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.
This week we sing together as a congregation for the first time in over a year! We celebrate singing our praise to God together.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.
In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
- Psalm 89: 1, 5, 15-16
About the Vocal Duet Music:
When in Our Music God is Glorified - Dede Duson
(c.1993, Alliance Music Publishers)
Sometimes a great tune can keep a hymn text alive. Sometimes a great text can revive a neglected tune. The latter is true in this case. Noted British hymnologist John Wilson (1905-1992) suggested that the Methodist poet and hymn writer Fred Pratt Green write a text to the tune ENGELBERG, composed in 1904 by the famous British composer Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). Stanford’s tune had been well-known in the earlier 20th century until Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) composed the immensely popular SINE NOMINE in the same metre (sung to “For All the Saints”) for the English Hymnal (1906). Hymnologist J.R. Watson records that “Wilson urged Pratt Green to write a text for a Festival of Praise . . . which could be sung to Stanford’s neglected tune.”
Pratt Green based his text on Psalm 150 but alluded to Mark 14:26 in stanza four of the hymn, a stanza recalling the hymn sung by the disciples at the Last Supper. The hymn, composed in 1972, first appeared in New Church Praise (1975) and in the single-author collection The Hymns and Ballads of Fred Pratt Green (1982) with the title, “Let the People Sing!”
This hymn is groundbreaking in many ways. There are numerous examples in the history of hymnody where music is a metaphor for some theological theme or experience. In Babcock’s “This Is My Father’s World,” for example, “all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.” Charles Wesley speaks of “the music of the heart” in his paraphrase of Psalm 150, “Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above.”
However, Pratt Green uses music not just as a metaphor that points us to another idea, but explores music-making as a phenomenon in the Christian’s experience in its own right. The second stanza concludes with the marvelous thought that “making music . . . move[s] us to a more profound Alleluia!” In this way, Pratt Green seems to agree with Martin Luther who said, “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” Luther and Pratt Green seem to ascribe a quasi-sacramental quality to music—music as a means of revelation and grace.
Pratt Green (1903-2000) was born in Roby just outside of Liverpool, England. Following his education, he was ordained in 1924 as a Methodist minister and served in various parishes throughout England well into the 1940s. Although he had a long interest in poetry, he did not focus on hymn writing until his retirement from active ministry.
When in our music God is glorified,
and adoration leaves no room for pride,
it is as though the whole creation cried, Hallelujah!
How often, making music, we have found
a new dimension in the world of sound,
as worship moved us to a more profound Hallelujah!
So has the church, in liturgy and song,
in faith and love, through centuries of wrong,
borne witness to the truth in every tongue: Hallelujah!
Let every instrument be tuned for praise!
Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise!
And may God give us faith to sing always: Hallelujah! Amen.
Dede Duson is a Texan with music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. She taught piano and theory for many years, served as a church organist, and accompanied various groups including the Houston Symphony Chorus, Texas All-state Choir, and Mesquite Civic Chorus.
Worship God with Music - Natalee Sleeth
(c.1991, Hope Publishing Co)
Natalie Allyn Sleeth (née Wakeley) (1930-1992) was born in Evanston, Illinois. In 1934, she began to study the piano at the early age of four. In 1952, she received an Academic major in music theory and a BA in music theory at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She married a Professor of Homiletics, Reverend Ronald E. Sleeth. In her later life she received an honorary doctorate from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1959, and from Nebraska Wesleyan College in 1990. An organist, she wrote over 180 selections for church and school. She was a member of the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX.
Worship God with music! Let it fill the air!
Make the mighty chorus echo everywhere!
Worship God with music! Creatures great and small,
Bow in adoration, Thanks for blessings all!
Make a joyful, joyful noise! Let the organ sound!
Tell the goodness of the Lord everywhere around!
Worship God with music! Now and evermore!
Let the jubilation reach from shore to shore!
Worship God with music! Psalms and anthems raise,
Songs of celebration, Hymns of grateful praise!
Worship God with Music! Tune the flute and string!
Blow the shiny trumpet! Lift your voice and sing!
Make a joyful, joyful noise! Let the organ sound!
Tell the goodness of the Lord everywhere around!
Worship God with music, notes and harmony!
Glory, hallelujah to the Diety!
O God of rhyme and rhythm, of words and melody,
Creator, Lord and Spirit who sings thru history,
Be with Your grateful people who celebrate today,
With instruments and voices, to bring You praise alway!
Worship God with music! Let it fill the air!
Make the mighty chorus echo everywhere!
Worship God with music! Creatures great and small,
Bow in adoration, Thanks for blessings all!
