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 Piano Music:
Be Thou My Vision - Mary McDonald
"Be Thou My Vision" (Old Irish: Rop tú mo baile or Rob tú mo bhoile) is a traditional hymn from Ireland. The most well known English version, with some minor variations, was translated by Eleanor Hull and published in 1912. In 1919, the lyrics were set to the tune of the Irish folk tune "Slane", to which the song is sung to this day, both in English and Irish. The song dates from at least the eighth century, though the text dates to the sixth-century.
The original Old Irish text, "Rop tú mo Baile" is often attributed to Saint Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. Eochaid Mac Colla (c. 530 – 598), better known as Saint Dallan or Dallán Forgaill (Old Irish: Dallán Forchella; Latin: Dallanus Forcellius), was an early Christian Irish poet whose writings include the "Amra Choluim Chille" ("Elegy of Saint Columba") and "Rop Tú Mo Baile" ("Be Thou My Vision"). Saint Dallan was Chief Ollam of Ireland (similar to poet laureate), as well as a scholar of Latin scriptural learning. He helped to reform the Bardic Order at the Convention of Drumceat. He reputedly wrote Amra Choluim Chille, which he completed shortly after the death of Saint Columba in 597, because Columba had successfully saved poets from expulsion from Ireland at the assembly of Druim Cett in 575. The “Amra Choluim Chille,” is the earliest Irish poem that can be dated.
"Rop tú mo Baile" had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries before its setting to music. The Irish text was translated into literal prose by Irish scholar Mary Elizabeth Byrne (1880-1931), a Dublin native, and then published in Eriú, the journal of the School of Irish Learning, in 1905. Byrne was also known for her academic publications, including Old and Mid-Irish Dictionary, Dictionary of the Irish Language, and a treatise, England in the Age of Chaucer.
It is at this point that Eleanor Hull (1860-1935) enters the story. Born in Manchester, England, she was the founder of the Irish Text Society and president of the Irish Literary Society of London. Hull versified the text and it was published in her Poem Book of the Gael (1912).
Following the original publication in Ireland, the hymn was included in a number of British hymnals. After World War II, the hymn came to the attention of hymnal editors in the U.S. and it has become a standard hymn in most hymnals today.
Irish liturgy and ritual scholar Helen Phelan, a lecturer at the University of Limerick, points out how the language of this hymn is drawn from traditional Irish culture: "One of the essential characteristics of the text is the use of 'heroic' imagery to describe God. This was very typical of medieval Irish poetry, which cast God as the 'chieftain' or 'High King' (Ard Ri) who provided protection to his people or clan. The lorica is one of the most popular forms of this kind of protection prayer and is very prevalent in texts of this period." The original chieftain language of the "High King of heaven" has given way to the more inclusive "Great God" in the UM Hymnal.
When Hull's versification was paired with the lovely traditional Irish tune SLANE in The Irish Church Hymnal in 1919, its popularity was sealed. The folk melody was taken from a non-liturgical source, Patrick Weston Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs: A Collection of 842 Airs and Songs hitherto unpublished (1909). "Most 'traditional' Irish religious songs are non-liturgical," says Dr. Phelan. "There is a longstanding practice of 'editorial weddings' in Irish liturgical music, where traditional tunes were wedded to more liturgically appropriate texts. This is a very good example of this practice.” The tune name SLANE is drawn from deep in Irish history. It was on Slane Hill in County Meath around 433 CE that St. Patrick lit candles on Easter Eve, defying a decree by High King Logaire of Tara that no one could light a fire before the king signaled the beginning of the pagan spring festival by lighting a fire on Tara Hill. King Logaire was so impressed by Patrick's devotion that, despite his defiance, he was permitted to continue his work as Ireland's first Christian missionary.
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Mary McDonald’s sacred music career spans over thirty-five years. More than eight hundred anthems, seasonal musicals and keyboard collections testify to her significant contribution to sacred literature. In 2000, Mary became the first ever woman President of the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference. In addition, she has served as accompanist for the Tennessee Men's Chorale since 1985. Her greatest desire is "to give God glory for the songs He has allowed me to compose. He alone, is the true Creator behind my pen." In 2011, after serving as sacred music editor for The Lorenz Corporation in Dayton, Ohio for more than twenty years, Mary answered a new call. Now she takes her tremendous passion and love for music making directly to churches as an independent artist by holding Composer Weekend workshops.
’Til We Meet Again - Heather Sorenson
Written as an expansion on the root sense of “good-bye” (God be [with] ye/you), “God Be with You till We Meet Again” has appeared in more than 900 hymnals and remains a prominent example of nineteenth-century gospel song in The United Methodist Hymnal and other collections today. Jeremiah Eames Rankin’s (1828-1904) text is often amended to include a refrain, mimicking the style and content of other hymns used to close camp meetings, revivals, or sung on the occasion of the departure of a church leader to a new assignment. This practice of singing a goodbye may also be linked to the history of shaped-note singing schools concluding with a goodbye or farewell song.
