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:
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz - Georg Kauffmann
"Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?" is a very old German chorale, which has been set by many composers, both for organ and for choir. The chorale melody is found on undated manuscripts that appeared around the middle of the 16th century in Nürnberg. One of these is listed as coming from Nürnberg in 1561. The composer and/or text author is unknown. For many years it had been thought that Hans Sachs could have written both song and melody. The melody was noted on a manuscript from Crailsheim in 1565. The chorale text has a total of 14 verses. The source of the text and general theme are very similar to “His Eye is on the Sparrow.”
Why are you afflicted, my heart,
why are you full of care and enduring sorrow only for temporal possessions?
Place your trust in your Lord God who has created everything.
He cannot and will not abandon you,
he knows well what you lack, heaven and earth are his!
Your father and your God. who stands beside you in all distress.
Since you are my God and father
you will not abandon your child, you fatherly heart!
I am a wretched clod of earth, on earth I know no consolation.
The rich man builds on his goods;
I shall trust in God’s care. Although the world scorns me,
I believe with confidence, who trusts in God will lack nothing.
Elias, who feeds you
when there is no rain for so long in time of such hard famine?
A widow from Sidon to whom you were sent by God.
As he lay beneath a juniper tree
God’s angel came from heaven and brought him food and drink.
He went on a long jouirney to the mountain named Horeb.
God did not forget Daniel
as he sat among the lions. He sent his angel down,
he had good food brought to him by his servant Habakuk.
Joseph was sold into Egypt,
imprisoned by Pharaoh the king For his reverence for God
God made him a great lord so that he could feed his father and brothers.
The faithful God also did not forsake
the three men in the burning fiery furnace, he sent down his angel,
protected them from the fire’s heat and helped them in all distress.
Ah God, you are as rich today
as you were from eternity, my trust stands by you;
be the only refuge of my soul, then I have enough here and hereafter.
Temporal glory I happily do without,
only grant that I may share the eternal glory that you have gained
by your harsh, bitter death; for this I ask you, my Lord and God.
Everything that in this world,
whether it is gold, silver or money, wealth or temporal possessions,
lasts only a short time and is of no help for blessedness.
I thank you , Lord Jesus Christ,
for what has been revealed to me through your truthful word;
bestow constancy also on me for the blessedness of my soul!
Praise, glory and honour be given to you
for all your consideration for me. In humility I ask you:
let me never from your face be driven away.
Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735) 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.
About the Piano Music:
Come, All Christians, Be Committed - Vicki Collinsworth
(c. 2014, Lorenz Publishing)
Eva Lloyd (1912-2006) was educated at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville (BS) and the University of Missouri Kansas City (MA). She taught in Missouri elementary and secondary schools, and English literature 15 years at Northwest Missouri State University. She also directed the Women’s Mission Union. “Come, All Christians, Be Committed” was written in 1966 and was first published in the Seventh Day Adventist Hymnal. The text challenges and encourages each of us to press on in service and dedication to the Lord.
The tune BEACH SPRING was written by Benjamin F. White (1800-1879), was coeditor of The Sacred Harp (1844). He came from a family of fourteen children and was largely self-taught. Eventually White became a popular singing-school teacher and editor of the weekly Harris County newspaper. BEACH SPRING has been used as the setting for many hymns.
Come, all Christians, be committed To the service of the Lord.
Make your lives for Him more fitted; Tune your hearts with one accord.
Come into His courts with gladness; Each his sacred vows renew.
Turn away from sin and sadness; Be transformed with life anew.
Of your time and talents give Him- They are gifts from God above
To be used by Christians freely To proclaim His wondrous love.
Come again to serve the Savior; Tithes and off’rings with you bring.
In your work, with Him find favor, And with joy His praises sing.
God’s command to love each other Is required of ev’ry one.
Showing mercy to each other Mirrors His redeeming Son.
In compassion He has given Of His love that is divine.
On the cross sins were forgiven; Joy and peace are fully thine.
Come in praise and adoration, All who on Christ’s name believe.
Worship Him with consecration; Grace and love will you receive.
For His grace give Him the glory, For the Spirit and the Word;
And repeat the Gospel story Till the world His Name has heard.
Vicki Collinsworth studied piano performance and pedagogy at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. She has been a church musician since the age of sixteen and serves as Music Director/organist at First Christian Church in Tullahoma. After retiring from 20 years of piano teaching, Collinsworth devotes most of her time to composing and arranging. She received the "Most Creative Composer" award in the instrumental division for five years at Joseph Martin's composer symposium in Atlanta, Georgia.
About the Choral Music:
What Shall I Render to My God? - Austin Lovelace
(c. 1955, Canyon Press)
Charles Wesley, M.A. (1707-1788) was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, and perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year he became one of the first band of "Oxford Methodists.”
