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:
Sweet Prospect - Don Hustad
(c. 1972, Broadman Press)
“Sweet Rivers of Redeeming Love” was written by John A. Grenade (1763-1807) and appears in many Sacred Harp hymnals. After a period of desperate depression, Granade came to Christ in 1800 at a Presbyterian camp meeting at Desha’s Creek, Sumner County, Tennessee. Ordained a Methodist circuit riding preacher by a session of the Western Conference, 1 October 1801 at Ebenezer, Tenn., Granade was referred to by the Nashville Banner as the "wild man of Goose Creek" (Sumner County, Tennessee) and was also variously known as "the poet of the backwoods" and "the Wild Man of Holston." For three years he rode the Green, Holston, and Hinckstone circuits. He then settled in southwest Tennessee as a physician-farmer. Granade worked in part in the world of shape-note singing in the Shenandoah Valley, where a variety of musical sources, both sacred and profane, were at play. He had a number of campmeeting hymns in Thomas Hinde's Pilgrim Songster (Cincinnati, 1810) whose preface states: " . . . our two western bards Mr. John A. Granade and Caleb J. Taylor, composed their songs during the great revivals of religion in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee about 1802-1804."
The tune SWEET PROSPECT was written by William Walker and appeared first in The Sacred Harp, 1844. William Walker (1809 -1875) was an American Baptist song leader, shape note "singing master", and compiler of four shape note tunebooks, most notable of which are the influential The Southern Harmony and the Christian Harmony, which has been in continuous use (republished 2010). From an early age he became deeply involved in music and became a song leader in the Baptist church. To distinguish him from other William Walkers in Spartanburg, he was nicknamed Singing Billy. Walker learned shape note music in singing schools; it had been used by Baptist and Methodist preachers in the Second Great Awakening to help spread Christianity in the South. Because the music could be read and sung by amateurs, hymns in shape note annotation became the centerpiece of many revivals and camp meetings on the frontier. Walker composed his first piece of music at the age of 18.
In 1835, Walker published a tunebook entitled The Southern Harmony, a compilation of hymns using the four-shape shape note system of notation. This collection was revised in 1840, 1847 and 1854. In 1846 he issued The Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist. Intended as an appendix to the Southern Harmony, the Pocket Harmonist contains numerous camp-meeting songs and their with refrains. After the Civil War, Walker published a tunebook entitled Christian Harmony (1867), in which he adopted a seven-shape notation. He incorporated over half of the contents of The Southern Harmony into the Christian Harmony, adding alto parts to those pieces which had lacked them. Walker issued an expanded edition of Christian Harmony in 1873. In the same year, he published a collection of Sunday school songs entitled Fruits and Flowers. Walker's compositions and arrangements are widely sung today by Sacred Harp singers as well as others. His work is represented by 13 songs in the current 1991 "Denson" edition of The Sacred Harp, and by 12 in the "Cooper" edition. According to the collated minutes kept by the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association, his song "Hallelujah" is sung more frequently at Sacred Harp conventions than is any other.
Sweet rivers of redeeming love, Lie just before mine eyes;
Had I the pinions of a dove, I'd to those regions fly.
I'd rise superior to my pain, With joy outstrip the wind:
I'd cross bold Jordan's stormy main, And leave the world behind.
While I'm imprison'd here below, In anguish, pain, and smart,
Oft times those troubles I forego, When love surrounds my heart.
In darkest shadows of the night, Faith mounts the upper sky;
I then behold my heart's delight, And would rejoice to die.
I view the monster death and smile, Now he has lost his sting;
Though Satan rages all the while, I still the triumph sing.
I hold my Saviour in my arms, And will not let him go;
I'm so delighted with his charms, No other good I'd know.
A few more days, or years at most, My troubles will be o'er:
I hope to join the heav'nly host, On Canaan's happy shore.
My rapt'rous soul shall drink and feast In love's unbounded sea:
The glorious hope of endless rest Is ravishing to me.
O! come, my Saviour, come away, And bear me through the sky;
Nor let the chariot wheels delay; Make haste and brings it nigh.
I long to see thy glorious face, And in thy image shine;
To triumph in victorious grace, And be forever thine.
Then I will tune my harp of gold, To my eternal King;
Through ages that can ne'er be told, I'll make his praises ring.
