was incorporated into Shaker worship. Many of the dances followed a ritual-like form; men and women would follow patterns performed for decades. 

“Simple Gifts” was written to accompany the Shakers’ dance of worship. Shakers also wrote hymns and work songs, but in Shaker songbooks “Simple Gifts” was listed as a “dancing song” or “quick dance.” Moreover, one line told the inspired dancers exactly what to do: “To turn, turn will be our delight, till by turning, turning we come 'round right.”  "Turning" is a common theme in Christian theology, but the references to "turning" in the last two lines have also been identified as dance instructions. When the traditional dance is performed properly, each dancer ends up where he or she began, "come 'round right”.

The lyrics offered more than “simple” dance instructions; they also summed up core Shaker beliefs. “'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,” wrote Brackett. Satisfaction was not attained through the acquisition of power or wealth. Instead, it was attained through humility and freedom from worldly goods. In fact, when “true simplicity” was achieved, people were not embarrassed by their poverty or lack of power. The song even proclaimed, “to bow and bend we shan't be asham'd.” This simple life, free of material possessions and worldly concerns, would lead to happiness and prepare people for the kingdom of God about to unfold on earth. “When we find ourselves in the place just right,” wrote Brackett, “’twill be in the valley of love and delight.”

Later non-Shaker verses exist for the song, as follows:

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,

'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,

And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,

Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,

'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",

And when we hear what others really think and really feel,

Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.

Tis the gift to be loving, tis the best gift of all

Like a quiet rain it blesses where it falls

And with it we will truly believe

Tis better to give than it is to receive

Charles Callahan (b. 1951) is one of America’s leading organist-composers.  A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America.  In recognition of his service to the church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the U.S., he was awared the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1999.  In addition to compositions and performances, Charles Callahan is a noted educator and author whose two books on American organ-building have become standard reference works.

Built on the Rock - Robert Hobby

Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872) the son of a pastor, was born at Udby, in Seeland. He studied in the University of Copenhagen.  H is mind was too active and his imagination too versatile to bear the restraint of the academic course. After leaving the university he devoted his attention to poetry, literature, and Northern antiquities. In 1810 he became assistant to his father in a parish in Jutland. The sermon he preached at his ordination, on the subject "Why has the Lord's word disappeared from His house," attracted much attention, which is rarely the case with "probationers'" sermons. He became chaplain of St. Saviour's church in Christianshavn. From the time of his ordination, he had been deeply impressed with Evangelical church sentiments, in opposition to the fashionable Rationalism and Erastianism of the day; and adhered to the anti-rationalist teaching of Hauge, whose death at this time (1824) seemed to be a call to Grundtvig to lift up his voice. An opportunity soon presented itself; Professor Clausen brought out a book entitled Katholicismens og Protestantismens Forfatning, Ldre, og Ritus ("The condition, teaching, and ritual of Catholicism and Protestantism"). This book was replete with the Erastian Rationalism which was so especially distasteful to Grundtvig, who forthwith, in his Kirkens Gjenmsele ("The Church's Reply," 1825), strongly opposed its teaching, and laid down truer principles of Christian belief, and sounder views of the nature of the Church. This caused a sensation: Grandtvig (who had not spared his opponent) was fined 100 rixdollars, and the songs and hymns which he had written for the coming celebration of the tenth centenary of Northern Christianity were forbidden to be used. He resigned his post at St. Saviour's, or rather was forced to quit by a sentence of suspension which was pronounced in 1826, and under which he was kept for 13 years. After this time, he was allowed to hold an afternoon service in the German church at Christianshavn. He preached there for eight years, and compiled and wrote his hymn-book, Sang-Vdrk til den Danske Kirkce ("Song-work for the Danish Church"). 