Rankin, a congregational minister and later the president of Howard University (Washington D.C.), was a prolific hymn writer and preacher. He also helped to compile several hymnals. First appearing in the collection Gospel Bells (1880), Rankin’s best-known hymn, “God Be with You till We Meet Again,” begins and ends each stanza of poetry with the same line, providing only the two interior lines for variety in the text.
As Carl P. Daw, Jr. writes in his commentary on Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal: “[The task of varying the text] is somewhat limited by the invariable ending of those lines with “you,” so that the rhyming word before each such occurrence must be a transitive verb or a preposition. This sort of two-syllable rhyme is generally doggerel except in the most expert hands. Yet it may be the pedestrian qualities of this text that have so endeared this hymn to many. It is the poetry of the common person, eager to find yet another rhyme to fit before the next you.”
Hymn historians Harry Eskew and Hugh T. McElrath echo Daw’s sentiment about the poetry of the common person. Discussing the music of the camp-meeting, Eskew and McElrath write, “Singing was an important means of expressing the emotional fervor of these revival meetings. The need for simple and contagious songs, enough to appeal to unlettered folk, brought into being a simplified folk hymn… with repetition of text, the addition of a chorus to the hymn”. These types of hymns became a major force in the musical landscape during the period of urban revivalism in the 1870s led largely by the meetings of evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) and his musical associate, Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908).
What accounts for this sending hymn’s continued popularity over 125 years later? And, perhaps more importantly, what purpose does it serve in the lyrical, sung theology of the body of Christ? Sending is a key moment in worship; it is our transition to the world where we will respond to God’s call and continue to experience God’s blessing”. “God be with You till We Meet Again” situates itself as a message of assurance in that sending. Additionally, it serves as a prayer for one another.
William G. Toner (1833-1896) wrote the tune GOD BE WITH YOU for Rankin’s text. Tomer studied singing and sang in the choir in Finesville, New Jersey, and began teaching school at age 17. He served in the Union army during the American civil war, then worked as a clerk in Washington, DC, served as music director for Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, and taught school in New Carpentersville and Greenwich, New Jersey.
God be with you till we meet again, By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you, God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again, ’Neath His wings protecting hide you,
Daily manna still divide you, God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again, When life’s perils thick confound you,
Put His arms unfailing round you, God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again, Keep love’s banner floating o’er you,
Smite death’s threatening wave before you, God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet, Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again.
Heather Sorenson entered the church music industry in her twenties, and her name quickly became a welcomed fixture in the publishing world. Diversity is the characteristic that makes Heather somewhat of an anomaly in the industry: she easily maneuvers both the traditional and contemporary genres of Christian music, often combining the two for a unique blend that has become her artistic fingerprint. Initially recognized for her skill as a pianist, Heather is now known for her compositions in choral anthems, solo piano collections, and orchestrations. She taught all elementary levels of music at Grace Academy of Dallas for 4 years, served as an adjunct music professor at Baylor University, and has served on many master class panels in piano and songwriting. Heather regularly is a guest speaker and conductor at churches across America and leads scores of sessions each year at various worship conferences, schools, and universities. Heather makes her home in the Dallas, TX area with her beloved (and very vocal) beagle, Lucy.
Plenty Good Room - Lloyd Larson
There is a Negro spiritual titled “Plenty Good Room.” That song is a theological statement about the inclusiveness of God, the God who has many dwelling places. Our slave forebears understood God to be a Creator of the living hope. Jesus promises acceptance. Jesus’ promise is that there is plenty good room. God chooses you. God chooses me. Despite our imperfections, God chooses you and me. Despite our failures, God chooses you and me. Despite your past, despite my past, God chooses us. Despite our sinful present, God chooses us by making it clear that there is plenty good room. Despite our shortcomings, God makes room for us. Jesus has the capacity to embrace those who have been rejected. His ministry gives comfort to those whom we might think should be excluded.
The Levitical legal code was a basis for separating the people of God from those who were considered to be unclean. In some circles of belief, one’s color, social condition or physical malady was viewed as a sign of God's punishment for sin. Therefore, when the immigrant, the leper, the outcast, approaches Jesus, he is acting against a backdrop of a history of exclusion. In Jesus’ day, whatever distinguished a person as “other” represented a sign of exclusion, a scarlet letter of rejection; it was, in fact, a signal that encouraged rejection. Jesus, however, confronted a people who only knew rejection; he was forced to deal with the trauma of human need. Jesus represents the theology that there is “plenty good room” for God’s people to enter into the kingdom of life.
Plenty good room (plenty good room), plenty good room (plenty good room)
Plenty good room in my Father's kingdom
Choose your seat and sit down.
I would not be a liar - I tell you the reason why.
Afraid my Lord might call me, And I wouldn't be ready to die.
I've got a long white robe up in heaven I know
A long white robe up in heaven I know
Choose your seat and sit down
I've got a starry crown up in heaven I know
A starry crown up in heaven I know
Choose your seat and sit down.
I would not be a sinner (be a sinner)
I tell you the reason why (I'm gonna tell you the reason why)
Afraid the Lord might call me (I'm afraid my Lord might call)
And I wouldn't be ready to die.
