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:
All Things Bright and Breezy - Rosalie Bonington
Rosalie Bonington (1946-2011) was an Australian composer and organist, who earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne and completed her Master of Arts (Music) at La Trobe University in composition, including a thesis on Contemporary Liturgical Music and the Composer. Among Bonighton's musical influences were plainchant modes, British and Celtic folk song, the extended harmonic tensions and ambiguities of late German Romanticism, multi-rhythmic/ -metric groupings, jazz harmonies and syncopated effects, and some modified serial techniques. When composing music, the functional requirements of a piece of music heavily influenced Bonighton's choice of style, compositional techniques, structure, performing resources and level of performance difficulty. In her view, originality could be directed towards the craft of integrating aesthetic considerations with user requirements. Bonighton also experimented frequently with the use of jazz elements for the performance medium of pipe organ. In 1967 Bonighton was awarded the Coutts Memorial Prize for Composition from the University of Melbourne. She also won the national Song of Jubilee competition (1999); in 1983 was co-winner of the national Competition for Liturgical Psalm-Setting; and winner of the New Zealand Association of Organists' organ composition prize (2004-5). In addition to her activity as a composer, Bonighton worked as a school organist, a parish organist/music director, and a piano accompanist.
The title of this work is a play on the hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful”.
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.
All Creatures of Our God and King - Don Hustad
The words of the hymn were initially written by St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) in 1225 in the Canticle of the Sun poem, which was based on Psalm 148. The words were translated into English by William Draper, who at the time was rector of a Church of England parish church at Adel near Leeds. Draper paraphrased the words of the Canticle and set them to music. It is not known when Draper first composed the hymn but it was between 1899 and 1919. Draper composed the hymn for his church's children's Whitsun festival celebrations and it was later published in 1919 in the Public School Hymn Book. The hymn is currently used in 179 different hymn books. The words written by St Francis are some of the oldest used in hymns after "Father We Praise Thee", written in 580 AD. The hymn is set to the tune of "Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr", a German Easter hymn written by Friedrich Spee, published in 1623 in his book Auserlesene, Catholische, Geistliche Kirchengesäng. It was first used in English hymn books in 1906.
St. Francis is famous for many things, including love of animals. Pictures of him usually have birds flying nearby and small animals at his feet. A popular story tells of him stopping to preach a sermon to a flock of birds. He reminded them that God had blessed them with beautiful clothing even though they had never learned to spin or weave–– and that God had blessed them with food even thought they had never learned to sow or reap. Then he called them to sing their songs as praises to God. St. Francis wrote this hymn near the end of his life. Sick and suffering bouts of blindness, he was going home to die when he stopped to visit friends at the St. Damien monastery. While there, he felt the inspiration to compose this joyful hymn. It calls all God's creatures ––sun and moon ––wind and water––fruits and flowers––and all who are of tender heart––to sing, "Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!" to honor our God.
LASST UNS ERFREUEN was originally published in the Jesuit hymnal, Ausserlesene Catlwlische Geistliche Kirchengesänge, in 1623 in Cologne, Germany. The tune is believed to have been composed by Friedrich Spee, a Jesuit priest and hymn writer who was most well known as an activist who opposed trials for witchcraft. Spee’s 1631 book, Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials, is one of the first written works to present strong arguments against the use of torture. Spee’s opening melodic phrase in “LASST” has its origins in a setting of Psalm 68 in the Genevan Psalter, a collection of psalm settings composed between 1539-62 in Geneva, Switzerland. While its original publication featured an Easter text, “Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr” (“let us rejoice most heartily”), its most well-known version appeared in the English Hymnal in 1906, edited by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams reharmonized the tune and set it in a triple meter.
All creatures of our God and king Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice, Ye lights of evening, find a voice!
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou flowing water, pure and clear, Make music for thy Lord to hear,
Thou fire so masterful and bright, That givest man both warmth and light.
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Dear mother earth, who day by day Unfoldest blessings on our way,
The flowers and fruits that in thee grow, Let them His glory also show.
O praise Him! Alleluia!
And all ye men of tender heart, Forgiving others, take your part,
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, Praise God and on Him cast your care!
O sing ye! Alleluia!
And thou most kind and gentle death, Waiting to hush our latest breath,
Thou leadest home the child of God, And Christ our Lord the way hath trod.
