November 10, 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:

Brethren, We Have Met to Worship - Don Hustad

The author of this hymn has not been positively identified. It has been traditionally attributed to George Atkins, but no further information has been found about him or the text. The five stanzas of this text first appeared in print in 1825. The fourth stanza (“Is there here a trembling jailer”) is often omitted. The final two lines of each stanza are based on these lines: “pray, and holy manna will be showered all around,” which may be a reference to the story of God providing manna to feed the Israelites in the wilderness. The opening stanza of this call to worship calls on Christians to pray for the Holy Spirit's presence as the service begins, while the final stanza calls for believers to live in the love of God in anticipation of the full redemption of creation when Christ returns.

In many of yesterday’s churches, certain leaders would gather while the pastor was preaching to pray for power and clarity in his words, and for responsive listeners and souls changed for eternity. Even a spiritually mature preacher can accomplish nothing of lasting worth without empowerment of the Holy Spirit: “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).  As God’s Word is preached in purity and with spiritual power, we can expect His blessings. The hymn writer used manna, the miraculous provision of food for the Israelites in the wilderness, to symbolize God’s answer to the church’s prayers.

HOLY MANNA is the hymn tune originally written for "Brethren, We Have Met Together", which is one of the oldest published American folk hymns. It is a pentatonic melody in Ionian mode. It was originally published by William Moore in Columbian Harmony, a four-note shape-note tunebook, in 1829, and is attributed to him.  In addition to being used in a significant number of early American hymnals, including Southern Harmony and Baptist Harmony, HOLY MANNA appears in a large number of modern hymnals.

Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Brethren, se poor sinners round you slumb’ring on the brink of woe;

Death is coming; hell is moving; can you bear to let them go?

See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down;

Brethren, pry, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Sisters, will you join and help us?  Moses’ sister aided him.

Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?

Tell them all about the Savior; tell them that He will be found;

Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Is there here a trembling jailer, seeking grace, and filled with fears?

Is there here a weeping Mary, pouring forth a flood of tears?

Brethren, join your cries to help them; sisters, let your prayers abound;

Pray, oh pray that holy manna may be scattered all around.

Let us love our God supremely; let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.
Then He'll call us home to heaven; at His table we'll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself, and serve us with sweet manna all around.

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.

Procession - Malcolm Archer

Malcolm Archer (b. 1952) is an English organist, conductor and composer. He combines this work with a recital career. Archer was formerly Organist and Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral and Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College. Malcolm Archer was educated at King Edward VII School, Lytham before studying at the Royal College of Music (as an RCO scholar). He was later organ scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge.  He is widely renowned as one of the foremost church musicians of his generation and is and combines this work with an extensive recital career.  He is much in demand internationally as a Composer, Conductor, and Recitalist.

Gavotte - Arcangelo Corelli

Andra Ciura, organist

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music, who exercised a wide influence on his contemporaries and on the succeeding generation of composers. Little is known about his early life. He was born in Fusignano, Italy, in 1653, a full generation before J.S. Bach or Georg Frideric Handel, and studied in Bologna, a distinguished musical center, then established himself in Rome in the 1670's. 

His first major success was gained in Paris at the age of 19, and to this he owed his European reputation. From Paris, Arcangelo Corelli went to Germany. By 1679, had entered the service of Queen Christina of Sweden, who had taken up residence in Rome in 1655, and had established there an academy of literati that later became the Arcadian Academy.  History has remembered him with such titles as "Founder of Modern Violin Technique," the "World's First Great Violinist," and the "Father of the Concerto Grosso." Corelli occupied a leading position in the musical life of Rome for some thirty years, performing as a violinist and directing performances often on occasions of the greatest public importance. He was received in the highest circles of the aristocracy, and for a long time presided at the celebrated Monday concerts in the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni. His style of composition was much imitated and provided a model, both through a wide dissemination of works published in his lifetime and through the performance of these works in Rome.

The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance form, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originatedThe oldest description of the gavotte is in Arbeau's Book, Orchesogrphie written in 1588. King Louis XIII (1601-1643) of France was said to have created the music for the traditional gavotte which reached the highest mark during the Renaissance. The gavotte became known as "La danse Classique." It became popular in the 17th. century and was danced with as much enthusiasm as the Minuet.

