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:
O Lamm Gottes unschuldig - J. S. Bach
"O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" (O Lamb of God, innocent) is an early Lutheran hymn, with text and melody attributed to Nikolaus Decius (1485-1541). Decius (Nicolaus a Curia or von Hofe, otherwise Hovesch, seems to have been a native of Hof, in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, and to have been originally called Tech. He became a monk, and was Probst of the cloister at Steterburg, near Wolfenbüttel. Becoming a follower of Luther, he left Steterburg in July, 1522, and went to Brunswick, where he was appointed a master in the St. Katherine and Egidien School. In 1523, he was invited by the burgesses of Stettin as an Evangelical preacher along with Paulus von Rhode. He became preacher at the Church of St. Nicholas; was probably instituted by the Town Council in 1526, when von Rhode was instituted to St. Jacob's; and at the visitation in 1535 was recognized as pastor of St. Nicholas'. He died suddenly at Stettin, March 21, 1541, with some suspicion of being poisoned by his enemies of the Roman Catholic faction. He seems to have been a popular preacher and a good musician. Three hymns are ascribed to him. These are versions of the “Sanctus," the "Gloria in excelsis," and the "Agnus Dei." He is also said to have composed or adapted the melodies set to them.
In all early prints, "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" is titled Das Agnus Dei Deutsch (The Agnus Dei in German), indicating that it was supposed to take the position of the Agnus Dei during the Abendmahl (communion). This function was soon taken by Luther's "Christe, du Lamm Gottes", while "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig", which adds the memory of Christ's Passion, was used as a hymn for Passiontide. It has often been set to music, prominently as the cantus firmus in the opening chorus of Bach's St Matthew Passion. It is included in most German hymnals, and was translated by Catherine Winkworth. Until the 18th century, the hymn "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" was printed in hymnals without mentioning an author. Philipp Julius Rehtmeyer presented in his historical Braunschweigische Kirchen-Historie a Latin report from 1600, which called Decius as the author of text and melody of ""O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" and "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr". A medieval melody may have been the model for the tune. The creation of hymns by Decius is dated 1522/23, in the early Reformation, before Martin Luther's first hymns. It was published in 1524 in the first Lutheran hymnal. The song was first printed in Low German in Joachim Slüter's Geystlyke leder in Rostock in 1531. The first print in High German appeared in a hymnal in Leipzig in 1539. The melody appeared with the text first in Johann Spangenberg’s hymnal Kirchengesenge Deudtsch, published in Magdeburg in 1545, but it had appeared in a slightly different version a few years earlier in a Strasbourg hymnal. Like in the Latin model, the Lamb of God is called three times, twice asking for mercy, the third time for peace.
Lamb of God, pure and holy, Who on the cross didst suffer,
Ever patient and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer.
All sins Thou borest for us, Else had despair reigned o'er us:
Have mercy on us, O Jesus; Give us thy peace, O Jesus.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg concertos, the Mass in B minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, two Passions, keyboard works, and more than 300 cantatas, of which nearly 100 cantatas have been lost to posterity. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty. Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the nineteenth century. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Bach was recognized by several prominent composers. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn were among his admirers; they began writing in a more contrapuntal style after being exposed to Bach's music. Beethoven described him as "Urvater der Harmonie", the "original father of harmony". He is now generally regarded as one of the main composers of the Baroque period and as one of the greatest composers of all time. A highly devout Christian, Bach signed all of his compositions “soli Deo Gloria” (to God alone be the glory).
Alle Menschen müssen sterben - Georg Telemann
“Alle Menschen müssen sterben” was written and published for the funeral of Paul von Henssberg, a burgher of Leipzig, and was sung to Rosenmuller’s setting on that occasion (June 1, 1652). The broadsheet states that both words and music were composed in Henssberg’s honour by Johann Rosenmuller. The statement would appear to be conclusive. On the other hand, Rosenmüller is not known as a Hymn writer, and hymnologists unhesitatingly ascribe the text to Johann Georg Albinus, to whose other Hymn for the Dying, “Welt, ade!” Rosenmüller also wrote the music. Johann Georg Albinus (1624-1679) was a German Protestant pastor and hymnwriter. He studied at the University of Leipzig and served as a rector at the Naumburg Cathedral School and the pastor of St. Othmar's Church, both in Naumburg. Johann Georg Rosenmüller (1736-1815), a German Protestant theologian, was appointed Primarius Professor of Theology at Erlangen and Primarius Professor of Divinity at Giessen. The chorale "Alle Menschen müssen sterben" is found in the Neu Leipzig Gesangbuch (NLGB) 1682 of Gottfried Vopelius under "Death and Dying" but is not designated as the hymn for any particular Sunday of the church year.
