December 15, 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:

Rorate Caeli - Jeanne Demessieux

"Rorate caeli" or "Rorate coeli" (literally "Let Heaven"), from Isaiah 45:8 in the Vulgate, are the opening words of a text used in Catholic and Protestant liturgy during Advent. It is also known as "The Advent Prose" or by the first words of its English translation, "Drop down ye heavens from above."  It is frequently sung as a plainsong at Mass and in the Divine Office during Advent where it gives expression to the longings of Patriarchs and Prophets, and symbolically of the Church, for the coming of the Messiah. Throughout Advent it occurs daily as the versicle and response after the hymn at Vespers.  The Introit plainsong may be found in the various editions of the Roman Gradual and the Solesmes "Liber Usualis".

℣ Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum
(Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just) 

℟ Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem"
(Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour”).

The Rorate Mass got its proper name from the first word of the Introit (Entrance antiphon): "Rorate caeli désuper et nubes pluant justum" ("Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just").

Before the liturgical changes that followed the Second Vatican Council, this Mass was celebrated very early in the morning on all Saturdays. In some areas, it was celebrated on several or even all weekdays during Advent (the Votive Mass of Our Lady in Advent).

The Rorate Mass originated during the course of the Middle Ages as one of the various popular Advent devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary which were then developed.  As one of the themes of Advent is the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the emergence of these devotions to the Blessed Virgin was natural. The Rorate Mass, in particular, was a favorite of the people. The Introit Antiphon, the Epistle, the Gradual, Gospel, and Communion Antiphon of the Rorate Mass were taken from the Mass of Ember Wednesday in Advent, the Offertory was taken from the Forth Sunday of Advent, and the orations (prayers) from the Feast of the Annunciation.

The Rorate Mass was also known in the Middle Ages as the Missa aurea (the Golden Mass), because of the various promises added to it (varias enim promissiones adjungebant his Missis), and the Missa Angelica (the Angelic Mass) because of the Gospel reading which, recounting the Annunciation, opens with the words "Missus est Angelus Gábriel (The Angel Gabriel was sent)”.

In Germany, Austria, Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary the Rorate Mass was celebrated daily through the whole period of Advent. This was forbidden, of course, on the more solemn feasts if the saying of this Mass would cause a conventual Mass or a Mass of precept to be omitted. The Boldvensi Sacramentary (written in Hungry between 1192 and 1195) has a proper Preface text for the Rorate Mass "qui per BVM partum ecclesiae tuae tribuisti celebrare mirabile mysterium (You, who through the Offspring of the Blessed Virgin Mary, granted to your Church to celebrate the wonderful mystery)." Between 1774 and 1960, various permissions were granted regarding this practice by the Sacred Congregation of Rites.

There is also the custom in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany that families walked in the dark of the early morning, (carrying lamps, candles, or later, flashlights) to church, where Mass was celebrated and favorites Advents hymns were sung.  This tradition is also alive in modern Poland, however, depending on local custom, it is celebrated either in the early morning or in the late evening of Advent weekdays.

In theAnglican Communion, the Rorate coeli is included in the music for Advent.  This text forms the basis for the hymn "O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf."  The traditional English translation of the text is from the English Hymnal (except for the third verse, and with the last verse modified here to follow the Latin).

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.

Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever:

thy holy city is a wilderness, Sion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation:

our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee.

We have sinned, and are as an unclean thing, and we all do fade as a leaf:

and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away:

thou hast hid thy face from us: and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people, and send forth him whom thou wilt send;

send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert to the mount of the 

daughter of Sion: that he may take away the yoke of our captivity.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen;

that ye may know me and believe me: I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me 

there is no Saviour: and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people; my salvation shall not tarry:

why wilt thou waste away in sadness? why hath sorrow seized thee?

Fear not, for I will save thee: For I am the Lord thy God,

the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.

Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux (1921-1968), was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.  Between 1936 and 1939, she studied organ privately with Marcel Dupré, whose organ class at the Conservatoire she joined in 1939. After receiving a first prize in organ performance and improvisation in 1941, Demessieux studied five more years privately with Dupré in Meudon, before she played her début recital at Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1946. This was the beginning of her career as an international recitalist.  In her brief life, she gave more than 700 concerts not just in France, but also in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, West Germany, and the United States. Blessed (like Dupré) with a prodigious memory, she knew more than 2,500 works by heart, including the complete organ works of Bach, Franck, Liszt, and Mendelssohn, as well as most of Dupré's compositions for the instrument. A prolific recording artist, she received in 1960 France's Grand Prix du Disque award for her Franck intégrale, committed to disc two years before.  In 1962, Demessieux was appointed titular organist at La Madeleine in Paris.  She wrote more than 30 compositions. Many of these were written for the organ, but she also produced pieces for piano, fairly numerous songs, a handful of choral works (including an oratorio, "Chanson de Roland"), and orchestral works.

