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; most of it is copied from other websites 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:
Slane - John Ferguson
"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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
John Allen Ferguson (b. 1941) is an American organist, teacher, and composer. Ferguson is probably best known for his many choral compositions. He has also published alternate accompaniments and festival arrangements for organ, brass, and percussion of hymns and Lutheran liturgy, and has appeared on several recordings. He has more than 100 titles to his credit. Ferguson earned a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, an M.M. from Kent State University, and a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Russell Saunders. Ferguson is a well-respected organ teacher and leader of congregational singing via the organ. He has been invited as a visiting professor by the faculties of the University of Notre Dame and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
Long associated with the Holtkamp Organ Company, Ferguson's doctoral dissertation was on the work of Walter Holtkamp Sr. "Walter Holtkamp: American Organ Builder" was published in 1979 by Kent State University Press. He also served as music editor of the United Church of Christ Hymnal, published in 1974. He worked as both professor of music at Kent State University and organist-choirmaster at Kent United Church of Christ until 1978. He later worked as the director of music at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1983 he became the Elliot & Klara Stockdahl Johnson professor of organ and church music at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and later became the conductor of the St. Olaf Cantorei.
Toccata on “St. Anne” - Gordon Young
“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.
The complete nine verses are as follows:
Our God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne Still may we dwell secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same.
Thy Word commands our flesh to dust, Return, ye sons of men:
All nations rose from earth at first, And turn to earth again.
A thousand ages in Thy sight Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night Before the rising sun.
The busy tribes of flesh and blood, With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood, And lost in following years.
Time, like an ever rolling stream, Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.
Like flowery fields the nations stand Pleased with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower’s hand Lie withering ere ‘tis night.
Our God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while life shall last, And our eternal home.
Gordon Young (1919-1998) was born in McPherson, Kansas, and during his lifetime was recognized as one of this country's great church organists. He was a prolific and talented composer for both organ and choir, with nearly 1000 published works. During the course of his career, he was a radio organist in Tulsa, a music critic and columnist for daily newspapers in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and choirmaster in churches in Philadelphia and Kansas City. Mr. Young taught organ in conjunction with Wayne State University and for 15 years was organist and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Detroit.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
The Gospel of Grace - Mark Hayes
In this solo, Mark Hayes has set “Amazing Grace” and “I’m New Born Again” in a fun black gospel style.
"Amazing Grace" was written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807). With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.
Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was drafted into the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. However, he continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.
Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It was first printed in 1779 in Newton and Cowper's Olney Hymns, but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States however, "Amazing Grace" was used extensively during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies, but in 1835 it was joined to a tune named "New Britain" to which it is most frequently sung today.
The melody sung to John Newton’s 1779 hymn “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound” is, without a doubt, America’s best-loved hymn tune. Unlike Lowell Mason’s “Nearer, my God, to thee,” the “Amazing grace” tune is of unknown origin. It first appeared in print in 1829 without any composer attribution, and there were thought to be no earlier surviving instances of the tune. However, an 1828 manuscript by Lucius Chapin (1760-1842), who was famous in his day as a hymn tune writer, raises the possibility that Lucius was its composer.
Lucius and his brother Amzi (1768-1835) were among the first and most influential composers to harmonize American folk hymns, using principles they had absorbed from New England and English church music, and perhaps from the oral tradition as well. They also composed hymns in a similar style. The brothers came from a large, musical Massachusetts family. Their mother was an exceptional singer, though she did not read music, and two of their brothers also became singing masters. Lucius and Amzi moved south and west as young men and taught singing schools throughout their lives. In 1828, Lucius was living in central Kentucky and Amzi in western Pennsylvania. The 1828 manuscript was mentioned in passing in James Scholten’s 1972 dissertation on Lucius and Amzi Chapin. On July 25, 1828, Lusius’ son Cephas died from typhus in Oxford, Ohio en route home to visit his parents. There are three tender expressions of paternal love and grief on the back of Cephas’ last letter penned there by Lucius, the tunes AMAZING GRACE and BRAINARD and a brief poem.
