December 22, 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:

Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying - Paul Manz

"Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (Awake, the voice is calling) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying".  Philipp Nicolai wrote the hymn in 1598, a time when the plague had hit Unna where he lived as a preacher after studies in theology at the University of Wittenberg, for six months. The text is based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13). Nicolai refers to other biblical ideas, such as from the Revelation the mentioning of marriage (Revelation 19:6–9) and the twelve gates, every one of pearl (Revelation 21:21), and from the First Letter to the Corinthians the phrase "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard" (1 Corinthians 2:9).  The author wrote in his preface, dated 10 August 1598:

"Day by day I wrote out my meditations, found myself, thank God, wonderfully well, comforted in heart, joyful in spirit, and truly content; gave to my manuscript the name and title of a Mirror of Joy... to leave behind me (if God should call me from this world) as a token of my peaceful, joyful, Christian departure, or (if God should spare me in health) to comfort other sufferers whom He should also visit with the pestilence." 

The translation of the text is:

"Wake, awake, for night is flying,"  the watchmen on the heights are crying;
"Awake, Jerusalem, arise!"
Midnight hears the welcome voices and at the thrilling cry rejoices:
"Where are the virgins pure and wise?
The Bridegroom comes: Awake!  Your lamps with gladness take! Alleluia!
With bridal care and faith's bold prayer, to meet the Bridegroom, come, prepare!"

Lamb of God, the heavens adore you, the saints and angels sing before you
with harp and cymbals' clearest tone.
Of one pearl each shining portal, where, joining with the choir immortal,
we gather round your radiant throne.
No eye has seen that light, no ear the echoed might of your glory;
yet there shall we in victory sing shouts of joy eternally!

Paul Manz (1919-2009), was an American composer for choir and organ. His most famous choral work is the Advent motet "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come", which has been performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge. His most famous organ works are his volumes of neo-Baroque chorale preludes and partitas. Paul Manz long served the church as recitalist, composer, teacher and leader in worship. He was the director of the newly established Paul Manz Institute of Church Music, and was Professor Emeritus of Church Music at Christ Seminary Seminex at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Paul Manz concertized extensively in North America.  As a performer, Manz was most famous for his celebrated hymn festivals. Instead of playing traditional organ recitals, Manz would generally lead a "festival" of hymns from the organ, in which he introduced each hymn an organ improvisation based on the hymn tune in question. The congregation would then sing the hymn with his accompaniment. Many volumes of these improvisations have been written out and published and are played by church organists throughout the world. 

The esteem and respect with which Paul Manz is regarded can be seen in the many honors he received. He was twice named one of the “Ten Most Influential Lutherans,” served as National Councilor of the American Guild of Organists and is listed as one of the “101 Most Notable Organists of the 20th Century.”  The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago presented him with the distinguished "Confessor of Christ Award"; The Chicago Bible Society presented him with the “Gutenberg Award; and the Lutheran Institute of Washington, DC honored him with the first “Wittenberg Arts Award.”

About the Handbell Music:

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence - Sondra Tucker

“Let all mortal flesh keep silence” is an ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on words from Habakkuk 2:20, "Let all the earth keep silence before him". The original was composed in Greek as a Cherubic Hymn for the Offertory of the Divine Liturgy of St James; it probably antedates the rest of the liturgy and goes back at least to 275 AD, with local churches adopting arrangements in Syriac.

The text expresses awe at Christ's coming and the mystery of our perception of Christ in the body and blood. With images from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 5, it portrays the glory of Christ and his victory over sin. Although it has eucharistic emphasis, the text pictures the nativity of Christ in a majestic manner and in a much larger context than just his birth in Bethlehem. We are drawn into the awe and mystery with our own alleluias. 

Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885) translated the text from the Greek; his English paraphrase was first published in Orby Shipley's Lyra Eucharistica (1864) and entitled "Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn." The Psalter Hymnal alters that paraphrase in part to solve Reformed sensitivities about eucharistic theology. Moultrie's great-grandfather had settled in South Carolina, but after siding with England during the American Revolution, he had moved back to Britain. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, England, Moultrie served as a pastor and chaplain in the Church of England. In addition to writing his own hymns he prepared translations of Greek, Latin, and German hymns. He also edited several hymnals, including Hymns and Lyrics for the Seasons and Saints' Days (1867) and Cantica Sanctorum or Hymns for the Black Letter Saints' Days in the English and Scottish Calendars (1880).