Magnificat: Dialogue - Jean Francois Dandrieu

The Magnificat (Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]") is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos. It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church (at vespers) and of the Eastern Orthodox churches (at the morning services). It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn. Its name comes from the incipit of the Latin version of the canticle's text.

The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke (1:46–55) where it is spoken by Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth.^[2] In the narrative, after Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, the latter moves within Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith (using words partially reflected in the Hail Mary), and Mary responds with what is now known as the Magnificat.

Within the whole of Christianity, the Magnificat is most frequently recited within the Liturgy of the Hours. In Western Christianity, the Magnificat is most often sung or recited during the main evening prayer service: Vespers in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, and Evening Prayer (or Evensong) in Anglicanism. In Eastern Christianity, the Magnificat is usually sung at Sunday Matins. Among Protestant groups, the Magnificat may also be sung during worship services, especially in the Advent season during which these verses are traditionally read.

Mary's Magnificat, recorded only in Luke's Gospel, is one of four hymns, distilled from a collection of early Jewish-Christian canticles, which complement the promise-fulfillment theme of Luke's infancy narrative. These songs are Mary's Magnificat; Zechariah's Benedictus (1:67–79); the angels' Gloria in Excelsis Deo (2:13–14); and Simeon's Nunc dimittis (2:28–32). In form and content, these four canticles are patterned on the "hymns of praise" in Israel's Psalter. In structure, these songs reflect the compositions of pre-Christian contemporary Jewish hymnology.  The canticle echoes several biblical passages, but the most pronounced allusions are to the Song of Hannah, from the Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1–10). Scriptural echoes from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings complement the main allusions to Hannah's "magnificat of rejoicing”.  Along with the Benedictus, as well as several Old Testament canticles, the Magnificat is included in the Book of Odes, an ancient liturgical collection found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint.

In a style reminiscent of Old Testament poetry and song, Mary praises the Lord in alignment with this structure: Mary rejoices that she has the privilege of giving birth to the promised Messiah (Luke 1:46–48); She glorifies God for His power, holiness, and mercy (Luke 1:49–50); Mary looks forward to God transforming the world through the Messiah. The proud will be brought low, and the humble will be lifted up; the hungry will be fed, and the rich will go without (Luke 1:51–53); Mary exalts God because He has been faithful to His promise to Abraham (Luke 1:54–55; see God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3).

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour

Because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all 

generations shall call me blessed.

Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name.

And His mercy is from generation unto generations to them that fear Him.

He hath shewed might in His arm: 

He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy.

As He spoke to our fathers; to Abraham and his seed forever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,

As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

Jean-François Dandrieu (c. 1682- 1738) was a French Baroque composer, harpsichordist and organist.  He was born in Paris into a family of artists and musicians. A gifted and precocious child, he gave his first public performances when he was 5 years old, playing the harpsichord for King Louis XIV of France, and his court. In 1700, aged 18, he started playing the organ at the Saint-Merri church in Paris and became its titular organist in 1705. In 1721 he was appointed one of the four organists of the Chapelle royale of France. In 1733, he became the organist of the (now destroyed) church of St Barthelémy in the Île de la Cité. 

During his lifetime, only a small number of harpsichord and chamber works were published.  A volume of organ pieces was published posthumously in 1739. Dandrieu also published an academic treatise on accompaniment (Principes de l'accompagnement) in 1718, which now serves as an important source of information on the musical practice of the era.  Dandrieu's harpsichord writing is reminiscent of that of François Couperin, but with more effective use of counterpoint, which reminds the listener of German Baroque music.

As is the practice in French Baroque settings, Dandrieu has set the Magnificat with multiple movements, naming the movements after the registration that is to be used in playing them.  This movement is a “Dialogue”, which means it shifts between two contrasting sounds.

About the Piano Music:

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming - Lloyd Larson

"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" ("A rose has sprung up"), most commonly translated to English as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" or "A Spotless Rose", is a Christmas carol and Marian Hymn of German origin.  The text is thought to be penned by an anonymous author, and the piece first appeared in print in the late 16th century.  The English translation "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" was written by Theodore Baker in 1894.

