Musings: Sunday, September 18, 2022

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:

God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens - Robert J. Powell

(c.1984, Concordia Publishing House)

Hymnody has often had difficulty keeping in step with scientific thinking. Many of our hymns on themes of the natural world imply an extension of the cosmology of the ancient world in which a three-story universe provides the basis for our assumptions. In this view, the dome of the heavens with the firmament of the stars rests upon the earth, which, in turn, is supported by the underworld resting on the pillars of the earth. This view assumes that the earth is the center of the universe. Nicolas Copernicus reoriented our understanding of the universe in the 16th century with his proof that the earth revolved around the sun. This should have changed the course of hymns, but parts of the church universal did not accept his teachings for centuries. It took the space race of the 1960s to firmly establish that we no longer could restrict our understanding of the natural creation to the three-storied universe. “God, who Stretched the Spangled Heavens,” written in 1967, was among the first hymns to employ the imagery of the space age.

Catherine Arnott Cameron (b. 1927) in New Brunswick, studied at McMaster University and the University of Southern California. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Dr. Cameron was a professor of social psychology at the University of La Verne, Calif., from 1971-1992. Hymnologist Harry Eskew interviewed Dr. Cameron, whose interest in poetry goes back to hymn singing in church at a young age. “As a child and teenager with a gift for writing poetry, I was troubled by the mismatch between words and music in some of the hymns sung in our church,” she said. “I thought that one day I might write a hymn that was a harmony of poetry and music. The hymn was written over a period of several months at a time when I was experiencing a new sense of direction, growth and creativity in my life.” It appeared first inContemporary Worship 1 (1969) and has been a staple of hymnals ever since.

The most poignant aspect of Dr. Cameron’s hymn is the paradox between stanza one and stanzas two and three. In stanza one, the author celebrates humanities’ “inventive powers” that come as a result of being made “in [God’s] likeness.” Stanza two contrasts the purposeful move into space with the void of life in “modern cities” where lonely people are often “lost to purpose and meaning, scarcely caring where they go.” Stanza three, written at the height of the Cold War, contrasts “the ecstasy of winging through untraveled realms of space” with the earth-bound reality of the power of the atom, which provides us with the choice of “life’s destruction or our most triumphant hour.” The final stanza appropriately concludes with the prayer: “Great Creator, give us guidance till our goals and yours are one.”

God, who stretched the spangled heavens, infinite in time and place,

Flung the suns in burning radiance through the silent fields of space,

We your children, in your likeness, share inventive powers with you.

Great Creator, still creating, show us what we yet may do.

Proudly rise our modern cities, stately buildings, row on row;

Yet their windows, blank, unfeeling, stare on canyoned streets below,

Where the lonely drift unnoticed in the city’s ebb and flow,

Lost to purpose and to meaning, scarcely caring where they go.

We have ventured worlds undreamed of since the childhood of our race;

Known the ecstasy of winging through untraveled realms of space;

Probed the secrets of the atom, yielding unimagined power,

Facing us with life’s destruction of our most triumphant hour.

As each far horizon beckons, may it challenge us anew,

Children of creative purpose, serving others, honoring you.

May our dreams prove rich with promise, each endeavor well begun.

Great Creator, give us guidance till our goals and yours are one.

Robert Powell (b. 1932) is an American composer, organist, and choir director. Powell earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University with a focus on organ and composition. He studied with Alec Wyton at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and he was also Wyton's assistant at The Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. For three years (1965–1968), he served St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire) as Director of Music. Later, Powell was Director of Music and Organist of Christ Church (Episcopal) of Greenville, South Carolina from 1968 to 2003. He has composed in nearly all genres common to church music, including anthems, service music, hymn concertatos, organ music, music for handbell choir, and large-scale oratorios. Powell's conservative, neo-Romantic style stems from his practical approach to composition. According to Powell himself, he writes for "choirs of twenty-five because that's what most choirs are. When you come right down to it, most choirs are not of cathedral ability or size. My pieces are all practical things and useful for specific occasions." His publications appear in The Hymnal 1982 as well as in the catalogs of most of the significant American publishers of church music. According to publisher GIA, Powell is "a composer whose output bridges denominational boundaries and who is able to serve the larger Church. He has made ecumenical sharing a reality–-and always with a genteel touch." Powell is an active member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists.