The text contains much language which is unfamiliar today:  the concept of approaching God with so much awe that it causes “fear and trembling”. Seraphim are a type of celestial being in the highest rank in the Christian angelic hierarchy. A passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying "holy, holy, holy".  This throne scene, with its triple invocation of holiness (a formula that came to be known as the Trisagion), profoundly influenced subsequent theology, literature, and art.  Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and apotheosis. Seraphs are mentioned as celestial beings in an influential Hellenistic work, the Book of Enoch, and the Book of Revelation.  Cherubim are a winged angelic beings who are represented in ancient Middle Eastern art as a lion or bull with eagles' wings and a human face, and regarded in traditional Christian angelology as an angel of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy. Cherubim are mentioned throughout the Old Testament and once in the New Testament in reference to the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant (Hebrews 9:5).

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in His hand,

Christ, our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood;

He will give to all the faithful His own self for heav’nly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven Spreads its vanguard on the way,

As the Light of light descendeth From the realms of endless day,

That the pow’rs of hell may vanish As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph, Cherubim with sleepless eye,

Veil their faces to the presence, As with ceaseless voice they cry: 

“Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Lord Most High!”

Sondra Tucker (b. 1957) is Director of Music and Organist at Christ Church Presbyterian in Bellaire, Texas, where she directs all musical ensembles of the church. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and the University of Memphis, and holds the AAGO and Choir Master certifications from the American Guild of Organists. Her published compositions include music for handbells, choir, and organ. She self-publishes flute ensemble music through her own QuickSilver Publications. Ms. Tucker is in demand as a handbell clinician throughout the country.

Ding Dong! Merrily on High - Sondra Tucker

350 years separate the tune and words of "Ding Dong Merrily on High”. The tune first appeared as a secular dance tune known under the title "Branle de l'Official" in Orchésographie, a dance book written by Jehan Tabourot (1519–1593). Orchesographie is a very important historical document that provides us with many of the popular melodies of the French Renaissance, and it gives instruction on how to dance to the music.  The book also includes woodcut illustrations of dancers and musicians.  The branle was a lively French dance in which the woman jumped in the air.  

The lyrics are from English composer and Anglican priest George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848–1934), and the carol was first published in 1924 in his The Cambridge Carol-Book: Being Fifty-two Songs for Christmas, Easter, And Other Seasons. Woodward took an interest in church bell ringing, which no doubt aided him in writing it. Woodward was the author of several carol books, including Songs of Syon and The Cowley Carol Book. The macaronic style is characteristic of Woodward’s delight in archaic poetry. Charles Wood harmonized the tune when it was published with Woodward's text in The Cambridge Carol Book. 

Ding Dong! merrily on high In heav'n the bells are ringing.

Ding, dong! verily the sky Is riv’n with angel singing:

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis.

E'en so here below, below Let steeple bells be swungen,

And i-o, i-o, i-o By priest and people be sungen.

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis.

Pray ye dutifully prime Your matin chime, ye ringers.

May ye beautifully rime Your evetime song, ye singers.

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis.

About the Ukulele Music:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel is a Christian hymn for Advent. While it is most commonly known by that English title, it is in fact a translation of the original Latin, Veni, Veni, Emmanuel; translations into other modern languages (particularly German) are also in widespread use. The 1861 translation from Hymns Ancient and Modern is the most prominent by far in the English-speaking world, but other English translations also exist.  The hymn is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, a series of plainchant antiphons attached to the Magnificat at Vespers over the final days before Christmas.  The words and the music of "O come, O come, Emmanuel" developed separately. The Latin text is first documented in Germany in 1710, whereas the tune most familiar in the English-speaking world has its origins in 15th-century France.  