The familiar melody had a number of titles in its early publications: ST. MARY’S, GALLAHER, HARMONY GROVE (Shenandoah Harmony), NEW BRITAIN (Sacred Harp), and more. The one title it did not have was AMAZING GRACE, though that title was used for at least two other melodies. The tune wasn’t paired with Newton’s text until 1835. The great nineteenth-century scholar W.E. Chute (1832-1900) attributed the melody to the Chapins.
It is possible that NEW BRITAIN was added to the manuscript after 1828, or copied from a source that does not survive. However, the version here doesn’t exactly match any tune found, either published or in manuscript, in Nikos Pappas’ exhaustive index of over 60,000 early American hymn tunes (1700-1870). It is closest to the tune ST. MARY’S found in Shaw and Spilman’s Columbian Harmony (1829) [4]. Like Lucius, Shaw and Spilman lived in central Kentucky.
Even if Lucius were the first to notate the tune, the concept of “authorship” in this repertoire is difficult. Composers felt free to write arrangements of popular sacred or secular melodies in oral tradition and publish them, either as unattributed tunes or with their own names attached. They also made their own versions of tunes in books or manuscripts, appropriated and rearranged European classical music, and composed music from scratch in a folk idiom.
If Lucius didn’t compose NEW BRITAIN, then who did? The basic structure of the tune is ancient. NEW BRITAIN is a folk hymn—a sacred melody that existed, in some form, in oral tradition prior to being notated. It belongs to a recognized “tune family,” or group of tunes, sacred or secular, that share enough structure and melodic phrases that they seem to be descended from a common root. Other related tunes include Amzi Chapin’s TWENTY-FOURTH (written in the 1790s) and, more distantly, the African-American spiritual “Swing low, sweet chariot” (published in 1873, but definitely older). The folk hymn CONSOLATION (attributed to the Chapins when first published in 1812) has the same contour, but is in the minor mode. However, just because a tune is a folk hymn doesn’t mean that there wasn’t an originator for a particular variant of the tune family. There were at least ten slightly different versions of NEW BRITAIN written down from 1828 to 1840 in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Three of these were from central Kentucky. This argues for oral transmission, but the fact that each version differs from the others only in the amount of ornamentation notated suggests that one person, perhaps an itinerant preacher or singing master, was the “vector” that spread the tune through this area in the late 1820s to 1830s.
Another interesting story, though tangential, is the Chapin family’s connection to the antislavery movement. If you’ve read the story of John Newton (the author of the words to “Amazing Grace”), you know that he was the captain of a slave ship who later rejected his past and advocated against slavery. The Chapin family lived in central Kentucky and some of their neighbors owned slaves, though there weren’t large plantations in the area. However, the diary of Cephas’ sister Harriet survives, and she was profoundly antislavery, though as a woman she didn’t have power to make decisions about her household. She thanks God that her father is “an Emancipator.” I don’t know if that means that he had slaves and set them free or if he didn’t believe in slavery and never owned slaves. Harriet considered it her duty to educate the two young African-Americans who worked for the family, an act that would have been illegal in many states. Harriet died in 1827, just a year before Cephas.
In general, the early revivals in Kentucky were far more democratic than were churches later in the 19th century. Both white women and African-Americans—even slaves—were called on to testify and even preach, and everyone participated in group singing, which was one of the hallmarks of these revivals. So the fact that this particular tune, whoever wrote it, is often associated with black spirituals and related to “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” is not surprising, as it was first popular in a mixed environment.
“I found free grace and dying love (‘New-Born Again’)” is an African American spiritual of unknown origin. IIt was printed in Folk Songs of the American Negro No. 1 (Nashville, TN, 1907), edited by Frederick Jerome Work*, with an introduction by John Wesley Work (II)*. Its heading was ‘New-Born Again’, often used as the title of this hymn.
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
I found free grace and dying love, I’m new born again,
been a long time a-talkin’ ‘bout my trials here below.
Free grace, free grace, free grace, sinner.
