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:
Trumpet Tune - J. Steve Godowns
(c.2017, Wayne Leopold Editions)
Steve Godowns (b.1949) earned a BM in organ from Oklahoma University and a MM & DM in organ from Indiana University. He is the organist/choir director at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio.
About the Piano Music:
Fairest Lord Jesus - John Nordquist
(c.1983, Hope Publishing Co)
“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.
ST. ELIZABETH appears to be an eighteenth-century tune from the Glaz area of Silesia. It has always been associated with “Fairest Lord Jesus”. No factual data exists for the legend that this text and tune date back to the twelfth-century crusades, although those apocryphal stories explain one of the names by which this tune is known, namely, CRUSADER'S HYMN. After Franz Liszt used the tune for a crusaders' march in his oratorio The Legend of St. Elizabeth (1862), the tune also became known as ST. ELIZABETH.
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 heav’n can boast.
All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine.
Dr. John Nordquist, a native of Ohio, began his professional career at age twelve and has since performed over 500 concerts as piano soloist, accompanist, and duo-pianist. Nordquist, who holds a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University, is Chairman of the Music Department and Professor of Piano and Music History at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
About the Choral Music:
Tend My Sheep – John Purifoy
(c.1999, Lorenz Publishing)
“Tend My Sheep” was written by Ken Canedo, using text from John 21: 15-19. It was arranged for SATB choir by John Purifoy.
Born in Los Angeles, Ken Canedo received his Master of Divinity degree from St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. He is now involved in youth and music ministry at parishes in the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, and is a clinician for the “We Remember, We Believe” liturgy & leadership conference in Northern California. Ken also serves as co-director of the youth choir at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Beaverton, Oregon. He is actively involved with spiritandsong.com, most notably as the voice behind the popular weekly Liturgy Podcast. Ken Canedo composes liturgical music in the styles that have inspired him, from traditional chant and hymnody to gospel, jazz and rock. Proficient in piano, guitar and electric bass, Ken gives workshops around the country on liturgy and youth ministry, bringing youth and adults together in discovery and empowerment.
John Purifoy (b. 1952) is a composer and arranger with numerous published choral cantatas, anthems and keyboard collections. His stage musical "Lambarene," based on the life of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, received workshop productions at the state theatre of New Jersey and the North Shore Musical Theater near Boston. Mr. Purifoy served as editor and director of music publishing for Word, Inc. from 1975-1982. He is the recipient of the Freedom’s Foundation Award and five-time recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award.
Simon, son of John, do you love me?
Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Feed my lambs.
Simon, son of John, do you love me?
Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Tend my sheep.
Simon son of John, do you love me?
Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.
Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep
Over them all your vigil keep.
Hear my voice, follow me.
Come now, my friend, tend my sheep.
I tell you most solemnly, when you were young, you did as you pleased.
But someday you’ll stretch your hands and you’ll be taken against your will.
Do not be afraid. I am with you always.
Feed my lambs, tend my sheep.
About the Hymns:
My Jesus, I Love Thee
Sixteen year old William Featherston (1846-1873) of Montreal, Canada wrote this simple but profound hymn in 1862, not long after he was converted to Christ. William wrote no other hymns that we know of and his brief life ended just before his twenty-seventh birthday. Featherstone, a Weslyan Methodist, sent the poem to his aunt in Los Angeles, and somehow, it made its way to England where it was published anonymously in The London Hymn Book two years later. Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836-1895), who was compiling a Baptist hymn book, liked Featherstone's text, but decided it needed a better tune than the one that was used in The London Hymn Book, so he wrote a new tune for it which he published in The Service of Song for Baptist Churches. This is the tune that is still used today.
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I resign;
my gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I love thee because thou hast first loved me
and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I'll love thee in life, I will love thee in death,
and praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath,
and say when the deathdew lies cold on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
O Jesus, I Have Promised
John Ernest Bode, M.A., (1816-1874) was educated at Eton, the Charter House, and at Christ Church, Oxford, earning a B.A. and M.A.. Taking Holy Orders in 1841, he became Rector of Westwell, Oxfordshire; and then of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire. He was Tutor of his College, and Classical Examiner. In addition to his Bampton Lectures, and Ballads from Herodotus, he published Hymns from the Gospel of the Day for each Sunday and Festivals of our Lord, 1860; and Short Occasional Poems, Lond., Longmans, 1858. His well-known hymn, “O Jesu, I have promised" was first published in Hymns from the Gospel.
“O Jesus, I have promised” has been set to several tunes. This setting uses LLANFYLLIN, a traditional Welsh tune which derives its name from a small town in Powys, Wales.
O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
be Thou forever near me, my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my guide.
O let me feel Thee near me, the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me, around me and within;
but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear Thee speaking in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen, Thou Guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, Thou hast promised to all who follow Thee,
that where Thou art in glory, there shall Thy servant be;
and, Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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