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:
In dir ist Freude – J. S. Bach
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 the main composer 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).
The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") is a collection of 46 chorale preludes for organ, which form the first of Bach's masterpieces with a mature compositional style in marked contrast to his previous compositions for the instrument. Each of them treats a known Lutheran chorale with a motivic accompaniment. Bach explored a wide diversity of forms in the Orgelbüchlein. As stated by Spitta in his biography of Bach:
A further step towards perfection this form was taken by Bach when he made the contrapuntal elements in his music a means of reflecting certain emotional aspects of the words. Pachelbel had not attempted this; he lacked the fervid feeling which would have enabled him thus to enter into his subject. And it is entering into it, and not a mere depicting of it. For, once more be it said, in every vital movement of the world external to us we behold the image of a movement within us; and every such image must react upon us to produce the corresponding emotion I that inner world of feeling.
The tune, “In dir ist Freude”, is one of many balletti (dance-like songs) written by Giovanni G. Gastoldi (1554-1609), a priest and composer from Mantua, Italy. It was originally published in his Balleti a cinque voce (1591), where it was set to "Alieta vi.a, Amor ciinuita", which like so many balletti had a "fa-la-la" refrain. Cantor Johann Lindemann (1549-1631) wrote this text to fit the tune. It was published in Lindemann's Amarum Filii Dei Decades Duae (1598). Catherine Winkworth prepared the English translation for the second series of her Lyra Germanica (1858). The text confesses with joy the Christian's security of walking intimately with God through the ups and downs of daily life. Bach has set the melody in complex counterpoint which expresses pure joy in virtual abandon.
In Thee is gladness amid all sadness, Jesus, Sunshine of my heart!
By Thee are given the gifts of heaven, Thou the true Redeemer art!
Our souls Thou wakest, our bonds Thou breakest. Hallelujah.
Who trust Thee surely hath built securely; through life and death,
He stands forever: Hallelujah!
Jesus is ours! We fear no powers, not of earth or sin or death.
He sees and blesses in worst distresses; he can change them with a breath.
Wherefore the story - tell of His glory with hearts and voices;
all heaven rejoices in him forever: Allelujah!
We shout for gladness, triumph o'er sadness, love him and praise him,
and still shall raise him glad hymns forever: Allelujah!
About the Choral Music:
On The Third Day - Allen Pote
(c.1992, Hope Publishing Co)
Allen Pote (b. 1945) was born in Halstead, Kansas, and educated at Texas Christian University, where his diploma was in Church Music. A Fulbright Scholar, he studied in Brussels, Belgium, and took advanced work at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. For twenty-two years he served as a full-time Director of Music in churches in Texas and Florida. He is currently a full-time composer living in Pensacola, Florida, where, with his wife Susan, he is co-director of the Pensacola Children's Choir, an organization of over 200 singers which has achieved national recognition.
This triumphant Easter anthem has a text adapted from the Apostles’ Creed. It dramatically leads from the crucifixion to the resurrection and draws us into Easter celebration.
Jesus was crucified. Jesus was crucified.
He died and was buried, died and was buried,
Jesus was crucified.
On the third day, on the third day,
On the third day Christ arose.
On the third day, on the third day,
On the third day Christ arose.
He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God
the Father Almighty.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead,
His kingdom will have no end.
Christ is risen from the dead, He is risen as He said,
He is alive, He is alive, Alleluia!
Christ has conquered death and sin, died for us our souls to win,
He is alive, He is alive, alleluia!
He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God
the Father Almighty.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead,
His kingdom will have no end.
Ah, ah, ah, alleluia! Ah, ah, ah, alleluia!
On the third day, on the third day,
On the third day Christ arose!
Easter Fanfare - Lloyd Pfautsch
(c.1955, M. Witmark & Sons)
Lloyd Pfautsch (1921-2003) was in Washington, Missouri, a farming and industrial community located southwest of St. Louis, on a bend of the Missouri River. St. Peter’s Reformed Church, whose congregation dates from the early 1860s, and where Lloyd was baptized, still stands. Two of the many industries of the river town achieved international fame---the Schwartzer Zither factory and the Missouri Meershaum Company where Lloyd’s father made corncob pipes.
Lloyd was raised within the rich cultural, musical and hymnic tradition of German Evangelical churches, which were practiced and contextualized by 19th century German immigrants in communities extending from Pennsylvania across the mid and upper Midwest. The Evangelical and Reformed Church, (E&R), a joining together of several Reformed groups, was founded in 1934. As did its predecessors, the E&R church fostered the development of many well-recognized hymnists and church musicians. E&R colleges and schools, such as Elmhurst College where Lloyd, a pre-ministerial student received his undergraduate degree in 1943, encouraged the practice of church music and hymnody. Lloyd’s worship & song roots were the Lutheran-style chorale that uniquely joined belief and song --- doxa and logia, praise and word.