Andra Ciurra is an 11-yr-old 6th grader at Coppell Middle School North.  She started Suzuki violin at 5 years of age in Houston.  Her moved to the Dallas area 3 years ago, and she starting taking Suzuki violin at Suzuki Music Institute of Dallas. There she discovered that her music theory teacher, Dr. Carl Van Wyk, was teaching Suzuki organ method, and had built a small digital organ to fit children's shorter legs and arms. She is now in her 3rd year of organ lessons, and her 6th year of violin.  She works very hard practicing and learning two different instruments, but she loves the work.  

Why I love the Organ

Ever since I was in Kindergarten, I have been enveloped in music. The school I attended from Kinder through second grade had daily chapel services, and my favorite part was singing hymns.  The sanctuary was always shining, as were the pipes on the organ.  Ever since, I’ve loved the organ.

One of the best things about playing the organ is Dr. Carl. He gives me challenging new pieces that allow me to use my whole body and turn up the volume! He lets me pick my own registrations (aka sound choices), and allows me to play ‘em loud and proud!

I also like performing and sharing my music with the world.  I practice at a church [FUMC, Lewisville], and they had a service that highlighted the contributions of kids. I was invited to perform on the organ for the postlude, and I got to relive the experience which first made me love music: by flooding the halls with mine. Another great opportunity was playing Ode to Joy on the Fisk organ at SMU for the strings’ final concert. Sitting up high, right by the pipes,(which were a great deal  bigger than I was) it was so powerful  that once I stopped, my ears were ringing. I can’t wait to play there once again this year for The Phantom of the Opera.

Some of my all-time favorite pieces straight from the Suzuki organ books: The Fly, Prelude, Hippopotamus, Piglet, Etude and Swedish Lullaby.  Other pieces not from the books are: Whistling in the Park (Dr. Carl’s composition), Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, and Moderato, by Mozart. 

---Andra Ciura

About the Choral Music:

Grace – Mark Hayes

"Amazing Grace" was written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807).  With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.

Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was drafted into the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. However, he continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.

Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It was first printed in 1779 in Newton and Cowper's Olney Hymns, but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States however, "Amazing Grace" was used extensively during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century.

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".

Hayes has set the familiar text of Amazing Grace to the tune “O Waly Waly”.

    Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound;  that saved a wretch, a wretch like me;

I once was lost, but now am found; I once was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart fo fear, And that same grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear The hour when I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already safely come;

This grace hath brought me safe thus far, And surely grace will lead me home,

I shall go home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, the glorious sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than since the day we first begun.

About the Hymns:

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.

It is Well with My Soul

For more than a century, the tragic story of one man has given hope to countless thousands who have lifted their voices to sing, It Is Well With My Soul.  Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) was a wealthy Chicago lawyer with a thriving legal practice, a beautiful home, a wife, four daughters and a son. He was also a devout Christian and faithful student of the Scriptures. His circle of friends included Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey and various other well-known Christians of the day.

At the very height of his financial and professional success, Horatio and his wife Anna suffered the tragic loss of their young son. Shortly thereafter on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost every real estate investment that Spafford had.

In 1873, Spafford scheduled a boat trip to Europe in order to give his wife and daughters a much needed vacation and time to recover from the tragedy. He also went to join Moody and Sankey on an evangelistic campaign in England. Spafford sent his wife and daughters ahead of him while he remained in Chicago to take care of some unexpected last minute business. Several days later he received notice that his family's ship had encountered a collision. All four of his daughters drowned; only his wife had survived.

With a heavy heart, Spafford boarded a boat that would take him to his grieving Anna in England. It was on this trip that he penned those now famous words, When sorrow like sea billows roll; it is well, it is well with my soul..

Philip Bliss (1838-1876), composer of many songs including Hold the Fort, Let the Lower Lights be Burning, and Jesus Loves Even Me, was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he composed a beautiful piece of music to accompany the lyrics. The song was published by Bliss and Sankey, in 1876.

Original lyrics:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,  When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know  It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live: If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life, Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord! Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

    And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
    The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
    The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, A song in the night, oh my soul!

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus

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