About the Piano Music:

All Creatures of Our God and King - Larry Shackley

(c.2012, Lorenz Publishing Co)

The words of the hymn were initially written by St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) in 1225 in the Canticle of the Sun poem, which was based on Psalm 148. The words were translated into English by William Draper, who at the time was rector of a Church of England parish church at Adel near Leeds. Draper paraphrased the words of the Canticle and set them to music. It is not known when Draper first composed the hymn but it was between 1899 and 1919. Draper composed the hymn for his church's children's Whitsun festival celebrations and it was later published in 1919 in the Public School Hymn Book. The hymn is currently used in 179 different hymn books. The words written by St Francis are some of the oldest used in hymns after "Father We Praise Thee", written in 580 AD. The hymn is set to the tune of "Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr", a German Easter hymn written by Friedrich Spee, published in 1623 in his book Auserlesene, Catholische, Geistliche Kirchengesäng. It was first used in English hymn books in 1906.

St. Francis is famous for many things, including love of animals. Pictures of him usually have birds flying nearby and small animals at his feet. A popular story tells of him stopping to preach a sermon to a flock of birds. He reminded them that God had blessed them with beautiful clothing even though they had never learned to spin or weave–– and that God had blessed them with food even thought they had never learned to sow or reap. Then he called them to sing their songs as praises to God. St. Francis wrote this hymn near the end of his life. Sick and suffering bouts of blindness, he was going home to die when he stopped to visit friends at the St. Damien monastery. While there, he felt the inspiration to compose this joyful hymn. It calls all God's creatures ––sun and moon ––wind and water––fruits and flowers––and all who are of tender heart––to sing, "Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!" to honor our God.

LASST UNS ERFREUEN was originally published in the Jesuit hymnal, Ausserlesene Catlwlische Geistliche Kirchengesänge, in 1623 in Cologne, Germany. The tune is believed to have been composed by Friedrich Spee, a Jesuit priest and hymn writer who was most well known as an activist who opposed trials for witchcraft. Spee’s 1631 book, Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials, is one of the first written works to present strong arguments against the use of torture. Spee’s opening melodic phrase in “LASST” has its origins in a setting of Psalm 68 in the Genevan Psalter, a collection of psalm settings composed between 1539-62 in Geneva, Switzerland. While its original publication featured an Easter text, “Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr” (“let us rejoice most heartily”), its most well-known version appeared in the English Hymnal in 1906, edited by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams reharmonized the tune and set it in a triple meter.

All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing

alleluia, alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam,

O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong, ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,

O praise him, alleluia!

Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice, ye lights of evening, find a voice,

O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear, make music for thy Lord to hear,

alleluia, alleluia!

Thou fire so masterful and bright, that givest man both warmth and light,

O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

And all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part,

O sing ye, alleluia!

Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, praise God and on him cast your care,

O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless, and worship him in humbleness,

O praise him, alleluia!

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, three in one,

O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Larry Shackley (b. 1956) is a full-time composer and editor from Columbia, SC. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music and his Master in Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from the University of South Carolina. From 1995-2007, he taught and directed the music program at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC. Prior to that, he worked for several years at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, creating original music and producing radio programs for the Moody Broadcasting Network. He has been active in church music since his teens, and served as staff keyboardist for ten years at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. Currently, Shackley is on the staff of Gateway Baptist Church in Irmo, SC. He has produced over twenty books of keyboard arrangements and more than one hundred choral anthems. He has won ASCAP standard panel awards every year since 1998, and has received commissions from churches, schools, and community choirs across America.

About the Choral Music:

Fly Away Medley - Mark Hayes

(c.2002, Albert E. Brumley & Sons)

I’ll Fly Away

In the rural Smyrna Baptist Church, midway between Courtland and Moulton, Alabama, a trio rose to sing a song that was literally sweeping the South. The year was 1948, and the occasion was the funeral of my grandfather, James Terry. The song, which greatly effected the audience, was written 17 years earlier by one of our nation’s leading Christian songwriters, Albert E. Brumley.

It was in 1929 that Brumley actually composed “I’ll Fly Away.” He recalled that he was picking cotton and singing a popular song, “If I Had the Wings of an Angel.” Suddenly, he thought about flying away. He later said, “Actually, I was dreaming of flying away from that cotton field when I wrote ‘I’ll Fly Away.’” However, the song took on a spiritual meaning.