The pre-history of the text stretches back to the origins of the O Antiphons, which were in existence by, at the latest, the eighth century.  They were paraphrased extensively by the English poet Cynewulf in a poem written before the year 800.  While "O come, O come, Emmanuel" is often linked with the 12th century, the earliest surviving evidence of the hymn's text is in the seventh edition of Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, which was published in Cologne in 1710. That hymnal was a major force in the history of German church music: first assembled by Jesuit hymnographer Johannes Herringsdorf in 1610 and receiving numerous revised editions through 1868, it achieved enormous impact due to its use in Jesuit schools. 

The text of the Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum version is essentially expanded, rather than altered, over the subsequent centuries. That version exhibits all of the hymn's characteristic qualities: it is strophic and metrical, and the order is altered so that the last of the O Antiphons (the titular "Veni Emmanuel") becomes the first verse of the hymn. Each stanza consists of a four-line verse, which adapts one of the antiphons, and a new two-line refrain ("Gaude, gaude! Emmanuel \ nascetur pro te, Israel," i.e. "Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel \ Shall come to thee, O Israel"), which provides an explicitly Advent-oriented response to the petition of the verse.

The familiar tune called Veni Emmanuel was first linked with this hymn in 1851, when Thomas Helmore published it in the Hymnal Noted, paired with an early revision of Neale's English translation of the text. The volume listed the tune as being "From a French Missal in the National Library, Lisbon."  The pairing of the hymn text with the Veni Emmanuel tune was an extremely significant combination. The hymn text was embraced both out of a Romantic interest in poetic beauty and medieval exoticism and out of a concern for matching hymns to liturgical seasons and functions rooted in the Oxford Movement in the Church of England. The Hymnal Noted, in which the words and tune were first combined, represented these goals. This hymnal consisted entirely of versions of Latin hymns, designed for use as Office hymns within the Anglican Church despite the fact that Office hymns had no part in the authorized liturgy. The music was drawn chiefly from plainchant, as was the case with the Veni Emmanuel tune for "O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

Mary, Did You Know

"Mary, Did You Know?" is a Christmas song with lyrics and music written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene. It was originally recorded by Christian recording artist, Michael English on his solo debut album in 1991 (English and Lowry were both members of the Gaither Vocal Band). Lowry would record the song several times himself, most notably with the Gaither Vocal Band on their 1998 Christmas album.  The song has since gone on to become a modern Christmas classic, being recorded by many artists over the years across multiple genres.  The song was also used as the basis for a stage musical, also titled Mary, Did You Know and written by Bruce Greer, that won the 1999 Dove Award for Musical of the Year. 

Camp Kirkland is a graduate of Florida State University where he received the degrees of Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Education. During his career as a music educator, he taught at the junior high, high school and collegiate levels,  including band, symphonic orchestra, jazz band, music theory and applied low brass.  Kirkland’s principal instruments are euphonium and trombone. He is an outstanding instrumentalist and has performed with such diverse groups as the Jacksonville Symphony, the River City Brass Band, as well as numerous touring bands and orchestras.   Over the past four decades, Camp Kirkland has emerged as one of the premier Church musicians in the nation. He is recognized as the pioneer in establishing instrumental music as a viable medium in the life of the church music program. In 1971, he began the instrumental music program at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. In 1976 he joined the staff full time as Instrumental Director, the first position of its kind in the nation. During his tenure the program flourished to include four graded orchestras and a number of small ensembles involving over 200 instrumentalists. He also created the church’s acclaimed School of Music which assists over 100 students each semester in the study of a variety of orchestral instruments, voice and piano. In addition, Kirkland has over a thousand publications in his catalog and is an important contributor to the leading publishers of church music today.  Kirkland commits a significant portion of his time and skill to taking the message of the Gospel beyond our national boundaries through Global Missions Project, a non-profit designed to take Christian musicians on missions. Camp has served as the Music Director for GMP since its inception. Since its beginning in 2003, GMP has taken over 7,000 musicians on mission projects where God has tremendously blessed through evangelism and encouragement to the body of Christ. 

