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:
As with Gladness Men of Old - Wilbur Held
"As with Gladness Men of Old" is a hymn, written by William Chatterton Dix on 6 January 1859, while he was ill in bed. Considered by many as a Christmas carol, it is found in the Epiphany section of The Hymnal, published by Abingdon in 1941 and still used by many churches. The hymn was written on Epiphany. The music was written by Konrad Kocher in 1838. The same melody is used in "For the Beauty of the Earth."
William Chatterton Dix (1837-1989) found himself sick in bed on Jan 6, 1859, Epiphany day. He was too sick to go to work, but not sick enough to sleep all day. For a diversion, he read the scripture for the day, which turned out to be the story of the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12). As Dix rested, that story kept running through his mind. Dix began to pen the verses of this song. Before the day was over, he had completed it. Dix was ill for an extended period of time, and wrote a number of hymns in this fashion, including the ever-popular “What Child is This?” Interestingly for a man who wrote a hymn about outsiders (Gentiles) being brought inside the tent, Dix was somewhat an outsider himself—a layman, not a member of the clergy. However, his hymns have continued to proclaim the Gospel long after his death in 1898.
People would have thought of the Magi as priests or wise men—possibly as astrologers. They would have been powerful men—the kind of people who would honor any home by their visit. Tertullian later called them kings, saying that they fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). Still later, people began to assume that, since there were three gifts (gold, frankincense, and myrrh), there must have been three Magi. They even gave them names—Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar—but those are not Biblical names. The significance of the story is that the Magi were Gentiles. Matthew’s Gospel is the most Jewish of the four Gospels, but Matthew brings these Gentiles into the tent as honored guests very early in his Gospel—and closes his Gospel by challenging his disciples to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). That was Matthew’s way of telling his readers that God had enough love to embrace all people—not just Jews. The story of these Magi gives us a picture, writ small, of God’s great love.
An early form of the tune DIX was composed by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872). Trained as a teacher, Kocher moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a tutor at the age of seventeen. But his love for the music of Haydn and Mozart impelled him to a career in music. He moved back to Germany in 1811, settled in Stuttgart, and remained there for most of his life. The prestigious Cotta music firm published some of his early compositions and sent him to study music in Italy, where he came under the influence of Palestrina's music. In 1821 Kocher founded the School for Sacred Song in Stuttgart, which popularized four-part singing in the churches of that region. He was organist and choir director at the Striftsckirche in Stuttgart from 1827 to 1865. Kocher wrote a treatise on church music, Die Tonkunst in der Kirche(1823), collected a large number of chorales in Zions Harfe (1855), and composed an oratorio, two operas, and some sonatas. William H. Monk created the current form of DIX by revising and shortening Conrad Kocher's chorale melody for “Treuer Heiland, wir sind hir,” found in Kocher's Stimmen aus den Reiche Gottes (1838). Monk's tune was published with Dix's text in the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, of which Monk was music editor. Dix regretted the use of this tune for his text, but the combination has proven a good match–"As with Gladness" is the most popular Epiphany hymn today.
As with gladness men of old Did the guiding star behold;
As with joy they hailed its light, Leading onward, beaming bright.
So, most gracious Lord, may we Evermore be led by Thee.
As they offered gifts most rare At Thy cradle, rude and bare,
So may we with holy joy, Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee our heavenly King.
In the heavenly country bright Need they no created light;
Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing Alleluias to our King.
Wilbur C. Held (1914-2015) was born in Des Plaines, Illinois, and received his B.M. and M.M. degrees at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He then attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he earned his S.M.D. A member of the Episcopal Church, for many years Dr. Held was Professor of Organ and Church Music at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He remained in this position for over 30 years, and for most of that time was also organist-choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Held started composing little pieces for the organ because he felt there was a lack of teaching material aimed at developing style and registration, especially for the romantic use of the instrument. Having written several suites primarily for pedagogical use, he turned his attention to broadening the repertoire for church use, continuing to stress modest technical requirements and flexibility of registration. To date he has published 325 organ works. He has served on the national councils of both the AGO and the Hymn Society of America, and has appeared as recitalist at their national conventions.
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How lovely shines the morning star) is a hymn by Philipp Nicolai written in 1597 and first published in 1599. The words in seven stanzas are based on Psalms 45, a mystical wedding song. Jesus is identified with the morning star, according to Revelation 22:16, and with the bridegroom of the psalm. Nicolai wrote the words in response to a pestilence in 1597. He published the chorale first in 1599 in his book Frewdenspiegel deß ewigen Lebens ("Mirror of Joy of the Life Everlasting") in Frankfurt, together with "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". He introduced it: "Ein Geistlich Brautlied der Gläubigen Seelen / von Jesu Christo irem himlischen Bräutgam: Gestellt ober den 45. Psalm deß Propheten Dauids" (A spiritual bridal song of the believing soul / concerning Jesus Christ, her heavenly bridegroom, founded on the 45th Psalm of the prophet David). This hymn is often referred to as "The Queen of Chorales". The chorale theme "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" was codified then, but research by C. S. Terry has shown the tune to predate Nicolai's publication by at least 61 years.