The tune KIRKEN DEN ER ET was composed for this text by Norwegian Ludwig M. Lindeman (1812-1887). It was published in Wilhelm A. Wexel's Christelige Psalmer (1840).  KIRKEN (also called LINDEMAN) was the first hymn tune Lindeman wrote. Born into a family of musicians, Lindeman received his early organ training from his father, for whom he became a substitute organist at the age of twelve. Although he studied theology in Oslo (then called Christiana), after 1839 he turned to a career in music. He was the organist of the Church of the Savior in Oslo (1839-1887) and became a virtuoso performer. Lindeman published hymn collections and organ works as well as the influential Koralbog (1877), which contained tunes (restored to rhythmic shape) for Landstad's hymnal of 1869. He was also an excellent teacher and founded an organ school (later the Oslo Conservatory) with his son in 1883. A scholarly collector of Norwegian folk music, Lindeman traveled the country collecting folk songs, which he published in a series of volumes (1853-1867) and which influenced the works of composer Edvard Grieg.

Built on the Rock, the church shall stand even when steeples are falling;
Christ builds His church in ev'ry land; bells still are chiming and calling,
calling the young and old to rest, calling the souls of those distressed,
longing for life everlasting.

Not in a temple made with hands God the Almighty is dwelling;
high in the heav'ns His temple stands, all earthly temples excelling.
Yet He who dwells in heaven above chooses to live with us in love,
making our body His temple.

We are God's house of living stones, built for His own habitation;
He fills our hearts, His humble thrones, granting us life and salvation.
Yet to the place, an earthly frame, we come with thanks to praise His name;
God grants His people true blessing.

Thro' all the passing years, O Lord, grant that, when church bells are ringing,
many may come to hear God's Word where He the promise is bringing:
"I know My own, My own know Me, you, not the world, My face shall see;
My peace I leave with you. Amen.”

Robert A. Hobby (b. 1962) currently serves as Director of Music for Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his responsibilities include playing for many of the worship services, overseeing the graded choral program, and managing the concerts the church offers. Numerous activities during his tenure include Trinity Church establishing a choral series with seventeen composers commissioned thus far, hosting a regional convention of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, producing four recordings, and expanding the opportunities for music ministry.

About the Piano Music:

Christ is Made the Sure Foundation - Stan Pethel

This hymn was written by John Mason Neale, who was born in London in 1818, studied at Cambridge, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1842. He was offered a parish, but chronic ill health, which was to continue throughout his life, prevented him from taking it. In 1846 he was made warden of Sackville College, a position he held until his death in 1866.. Sackville College was not an educational institution, but an almshouse, a charitable residence for the poor. 

In 1854 Neale co-founded the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, an order of women in the Anglican Church dedicated to nursing the sick. Many Anglicans in his day, however, were very suspicious of anything suggestive of Roman Catholicism. Only nine years earlier, John H. Newman had encouraged Roman practices in the Anglican Church. This encouraged the suspicion that anyone like Neale was an agent of the Vatican, assigned to destroy the Anglican Church by subverting it from within. Once Neale was attacked and mauled at a funeral of one of the Sisters. From time to time unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. He received no honor or recognition in England, and his doctorate was bestowed by Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut). However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had fiercely opposed him, and the Sisterhood of St. Margaret survived and prospered. 

Neale translated the Eastern liturgies into English, and wrote a mystical and devotional commentary on the Psalms. However, he is best known as a hymn writer and translator, having enriched English hymnody with many ancient and mediaeval hymns translated from Latin and Greek and many original hymn texts.  

Regarding the importance of translating and preserving the ancient texts, he wrote: 

Among the most pressing of the inconveniences consequent on the adoption of the vernacular language in the office-books of the Reformation, must be reckoned the immediate disuse of all the hymns of the Western Church. That treasury, into which the saints of every age and country had poured their contributions, delighting, each in his generation, to express their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, in language which whould be the heritage of their Holy Mother until the end of time--those noble hymns, which had solaced anghorets on their mountains, monks in their cells, priests in bearing up against the burden and heat of the day, missionaries in girding themslves for martyrdom--henceforth became as a sealed book and as a dead letter. The prayers and collects, the versicles and responses, of the earlier Church might, without any great loss of beauty, be preserved; but the hymns, whether of the sevenfold daily office, of the weekly commemoration of creation and redemption, of the yearly revolution of the Church's seasons, or of the birthdays to glory of martyrs and confessors--those hymns by which day unto day had uttered speech, and night unto night had taught knowledge--could not, by the hands then employed in ecclesiastical matters….The Church of England had, then, to wait. She had, as it has well been said, to begin over again. There might arise saints within herself, who, one by one, should enrich her with hymns in her own language; there might arise poets, who should be capable of supplying her office-books with versions of the hymns of earlier times. In the meantime the psalms were her own; and grievous as was the loss she had sustained, she might be content to suffice herself with those, and expect in patience the rest.