Make a joyful, joyful noise! Let the organ sound!
Tell the goodness of the Lord everywhere around!
Worship God with music! Now and evermore!
Let the jubilation reach from shore to shore!
Worship God and anthems raise, songs and hymns of grateful praise!
Worship God with flute and string! Blow the trumpet, join to sing!
Make a joyful, joyful noise! Let the organ sound!
Tell the goodness of the Lord everywhere around!
Worship God with music, notes and harmony!
Glory, hallelujah to the Diety!
Glory, hallelujah to the Diety!
How Can I Keep from Singing? - Sally DeFord and James Loynes
(c.2009, Sally DeFord and James Loynes)
How Can I Keep From Singing?" (also known by its incipit "My Life Flows On in Endless Song") is a Christian hymn with music written by American Baptist minister Robert Wadsworth Lowry. The song is frequently, though erroneously, cited as a traditional Quaker or Shaker hymn. The original composition has now entered into the public domain, and appears in several hymnals and song collections, both in its original form and with a revised text. Though it is not, in fact, a Quaker hymn, twentieth-century Quakers adopted it as their own and use it widely today.
The first known publication of the words was on August 7, 1868, in The New York Observer, Titled "Always Rejoicing", and, attributed to "Pauline T." These words were published by Robert Lowry in the 1869 song book, Bright Jewels for the Sunday School. Here Lowry claims credit for the music, but gives no indication as to who wrote the words. These words were also published in a British periodical in 1869, The Christian Pioneer, but no author is indicated. Lewis Hartsough, citing Bright Jewels as source of the lyrics and crediting Lowry for the tune, included "How Can I Keep from Singing?" in the 1872 edition of the Revivalist. Ira D. Sankey published his own setting of the words in Gospel Hymns, No. 3 (1878), writing that the words were anonymous. The song has often been attributed to "early" Quakers, but Quakers did not permit congregational singing in worship until after the American Civil War. It was published in the Quaker songbook Songs of the Spirit, and the original words were included in the much more ambitious Quaker hymnal project, Worship in Song: A Friends Hymnal] in 1996.
During the 20th century, this hymn was not widely used in congregational worship. Diehl's index to a large number of hymnals from 1900 to 1966 indicates that only one hymnal included it: the 1941 edition of The Church Hymnal of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, titled "My Life Flows On". It was also published in the earlier 1908 Seventh-day Adventist hymnal, Christ In Song, under the title "How Can I Keep From Singing?" The United Methodist Church published it in its 2000 hymnal supplement, The Faith We Sing, giving credit for the lyrics as well as the tune to Robert Lowry. The Faith We Sing version changes some of the lyrics and punctuation from the 1868 version.
This arrangement, with slightly altered text, was written and graciously shared by Sally DeFord and James Loynes. Sally DeFord (b. 1959) is an American composer from Eugene, Oregon. DeFord is one of those people so filled with gratitude for her gifts, that she shares them for free. Her original pieces and arrangements are always creative, top-quality musical offerings. James Loynes is a Welsh baritone who works primarily in musical theater, but often collaborates with Sally DeFord in arrangements of choral music.
My life flows on in endless song,
Above earth´s lamentations,
I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing,
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord, my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night He giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that Refuge clinging.
Since Christ is lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
I lift mine eyes, the cloud grows thin,
I see the blue above it.
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it.
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing.
All things are mine since I am His.
How can I keep from singing?
How can I keep from singing?
About the Hymns:
All Creatures of Our God and King
(c.1989, United Methodist Publishing House)
The words of this hymn were initially written by St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) in 1225 in the Canticle of the Sun poem, which was based on Psalm 148. The words were translated into English by William Draper, who at the time was rector of a Church of England parish church at Adel near Leeds. Draper paraphrased the words of the Canticle and set them to music. It is not known when Draper first composed the hymn but it was between 1899 and 1919. Draper composed the hymn for his church's children's Whitsun festival celebrations and it was later published in 1919 in the Public School Hymn Book. The hymn is currently used in 179 different hymn books. The words written by St Francis are some of the oldest used in hymns after "Father We Praise Thee", written in 580 AD. The hymn is set to the tune of "Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr", a German Easter hymn written by Friedrich Spee, published in 1623 in his book Auserlesene, Catholische, Geistliche Kirchengesäng. It was first used in English hymn books in 1906.