All hail, eternal Son of God, Who died on Calvary;
And sav'd me with thy precious blood From endless misery.
Ten thousand thousand join in one, To praise th' eternal Three;
Prostrate before the blazing throne, In deep humility.
They rise and tune their harps of gold, And sweet the immortal lyre;
And ages that can ne'er be told, Shall raise thy praises higher.
Don Hustad (1918-2013) was one of the giants of Christian music of the 20th century. Hustad had a distinguished ministry and a life-long profession as a recording artist, composer, arranger, teacher, conductor, hymnal editor, and author. He began work as staff musician of Chicago's WMBI in the early 1940s, worked with soloist George Beverly Shea on a weekly broadcast called "Club Time," and served for some 20 years as organist for a popular radio broadcast "Songs in the Night." He taught at Olivet Nazarene College in Kankakee, Illinois from 1946 to 1950, at which time Hustad was appointed director of the Sacred Music Department at Moody Bible Institute—a position he held until 1961. During his 11-year tenure at Moody he developed the Moody Chorale into a superior choral ensemble that achieved fame nationally and internationally. In 1961 he became Crusade organist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and directed the Crusader Men Choir in the "Hour of Decision" broadcasts. His publications include over 100 articles and five books. Throughout his career, Hustad devoted considerable energy to music arranging and hymnal editing, serving as editorial consultant and musical advisor to Hope Publishing Company. Among his editorial contributions are fourteen hymnals and songbooks, as well as dozens of collections. In 1989, Hustad was awarded Fellow of the Hymn Society for his outstanding contribution to American hymnody. In 2008, he was honored by the American Choral Director's Association Southern Division Conference for his contributions to church music. He earned diplomas as an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), London, UK.
Old Hundredth - David Johnson
(c. 1976, Schmitt Publications)
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow,” was written by Bishop Thomas Ken (1637-1711).
From Hertfordshire, Ken was orphaned as a child and raised by his sister Anna and her husband Izaak Walton. They enrolled him in the all-boys school at Winchester College (1651-1656), and after his education there, he attended Hart Hall, Oxford, and New College, Oxford (BA 1661, MA 1664). He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1662, served as Rector to several parishes, and as a Chaplain to Princess Mary of Orange (1679-80), King Charles II (1683), and the Tangier Expedition (1683-84). In 1685, he was appointed Bishop of Bath and Wells. During the reign of King James II, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to sign the Declaration of Indulgence. Ken was acquitted of the charge, but when King William III ascended to the throne Ken refused to swear loyalty to him, he resigned his office and lived the rest of his life at the home of his friend, Lord Weymouth, at Longleat, Wilshire.
The original date of composition by Ken for the text of “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” is unknown, but the first mention of the hymn is in 1674 as the presumed final stanza of two longer hymns: “Awake, My Soul and with the Sun” and “Glory to Thee, My God, This Night.” These two hymns were referenced along with a third as Morning, Evening and Midnight hymns in a pamphlet written for his students titled A Manual of Prayers For the Use of the Scholars of Winchester College, which was accompanied by the directive: “Be sure to sing the Morning and Evening Hymn in your chamber devoutly, remembering that the Psalmist, upon happy experience, assures you that it is a good thing to tell of the loving kindness of the Lord early in the morning and of his truth in the night season.” This directive is most often interpreted to mean that the hymns were meant for private devotion, not the gathered assembly, and yet these four lines, often referred to as The Lesser Doxology, have “been sung more often than any other lines ever written.” The hymn texts were published later as an appendix in his 1695 pamphlet as ‘revised’ versions.