Text: 7th cent. Latin; trans. by John Mason Neale

Christ is made the sure foundation,  Christ the head and cornerstone; 

chosen of the Lord and precious,  binding all the church in one; 

holy Zion's help forever,  and her confidence alone. 

To this temple, where we call thee,  come, O Lord of Hosts, today! 

With thy faithful loving-kindness  hear thy people as they pray, 

and thy fullest benediction  shed within its walls alway. 

Here vouchsafe to all thy servants  what they ask of thee to gain; 

what they gain from thee forever  with the blessed to retain, 

and hereafter in thy glory evermore with thee to reign. 

Laud and honor to the Father,  laud and honor to the Son, 

laud and honor to the Spirit, ever three and ever one; 

one in might and one in glory, while unending ages run.

The hymn tune WESTMINSTER ABBEY was written by Henry Purcell (1659-1695), an English composer. Although incorporating Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, Purcell's legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers; no other native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar. Henry studied first under Captain Henry Cooke (d. 1672), Master of the Children, and afterwards under Pelham Humfrey (d. 1674), Cooke's successor. Henry was a chorister in the Chapel Royal until his voice broke in 1673, when he became assistant to the organ-builder John Hingston, who held the post of keeper of wind instruments to the King. Purcell is said to have been composing at nine years old, but the earliest work that can be certainly identified as his is an ode for the King's birthday, written in 1670.  In 1679, Blow, who had been appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in 1669, resigned his office in favour of his pupil. Purcell now devoted himself almost entirely to the composition of sacred music, and for six years severed his connection with the theatre.  Purcell is buried adjacent to the organ in Westminster Abbey. The music that he had earlier composed for Queen Mary's funeral was performed during his as well. Purcell was universally mourned as 'a very great master of music.' Following his death, the officials at Westminster honoured him by unanimously voting that he be buried with no expense in the north aisle of the Abbey. His epitaph reads: "Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded.”

Dr. Stan Pethel is Chair of the Fine Arts at Berry College near Rome, Georgia. He has been on the music faculty there since 1973. In addition to his duties as Chair of Fine Arts at Berry College Dr. Pethel teaches music theory, composition and arranging, world music, and low brass lessons. He is a widely published com

poser and arranger with over 1000 works in publication with 26 different publishers. His writing includes works for choir, piano, organ/piano duet, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, orchestra, handbells, solo instrument and piano, and various chamber music ensembles. He is a regular recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award.

About the Choral Music:

Sing Hey for the Carpenter - John Bell

John Lamberton Bell (born 1949) is a Scottish hymn-writer and Church of Scotland minister. He is a member of the Iona Community, a broadcaster, and former student activist. He works throughout the world, lecturing in theological colleges in the UK, Canada and the United States, but is primarily concerned with the renewal of congregational worship at the grass roots level.

Bell studied at the University of Glasgow, where he was elected Rector in 1977, while still a student.  After a period in the Netherlands and two posts in church youth work, Bell became employed full-time in the areas of music and worship with the Wild Goose Resource Group. He is a past convener of the Church of Scotland's Panel on Worship and also convened the committee to revise the Church Hymnary. In 1987, he wrote the hymn "The Summons".  In 1999, Bell was honored by the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the Royal School of Church Music which bestowed a Fellowship on him. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow.

“Come with me, come wander, come welcome the world,

Where strangers might smile or where stones may be hurled;

Come leave what you cling to, lay down what you clutch

And find, with hands empty, that hearts can hold much.”

Sing Hey for the carpenter leaving his tools!