Brumley’s rural background made it natural for him to appeal to the common man. Even as a small lad picking cotton in LeFlore County, Oklahoma, he knew he would much rather be involved in music than in any other occupation. At age 17, he began his serious music study, and during the next several years received training and instruction from such notables as Homer Rodeheaver, Virgil Stamps and E. M. Bartlett, the composer of “Victory in Jesus.” In 1931, while teaching a singing school in Powell, Missouri, Brumley met Goldie Edith Schell. They were married shortly thereafter. Although he had begun his songwriting, he had done nothing with the songs. Goldie encouraged him to send his manuscripts to a publisher, assuring him that the songs had quality and that “any publisher would be glad to publish them.” Acting on Goldie’s advice and encouragement, his first submission to a publisher was “I’ll Fly Away.” As a result, the song, written during The Depression, was carried to the nation by radio and traveling Southern Gospel quartets. People everywhere were receiving renewed hope as they listened to “I’ll Fly Away” and other Brumley compositions.

Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away;

To a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.

I’ll fly away, O glory, I’ll fly away;

When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I’ll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have gone, I’ll fly away;

Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I’ll fly away.

We’ll Understand it Better By and By

Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933) was one of the eminent preachers of Methodism at the turn of the twentieth century. Hymnologist James Abbington has called Tindley a "pastor, orator, poet, writer, theologian, social activist, 'father of African American Hymnody,' 'progenitor of African American gospel music' and 'prince of preachers.’" He was born in Worchester County, Maryland, the son of Charles and Esther Tindley, but his mother died when he was only two years old, and his father raised him. Dr. Abbington comments that biographies often refer to Tindley's slave ancestry, but that an autobiographical reference in his Book of Sermons (1932) implies that he was not a slave. Economic conditions were very difficult after the death of his mother, forcing his father to "hire him out." African American scholar Bernice Johnson Reagon notes, "This practice was not unusual for freed Blacks. Hired-out workers often labored alongside slaves, experiencing much of the reality of the slave plantation. The major differences were that there was some remuneration … and hired-out workers did get the opportunity to go home."

Tindley moved to Philadelphia as a young person, attending school at night. He said, "I made a rule to learn at least one new thing -- a thing I did not know the day before -- each day." He was self-taught, never graduating from college or seminary, yet acquiring and reading more than 8,000 books in his library. He took Greek through Boston School of Theology and Hebrew through a synagogue in Philadelphia. Tindley was awarded two honorary doctorates of divinity from colleges in North Carolina and Maryland.

From 1887-1900, Tindley served short-term itinerate positions until he became the Presiding Elder in the Wilmington District in 1900. Tindley, granted a license to preach from Bainbridge Street Methodist Church where he was employed as a janitor between 1880-1885, thus became a member of the Delaware Annual Conference. In 1902 he was assigned to Bainbridge Street Methodist Episcopal Church, this time as its pastor. His return to the congregation as pastor was not universally appreciated since he had served more than fifteen years earlier as the janitor; but the 150th Anniversary Journal of the congregation notes that "All were pleasantly surprised, for as Tindley mounted the rostrum, wearing a Prince Albert Coat -- then the garb of many African American Protestant preachers -- he had the dignified bearing acquired during his previous appointments. They were further surprised when Tindley delivered a masterful, soul gripping sermon that brought loud amens and praise God exclamations from his listeners.”

"We’ll Understand It Better By and By" was one of eight hymns written during a difficult period in Tindley’s life when negotiations were underway for the purchase of Westminster Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. It reflects aspects of Tindley’s ministry through preaching aimed to lift the spirits of turn-of-the-century urban African Americans. One can imagine Tindley using this song to punctuate his sermons, offering hope to those assembled not only through exegesis of the biblical text, but also through a lyrical sung theology. Tindley’s theology is not escapist "pie in the sky by and by." It is a theology of hope that exemplifies I Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known " (KJV).

Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand

all the ways that God would lead us to that blessed Promised Land.

But He’ll guide us with His eye, and we’ll follow till we die;

We will understand it better by and by.

By and by, Lord, when the morning comes,

when the blessed saints of God are gathered home;

We will tell the story, how we’ve overcome;

We will understand it better by and by.

When the Roll is Called up Yonder

James Milton Black was born on this day, August 19, 1856 in South Hill, New York. He acquired an early musical education in singing and organ playing and knew such famous songsters of his day as Daniel Towner and John Howard. Around 1881, he moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania where he carried on Christian work through the Methodist Episcopal church. Teaching music during the week, he was a song leader, Sunday school teacher and youth leader in his spare hours. In addition to all this work, he edited hymnals.