Much of beauty of these four lines lies in its reflection of the joyous outbursts of the Psalms. Here we see both the ‘host’ of heaven and the ‘creatures here below’ of earth praising God as in Psalm 96:11-12a and the final jubilant line of Psalm 150:6:
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. (Psalm 96:
11-12a, NRSV)
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6, NRSV)
The Trinitarian structure of Ken’s hymn has also led to its common liturgical use. The first line describes the person of God the Father as the source of all blessings (Ephesians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3). The second line, though, speaks to God the Spirit through whom all creatures praise God (Psalm 104:24-30, 1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The third line points to God the Son who is begotten of the Father, firstborn of heaven and superior to angels and the heavenly host (Hebrews 1:4). The fourth line summarizes the stanza and all of praise in general, since all praise is directed toward God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
OLD HUNDREDTH is a hymn tune in Long Metre from Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (1551) (the second edition of the Genevan Psalter) and is one of the best known melodies in all Christian musical traditions. The tune is usually attributed to the French composer Louis Bourgeois. Loys "Louis" Bourgeois (c.1510-1559) was a composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is most famous as one of the main compilers of Calvinist hymn tunes in the middle of the 16th century. In 1549 and 1550 he worked on a collections of psalm-tunes, most of which were translated by Clément Marot and Théodore de Bèze. Unfortunately, he fell foul of local musical authorities and was sent to prison in December, 1551 for changing the tunes for some well-known psalms "without a license." He was released on the personal intervention of John Calvin, but the controversy continued: those who had already learned the tunes had no desire to learn new versions, and the town council ordered the burning of Bourgeois's instructions to the singers, claiming they were confusing. Shortly after this incident, Bourgeois left Geneva never to return: he settled in Lyon, and his Geneva employment was terminated.
The Genevan Psalter was compiled over a number of years in the Swiss city of Geneva, a center of Protestant activity during the Reformation, in response to the teaching of John Calvin that communal singing of psalms in the vernacular language is a foundational aspect of church life. This contrasted with the prevailing Catholic practice at the time in which sacred texts were chanted in Latin by the clergy only. Calvinist musicians including Bourgeois supplied many new melodies and adapted others from sources both sacred and secular. The final version of the psalter was completed in 1562. Calvin intended the melodies to be sung in plainsong during church services, but harmonized versions were provided for singing at home.
The Genevan Psalter, the source for the hymns of both the Reformed Church in England and the Pilgrims in America. In the original versions by Bourgeois, the music is monophonic, in accordance with the dictates of John Calvin, who disapproved not only of counterpoint but of any multiple parts; Bourgeois though did also provide four-part harmonizations, but they were reserved for singing and playing at home. Many of the four-part settings are syllabic and chordal, a style which has survived in many Protestant church services to the present day.
Awake, my soul, and with the sun thy daily stage of duty run;
shake off dull sloth, and early rise to pay thy morning sacrifice.
Lord, I my vows to Thee renew. Disperse my sins as morning dew;
guard my first springs of thought and will, and with Thyself my spirit fill.
Direct, control, suggest, this day, all I design or do or say,
that all my pow'rs, with all their might, in Thy sole glory may unite.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below;
praise Him above, ye heav'enly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
———————
Glory to thee, my God, this night, for all the blessings of the light:
keep me, O keep me, King of kings, beneath thine own almighty wings.
Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son, the ill that I this day have done;
that with the world, myself, and thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
Teach me to live, that I may dread the grave as little as my bed;
teach me to die, that so I may rise glorious at the awful day.
O may my soul on thee repose, and with sweet sleep mine eyelids close;
sleep that shall me more vigorous make to serve my God when I awake.
When in the night I sleepless lie, my soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
let no ill dreams disturb my rest, no powers of darkness me molest.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
David N. Johnson (1922-1987) was an American organist, composer, educator, choral clinician, and lecturer. He studied organ and composition at Curtis Institute of Music. Between 1942 and 1946 he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps/Air Corps in India, Burma, and China, receiving a Meritorious Service Award and campaign ribbons. He continued his music studies at Trinity University (Texas) and Syracuse University. He also held the associate certificate from the American Guild of Organists (AAGO). He was college organist and music department chair at St Olaf College, Minnesota. In 1967, he succeeded Arthur Poister as professor of music and university organist at Syracuse University. Johnson published well over three hundred compositions, most of them for church use, and was author of an Instruction Book for Beginning Organists (1964) and an Organ Teacher's Guide (1971).
About the Vocal Solo Music:
Take Time to Be Holy - Tom Fettke and Thomas Grassi
(c. 2012, Lorenz Publishing)
“Take Time to Be Holy” was written by William Longstaff (1822-1894) in 1882. Longstaff, an English businessman, had often meditated on 1 Peter 1:16, “Be ye holy, for I am holy”, and considered it to be the heart of the gospel. Upon hearing Dr. Griffith John, a missionary from China, speak and use the phrase, “Take time and be holy”, he was inspired to write this hymn. Longstaff showed the hymn to Ira Sankey, who in turn passed it on to American songwriter George C. Stebbins (1846-1945) to set in 1882. Stebbins laid it aside and did not recall it until an evangelistic meeting in India, during which the theme of holiness was explored. Stebbins recalled Longstaff’s hymn and set it to music for the revival. He sent his tune “HOLINESS” to Sankey, who published the hymn in New Songs and Sacred Solos (1888).