Well I don't want to be left behind (good news, there's plenty good room)
Choose your seat and sit down (and I don't want to be left behind)
Well I don't want to be left behind.
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:
The Lord Bless You and Keep You – Peter Lutkin
Peter Christian Lutkin (1858-1931) was born in Wisconsin to Danish immigrant parents. He was a chorister and organist at St. Peter and St. Paul's Episcopal Church. At age twenty-one, he became a piano instructor in the Conservatory of Music at Northwestern University. He travelled to Berlin and studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin. He returned to Chicago to serve as organist and choirmaster at St. Clement's Protestant Episcopal Church and St. James Episcopal Church. He also served on the faculty of the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He was a widely respected organist and helped found the American Guild of Organists in 1896.
In 1891, he returned to Northwestern University, where he founded the Women's Cecilian Choir, the Men's Glee Club, and the A Cappella Choir (1906), the first a cappella choir in the U.S. Lutkin became a national spokesperson for a cappella singing. As a composer, Lutkin specialized in writing unaccompanied choral music. He wrote at least thirty hymn tunes, numerous songs for children, and sixty-five choral anthems, some of which remain in print today. He co-edited a Methodist hymnal and was musical editor of the Methodist Sunday-School Hymnal. Generations of choristers likely were first introduced to his choral music through his benediction setting, The Lord Bless You and Keep You, with its famous concluding sevenfold amen.
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord lift His countenance upon you; And give you peace.
The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you.
Amen.
About the Hymns:
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
“Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” is a hymn by Isaac Watts which paraphrases Psalm 90. It originally consisted of nine stanzas. In present usage, however, the hymn is usually limited to stanzas one, two, three, five, seven and nine. In 1738, John Wesley in his hymnal, Psalms and Hymns, changed the first line of the text from "Our God" to "O God." Both Watts' wording and Wesley's rewording remain in current use. The hymn was originally part of The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, published by Watts in 1719. In this book he paraphrased in Christian verse the entire psalter with the exception of twelve Psalms which he felt were unsuited for Christian usage.
The hymn tune "St. Anne" to which the text is most often sung was composed by William Croft in 1708 whilst he was the organist of the church of St Anne, Soho. It first appeared anonymously in the Supplement to the New Version of the Psalms, 6th edition in 1708. It was originally intended to be used with a version of Psalm 62. It was not until sometime later when set to Watts' text that the tune gained recognition.
Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore
Monseñor Cesáreo Gabaráin (1936-1991) was one of the best-known composers of Spanish liturgical music following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). He was inspired by the feelings and actions of the humble people he met during his ministry. Gabaráin’s hymns were recorded on 37 albums, the last completed posthumously. He is the only Roman Catholic composer to receive the honor of a Gold Record (at least 50,000 copies) in Spain. Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) appointed the priest Chaplain Prelate of His Holiness.
At age 10 Gabaráin entered the minor seminary in Zaragoza, where he began his musical studies. In 1952 he continued his education at Seminario Mayor of San Sebastián and was ordained to the priesthood. He then served as chaplain of the College of the Marist Brothers of Antzuola in his home province of Gipúzkoa. In 1964, he continued his ministry as chaplain at Fundación Zorroaga, a nursing home in San Sebastián. After two years he returned to the chaplaincy in the College of the Marist Brothers, this time in Madrid, where he began to compose.
Gabaráin later served in parish ministry in Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (Our Lady of the Snows) and was head of religious education in the College of San Fernando. In addition to his theological education, Gabaráin studied journalism and musicology. As a parish priest he was known for his athleticism and work with young people. His ministry to cyclists is legendary, taking so many tours with them that he became known as “priest of the cyclists.” In addition to spending many summer vacations ministering to cyclists participating in the Tour de France, he also performed a similar role with well-known soccer players in Madrid.
Of his four hymns in the UM Hymnal, “Pescador de Hombres” (“Fisher of Men”), the original Spanish title, is the most popular and indeed, one of the more popular newer hymns in the hymnal. Written in 1979, “Tú has venido a la orilla” (the Spanish opening line) is based on the parallel passages found in the synoptic gospels on Jesus’ calling of his first disciples (Matthew 4:18-20; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11). As found in the Scripture, Gabaráin captures the total obedience of disciples and their willingness to give up everything: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:18-20, NIV) The hymn entreats us to follow Christ with the same obedience and commitment. The refrain is a call to surrender to Jesus in response to his command to follow him. The gentle melody, PESCADOR DE HOMBRES, is reminiscent of a rocking boat by the lakeshore.
Gabaráin’s obituary noted that he “would simply smile when guides in Palestine boasted that ‘Pescador de Hombres’ was composed along the shores of Lake Tiberias, when, in fact, it was written in Madrid. Gabaráin, himself, knew the lake well as he frequently accompanied groups of pilgrims to the Holy Land.” The hymn has been translated into more than 80 languages.
’Til we meet again, dear friends
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
#joychurch #lovelikeJesus #vision
No comments:
Post a Comment