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:
Vom Himmel hoch - Johann Pachelbel
"Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" ("From Heaven Above to Earth I Come") is a hymn text relating to the Nativity of Jesus, written by Martin Luther in 1534. The hymn is most often sung to a melody that first appeared in 1539 and that was likely composed by Luther as well. That version became a classic Christmas carol, and many composers referred to it in their compositions. "Vom Himmel hoch" was first published as a hymn with 15 stanzas of four lines in the "Wittenberg hymnal" of 1535, under the header "Ein kinderlied auff die Weinacht Christi" ("A children's song on the Nativity of Christ"). In that publication, the text was coupled to the melody of the then well-known secular song "Ich kumm aus frembden Landen her." It was Luther's only contrafactum, reusing a tune of a secular composition for a religious text. In 1539, the hymn was published with a new melody that was probably composed by Luther himself, in Geistliche lieder / auffs new gebessert vnd gemehrt /zu Witteberg. D. Marti. Luther. Viel Geistliche gesenge / von andern frommen Christen gemacht. Gedruckt zu Leyptzick durch Valten Schumann (Spiritual Songs / newly improved and extended / … made by other pious Christians).
The traditional English lyrics are a translation made by Catherine Winkworth (with all 15 verses) in 1855:
From heaven above to earth I come To bear good news to every home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring, Whereof I now will say and sing:
To you this night is born a child Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little child, of lowly birth, Shall be the joy of all the earth.
This is the Christ, our God and Lord, Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will Himself your Savior be From all your sins to set you free.
He will on you the gifts bestow Prepared by God for all below,
That in His kingdom, bright and fair, You may with us His glory share.
These are the tokens ye shall mark: The swaddling-clothes and manger dark;
There ye shall find the Infant laid By whom the heavens and earth were made.
Now let us all with gladsome cheer Go with the shepherds and draw near
To see the precious gift of God, Who hath His own dear Son bestowed.
Give heed, my heart, lift up thine eyes! What is it in yon manger lies?
Who is this child, so young and fair? The blessed Christ-child lieth there.
Welcome to earth, Thou noble Guest, Through whom the sinful world is blest!
Thou com’st to share my misery; What thanks shall I return to Thee?
Ah, Lord, who hast created all, How weak art Thou, how poor and small,
That Thou dost choose Thine infant bed Where humble cattle lately fed!
Were earth a thousand times as fair, Beset with gold and jewels rare,
It yet were far too poor to be A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.
For velvets soft and silken stuff Thou hast but hay and straw so rough,
Whereon Thou, King, so rich and great, As ’twere Thy heaven, art throned in state.
And thus, dear Lord, it pleaseth Thee To make this truth quite plain to me,
That all the world’s wealth, honor, might, Are naught and worthless in Thy sight.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be A quiet chamber kept for Thee.
My heart for very joy doth leap, My lips no more can silence keep;
I, too, must sing with joyful tongue That sweetest ancient cradle-song:
Glory to God in highest heaven, Who unto us His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth A glad new year to all the earth.
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era. Pachelbel's music enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany. Today, Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D, as well as the Chaconne in F minor, the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the Hexachordum Apollinis, a set of keyboard variations.
Pachelbel studied music at Altdorf and Regensburg and held posts as organist in Vienna, Stuttgart, and other cities. In 1695 he was appointed organist at the St. Sebalduskirche in Nürnberg, where he remained until his death. He also taught organ, and one of his pupils was Johann Christoph Bach, who in turn gave his younger brother Johann Sebastian Bach his first formal keyboard lessons.
About the Handbell Music:
Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head - Cathy Moklebust
Jubilation Ringers
John Jacob Niles (1892-1980) began collecting Appalachian folk songs and composing music as a Kentucky teenager. In 1925, Niles published his first song collection—“Impressions of a Negro Camp Meeting”— and in 1933, he toured the U.S. and Europe with Marion Kerby to critical acclaim. He released his first album for RCA’s Red Seal label, “Early American Ballads” in 1938.
“Like a psalmodist, he intoned his verses in an ethereal chant which the angels carried aloft to the Glory seat. When he sang of Jesus, Mary and Joseph they became living presences. A sweep of the hand and the dulcimer gave forth magical sounds which caused the stars to gleam more brightly, which peopled the hills and meadows with silvery figures and made the brooks to babble like infants. We would sit there long after his voice had faded out, talking of Kentucky where he was born, talking of the Blue Ridge mountains.”
The carol "Jesus, Jesus rest your head" is an Appalachian carol of the late eighteen hundreds, and is sometimes attributed as having been composed by John Jacob Niles. However it seems that he probably is not the composer of the original carol, but was responsible for 'collecting' it and for possibly transforming it into the carol we know today.