The chorale appeared as a hymn in German hymnals and in several translations in English hymnals, starting with How bright appears the Morning Star! by John Christian Jacobi, in his Psalmodica Germanica, 1722. Additional hymns were written on the same tune such as "O heilger Geist, kehr bei uns ein" of Michael Schirmer (1640).
The first verse (in an anonymous English translation beginning "How splendid shines the morning star") appeared in the Southern Harmony, an 1835 shape-note tunebook compiled by William Walker, where it is set to a tune called Morning Star by composer J. C. Lowry. This arrangement is repeated in the current An American Christmas Harp, with the addition of two more stanzas in a translation by William Mercer (1811-1873).
A fairly literal translation of the seven verses by Frances Browne:
How beautifully shines the morning star
full of grace and truth from the Lord, the sweet root of Jesse!
You son of David from the line of Jacob, my king and my bridegroom,
have taken posession of my heart, [you who are] lovely,friendly,
beautiful and glorious, great and honourable, rich in gifts,
lofty and exalted in splendour!
Ah my pearl, my precious crown, true son of God and Mary,
a king of most noble birth! My heart calls you a lily,
your sweet gospel is pure milk and honey.
Ah my dear flower, hosanna, heavenly manna,
that we eat, I cannot forget you!
Pour most deeply within my heart, you clear jasper and ruby,
the flames of your love, and make me rejoice, so that I may remain
in your chosen body a living rib!
Because of you, gracious rose of heaven,
my heart is sick and smouldering, wounded with love.
A joyful light from God comes to me when with your dear eyes
you look on me as a friend. Oh Lord Jesus, my beloved good,
your word, your spirit, your body and blood refresh me within.
Take me like a friend in your arms, so that I may become warm
with your grace. To your word I come invited.
Lord, God, Father, my mighty hero, before the world you have
loved me in your son. Your son has betrothed me to himself,
he is my treasure, I am his bride, most greatly I rejoice in him.
Yes, yes. Heavenly life he will give me in the the world above!
My heart shall praise him forever.
Pluck the strings on the harp and let the sweet music
resound full of joy, so that with dear Jesus, my most beautiful bridegroom,
in constant love I may make my pilgrimage!
Sing, leap, rejoice, triumph, thank the Lord!
Great is the king of honour!
How full I am therefore of heartfelt joy
that my treasure is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end;
To his reward he will take me up to paradise, and so I clap my hands
Amen! Amen! Come, you sweet crown of joy,
do not long delay, I wait for you with longing.
Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (14 February 1679 – 24 March 1735) was a Baroque composer and organist from southern Germany who composed primarily sacred works for the organ and voice. Late in his life, Kauffmann started to publish a complete edition of his organ chorales; however, he died of consumption before they had been completely published. His widow completed the publication of the Harmonische Seelenlust. While they did not make a great first impression, over the next century they became one of the most significant achievements in German organ music, and remained in high demand well into the 19th century.
La Marcia del re Magi - Oreste Ravanello
Oreste Ravanello (1871-1938) was an Italian composer and organist. Ravanello studied organ and composition at the Liceo Musicale in Venice before he was appointed organist of the San Marco Cathedral at the age of seventeen. He also taught at the Conservatory of Music in Venice and, then, became director of Instituto Musicale in Padua. As an organ recitalist, he was well-known recitalist well known for his improvisations. His compositions are intended for the church: 30 Masses, Te Deums, etc., as well as numerous works for organ and piano. His style is late romantic and melodious. “La Marcia del re Magi” (The March of the Magi) was written in 1902.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
Coventry Carol - Joel K. Boyd
"Coventry Carol" is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew: the carol itself refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed, and takes the form of a lullaby sung by mothers of the doomed children.
The carol is the second of three songs included in the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, a nativity play that was one of the Coventry Mystery Plays, originally performed by the city's guilds.
The exact date of the text is unknown, though there are references to the Coventry guild pageants from 1392 onwards. The single surviving text of the carol and the pageant containing it was edited by one Robert Croo, who dated his manuscript 14 March 1534. Croo, or Crowe, acted for some years as the 'manager' of the city pageants. Over a twenty-year period, payments are recorded to him for playing the part of God in the Drapers' Pageant, for making a hat for a "pharysye", and for mending and making other costumes and props, as well as for supplying new dialogue and for copying out the Shearmen and Tailors' Pageant in a version which Croo described as "newly correcte". Croo seems to have worked by adapting and editing older material, while adding his own rather ponderous and undistinguished verse.