Everybody must die, all flesh passes like grass;
Whatever lives must perish if it is to become new elsewhere.
This body must rot if it is elsewhere to recover and gain the great glory
which is prepared for those who are righteous.
Therefore I am quite willing: when it pleases my God
to give up this life of mine and am not troubled about this;
but in the wounds of my Jesus I have already found redemption
and my consolation in death's agony is the death of Lord Jesus.
Jesus has died for me, and his death is my profit;
he has won for me salvation, therefore I joyfully go from here,
away from the bustle of the world into God's beautiful heaven
where I shall forever behold the Trinity.
There will be the joyful life where many thousand souls already
surrounded with heavenly splendour serve God before his throne,
where the Seraphim are resplendent and begin the lofty song:
Holy holy holy call God the Father, son, and spirit.
There dwell the patriarchs, together with the prophets,
there on the thrones of honour sit the twelve Apostles,
there in so many thousand years all the righteous have gathered,
there in honour of our God we shall hear hallelujah forever.
O Jerusalem, you beautiful place, Ah, how bright you shine!
Ah,how sweetly sounds of praise are heard in gentle peace!
O the great joy and delight! Now rises the sun,
now begins the day that can have no end.
Ah, I have already beheld this great glory!
Now I shall be adorned with the white garments of heaven
and the golden crown of honour, I shall stand before the throne of God,
gazing on such joys that can never end.
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the city's five main churches. Telemann was one of the most prolific composers in history, composing more than 3,000 pieces, and was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the godfather and namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, and to George Frideric Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally. Telemann's music was one of the driving forces behind the late Baroque and the early Classical styles. Starting in the 1710s he became one of the creators and foremost exponents of the so-called German mixed style, an amalgam of German, French, Italian and Polish styles. Over the years, his music gradually changed and started incorporating more and more elements of the galant style, but he never completely adopted the ideals of the nascent Classical era: Telemann's style remained contrapuntally and harmonically complex, and already in 1751 he dismissed much contemporary music as too simplistic. Equally important for the history of music were Telemann's publishing activities. By pursuing exclusive publication rights for his works, he set one of the most important early precedents for regarding music as the intellectual property of the composer.
About the Piano Music:
Lamb of God - Bill Wolaver
(c.1995, StraightWay Music, admin by Gaither Copyright Management)
Fort Worth native Twila Paris (b. 1958) has been one of the leading contemporary Christian artists for three decades. She has received ten Gospel Music Association Dove Awards in various categories, and three American Songwriter Awards. For three years in a row, Paris was named the Gospel Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year. She was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in May 2015. Over the span of her career, it has been noted by those in the recording industry that Paris' sound has evolved from a more classic Contemporary Christian music approach to incorporate current elements of rock and other musical influences usually associated with "secular" popular music. Baylor church music professor, Monique M. Ingalls includes Paris among other artists in her generation who blurred the boundaries between Christian and secular audiences, as well as solo and congregational songs:
“The boundaries between entertainment and worship music continued to be porous in the 1980s and early 1990s, with artists including Keith Green, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Twila Paris . . . writing or recording songs that were adopted for congregational singing. More frequently, however, these songs were performed in churches by soloists or choirs rather than used for congregational singing” Many of Twila Paris’s songs are used as worship music in evangelical Christian churches. Several have been included in many hymnals, including “He Is Exalted” (1985), “We Will Glorify” (1982), and “Lamb of God” (1985). Paris comes from a family of ministers and musicians. Her great-grandparents were revival preachers in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and her grandmother composed sacred songs. She was encouraged to sing in church from a young age by her father, who was also a minister and songwriter. Following graduation from high school and a year of study in a Bible school, Paris focused on singing and Christian composition.
Paris’s text stresses a sinless Christ who was sent by God “to walk upon this guilty sod.” Christ’s sacrificial atonement is emphasized as “they laughed and scorned him as he died.”
As is a longstanding tradition, hymns on this theme often take a personal tone; in other words, they move from third person to first person. For example, in James Alexander’s (1804-1859) translation of Paul Gerhardt’s (1607-1676) paraphrase of the Latin poem “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” the hymn moves from a third-person description in stanza one to first-person reflection in later stanzas—“What language shall I borrow/to thank thee, dearest friend…?”