He loved young people and tried to win them for Christ. One day, as he passed through an alley, he met a ragged fourteen-year-old girl. She was the daughter of an alcoholic. He invited her to his Sunday school and youth group and she began to attend. However, one day when he took roll, the girl did not respond. Each child had to say a Scripture verse when his or her name was called. James saw a lesson in her silence. "I spoke of what a sad thing it would be when our names are called from the Lamb's Book of Life, if one of us should be absent.” He was not the kind of man to let the matter die with a moral lesson. After Sunday school, he went to his pupil's home to find out why she had not showed up for class. He found her dangerously ill and sent for his own doctor. The doctor said that she had pneumonia, and death was highly likely.

James returned home. He tried to find a song to fit the thought of a heavenly roll call but could not locate one. An inner voice seemed to say, "Why don't you write one." And that is what he did. "I played the music just as it is found today in the hymn-books, note for note, and I have never dared to change a single word or a note of the song," he said. The lyrics were first published in Songs of the Soul in 1894. They have been translated into over fourteen languages and sung around the world.

When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

On Jordan’s Stormy Banks

Samuel Stennett (1727-1795), an English Baptist, came from a long line of ministers. He was the son of a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor. In the 18th century, university education was not easily available to nonconformist families—those who refused to swear allegiance to the Church of England. Stennett did study at the academy at Miles End with distinction, however. In spite of his nonconformist religious stance, Stennett was a personal friend to the reigning monarch, King George III. Stennett was honored in 1763 with a doctor of divinity degree from King’s College, Aberdeen, for his accomplishments. He served as an assistant to his father in his congregation in 1747 and assumed the position of pastor upon his father’s death in 1758.

John Rippon, an English Baptist pastor, published in 1787 an influential collection, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors. Thirty-eight of Stennett’s hymns appeared in this popular collection. Among those was a hymn under the heading of “Heaven Anticipated” with the title of “The Promised Land” in eight four-line stanzas. The hymn as it appeared in America looked and sounded much different. William Walker’s The Southern Harmony (1835) was the first to include “The Promised Land.” This was one of the most popular of the 19th-century, oblong-tune books with shaped notes. The tune PROMISED LAND was paired with the text. The Southern Harmony attributes the tune to “Miss M. Durham” but we know nothing else about the composer. The tune has many of the characteristics the traditional folk melodies of the time. Originally written in a minor mode, Rigdon M. McIntosh, a Southern musician, altered the tune to the major mode, and as was customary among American evangelicals in the 19th century added a refrain beginning with “I am bound for the promised land.” This version was published in 1895 in H. R. Christie’s Gospel Light and has become the standard version for many hymnals since that time. The hymn has appeared in each American Methodist hymnal since Francis Asbury included it in his Supplement to the Pocket Hymn Book (1808).

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye

to Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie.

I am bound for the Promised Land; I am bound for the Promised Land.

O who will come and go with me? I’m bound for the Promised Land.

When the Saints Go Marching In

"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is a Black spiritual. Though it originated as a Christian hymn, it is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938, by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra.The song is sometimes confused with a similarly titled composition "When the Saints Are Marching In" from 1896 by Katharine Purvis (lyrics) and James Milton Black (music).The origins of this song are unclear. It apparently evolved in the early 1900s from a number of similarly titled gospel songs, including "When the Saints Are Marching In" (1896) and "When the Saints March In for Crowning" (1908). The first known recorded version was in 1923 by the Paramount Jubilee Singers on Paramount 12073. Although the title given on the label is "When All the Saints Come Marching In", the group sings the modern lyrics beginning with "When the saints go marching in". No author is shown on the label.

O, when the saints go marchin’ in,

O, Lord, I want to be in that number when the saints go marchin’ in!

May God Bless and Keep You - Jim Strathdee

(c.1994, Desert Flower Music)

Internationally known artists, Jim and Jean Strathdee sing with thousands of people each year as they offer their music in concerts, worship, conferences, reteats, and workshops. Most often they travel throughout the United States and Canada, but over the 40 year span of their ministry they have shared their music in India, New Zealand, Cuba, and Central America. Their music spans a diversity of sound and style and includes use of guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica, African drums, and Native American flute. They see music as an agent of transformation where ecumenical and inter-faith communities come together to make a stand for positive change. Jim and Jean have served on the staff of United Methodist churches in southern and northern California and Hawaii. They have written hundreds of hymns, songs, and anthems.

May God bless and keep you,

May God's loving face now shine on you and be gracious, gracious, Amen.