Sing Hey for the Pharisees leaving their rules!

Sing Hey for the fishermen leaving their nets!

Sing Hey for the people Who leave no regrets!

“Come walk in my company, come sleep by my side,

Come savor a lifestyle with nothing to hide;

Come sit at my table and eat with my friends,

Discovering that love which the world never ends.”

“Come share in my laughter, come close to my fears,

Come find yourself washed with the kiss of my tears;

Come stand close at hand while I suffer and die,

And find in three days how I never will lie.”

“Come leave your possessions, come share out your treasure,

Come give and receive without method or measure;

Come loose every bond hat’s restraining the spirit,

Enabling the earth to be yours to inherit.”

About the Hymns:

The Church’s One Foundation

Songs are a powerful means of teaching. The melodies, rhythms, and rhymes that characterize songs make the words easier to remember. The best and most effective songs combine lyrics and music to cultivate feelings that complement the meaning.  The Rev. Samuel John Stone (1839-1900) was well aware of the effectiveness of singing when he wrote and published Lyra Fidelium in 1866. As a curate in the small town of Windsor, England, he was aware of his parishoners’ habit of using the Apostles’ Creed in their private prayers. But he was concerned that many of them did not grasp the meaning of what they said. The prose felt too academic, disconnected from the average worshipper, and lacking a devotional spirit.

It was in this context that he wrote Lyra Fidelium, which consisted of twelve hymns, one for each article of the Apostles’ Creed. With each hymn he included a short “summary of truths confessed” in that article, along with a list of the Scripture passages supporting it. “The Church’s One Foundation” was the hymn he wrote for article 9 of the Creed, which affirms belief in “the holy catholic church” and “the communion of saints.”

“The Church’s One Foundation” is the best known of the twelve hymns in this collection. Louis Benson quotes one English archbishop as saying that “wherever he was called upon to open or dedicate a church, he could always count on two things—cold chicken and ‘The Church’s one Foundation’.”  The hymn’s long legacy undoubtedly owes to the many doctrines it includes, its use of the words and concepts of Scripture to express them, and its uniqueness in teaching the doctrine of the church. Benson describes it as embodying “practically every doctrine concerning the church [Stone] held most dear (its divine origin, its unbroken continuity, its catholicity and essential unity, its orthodoxy, its sacramental grace, its communion with God and with the departed saints, its militancy and final triumph).”

AURELIA was written by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), the son of Samuel Wesley and grandson of Charles Wesley.  Famous in his lifetime as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters, he composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, which continues to cherish his memory.  There are memorial tablets to him in Exeter Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral, and his memorial at Gloucester Cathedral is in stained glass.  Of his hymn tunes the best-known are AURELIA and HEREFORD, but CORNWALL and HAREWOOD are also particularly fine. AURELIA has been widely adopted in the United States, and is regularly heard there. Usually sung to the words "The Church's One Foundation", Wesley composed the tune for the hymn "Jerusalem the Golden”.

While at Winchester Cathedral Wesley was largely responsible for the Cathedral's acquisition in 1854 of the Father Willis organ which had been exhibited at The Great Exhibition, 1851. The success of the Exhibition organ led directly to the award of the contract to Willis for a 100-stop organ for St George's Hall, Liverpool built in 1855. Wesley, with Father Willis, can be credited with the invention of the concave and radiating organ pedalboard, but demurred when Willis proposed that it should be known as the "Wesley-Willis" pedalboard. However, their joint conception has been largely adopted as an international standard for organs throughout the English-speaking world and those exported elsewhere.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling.  

At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years.  On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.

The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word "Ebenezer" commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics.

The tune NETTLETON first appeared as a two-part tune in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second(1813), where it was named HALLELUJAH. In the Index it is identified as a new tune, and no composer's name is given. The tune has been attributed by some to Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844), a well-known evangelist of the early nineteenth century, who compiled Village Hymns (1825). However, this compilation contained no music, and there is no evidence that Nettleton wrote any tunes during his life.  It is not known where the tune name first appeared or who was responsible for it.

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus

#joychurch   #lovelikeJesus