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:
Ein feste Burg is unser Gott - Anonymous, Lüneburger Orgeltabulatur
In recognition of Reformation Sunday today, this is Luther’s most well-known hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (“Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott”). Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. It has been translated into English at least seventy times and also into many other languages. The words are a paraphrase of Psalm 46. "A Mighty Fortress" is one of the best loved hymns of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions. It has been called the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation" for the effect it had in increasing the support for the Reformers' cause. Heinrich Heine states that it was sung by Luther and his companions as they entered Worms on 16 April 1521 for the Diet.
The earliest extant hymnal in which it appears is that of Andrew Rauscher (1531), but it is supposed to have been in Joseph Klug's Wittenberg hymnal of 1529, of which no copy exists. Its title was “Der xxxxvi. Psalm. Deus noster refugium et virtus.” Before that it is supposed to have appeared in the Hans Weiss’ Wittenberg hymnal of 1528, also lost. This evidence would support its being written in 1527–1529, since Luther's hymns were printed shortly after they were written.
Tradition states that the third Protestant King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, had it played as his forces went to battle in the Thirty Years' War. The hymn had been translated into Swedish already in 1536, presumably by Olaus Petri, with the incipit, “Vår Gud är oss en väldig borg.” In the late 19th century the song also became an anthem of the early Swedish socialist movement.
It was first translated into English by Myles Coverdale in 1539 with the title, “Oure God is a defence and towre.” The first English translation in common usage was “God is our Refuge in Distress, Our strong Defence” in J.C. Jacobi's Psal. Ger. in 1722. The most popular English version is “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing” and was translated by Frederick H. Hedge in 1853.
The hymn's enduring popularity in Western Christendom has breached boundaries set in the Reformation as it is now a suggested hymn for Catholic Masses. It currently appears in the second edition of the Catholic Book of Worship, published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, though its adoption is not without controversy.
Luther composed the melody, named "Ein feste Burg" from the text's first line, in meter 87.87.55.56.7. This is sometimes denoted "rhythmic tune" to distinguish it from the later isometric variant, in 87.87.66.66.7 meter which is more widely known and used. In 1906 Edouard Rœhrich wrote, "The authentic form of this melody differs very much from that which one sings in most Protestant churches and figures in (Giacomo Meyerbeer's) The Huguenots. ... The original melody is extremely rhythmic, by the way it bends to all the nuances of the text ..." While 19th-century musicologists disputed Luther's authorship of the music to the hymn, that opinion has been modified by more recent research; it is now the consensus view of musical scholars that Luther did indeed compose the famous tune to go with the words.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing.
You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same;
and he must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever!
This setting was written by an unknown composer and published in the Lüneburger Orgeltabulatur Lüneburger Orgeltabulatur, a large collection of keyboard works compiled by Franz Schaumkell (1590-1676), organist of St. Johannis, Lüneburg. Very few of the works in this collection have composers listed.
Triumphal March of Heritage - Uzee Brown, Jr.
(c. 2008, GIA Publications)
Dr. Uzee Brown, Jr. (b.1950), a native of Cowpens, South Carolina, is an American singer, performer, composer, arranger, educator, and choir director. Dr. Brown has graduated from Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood and the University of Siena in Italy, he holds degrees from Morehouse College (B.A.), Bowling Green State University (M.M. in Composition), and University of Michigan (M.M. and D.M.A. in performance). For twelve years he was director of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir and served as chair of the Department of Music at Clark Atlanta University for two years. For over thirty years, Brown has been an educator on African-American music focusing on Spirituals. Dr. Brown is currently Professor of Music at Morehouse College where he is Chair of the Creative and Performing Arts Division.
As a composer and arranger Brown has worked in theater. Spike Lee's "School daze" musical prologue, "I'm Building Me a Home," was written by Brown in the late 1970s but was recorded for the soundtrack in 1987 by the Morehouse Glee Club. He has been nominated for the AUDELCO award in black theater as outstanding musical director and arranger for his work in an off-Broadway musical play called ZION. Outside of theater, Dr. Brown has been president of the National Association of Negro Musicians. While He was featured in the first official publication of the documentary history of the National Association of Negro Musicians by the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago, Illinois. Brown is co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of Onyx Opera Atlanta.
The “Triumphal March of Heritage” was written for the inauguration of the president of Morehouse College in 1996.
About the Choral Music:
Fairest Lord Jesus - Derek Hakes
(c. 2008, Beckenhorst Press)
“Beautiful Savior” is thought to have originated as early as 1607, possibly written by German Jesuits, and called “Schönster Herr Jesu“. It first appeared in print in 1677, in the Münster Gesangbuch, with author unknown. It was translated and the fourth stanza was added by Lutheran pastor and theologian, Joseph A. Seiss in 1873. Originally this song was most likely sung to a Gregorian Chant by the Jesuit monks. The music that was most popular with 17th Century German peasants was a tune from an ancient Silesian folk song. The tune and the German text were printed together for the first time in 1842 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben and Ernst Richter under the name “Schönster Herr Jesu” (Most beautiful Lord Jesus). In 1850 the Danish hymnwriter B. S. Ingemann wrote “Dejlig Er Jorden”, which he set to the same melody. An English translation by Jens C. Aaberg was published as “Fair Is Creation”. Apart from their musical setting, the Danish and German lyrics are unrelated. According to some accounts, “Fairest Lord Jesus” is called "Crusader's Hymn" because it was sung by German Crusaders as they made their way to the Holy Land.