Free grace, free grace, I’m new born again.
So glad, so glad, I’m new born again,
been a long time a-talkin’ ‘bout my trials here below.
My Savior died for you and me, I’m new born again,
been a long time a-talkin’ ‘bout my trials here below.
I know my Lord has set me free, I’m new born again,
been a long time a-talkin’ ‘bout my trials here below.
Free grace, free grace, free grace, sinner.
Free grace, free grace, I’m new born again.
So glad, so glad, I’m new born again,
been a long time a-talkin’ ‘bout my trials here below.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’ve first begun.
I’m new born again. I’m new born again!
Mark Hayes is an award-winning concert pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. His personal catalog, totaling over 1,000 published works, includes work for solo voice, solo piano, multiple pianos, orchestra, jazz combo, small instrumental ensembles, and choruses of all kinds. Mark received a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in Piano Performance from Baylor University in 1975. He has conducted the SWACDA and MCDA Community and Church Honor Choir, and served as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, featuring his Te Deum and Magnificat. In 2010, Baylor University Center for Christian Music Studies awarded Mark the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music. Mark arranged and orchestrated the music for Civil War Voices, which won six awards including "Best Musical" in the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York. He conducted the world premiere of his work for chorus, orchestra and narrator, The American Spirit, at Lincoln Center in May 2011 and the world premiere of his Requiem in Lincoln Center in May 2013. Whether concertizing on the other side of the globe or composing at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, Mark is blessed to live out his mission "to create beautiful music for the world".
About the Hymns:
Lord, Speak to Me
Frances Ridely Havergal (1836-1878) was one of several women hymn writers who came into prominence in England during the last half of the 18th century. Before this time women’s voices were rarer in the English-speaking hymnological world. Havergal’s father was an Anglican clergyman. After a carriage accident, he devoted himself to the improvement of church music in England, and according to hymnologist Albert Bailey, “revived the use of the solid tunes of early English composers and so did much to improve the quality of congregational singing.”
Havergal was obviously inspired by her father’s efforts. She possessed a natural musicianship, as well as a love for walking, swimming and mountain climbing. By the age of 7, she displayed a talent for writing verse. Her hymns appeared originally in leaflets and were eventually collected into volumes, including Ministry of Song (1869), Under the Surface (1874) and Loyal Responses (1878). “Lord, Speak to Me” first appeared in Under the Surface with the heading, “A Worker’s Prayer. None of us liveth unto himself, Romans 14:7.”
“Lord, Speak to Me” is a personal prayer of petition. The focus of this hymn is not an ecclesiological argument on the nature of the church, a theological discussion of the Trinity, a reflection on the sacraments or a liturgical statement on the Christian year. Havergal’s concern is the conversion of lost souls. This hymn and her other well-known prayer hymn, “Take my life and let it be consecrated” reflect her desire to make use of her many talents in the service of the Lord. It is as one sought by Christ that she wishes to seek for the lost; it is as one sure of her way, and well-nourished in the spirit, that she longs to lead other and feed them. This hymn is a prayer in two directions: for a full and energetic life, and for the surrender of that life in worship and service.
Lord, speak to me that I may speak In living echoes of your tone.
As you have sought, so let me seek Your erring children, lost and lone.
Oh, lead me, Lord, that I may lead The wand'ring and the wav'ring feet.
Oh, feed me, Lord, that I may feed Your hungry ones with manna sweet.
Oh, teach me, Lord, that I may teach The precious truths which you impart.
And wing my words that they may reach The hidden depths of many a heart.
Oh, fill me with your fullness, Lord, Until my very hearts o'erflows
In kindling thought and glowing word, Your love to tell, your praise to show.
Oh, use me, Lord, use even me, Just as you will, and when, and where
Until your blessed face I see, Your rest, your joy, your glory share.