Noting the importance of the refrain, hymnologist Carl P. Daw, Jr. connects “Lamb of God” with the pietistic tradition: “The combination of emotional language (“sweet,” “love,” “precious blood”) and the first-person pronouns aligns this repeated portion with the traditional features of Pietism, especially its characteristic emphasis on personal spirituality centered on feeling”. Paris achieves the first-person perspective on the refrain, “O Lamb of God…, I love the holy Lamb of God.” This reference to the Lamb of God not only recalls Isaiah 53 and John 1, but also the Agnus Dei from the Latin Mass. Carl P. Daw, Jr. makes an interesting observation about the text as prayer: “It is important to note that the text is not a prayer to the Lamb of God, as the liturgical text is. Instead it is directed to the First Person of the Trinity, the one who sent the Son (John 3:16)”
Your only Son, no sin to hide,
But You have sent Him from Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod
And to become the Lamb of God.
Your gift of love they crucified;
They laughed and scorned Him as he died.
The humble King they named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God.
Oh wash me in His precious Blood,
My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God.
I was so lost I should have died,
But You have brought me to Your side.
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be called a lamb of God,
Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God,
I love the Holy Lamb of God.
Bill Wolaver received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Oklahoma City University. He is a prolific and renowned composer and arranger in Nashville, TN, working with multiple publishing companies. He and his wife, Robin, have been involved with Christian music for over 20 years, with songs, musicals, and arrangements published by a number of leading Christian publishers. Together, they composed Make His Praise Glorious, recorded by Sandi Patty and nominated for Dove Award for 'Song of the Year.' In addition, they have received an ASCAP Award for 'Inspirational Song of the Year.' He is also the pianist/composer/arranger for the Annie Moses Band. He offers numerous arrangements and compositions at ManAlivePublishing.com.
About the Choral Music:
There is a Green Hill Far Away – Bob Chilcott
Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) was born at Redcross, County Wicklow, the second daughter of a British Army Major. She was a devout Christian who came under the influence of the Oxford [high Church] Movement. From an early age she showed a great aptitude for writing. When she was just twenty-five, she published her Hymns for Little Children [1848] with an introductory note by the celebrated Revd. John Keble. Dedicated to her ‘little godsons’ the book was written to illustrate and explain the Church Catechism. The hymnal also contained other well-known hymns, among them, “All things bright and beautiful” and “Once in Royal David’s City”, written to celebrate the credal statements, Creator of heaven and earth and born of the Virgin Mary. Two years after the publication she married the Revd. William Alexander. He was six years her junior and the marriage caused quite a stir within her own family. It is said that her father arranged, for the sake of propriety, for her birth date to be altered in the registers. [In some old hymn books her year of birth is given as 1823]. Her husband later became Bishop of Derry and Archbishop of Armagh.
Her poetical works were much admired and came to the attention of Alfred Lord Tennyson. The composer Charles Gounod once remarked that There is a green hill was ‘the most perfect hymn in the English language because of its charming simplicity.... the lyrics seemed to set themselves to music.’ She is rightly regarded as one of the greatest of British women hymn writers.
There is a green hill was written to illustrate the words of the creed, ‘Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.’ Mrs Alexander begins the first verse by painting a picture. As a skilled teacher she knew that her first task was to capture a child’s imagination. In the second line she originally wrote ‘without’ a city wall, but changed it to ‘outside’ to remove any ambiguity. The second verse celebrates the mystery of the cross, ‘We may not know, we cannot tell....’ The passion of Jesus, though difficult to comprehend, is something he endured for us and for our salvation. This is celebrated in the next two verses, ‘He died that we might be forgiven, he died to make us good... There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin.’ The noted New Testament scholar, Professor A. H. Hunter, once wrote, ‘It was given to an Irish woman, in a hymn she wrote for little children, to express better than many a learned tome the purpose, the necessity and the challenge of that sacrifice which has in principle redeemed our prodigal race.’ The hymn ends with a call for us to ‘love as he has loved us.’ Though written for children this is a classic hymn for young and old. It sets the scene of our Lord’s passion and celebrates the mystery, the purpose, the necessity and the challenge of the cross.
Alexander devoted her life to Christian education, to the care of the young and the poor. All the profits from the sale of her writings were donated to a home for deaf children. She was widely respected as a writer and many of her poems were published posthumously by her husband who survived her by sixteen years. She was buried in her beloved Derry, outside the city walls.
There is a green hill far away, without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there.
He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven, saved by his precious blood.
O dearly, dearly has he loved, and we must love him too,
And trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works to do.
Robert "Bob" Chilcott (b.1955) is a British choral composer, conductor, and singer, based in Oxford, England. Born in Plymouth, Chilcott sang in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, both as a boy and as a university student. He performed the Pie Jesu of Fauré's Requiem on the 1967 King's College recording. In 1985 he joined the King's Singers, singing tenor for 12 years. He has been a composer since 1997. Chilcott was the conductor of the chorus at the Royal College of Music in London for seven years, and is Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers.