Take time to be holy, speak often with God;
Find rest in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Much time spend in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him you shall be;
Your friends in your conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be your Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow your Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Amen, amen.
Tom Fettke earned degrees from Oakland City College and California State University at Hayward. He holds a California Lifetime Music Credential in Secondary Music. For many years, he taught vocal music in California's public school systems. He served as church choir director and minister of music in churches large and small for over thirty years. While at the Redwood Christian School System in Castro Valley, California, Fettke held the positions Director of Choral Activities and Supervisor of Music. A high demand calls for Fettke as a guest conductor, clinician and workshop leader. In addition, he is a composer, arranger and producer of music and recordings for the church and school. His published works and recordings number in the hundreds. Thousands of church and school choirs throughout the world sing his classic choral work, The Majesty and Glory of Your Name. Fettke was the creator and Senior Editor of The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration. Fettke also is Senior Editor of The Celebration Hymnal.
Thomas W. Grassi is a composer, arranger, and orchestrator with Lorenz Music. His anthems have appeared in the catalogs of many publishers since the beginning of his publishing career in 1998. He has received a variety of awards over the years from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; Gospel Music Association; The John Lennon Songwriting Foundation; and the Billboard Magazine Song Contest. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Thomas’s past professional experience includes ministerial positions at Valley Community Church of Pleasanton, California and Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Currently, Thomas is the Minister of Worship & Music at Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, California. He is a graduate of San Diego Christian College with a BA in Music with an emphasis in sacred choral literature. He has earned his Evangelical Teacher Training Certificate as well, and has taught voice, piano, and guitar privately and in secondary schools for twenty years.
About the Hymns:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" is a hymn based on Joachim Neander's German chorale Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, published in 1680. John Julian, in his A Dictionary of Hymnology, calls the German original "a magnificent hymn of praise to God, perhaps the finest creation of its author, and of the first rank in its class." Neander wrote this particular hymn while dying and it says much about his faith. While contemplating the words to go along with the melody, he reflected on Psalm 103 with its claim that everything within us should praise the Father’s holy name. It was the favorite hymn of King Frederick William III of Prussia, who first heard it in 1800. In the Neander original, first the singer calls himself (my beloved soul) to praise God, then calls for a larger group to join the praise with musical instruments as well as song. John Julian 's A Dictionary of Hymnology lists more than ten English translations of "Lobe den Herren" printed in various nineteenth century hymnals.
The melody used by Neander, first published in 1665, is probably based on a folk tune. The common name given to this melody is "Lobe den Herren". Several variants were published with various secular texts between 1665 to 1680, when Joachim Neander published his German hymn, Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, using its meter. The text paraphrases Psalm 103 and Psalm 150.
One interesting piece of history is the later use of Neander’s name. He often taught in a valley near the Düssel river, and over 100 years after his death the valley was named after him. It was in that valley that bones were later found, from which we get the name “Neanderthal.”
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning;
sheltering you under his wings, and so gently sustaining!
Have you not seen all that is needful has been
sent by his gracious ordaining?
Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously made thee!
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly failing, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.
Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriends you.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen sound from his people again;
gladly forever adore him.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling.
At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years. On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.
The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word "Ebenezer" commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics.
The tune NETTLETON first appeared as a two-part tune in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second(1813), where it was named HALLELUJAH. In the Index it is identified as a new tune, and no composer's name is given. The tune has been attributed by some to Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844), a well-known evangelist of the early nineteenth century, who compiled Village Hymns (1825). However, this compilation contained no music, and there is no evidence that Nettleton wrote any tunes during his life. It is not known where the tune name first appeared or who was responsible for it.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love
Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by Thy help I've come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood
Oh, that day when freed from sinning I shall see Thy lovely face
Clothed then in blood washed linen How I'll sing Thy wondrous grace
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry Take my ransomed soul away
Send Thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day
Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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