Religious changes caused the plays' suppression during the later 16th century, but Croo's prompt-book, including the songs, survived and a transcription was eventually published by the Coventry antiquarian Thomas Sharp in 1817 as part of his detailed study of the city's mystery plays. Sharp published a second edition in 1825 which included the songs' music. Both printings were intended to be a facsimile of Croo's manuscript, copying both the orthography and layout; this proved fortunate as Croo's original manuscript, which had passed into the collection of the Birmingham Free Library, was destroyed in a fire there in 1879. Sharp's transcriptions are therefore the only source; Sharp had a reputation as a careful scholar, and his copying of the text of the women's carol appears to be accurate.
Within the pageant, the carol is sung by three women of Bethlehem, who enter on stage with their children immediately after Joseph is warned by an angel to take his family to Egypt: Sharp's publication of the text stimulated some renewed interest in the pageant and songs, particularly in Coventry itself. Although the Coventry mystery play cycle was traditionally performed in summer, the lullaby has been in modern times regarded as a Christmas carol. It was brought to a wider audience after being featured in the BBC's Empire Broadcast at Christmas 1940, shortly after the Bombing of Coventry in World War II, when the broadcast concluded with the singing of the carol in the bombed-out ruins of the Cathedral.
The carol's music was added to Croo's manuscript at a later date by Thomas Mawdyke, his additions being dated 13 May 1591. Mawdyke wrote out the music in three-part harmony, though whether he was responsible for its composition is debatable, and the music's style could be indicative of an earlier date. The three (alto, tenor and baritone) vocal parts confirm that, as was usual with mystery plays, the parts of the "mothers" singing the carol were invariably played by menThe original three-part version contains a "startling" false relation (F# in treble, F in tenor) at "by, by".
Mawdyke, who may be identifiable with a tailor of that name living in the St Michael's parish of Coventry in the late 16th century, is thought to have made his additions as part of an unsuccessful attempt to revive the play cycle in the summer of 1591, though in the end the city authorities chose not to support the revival. The surviving pageants were revived in the Cathedral from 1951 onwards.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child, By, by, lully, lullay;
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child, By, by, lully, lullay.
Herod the King, in his raging, Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight, All children young to slay.
Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee, And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting nor say nor sing, By, by, lully, lullay.
Joel Kenneth Boyd is a Congregationalist Christian pastor and a composer of classical concert music. His works include opera, art songs and cycles, choral music, piano music, chamber music, and orchestral works. Mr. Boyd has served as a classical music editor with Hal Leonard Corporation, was a member and seminarian at the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, and an Interim Minister at St. Jacobi Congregational Church. He is currently the Senior Minister at the First Congregational Church of Marshfield, MA.
About the Hymns:
We Three Kings of Orient Are
“We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, was instrumental in organizing an elaborate holiday pageant (which featured this hymn) for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857 while serving as the seminary's music director. Although there is no scriptural basis for stating dogmatically that there were three wise men, the fact that three distinct gifts are mentioned has given rise to this traditional idea. Master artists throughout the centuries have depicted three wise men on camels as one of their favorite nativity themes.
We three kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we traverse afar,
field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.
Born a King on Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown him again,
King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign.
Frankincense to offer have I; incense owns a Deity nigh;
prayer and praising, voices raising, worshiping God on high.
Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom;
sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
Glorious now behold him arise; King and God and sacrifice:
Alleluia, Alleluia, sounds through the earth and skies.
O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.
There’s a Song in the Air
In the summer of 1904, Karl P. Harrington was assembling the new Methodist Hymnal. He went through hundreds of familiar hymns from a range of hymnals and songbooks. It was his job to comb through the offerings and select the songs that would line the pews. As Ace Collins says in Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas "That meant he had to include music that could be sung by huge church choirs in places like Boston and by tiny congregations in places like Salem, Arkansas. Every pastor and song leader would be depending upon the songs included; other than the Bible itself, his project would be the most important tool found in most churches." He was up to the task. He was a skilled organist. He had studied music around the globe, written numerous hymns, and was a Wesleyan University music professor. Despite his gifts it was still a daunting task. To relax he would read the poetry of American poet and novelist Josiah Holland. Josiah was the founder of Scribner's magazine. He wrote the poem for an 1874 Sunday School Journal and was reprinted that year in Complete Poetry Writings. This was the book that Harrington was flipping through in the midst of his editing the new hymnal. He came across this Christmas poem and decided it should be set to music. Collins says, "Going over to the organ, Harrington again studied the words to 'There's a Song in the Air'. This time he read them aloud, forming a tune around each phrase. As his fingers touched the keyboard, a melody came to life." In 1905, in The Methodist Hymnal the words and music become one and were sent to churches around the globe.
There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!
There’s a mother’s deep prayer and a Baby’s low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!
There’s a tumult of joy o’er the wonderful birth,
For the virgin’s sweet Boy is the Lord of the earth.
Ay! the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!
In the light of that star lie the ages impearled;
And that song from afar has swept over the world.
Every hearth is aflame, and the beautiful sing
In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King!
We rejoice in the light, and we echo the song
That comes down through the night from the heavenly throng.
Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring,
And we greet in His cradle our Savior and King!
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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