St. Francis is famous for many things, including love of animals. Pictures of him usually have birds flying nearby and small animals at his feet. A popular story tells of him stopping to preach a sermon to a flock of birds. He reminded them that God had blessed them with beautiful clothing even though they had never learned to spin or weave–– and that God had blessed them with food even thought they had never learned to sow or reap. Then he called them to sing their songs as praises to God. St. Francis wrote this hymn near the end of his life. Sick and suffering bouts of blindness, he was going home to die when he stopped to visit friends at the St. Damien monastery. While there, he felt the inspiration to compose this joyful hymn. It calls all God's creatures ––sun and moon ––wind and water––fruits and flowers––and all who are of tender heart––to sing, "Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!" to honor our God.
LASST UNS ERFREUEN was originally published in the Jesuit hymnal, Ausserlesene Catlwlische Geistliche Kirchengesänge, in 1623 in Cologne, Germany. The tune is believed to have been composed by Friedrich Spee, a Jesuit priest and hymn writer who was most well known as an activist who opposed trials for witchcraft. Spee’s 1631 book, Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials, is one of the first written works to present strong arguments against the use of torture. Spee’s opening melodic phrase in “LASST” has its origins in a setting of Psalm 68 in the Genevan Psalter, a collection of psalm settings composed between 1539-62 in Geneva, Switzerland. While its original publication featured an Easter text, “Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr” (“let us rejoice most heartily”), its most well-known version appeared in the English Hymnal in 1906, edited by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams reharmonized the tune and set it in a triple meter.
All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing
alleluia, alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong, ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise him, alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice, ye lights of evening, find a voice,
O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou flowing water, pure and clear, make music for thy Lord to hear,
alleluia, alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright, that givest man both warmth and light,
O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
And all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye, alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, praise God and on him cast your care,
O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless, and worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, three in one,
O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Wonderful Words of Life
Philip Bliss (1838-1876) went to Chicago in the employ of Dr. George F. Root, the musician, where he was engaged in conducting musical Institutes, and in composing Sunday School melodies. Originally a Methodist, he became, about 1871, a choirman of the First Congregational Church, Chicago, and the Superintendent of its Sunday Schools. In 1874 he joined D. W. Whittle in evangelical work. To this cause he gave (although a poor man) the royalty of his Gospel Songs, which was worth some thirty thousand dollars. His death was sudden. It occurred in the railway disaster at Ashtabula, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1876. He had escaped from the car, but lost his life in trying to save his wife. In spite of the shortness of his life, Philip Bliss is one of the most important and influential gospel song writers of the nineteenth century.
Christian publisher Fleming H. Revell (Dwight Moody’s brother-in-law) was about to launch a new Sunday School paper. He wanted a song that would capture the overall focus of the publication, which was to emphasize the vital importance of studying the Word of God. The name of the paper was to be Words of Life, so Mr. Revell asked Philip Bliss if he could come up with a song to fit, suggesting the key text, John 5 & 6. In the passage, many who had followed Christ were drifting away. The Lord turned to His disciples and asked, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter made this reply on behalf of the other men: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”. Bliss duly produced a song, as requested, calling it Wonderful Words of Life. It’s a simple song. Bliss wrote both the text and the tune, WORDS OF LIFE. And after it served its purpose, in the first issue of the publication, it was all but forgotten. But Revell passed on a copy of the Sunday School paper to another hymn writer, George Stebbins. Stebbins began using Philip Bliss’s song in evangelistic meetings, with he and his wife Elma singing it as a duet. It caught on, after that, and became very popular. Simple though it is, it reminds us that we have a precious treasure in the Scriptures–words of life.
Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life;
let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty:
Christ, the blessed One, gives to all wonderful words of life;
sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life;
all so freely given, wooing us to heaven:
Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life;
offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
"The Hymn of Joy" (often called "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" after the first line) is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 with the intention of musically setting it to the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's final symphony, Symphony No. 9. Van Dyke wrote this poem in 1907 while staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield. He was serving as a guest preacher at Williams at the time. He told his host that the local Berkshire Mountains had been his inspiration. The lyrics were first published in 1911 in Van Dyke's Book of Poems.
Van Dyke wrote of this hymn: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.” This hymn is generally considered by hymnologists to be one of the most joyous expressions of hymn lyrics in the English language.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906. In 1908–09 Dr. van Dyke was an American lecturer at the University of Paris. By appointment of President Wilson, a friend and former classmate of van Dyke, he became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors. Among his popular writings are the two Christmas stories, The Other Wise Man (1896) and The First Christmas Tree (1897). Various religious themes of his work are also expressed in his poetry, hymns and the essays collected in Little Rivers (1895) and Fisherman’s Luck (1899).
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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