In 1735, he went with his brother John to Georgia, as secretary to General Oglethorpe, having received Deacon's and Priest's Orders on two successive Sundays. He returned to England in 1736, and in 1737 came under the influence of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians. On Whitsunday, 1737, [he "found rest to his soul," and in 1738 he became curate to his friend, Mr. Stonehouse, Vicar of Islington, but the opposition of the churchwardens was so great that the Vicar consented that he "should preach in his church no more." Henceforth, he worked with his brother John, and he became an indefatigable itinerant and field preacher. On April 8, 1749, he married Miss Sarah Gwynne. His marriage, unlike that of his brother John, was a most happy one; his wife was accustomed to accompany him on his evangelistic journeys, which were as frequent as ever until the year 1756, when he ceased to itinerate, and devoted himself to the care of the Societies in London and Bristol and to the spiritual care of prisoners in Newgate.
He had long been troubled about the relations of Methodism to the Church of England, and strongly disapproved of his brother John's “ordinations” in the new church. Wesley-like, he expressed his disapproval in the most outspoken fashion, but the differences between the brothers never led to a breach of friendship. When he died, he was buried in Marylebone churchyard. His brother John was deeply grieved because he would not consent to be interred in the burial-ground of the City Road Chapel, but Charles said, "I have lived, and I die, in the Communion of the Church of England, and I will be buried in the yard of my parish church." Eight clergymen of the Church of England bore his pall. He had a large family, four of whom survived him; three sons, who all became distinguished in the musical world, and one daughter, who inherited some of her father's poetical genius. The widow and orphans were treated with the greatest kindness and generosity by John Wesley.
As a hymn-writer Charles Wesley was unique. He is said to have written 6500 hymns, and though, of course, in so vast a number some are of not good, it is amazing how many are excellent. His feelings on every occasion of importance, whether private or public, found their best expression in a hymn. His own conversion, his own marriage, the earthquake panic, the rumours of an invasion from France, the defeat of Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, the Gordon riots, every Festival of the Christian Church, every doctrine of the Christian Faith, striking scenes in Scripture history, striking scenes which came within his own view, the deaths of friends as they passed away, one by one, before him, to name but a few. He also wrote hymns for little children, a branch of sacred poetry not included by Isaac Watts. The saying that a really good hymn is as rare an appearance as that of a comet is disproved by the work of Charles Wesley; for hymns, which are really good in every respect, flowed from his pen in quick succession, and death alone stopped the course of the perennial stream.
“What shall I render to my God” by Charles Wesley* (1707-1788) has the same first line as the metrical version by Isaac Watts of Psalm 116, which is probably why it remained unpublished for many years. It was printed in Volume 8 of George Osborn’s The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley (1868-72), in which he printed ‘Versions and Paraphrases of Select Psalms’. This was headed ‘Psalm CXVI’.
Lovelace has set this text to the tune FAIRFIELD, which is found in the University of Virginia Collection of Folk Music. Winston Wilkinson made extensive recordings of folk tunes from 1932-1938, and subsequently transcribed them as part of the Federal Music Project funded by the WPA, which preserved a large body of American music.
Austin C. Lovelace (1919-2010) was called by many the Dean of American Church music. Lovelace got his first job as a church organist when he was 15 and went on to do workshops and recitals in 45 states and six countries. He received his A.B. from High Point College in 1939 and his M.S.M. and D.S.M. from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1941 and 1950, respectively. He was Past President and a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Dr. Lovelace was Minister of Music Emeritus at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado. Over many years he worked at a number of Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Colorado, North Carolina, Illinois, and Nebraska. He also worked at Union Theological Seminary in N.Y.C., Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He traveled widely as a Director of Music for general conferences, lecturer, and consultant. He was the organist for the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1954. He believed in cradle-to-grave music programs, fostering children, youth, and adult choirs. Known for his sense of humor, Lovelace wrote five books, including Hymns That Jesus Would Not Have Liked, which included gems he unearthed such as “When the Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-Ling for You and Not for Me”. He was a prolific writer and composer with over 800 compositions for church in print, as well as numerous articles and books on church hymnody.
What shall I render to my God For all his mercy’s store?
I’ll take the gifts he hath bestowed And humbly ask for more.
The sacred cup of saving grace I will with thanks receive,
And all his promises embrace And to his glory live.
My vows I will to his great name Before his people pay,
And all I have, and all I am, Upon his altar lay.
Thy lawful servant, Lord, I owe to Thee whate’er is mine.
Born in Thy family below, And by redemption Thine.
Thy hands created me, thy hands From sin have set me free;
The mercy that hath loosed my bands Hath bound me fast to thee.
Praise Him, ye saints, the God of love, who hath thy sins forgiv’n,
Till gathered to the church above, We sing the songs of heav’n.