The Voice of God is Calling
John Haynes Holmes (1879-1964) was born in Philadelphia and educated at Harvard University and Harvard Divinity School. A Unitarian minister serving congregations in Massachusetts and New York City, Holmes was an articulate spokesperson on a variety of issues. Among his notable causes was a debate on prohibition, in which he took a supportive stance against Clarence Darrow. A principled man, Holmes left the American Unitarian Association in 1918 over the Association’s policies toward World War I. His New York City congregation, Church of the Messiah, left the Unitarian Association with him and became a non-denominational congregation, The Community Church of New York. A pacifist spanning two world wars, Holmes was not without his critics. None other than Theodor Geisel (also known as Dr. Seuss) mocked Holmes in a cartoon in PM, a New York newspaper, on January 13, 1942. The result was a considerable outcry from Holmes’ supporters to which Geisel provided a revealing response on January 21, 1942:
“In response to the letters defending John Haynes Holmes... sure, I believe in love,
brotherhood and a cooing white pigeon on every man’s roof. I even think it's nice to have
pacifists and strawberry festivals...in between wars. “But right now, when the Japs are
planting their hatchets in our skulls, it seems like a hell of a time for us to smile and
warble: ‘Brothers!’ It is a rather flabby battle cry. If we want to win, we’ve got to kill
Japs, whether it depresses John Haynes Holmes or not. We can get palsy-walsy afterward
with those that are left.”
Holmes was a prolific writer in a variety of forms. In addition to composing hymn texts, he also wrote If This Be Treason, a play that ran a short while on Broadway. Selected book titles include: Palestine To-Day and To-Morrow: A Gentile’s Survey of Zionism (1929); A Sensible Man’s View of Religion (1932); My Affirmation of Immortality (1947). Notable accomplishments include helping to found the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in 1909, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1920, serving as the chair of the latter. He was known for his work with Rabbi Stephen Wise of New York on social, religious, and political causes. A book by Carl Hermann Voss, Rabbi and Minister (1964), details their relationship.
Holmes was among those who publicized the work of Gandhi in the United States, including publishing the book My Gandhi (1953). He became a Gandhi Peace Award Laureate in 1961, the year after Eleanor Roosevelt received the same honor.
Toward the end of his life, Holmes published his autobiography, I Speak for Myself (1959) and his Collected Hymns (1960). While appearing in more hymnals than any of his other hymns, twenty of the poet’s hymns have appeared in hymnals in the United States since early in the twentieth century.
Based on Isaiah 6:8 – “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (KJV) – this social gospel hymn was written while Holmes was returning from England, Scotland, and Wales on board a ship in September 1913. Upon his arrival in the United States, the hymn was sung at the 1913 convention of the Young People’s Religious Union and then first published in New Hymn and Tune Book (1914).
Holmes had many of the same concerns as did Methodist Minister Frank Mason North (1850-1935) whose hymn, “Where cross the crowded ways of life,” articulated the suffering of those living and working in the cities in 1903.
Holmes’ stanza two speaks to the pain of those “crying in
slum and mine and mill.” The entire second stanza is placed in quotation marks, the intent being that these words should be seen as Christ’s direct mandate. The third stanza amplifies the second part of Isaiah 6:8: “Then said I, ‘Here am I; send me.” The final stanza provides a series of petitions that clarify our call: Save us, Absolve us, Purge us, Lift us, Take us, Teach us.
The voice of God is calling A summons unto all;
As once they heard in Zion, So now we hear the call.
"Whom shall I send to succor My people in their need?
Whom shall I send to loosen The bonds of shame and greed?
"I hear my people crying In cot and mine and slum;
No field or mart is silent, No city street is dumb.
I see my people falling In darkness and despair.
Whom shall I send to shatter The fetters which they bear?"
We heed, O God, thy summons, And answer: "Here are we!
Send us upon thine errand, Let us thy servants be.
Our strength is dust and ashes, Our years a passing hour;
But thou canst use our weakness To magnify thy power.
"From ease and plenty save us; From pride of place absolve;
Purge us of low desire; Lift us to high resolve;
Take us, and make us holy; Teach us thy will and way.
Speak, and, behold! we answer; Command, and we obey!”
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