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
Beautiful savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, and adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine!
Amen.
Derek K. Hakes has written many choral anthems and handbell arrangements published by multiple publishers. There is no biographical information available for him.
About the Hymns:
What Gift Can We Bring
(c.1982, Hope Publishing)
Jane Manton Marshall (b. 1924) has established herself as a leading composer of church music, teaching conducting and composition for more than two decades at Southern Methodist University. From 1975-2010, she served an integral role in the Church Music Summer School, hosted by Perkins School of Theology, to provide training for musicians who have not usually attended seminary. As a clinician and composer, Marshall has had a profound influence on at least two generations of church musicians.
Her anthems are carried by numerous publishers, and she has received lifetime achievement awards for her contribution to church music by the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference and the Fellowship of United Methodist Musicians and Worship Arts. In addition to "What Gift Can We Bring," Marshall contributed greatly to The United Methodist Hymnal (1989), especially in the area of responses for the psalms. Grace, Noted, a collection of her homilies and essays, was published in 1992. Many of her compositions are standard items in academic and church choral libraries. Marshall is in a very select group of successful composers/lyricists, a dual-talent exemplified in her early works: 'Awake my heart,' 'My Eternal King,' 'He Comes to Us,' the first setting of Albert Schweitzer's words; and 'Fanfare for Easter.'"
The Rev. John Thornburg, a United Methodist hymn writer, served as her pastor during the 1990s. She mentored the Rev. Thornburg, and they often partnered, pairing texts he wrote with tunes she composed for them. Examples of their work may be found in Can God Be Seen in Other Ways (2003) and What Gift Can We Bring (2003). The second volume derives its title from her most well known hymn, "What gift can we bring."
Jane Marshall’s "What gift can we bring" is a hymn of pure gratitude. A lifelong Dallas resident, she composed this hymn in 1980 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of her congregation, Northaven United Methodist Church. Stanza two reflects on heritage, giving thanks for the past and those "who planted and watered so dreams could come true." Stanza three looks to the future that is "full of surprises," yet knowing that regardless of what happens, "we rest in God’s keeping and live in God’s love."
What gift can we bring, what present, what token?
What words can convey it the joy of this day?
When grateful we come, remembering, rejoicing,
what song can we now offer in honor and praise?
Give thanks for the past, for those who had vision,
who planted and watered so dreams could come true.
Give thanks for the Now, for study, for worship,
for mission that bids us turn prayer into deed.
Give thanks for Tomorrow, full of surprises,
for knowing whatever Tomorrow may bring,
the Word is our promise always, forever,
we rest in God's keeping and live in God's love.
This gift we now bring, this present, this token,
these words can convey it the joy of this day!
When grateful we come, remembering, rejoicing,
this song we now offer in honor and praise.
Take My Life and Let It Be
Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) originally composed her text in eleven couplets as a hymn of "self-consecration to Christ" on February 4, 1874. She told the following story about writing this hymn:
I went for a little visit of five days [to Areley House, Worcestershire, in December 1873]. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. [God] gave me the prayer, "Lord, give me all this house." And He just did! Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit. . . I was too happy to sleep and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart, one after another, till they finished with "Ever, only, all, for Thee."
The text is a "catalog" hymn that lists aspects of our lives and offers them in Christ's service. "Take My Life and Let It Be" was first published in the 1874 appendix to Charles B. Snepp's Songs of Grace and Glory (1872). A twelfth couplet was added at some later point, producing the six stanzas published in the Psalter Hymnal.
Although her formal education was sporadic because of poor health, Havergal learned six foreign languages, including Greek and Hebrew, and was well read in many subjects. She began writing poetry at an early age and was also an accomplished singer and pianist. The daughter of a clergyman, she had a conversion experience at the age of fourteen and was confirmed in the Church of England in 1853. Taking seriously her own words "take my silver and my gold," she sent all her jewelry to the Church Mission Society to be sold. She also supported other charitable organizations. Her more than one hundred hymns were originally published in leaflets and later gathered into seven collections: Ministry of Song (1869), Twelve Sacred Songs for Little Singers (1870), Under the Surface (1874), Loyal Responses (1878), Life Mosaic (1879), Life Chords (1880), and Life Echoes (1883), as well as in one large volume, Poetical Works (1884).
The tune MESSIAH, also sometimes called HEROLD, was written by Ferdinand Herold (1791-1833).
Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise.
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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