About the Hymns:
Jesus Calls Us
Cecil Frances Alexander (1823-1850) married William Alexander, an Anglican clergyman who later became the Anglican Archbishop for all of Ireland. Alexander was an outstanding young woman by virtue of ability, education, and service. While still quite young, she and her sister operated a school for the deaf, and she also published a highly successful book of hymns for children––designating the profits for the benefit of the school. Her hymns are mostly for children, and were published in her Verses for Holy Seasons, with Preface by Dr. Hook, 1846; Poems on Subjects in the Old Testament, pt. i. 1854, pt. ii. 1857; Narrative Hymns for Village Schools, 1853; Hymns for Little Children, 1848; Hymns Descriptive and Devotional, 1858; The Legend of the Golden Prayers 1859; Moral Songs, N.B.; The Lord of the Forest and his Vassals, an Allegory, &c.; or contributed to the Lyra Anglicana, the S.P.C.K. Psalms and Hymns, Hymns Ancient & Modern, and other collections. She wrote 400 hymns during her lifetime –– mostly children's hymns––but "Jesus Calls Us" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful" are the best known.
Impressed by her hymns, her husband, Bishop Alexander, asked her to write a hymn for use during the coming Sunday worship on St. Andrew's Day based on the call of Simon, Andrew, James, and John (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-18). She wrote this hymn, "Jesus Calls Us," for that occasion. The first verse of this hymn begins, "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea"––acknowledging the call of those first disciples by the Sea of Galilee. A recurring theme is "Christian, love me more"––"Christian, love me more than these" ––"serve and love thee best of all." Those words were inspired by John 21:15, where Jesus, after the resurrection, asked Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Her text was published in the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge's (SPCK) Hymns for Public Worship (1852). Though written for a relatively minor saint's day, this hymn quickly gained popularity.
The tune GALILEE was written for this text by W. H. Jude in 1887. William Herbert Jude (1851-1922) was an English composer and organist. He was a precocious child, and attended Wisbech Grammar School where records note that by age eight he was composing incidental music for school plays. He later attended Liverpool Organ School and Liverpool College of Music. By 1881, he was organist for the Blue Coat Hospital and Stretford Town Hall near Manchester, as well as being a lecturer and teacher. As a recitalist, he was asked to "open" over 1000 new organs across the UK, Ireland and Australia. He was frequently referred to as "the most brilliant organist of the day". Christian texts and topics appear frequently in Jude's compositions. He was an admirer of the British evangelist Rodney "Gipsy" Smith, and published a collection of Gipsy Smith's Favourite Solos in 1903. Jude appears to have supported the temperance movement; "Fight the Drink", a song by Jude with lyrics by A Sargant, appears in a collection of his music with the note that it was "sung at the Crystal Palace Festival by 5000 people". Between 1890 and 1894, the composer embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Beginning in 1904, he served as editor for several musical periodicals, including Monthly Hymnal, Minister of Music, and Music and the Higher Life. He also compiled several hymnbooks: Mission Hymns in 1911 and Festival Hymns in 1916.
Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea;
day by day his sweet voice soundeth, saying "Christian, follow me."
As, of old, apostles heard it by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred, leaving all for his dear sake.
Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world's golden store,
from each idol that would keep us, saying "Christian, love me more."
In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease,
still he calls, in cares and pleasures, "Christian, love me more than these."
Jesus calls us; by thy mercies, Savior, may we hear thy call,
give our hearts to thine obedience, serve and love thee best of all.
God of the Ages
“God of the Ages” (originally “God of Our Fathers”) was written for a small rural parish in Brandon, Vt., for the nation’s centennial celebration in 1876. Daniel Crane Roberts (1841-1907) was a New Englander who served as a private in the 84th Ohio Volunteers during the Civil War. Following the war, Roberts was ordained a deacon and then a priest in the Episcopal Church. His parishes were in Vermont and Massachusetts, and Concord, N.H., where he served St. Paul’s Church for 29 years. He was also widely known throughout New Hampshire for his work as president of the New Hampshire Historical Society, as chaplain of the Grand Army of the Republic and as an active member in the Knights Templar.
Roberts’ hymn was first published in the 1892 edition of the hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church with the tune RUSSIAN HYMN. George Warren (1828-1902), organist of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City, was commissioned in 1894 to write a new tune for the celebration of the Centennial of the United States Constitution. NATIONAL HYMN was the result. The 1894 official hymnal of the Episcopal Church used the tune NATIONAL HYMN with this text and this has been the exclusive pairing ever since. The text with NATIONAL HYMN entered American Methodist hymnals in 1905.
In his Companion to The UM Hymnal Carlton Young notes several changes made in the original text as the Hymnal Revision Committee, following its own guidelines, “attempted to reduce where possible the predominance of masculine pronouns and images.”
This hymn’s stirring lyrics and majestic tune represent, albeit subtly, the common 19th-century assumption of Manifest Destiny: God will lead us from the war and pestilence of our earlier captivity to the freedom and light of peace. In 1901, Roberts wrote, “I remain a country parson, known only within my own small world.” In reference to his one significant literary work, he noted, “My little hymn has thus had a very flattering official recognition. But that which would really gladden my heart, popular recognition, it has not received.” Before his death in 1907 he was awarded several honors including the Doctor of Divinity by Norwich University.
God of the ages, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.
Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast;
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide, and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.
From wars alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever-sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.
Refresh thy people on their toilsome way;
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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