This German carol from the Rhineland region combines the story of Luke 1-2 and Matthew 2 with Isaiah's prophecies about the "rose" from the "stem of Jesse " (Isa. 11:1; 35:1-2). Stanzas 1 and 2 are a combination of folklore ("amid the cold of winter") and Christological interpretation of Isaiah 11:1 and 35: 1-2. Stanza 3 introduces imagery from John 1.

"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen," may date to the fifteenth century. However, the earliest manuscript containing the text, found in St. Alban's Carthusian monastery in Trier and preserved in the Trier municipal library, is dated around 1580. It was first published with twenty-three stanzas in Alte catholische geistliche Kirchengesiinge (Cologne, 1599). Originally stanza 2 interpreted the "rose" as being Mary, mother of Jesus, but in Musae Sionae (1609) Michael Praetorius changed the interpretation to point to Christ as the rose in accord with actual biblical imagery.

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist.  He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns, many of which reflect an effort to improve the relationship between Protestants and Catholics.  

A literal translation of the original German text is:

A rose has sprung up, from a tender root.
As the old ones sang to us, Its lineage was from Jesse.
And it has brought forth a floweret In the middle of the cold winter
Well at half the night.

The rosebud that I mean, Of which Isaiah told
Is Mary, the pure, Who brought us the floweret.
At God’s immortal word, She has borne a child
And remained a pure maid. Who makes us blessed.

The floweret, so small That smells so sweet to us
With its clear light Dispels the darkness.
True man and true God! He helps us from all trouble,
Saves us from sin and death.

Translation of Praetorius’ text:

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming From tender stem hath sprung!

Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung.

It came, a Floweret bright, Amid the cold of winter,

When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, The Rose I have in mind;

With Mary we behold it, The Virgin Mother kind.

To show God’s love aright She bore to men a Savior

When half-spent was the night.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender With sweetness fills the air;

Dispels with glorious splendor The darkness everywhere.

True man, yet very God, From sin and death He saves us

And lightens every load.

Lloyd Larson (b. 1954) is an active composer and arranger for several major publishing companies of church and school music. His compositions and arrangements include well over 1,000 published works—including choral anthems, numerous extended Christmas, Easter and non-seasonal works, keyboard collections, vocal solo and duet collections, instrumental works for solo and ensembles, orchestrations, and handbell settings. It is Lloyd's work in his local church that continues to be the catalyst for much of his writing. He currently directs the adult choir in his home church in addition to being involved in worship planning and leadership.

About the Choral Music:

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus – Taylor Davis

Charles Wesley wrote “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” and printed it in his Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord (1744). Like so many of Wesley's texts, "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" alludes to one or more Scripture passages in virtually every phrase. The double nature of Advent is reflected in this text, in which we remember Christ's first coming even while praying for his return. Stanzas 1 and 2 recall Advent prophecies in the Old Testament; stanza 3 speaks of Christ's birth and kingdom, and stanza 4 is a prayer for Christ's rule in our hearts.

We express longing when we sing the words of Charles Wesley’s beautiful Advent hymn, for though we know that Christ goes with us and before us every day, we long for the day when we are with Him in all of the fullness and glory He will bring. We long for the day when we are with Him in a New Heaven and New Earth, when all things are made new. And just as a four-year-old crawls into his father’s arms after an extended absence, so too we long for the day when we will be at rest in Christ, enfolded in the embrace of our Savior.

Taylor Davis (b. 1980) is currently the Director of Music and Worship at Holy Covenant United Methodist Church in Houston, TX. A 2003 graduate of Centenary College of Louisiana, Taylor earned a Bachelor of Sacred Music degree.  In 2004 he became a Fellow of Melodious Accord. In demand across the country, with commissions coming from a wide variety of groups, his music has been performed throughout the US, Europe, South America and South Africa by youth and adults.

Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's Strength and Consolation, Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne. 

About the Hymns:

Angels We Have Heard on High

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol of French origin in the public domain. The song commemorates the story of the birth of Jesus Christ found in the Gospel of Luke, in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.  People began to chant the phrase "Gloria in excelsis Deo" in Christmas Eve worship services as early as 130 A.D. In medieval times, French shepherds had a Christmas Eve tradition of shouting "Gloria in excelsis Deo" to each other as they watched over their sheep flocks on their respective hills in southern France. A Latin chorale version may have inspired the traditional French Christmas carol 'Les Anges dans nos Campagnes,' which Edward Shippen Barnes used in the 1800s to arrange the first version of 'Angels We Have Heard on High'. The most common English version that was translated in 1862 by James Chadwick, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, northeast England.  'Angels We Have Heard on High' was first published in English as part of an 1862 book called Crown of Jesus Music. But the version that has become popular worldwide was published later, in 1916, in the book Carols Old and Carols New.