About the Hymns:

For the Fruits of This Creation

(c.1970, Hope Publishing)

Many fine hymns written during the past three centuries have kept Methodist song alive since the beginning of the movement. If there is anyone worthy to be called a successor to founding hymn writer Charles Wesley, it may be Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000). An Englishman educated at Didsbury College in Manchester, Green was ordained into Methodist ministry in 1928, serving circuits throughout the country between 1927 and 1969. During his ministry he wrote plays and published three collections of his poems. But it was not until his retirement that Green’s hymn writing blossomed. He went on to create more than 300 hymns, received numerous honors, and is generally considered to be the leader of the “hymnic explosion” that began in the 1960s. More of Green’s hymns appear in English-language hymnals published in North America since 1975, than those of any other 20th-century hymn writer. Hope Publishing Company has published three collections of his hymns. The UM Hymnal (1989) contains 15 original hymns and two translations by Green.

“For the Fruits of This Creation” is one of the hymns most often chosen by hymnal committees in the United States. Published as “Harvest Hymn” in the British Methodist Recorder in August 1970, this hymn combines our gratitude to God for the bounties of the earth with our responsibility to care for our neighbor through “the harvests we are sharing”. Green’s concern for justice and spreading a social gospel is almost always evident in his hymns. Each stanza alludes to our responsibility to care for all the earth and its people: Stanza one cites God’s “good gifts to every nation.” Stanza two mentions “our worldwide task of caring for the hungry and despairing.” Stanza three acknowledges “the good we all inherit.”

The tune we are using today, AR HYD Y NOS, is best known for the text “All Through the Night”. It is a Welsh song tune that was first found in Edward Jones' Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards (1784). The song is highly popular with traditional Welsh male voice choirs, and is sung by them at festivals in Wales and around the world.

For the fruits of this creation, thanks be to God;

for good gifts to every nation, thanks be to God;

for the ploughing, sowing, reaping,

silent growth while we are sleeping,

future needs in earth's safe-keeping, thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labour, God's will is done;

in the help we give our neighbor, God's will is done;

in our world-wide task of caring for the hungry and despairing,

in the harvests we are sharing, God's will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God;

for the good we all inherit, thanks be to God;

for the wonders that astound us,

for the truths that still confound us,

most of all, that love has found us, thanks be to God.

Bringing in the Sheaves

(c.1989, Standard Publishing)

A song which compares the idea of preaching the gospel and winning souls to bringing in sheaves of grain is "Bringing In The Sheaves". The text was written by Knowles Shaw (1834-1878) and was dedicated to the memory of Augustus Damon Fillmore (1823-1870), a fellow preacher and songwriter, the patriarch of a significant American musical family. The source of this hymn’s imagery is Psalm 126, verses 5-6: “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, Shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” It was first published anonymously in his 1874 work The Golden Gate for the Sunday School and first appeared with his name in The Morning Star, A New Collection of Sunday School Music of 1877. Shaw was a well-known evangelist and song-writer among churches of Christ and Christian Churches during the late 19th century who lived in Ohio and Indiana, Shaw was a prolific evangelist, known for his wit, knowledge of the Bible, and ability to generate and maintain rapport with an audience. He baptized over eleven thousand people in his ministry. Shaw died in a train wreck in McKinney, Texas, and a Methodist minister on board said that Shaw saved his life in the wreck. His last words were: "It is a grand thing to rally people to the Cross of Christ.”

The tune (Harvest) that we use is usually identified as having been composed by George Austin Minor (1845-1904). Educated at a military academy in Richmond, he served as Chief of Ordnance and Hydrography of the Confederate States Navy in the Civil War. Afterwards, he taught singing schools in VA, and co-founded the Hume-Minor Company of Richmond and Norfolk which manufactured pianos and organs. A member of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, he led singing for the Sunday school and published several volumes of Sunday school music, including Golden Light for Sunday Schools No. 1 of 1879, which first included this melody. Shaw had published his own music with the poem, but most books credit Minor with the present tune. Actually, Minor’s tune is quite similar to Shaw’s original melody and almost seems to be based on it, so that it could be called somewhat of an arrangement. In the 1927 Cross and Resurrection in Song Revised and Enlarged, editor Flavil Hall wrote, "’Bringing in the Sheaves’ was written, both words and music, by Knowles Shaw….Mr. Geo. A Minor later made a few ‘minor’ changes in it, transposing it from C to B-flat, and published it in a little leaflet with a few of his own pieces.”

A fourth stanza was added by Charles R. Scoville in 1911 which emphasizes the invitation to grace extended in sowing the seed.

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,

Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;

Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.