The line "all the evil folk on earth sleep in feathers at their birth" signifies the contrast between the evil/wicked mortal man who has an easy time at birth and the good/holy Jesus who has to sleep in a container intended fo animal feed. It's a bit like saying "why do bad things happen to nice people”. Often, good people (or so it seems) seem to have more than the average number of bad things happen to them. That's why the poor have always heard the story of Jesus as good news, indeed. Niles, the great collector of folk music from the dirt-poor people of Appalachia, one day heard this little Christmas tune. Christmas says the lamb wins. A poor girl bears the son of God. Valleys are lifted up. One who lies in a manger becomes king. The stone which the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone. Christmas
proclaims unlikely things. Very good news for us losers.
Jesus, Jesus, rest your head. You have got a manger bed.
All the evil folk on earth, Sleep in feathers at their birth.
Have you heard about our Jesus? Have you heard about his fate?
How his mother came to the stable, On that Christmas Eve so late?
Winds were blowing. Cows were lowing.
Stars were glowing, glowing, glowing.
Jesus, Jesus, rest your head. You have got a manger bed.
Cathy Moklebust (b. 1958) has developed and directed handbell music programs since 1983, and has played bells since childhood. With her dynamic, positive approach and skilled conducting, she is in national demand as a handbell clinician and festival conductor. As one of today's most popular handbell music composers, she has published over 250 published compositions and arrangements. Moklebust began her musical career as a public school instrumental music instructor in South Dakota. She is an active percussionist, and has performed as principal or section percussionist with several professional and community bands and orchestras throughout the upper Midwest. Since 1989, she has worked in the music retail and publishing industry; currently she and her husband David operate Moklebust Music Services, a music preparation service. She earned both her B.A. and M.Ed. at South Dakota State University.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
Sweet Little Jesus Boy – Robert MacGimsey
Robert MacGimsey (1898-1979) was born in Pineville, Louisiana. MacGimsey spent most of his formative years in the company of blacks who lived and worked for and with his family. Due to their influence he wrote in an "African American" style, and he is often mistakenly assumed to be a black composer. His most famous song was "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" (1934), a well-known Christmas carol written in the style of an African-American spiritual.
Sweet little Jesus Boy They made You be born in a manger
Sweet little Holy Child They didn't know who You were
Didn't know You'd come to save us Lord, to take our sins away.
Our eyes was blind; we could not see.
We didn't know who You were.
Long time ago, You were born.
Born in a manger, Lord, Sweet little Jesus Boy.
The world treat You mean, Lord; Treat me mean, too.
But that's how things is down here.
We didn't know ‘twas You.
You done told us how we been a-tryin'
Master, You done showed us how Even when You’s dyin'.
It just seems like we can't do right; Look how we treated You
Please, please, forgive us, Lord,
We didn't know ‘twas You.
Sweet little Jesus Boy Born a long time ago
Sweet little Holy Child
We didn't know who You were.
About the Hymns:
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.
The originally melody, GREENSLEEVES, isn't religious in nature at all. In fact, it's all about a painful romantic conundrum and includes what some historians view as subtly salacious lyrics. Popular legend attributes it to Henry VIII, who is said to have written it for Anne Boleyn, the woman he would ultimately marry and execute. But in "Angel Song: Medieval English Music in History," author Lisa Colton writes that this association is "erroneous," as the song most likely originated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
The lyrics deal with a spurned lover accusing Lady Greensleeves of casting him off "discourteously," despite the fact that he loved her, paid for her lodgings, and bought her a petticoat, a pearl-bedecked gown, and a jeweled necklace. The song's scandalous twist is hidden in its very title. Green wasn't an innocuous color in early modern English society. The phrase a "green gown" denoted promiscuous behavior (namely, getting grass stains on your dress while engaging in amorous activities outdoors). The song Greensleeves implies that the singer has insulted his love in this manner and she has spurned him for it.
The song was very popular. Shakespeare even has Falstaff name drop the tune in "The Merry Wives of Windsor": "Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of ‘Greensleeves’!" The melody proved so enduring that people even began adding their own words to the song.
Sir John Stainer — the composer behind the modern arrangements of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Good King Wenceslas" — got a hold of a few of verses of “The Manger Throne. He cobbled those together, slapped them onto the tune of "Greensleeves," and created a beautiful, classic Christmas carol with a rather unusual history.
What Child is this, who laid to rest On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet While shepherds watch are keeping?
Why lies He in such mean estate, Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here The silent Word is pleading.
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh; Come peasant, King to own Him;
The King of Kings salvation brings, Let loving hearts enthrone him.
This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, Haste, to bring him laud, The Babe, the Son of Mary.
O Little Town of Bethlehem
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” was written by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), an Episcopal priest, Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1865. “After an early dinner, we took our horses and rode to Bethlehem,” he wrote home in Christmas week of 1865. “It was only about two hours when we came to the town, situated on an eastern ridge of a range of hills, surrounded by its terraced gardens. It is a good-looking town, better built than any other we have seen in Palestine. . . . Before dark, we rode out of town to the field where they say the shepherds saw the star. It is a fenced piece of ground with a cave in it (all the Holy Places are caves here), in which, strangely enough, they put the shepherds. The story is absurd, but somewhere in those fields we rode through the shepherds must have been. . . . As we passed, the shepherds were still “keeping watch over their flocks or leading them home to fold.” Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, Lewis Redner, added the music.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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