What Child is This

"What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol whose lyrics were written by William Chatterton Dix, in 1865. At the time he was writing the lyrics to "What Child Is This?" in 1865, William Chatterton Dix was working as the manager of an insurance company. He was afflicted by an unexpected and severe illness that resulted in him being bedridden and suffering from severe depression. His near-death experience brought about a spiritual renewal in him while he was recovering. During this time, he read the Bible comprehensively and was inspired to author hymns like "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!" and "As with Gladness Men of Old". The precise time in 1865 when he wrote the poem "The Manger Throne" is disputed. While the St. Petersburg Times details how Dix penned the work after reading the Gospel for Epiphany that year (Matthew 2:1-12) recounting the journey of the Biblical Magi; Singer's Library of Song: Medium Voice contends that it was actually authored during the Christmas of 1865.  Although written in 1865, "What Child Is This?" was only first published six years later in 1871, when it featured in Christmas Carols Old and New.  

The lyrics of the carol are taken from a poem written by Dix called "The Manger Throne". The part of the poem that was utilized as the song's lyrics consists of three stanzas in total. The first verse poses a rhetorical question in the first half, with the response coming in the second half. The second verse contains another question that is answered, while the final verse is a universal appeal to everyone urging them "to accept Christ". The carol's melody has been described as "soulful", "haunting and beautiful" in nature.  The context of the carol centres around the Adoration of the Shepherds, who visited Jesus during his Nativity. The questions posed in the lyrics reflect what the shepherds were possibly pondering to themselves when they encountered him, with the rest of the carol providing a response to their questions.

My Soul Gives Glory to My God

Dr. Miriam Therese Winter (b. 1938) has provided us with a metrical paraphrase of Mary’s song, the Magnificat, one of the great canticles of Luke (1:46b-55). 

Born Gloria Winter in Passaic, N.J., she became a Medical Mission Sister at age 17. She is now professor of liturgy, worship, spirituality and feminist studies at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. Dr. Winter also directs the Women’s Leadership Institute at Hartford, composes liturgical music and writes on biblical women and women’s liturgy. Dr. Winter had planned on becoming a physician, but her love for music was not to be denied.

“M.T.,” as she is known by many, is perhaps most recognized for her recording Joy Is Like the Rain (1966), a series of biblical narratives in an accessible folk style, and “Mass of a Pilgrim People,” recorded live in 1967 at Carnegie Hall. She recorded with 10 other Medical Mission Sisters their first album, Joy Is Like the Rain, in a seven-hour recording session during the mid-1960s in New York City. The album went gold. “Singing is part of healing, it’s medicine,” she said. “It’s tonic to the spirit!” 

She received a bachelor’s degree in music from Catholic University, a master’s degree in religious education from McMaster Divinity College and a Ph.D. in liturgical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Winter has traveled the world, ministering to homeless and helpless people in places such as the Thai-Cambodian border and to starving children in Ethiopia. At home, she has ministered to the women at the Niantic State Correctional Institution since 1988. 

This hymn was first included in Dr. Winter’s God With Us: Resources for Prayer and Praise (1979). Following a revision to make the hymn language-inclusive, the song appeared in WomanPrayer, WomanSong (1987). “Often through the centuries the Magnificat has been considered a dangerous hymn because it sings of overturning the status quo, promising food for the hungry, power for the powerless and a reversal of economic fortunes,” Dr. Winter notes. “It is a song of hope for times of disparity and for any situation in which we feel personally or systemically overwhelmed. It is just the song for a time such as this.”

The hymn was composed in 1978 to the tune of MORNING SONG, an early 19th–century American folk hymn. The author says the text, with an earlier version of stanza five, “was sung at student-led vespers service at a time when the male pronouns in the scriptural text were becoming unacceptable to a growing number of women.” In The United Methodist Hymnal and several other denominational hymnals, stanza two begins, “My God has done great things for me: yes, holy is this name.” The song was recorded on the album of WomanSong as “holy is her name.” Dr. Winter comments, “I suspect God smiles on this. I know I do.” 

She has given workshops and lectures on justice and gender, peace and reconciliation, global inequality and personal piety in places such as Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and India. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as Australia and New Zealand. 

Dr. Winter has honorary doctorates from Albertus Magnus and St. Joseph’s Colleges, and Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax (Nova Scotia). She has been selected for the Connecticut Woman’s Hall of Fame. One of her most recent books is Out of the Depths: The Story of Ludmila Javorova, Ordained Roman Catholic Priest (2001), a book about a woman ordained a priest in the underground church of Czechoslovakia.

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

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