About the Hymns:
In the Cross of Christ I Glory
Sir John Bowring (1792-1872) was a distinguished scholar, ranked by some as one of the great minds of his day in the English-speaking world. Among his gifts was his ability as a linguist, publishing translations of poetry from such varied languages as Russian, Batavian, Spanish, Polish, Serbian, Bohemian, Magyar, Czech and Hungarian. Bowring was also a social progressive, advocating free trade, parliamentary reform, education for all and prison reforms, according to hymnologist Albert Bailey. Few hymn writers have been as involved in politics. Knighted in 1854, Bowring helped develop commercial relationships on behalf of Great Britain, traveling to France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Syria and Siam (now Thailand). Bowring also was twice a member of Parliament, a consul at Canton (in charge of trade in China) and a governor of Hong Kong. He was evidently relieved of his duties in Hong Kong because he “was full of conceit and without any very clear idea of political principles on a large scale.” After retirement in 1860, his public service continued as a commissioner to Italy and other diplomatic posts in Europe and Hawaii.
Despite a demanding political and diplomatic career, Bowring maintained an active avocation as a translator of poetry, composer of original poems and writer of essays on political and religious themes. Mr. Bailey notes that the “hymns that have lived were all written when he was about 30 years old, when his poetic interests were uppermost, and the idealism of youth made him the champion of the downtrodden and the underprivileged.” “In the cross of Christ I glory” (1825) was composed while the author was in his early thirties. Appearing in Hymns by John Bowring (1825), the theme and language suggests a much more mature poet. Galatians 6:14 provides the basis for this hymn: “Far be it for me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Ithamar Conkey (1815-1867) was born in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, and was of Scottish ancestry. He was organist at Central Baptist Church in Norwich, Connecticut. After his work in Norwich, he went to New York City and served as bass soloist at Calvary Episcopal Church and later bass soloist and choir director of Madison Avenue Baptist Church. One Sunday in 1849 Conkey walked out of the morning service at Central Baptist Church, where he was choir director and organist, frustrated because only one soprano from his choir had come that morning. The next Sunday, the minister preached a Lenten message on the words of Christ on the cross. One of the hymns to be sung was Bowring's "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." Later that day Conkey's discouragement changed to inspiration, and he composed a new tune for that text. He named the tune after that one faithful soprano, Mrs. Beriah S. Rathbun. The tune RATHBUN was published in Henry W. Greatorex's Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1851).
In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time;
all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o'ertake me, hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
never shall the cross forsake me. Lo! it glows with peace and joy.
When the sun of bliss is beaming light and love upon my way,
from the cross the radiance streaming adds more luster to the day.
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, by the cross are sanctified;
peace is there that knows no measure, joys that through all time abide.
In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time;
all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.
Go Make of All Disciples
(c.1964, Abingdon Press)
Leon McKinley Adkins (1896-1986) was a Methodist pastor, serving congregations between 1921-1955, and an administrator, serving at the Board of Education of the Methodist Church in Nashville from 1955-1966. His hymn, “Go Make of All Disciples” was first sung at the commissioning of teachers and church school officials during Christian Education Week, 1955, at University Methodist Church, Syracuse, where the author was pastor. The hymn was printed in the February 1956 issue of Church School and first appeared in a hymnal in the 1966 Book of Hymns. This hymn begins with the Great Commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20, KJV)
Henry T. Smart composed the tune LANCASHIRE in 1835 for use at a missions festival at Blackburn, Lancashire, England. For that festival, which celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in England, the tune was set to Reginald Heber's “From Greenland's Icy Mountains.” First printed in leaflets, LANCASHIRE was published In Smart's Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (1867). It was set to Shurtleffs text in the 1905 Methodist Hymnal. In some hymnals this tune is also associated with "The Day of Resurrection”.
Go make of all disciples. We hear the call, O Lord,
That comes from Thee, our Father, In Thy eternal Word
Inspire our ways of learning Through earnest fervent prayer
And let our daily living Reveal Thee everywhere
Go make of all disciples, Baptizing in the name
Of Father Son and Spirit, From age to age the same.
We call each new disciple To follow Thee, O Lord,
Redeeming soul and body By water and the Word.
Go make of all disciples. We at Thy feet would stay
Until each life's vocation Accents Thy holy way.
We cultivate the nature God plants in every heart,
Revealing in our witness The Master Teacher's art.
Go make of all disciples. We welcome Thy command.
“Lo, I am with you always.” We take Thy guiding hand.
The task looms large before us; We follow without fear.
In heaven and earth, Thy power Shall bring God's kingdom here
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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