Jay Rouse is one of the premier choral arrangers in Christian music. He has over 350 compositions and arrangements published, including over 30 major sacred choral works, 50 best selling a cappella arrangements, a highly recognized hymn series for choir, piano and solo instrument entitled Piano Plus and a number of best-selling solo piano books and recordings. Mr. Rouse is a Dove Award winning producer and has logged many hours on the road traveling in music ministry. He spent 10 plus years as musical director and accompanist for Sandi Patty. In addition to his work as a keyboard artist, composer and arranger he has been the primary producer and conductor for all of the choral and instrumental publications from PraiseGathering Music Group and Gaither Music Company over the last two decades. Jay Rouse continues to make a major impact on music for the church musician across the nation. 

About the Hymns:

Blessed Be the God of Israel

Canon Michael Perry (1942-1996), a most beloved Anglican priest and hymn writer, was born in Beckenham, Kent, England. He was elected to the General Synod of the Church of England in 1985. In 1989 he was appointed to his last posting as Vicar of Tonbridge, Kent. He was appointed chairman of the Church Pastoral Aid Society in 1993. In the early 1960s, Michael Baughen founded the Jubilate group. According to Perry, the group pooled their talents to meet the challenge of a new generation in the UK who wished to extend their singing beyond the foursquare ways of metrical hymnody and the unpredictability of Anglican chant. With the newfound popularity of his “Calypso Carol” and the support of the Church Pastoral Aid Society, Youth Praise 2 was published in 1969. 

In that same year, Baughen began a new project to revitalize the use of Psalms. Perry had been working on paraphrases, including his famous paraphrase of the “Benedictus,” “O praise the God of Israel,” as well as several Psalms. Baughen asked him to join this project, which was published in 1973 as Praise Psalms.  Perry felt that chant settings of the canticles were difficult for ordinary congregations to easily sing. Soon after his ordination, he began to render the canticles from the Book of Common Prayer (1662) into metrical paraphrases. He wanted not only to make them easier to sing, but also to be more easily understood. “Blessed be God” is one such paraphrase of the “Benedictus” or the “Song of Zechariah.”  One of 300 hymns, Perry first published his paraphrase in Praise Psalms under the title “O Praise the God of Israel.” 

The text of the “Benedictus” comes from Luke 1:68-79. Zechariah had been made dumb during his wife Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist. When he hears of his son’s birth, his tongue is loosed for his song of praise to the Lord God of Israel.  The first eight verses of the “Benedictus” parallel the “Magnificat” and the last four identify John the Baptist as Jesus’ forerunner. Because of its imagery of Christ as the “dayspring” or “dawn” of God’s new creation, it became associated with the morning office of Constantinople and with lauds in the Roman and Benedictine offices.  A variety of terms refer to John the Baptist in stanza two including “herald,” “forerunner,” “prophet of salvation” and “harbinger.” Perry condenses the metaphor in the canticle referring to Christ as the “day-spring from on high” and John as the messenger as the “harbinger of Day.”  The last line of the hymn—“with songs that never cease!”—would seem to be a hyperbole at first glance, but the text is a literal understanding of eschatology. Our songs will never cease in heaven.

MERLE’S TUNE is a hymn tune composed by American composer Hal Hopson (b.1933) in 1983.  Hal Hopson was born in Mound, Texas, in a family of thirteen children where music making figured prominently. His first piano teacher was his older sister, Merle, whom he holds in deep regard for her enormous musical and personal influences on his life. The hymn tune, MERLE'S TUNE, is named in her honor. 

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Kathleen Thomerson (b. 1934) is Organist and Music Director at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Mississippi, California, and Texas. College music study was at the Universities of Colorado and Texas, the Flemish Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, and privately in Paris. Before retirement in Austin, she lived in Collinsville, Illinois, when her husband was a biology professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Her best-known hymn text is "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light."  It was written as a scriptural meditation and prayer. It was inspired by many Bible verses, including Genesis 1:17, Isaiah 60:19, Psalm 75:16, Psalm 139:12, Ephesians 3:17, Ephesians 5:8, Galatians 4:6, Hebrews 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 2 Peter 1:19, 1 John 1:5-7, and Revelation 21:23.

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus

#joychurch   #lovelikeJesus