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Let all things their creator bless, And worship Him in humbleness,
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Don Hustad (1918-2013) was one of the giants of Christian music of the 20th century. Hustad had a distinguished ministry and a life-long profession as a recording artist, composer, arranger, teacher, conductor, hymnal editor, and author. He began work as staff musician of Chicago's WMBI in the early 1940s, worked with soloist George Beverly Shea on a weekly broadcast called "Club Time," and served for some 20 years as organist for a popular radio broadcast "Songs in the Night." He taught at Olivet Nazarene College in Kankakee, Illinois from 1946 to 1950, at which time Hustad was appointed director of the Sacred Music Department at Moody Bible Institute—a position he held until 1961. During his 11-year tenure at Moody he developed the Moody Chorale into a superior choral ensemble that achieved fame nationally and internationally. In 1961 he became Crusade organist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and directed the Crusader Men Choir in the "Hour of Decision" broadcasts. His publications include over 100 articles and five books. Throughout his career, Hustad devoted considerable energy to music arranging and hymnal editing, serving as editorial consultant and musical advisor to Hope Publishing Company. Among his editorial contributions are fourteen hymnals and songbooks, as well as dozens of collections. In 1989, Hustad was awarded Fellow of the Hymn Society for his outstanding contribution to American hymnody. In 2008, he was honored by the American Choral Director's Association Southern Division Conference for his contributions to church music. He earned diplomas as an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), London, UK.
About the Piano Music:
We are an Offering - Lynette Maynard
Dwight Liles (b. 1957) is a Southern Gospel songwriter who has written or co-written many classic Southern Gospel songs. His songs have been recorded by such artists as the Cathedral Quartet, Legacy Five, and Karen Peck and New River; however, the majority of his compositions have been recorded by the Gaither Vocal Band. He lives in Nashville. Liles based this text on the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism.
Not “we give an offering,” but “we are an offering.” With a rising sense of hope and expectation, we acknowledge who we are – in Christ – and declare our availability to serve God’s purposes in this world. When we sing about the offering of our gifts, we quickly find several thoughts interwoven with each other. The first is the foundational thought that God’s generosity in Christ has brought us salvation and all good things in life. God has “created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing” (Belgic Confession) and he continues to “provide whatever I need in body and soul” (Heidelberg Catechism). But God’s greatest act of generosity is shown in the gift of his Son “by a most perfect love” (Belgic Confession) through whom we find the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. This generosity of God is always in the background of each song in this section. God’s children are called to respond thankfully to God’s generosity. Our gifts, therefore, take on the nature of a testimony of thankfulness to our generous God. We aim that “with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us” (Heidelberg Catechism). Indeed, all our living, including our gifts, are intended to show “how I am to thank God for such deliverance” (Heidelberg Catechism).
We lift our voices. We lift our hands.
We lift our lives up to You. We are an offering.
Lord, use our voices; Lord, use our hands.
Lord, use our lives; they are Yours.
We are an offering.
All that we have; all that we are;
All that we hope to be - We give to You.
Lynette Maynard is organist and pianist at Woodinville Community United Methodist Church, Woodinville, Washington.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
On Eagle’s Wings – arr. Mark Hayes
Michael Joncas (b. 1951) was ordained in 1980 to the Roman Catholic priesthood, and has served since 1991 on the faculty of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. He has written three books, more than a hundred published articles, and has compiled more than 20 collections of liturgical music. Father Joncas was visiting a friend at the major seminary in Washington. One evening, Father Joncas’ friend got word that his father had suffered a fatal heart attack. Father Joncas wrote “On Eagle’s Wings” in the days that followed and it was was sung for the first time publicly at the friend’s father’s wake service. The song is based on Psalm 91 and Isaiah 4031:, its lyrics drawing from the Scripture’s descriptions of God’s protection and providence.
Mark Hayes is an award-winning concert pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. His personal catalog, totaling over 1,000 published works, includes work for solo voice, solo piano, multiple pianos, orchestra, jazz combo, small instrumental ensembles, and choruses of all kinds. Mark received a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in Piano Performance from Baylor University in 1975. He has conducted the SWACDA and MCDA Community and Church Honor Choir, and served as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, featuring his Te Deum and Magnificat. In 2010, Baylor University Center for Christian Music Studies awarded Mark the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music. Mark arranged and orchestrated the music for Civil War Voices, which won six awards including "Best Musical" in the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York. He conducted the world premiere of his work for chorus, orchestra and narrator, The American Spirit, at Lincoln Center in May 2011 and the world premiere of his Requiem in Lincoln Center in May 2013. Whether concertizing on the other side of the globe or composing at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, Mark is blessed to live out his mission "to create beautiful music for the world".
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord: “My refuge, my Rock in whom I trust!”
The snare of the fowler will never capture you, and famine will bring you no fear:
Under His wings your refuge, His faithfulness your shield.
You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day;
Though thousands fall about you, near you it shall not come.
For to his angels He’s given a command to guard you in all of your ways;
Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.
About the Hymns:
Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast
Food is a big deal in our society, but even more important are the spiritual “meals” that we share. One often hears phrases such as, “They are hungry for the gospel,” and as Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man cannot live on bread alone.’” (Matt. 4:4) We are reminded that truth, as well as sustenance, is found in the gospel. Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast” is an invitation to that table and a reiteration of that truth.
The younger brother of Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, Charles (1707-1788) wrote 6,500 hymns, and preached as an itinerant minister of the Church of England. To put this in perspective, if we assume that he wrote hymns from the time he started school up to his death, it averages out to 97 per year, or one hymn every three to four days. Wesley wrote many of the most important Methodist hymns, 41 of which remain in the latest edition of the UM Hymnal (1989). His hymns were examples of fine poetry married to a rich, biblically based theology. Wesley scholar Ernest Rattenbury once observed that “a skillful man, if the Bible were lost, might extract much of it from Charles Wesley’s hymns.”
“Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast” first appeared in 24 stanzas in Hymns for Those That Seek and Those That Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ (1747). It makes an important theological statement. Our participation in church is more than a weekly obligation. We can view church as a family meal where all are welcome. The first stanza bids us to “let every soul be Jesus’ guest,” and adds, “Ye need not one be left behind.” It is this joyful message of welcome that as parishioners we should seek and embrace, and as ministers we should promote and foster in our churches. The gospel feast is also a feast of salvation: “Come and partake the gospel feast, / be saved from sin, in Jesus rest.” When we participate in the Eucharist, we are reminded of the sacrifice our Savior made for us. The Eucharist should be as inclusive as the gospel demands that the ministries of the church be. Just as we tell others of the good news, we should be eager to share both the food we eat and the truth we cherish. Another interesting aspect of this hymn is its urgency, as Wesley sounds an eschatological note: “This is the time, no more delay! This is the Lord’s accepted day.”
The hymn-tune HURSLEY was written by Peter Ritter (1760-1846) and first published in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, 1908
Take My Life and Let it be Consecrated
Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) originally composed her text in eleven couplets as a hymn of "self-consecration to Christ" on February 4, 1874. She told the following story about writing this hymn:
I went for a little visit of five days [to Areley House, Worcestershire, in December 1873]. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. [God] gave me the prayer, "Lord, give me all this house." And He just did! Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit. . . I was too happy to sleep and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart, one after another, till they finished with "Ever, only, all, for Thee."
The text is a "catalog" hymn that lists aspects of our lives and offers them in Christ's service. "Take My Life and Let It Be" was first published in the 1874 appendix to Charles B. Snepp's Songs of Grace and Glory (1872). A twelfth couplet was added at some later point, producing the six stanzas published in the Psalter Hymnal.
Although her formal education was sporadic because of poor health, Havergal learned six foreign languages, including Greek and Hebrew, and was well read in many subjects. She began writing poetry at an early age and was also an accomplished singer and pianist. The daughter of a clergyman, she had a conversion experience at the age of fourteen and was confirmed in the Church of England in 1853. Taking seriously her own words "take my silver and my gold," she sent all her jewelry to the Church Mission Society to be sold. She also supported other charitable organizations. Her more than one hundred hymns were originally published in leaflets and later gathered into seven collections: Ministry of Song (1869), Twelve Sacred Songs for Little Singers (1870), Under the Surface (1874), Loyal Responses (1878), Life Mosaic (1879), Life Chords (1880), and Life Echoes (1883), as well as in one large volume, Poetical Works (1884).
The tune MESSIAH, also sometimes called HEROLD, was written by Ferdinand Herold (1791-1833).
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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