Pfautsch received his BA and MSM from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois; his M.Div from Union Theological Seminary; and Mus.D and LL.D from Illinois Wesleyan University. He was rdained in the United Church of Christ. He sang in Robert Shaw’s Collegiate Chorale, including that group’s performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra. From 1948-1958, he was director of choral activities and taught voice at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL. Pfautsch arrived at SMU in 1958 and was appointed to both the music and theology faculties. His initial tasks were twofold --- direct the university choral groups and propose the joint music/theology curriculum for an MSM program of study. In addition, Lloyd began a graduate program in choral conducting, made significant contributions to Perkins’ worship song, founded the Dallas Civic Chorus and maintained wide-ranging travel as the de facto ambassador-recruiter for SMU.
Conducting University Choral Groups.
Of the more than 300 compositions that he composed over a half century, nearly one-third are anthems and other short choral forms composed for services held in Perkins Chapel and local church liturgies. These works are strikingly original, poetically apt, and choral-centered. Other works were commissioned for larger choirs to perform under his direction at regional, national and international denominational meetings and choir festivals.
The “Easter Fanfare” was written for St. Peter’s Evangelical and Reformed Church, Washington, MO, and uChrist the Lord is risen today, Allses a text drawn from Charles Wesley and from Mark’s Gospel.
News today! Hear the news today! Hear the news today! Hear the news today!
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens and earth reply, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now they sting? Alleluia, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened Paradise, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Sing we to our God above, Alleluia, Alleluia,
Praise eternal as his love, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Praise Him, all ye heavenly host, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Share the news! Christ our Saviour lives! Praise the Lord!
Hallelujah, from Messiah – G. F. Handel
Georg Friederich Handel (1685-1759) became a musician and composer despite objections from his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer. Handel studied music with Zachau, organist at the Halle Cathedral, and became an accomplished violinist and keyboard performer. He traveled and studied in Italy for some time and then settled permanently in England in 1713. Although he wrote a large number of instrumental works, he is known mainly for his Italian operas, oratorios (including “Messiah”, 1741), various anthems for church and royal festivities, and organ concertos, which he interpolated into his oratorio performances. He composed only three hymn tunes, one of which still appears in some modern hymnals. A number of hymnal editors, including Lowell Mason, took themes from some of Handel's oratorios and turned them into hymn tunes.
Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.
Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the "Hallelujah" chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven.
Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928; since then the work has been recorded many times.
Part II closes with the chorus "Hallelujah", in the key of D major with trumpets and timpani. This chorus is often performed out of context, especially around Christmas and Easter. The choir introduces in homophony a characteristic simple motif on the word, playing with the interval of a second, which re-appears throughout the piece. Several lines from the Book of Revelation (Revelation 19:6,16, Revelation 11:15) are treated differently, as in a motet, but unified by "Hallelujah" as a conclusion or as a countersubject in a fugal section. The line "for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" is sung by all voices, first in unison, then in imitation with Hallelujah-exclamations interspersed. The second line "The kingdom of this world is become" is sung in a four part setting like a chorale. The third idea "and he shall reign for ever and ever" starts as a fugue on a theme with bold leaps, reminiscent in sequence of Philipp Nicolai's Lutheran chorale Wachet auf. As a countersubject, the words "forever – and ever" assume the rhythm of the Hallelujah-motif. The final acclamation "King of Kings...and Lord of Lords" is sung on one note, energized by repeated calls "Hallelujah" and "forever – and ever", raised higher and higher (the sopranos and the trumpets part), up to a rest full of tension and a final solemn "Hallelujah".
In many parts of the world, it is the accepted practice for the audience to stand for this section of the performance. The tradition is said to have originated with the first London performance of Messiah, which was attended by King George II. As the first notes of the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus rang out, the king was so moved that he rose to his feet and remained standing until the end of the chorus. Royal protocol has always dictated that when the monarch stands, everyone in the monarch's presence is also required to stand. Thus, the entire audience and orchestra stood when the king stood during the performance, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries.
There is another story told about this chorus that Handel's assistant walked in to Handel's room after shouting to him for several minutes with no response. The assistant reportedly found Handel in tears, and when asked what was wrong, Handel held up the score to this movement and said, "I thought I saw the face of God."
Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah!
The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ.
And He shall reign forever and ever, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah!
About the Hymns:
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
setting by David Cherwein
(c.1999, Hope Publishing Co)
"Hymn for Easter Day" was written by Charles Wesley in 1739 for the inaugural service at the Foundry Meeting House, London's first Wesleyan chapel. As with many of the most popular hymns, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" has survived the centuries thanks to a successful marriage of lyrics and music. The tune first circulated in 1708 with the Lyra Davidica hymnal, but no composer has ever been acknowledged. It was first published in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists, John Wesley's hymnbook first published in 1780. Charles Wesley's original text does not include the song's most distinctive characteristic—the "Alleluia!" that ends each line. An unknown editor added the alleluias later.
“Alleluia”, meaning "Praise the Lord," prominently leads off Psalms 106, 111, 112, 113, 117, and 135 in the Hebrew hymnal. In the years immediately following Christ's resurrection, “alleluia” particularly connoted praise for Jesus' victory over death. Early Christians began greeting each other on Easter with the now-familiar call and response: "Alleluia! He is risen!" "Alleluia! He is risen indeed!" Alleluia is meant to convey emphatic joy, thanksgiving, and triumph.
John captures the triumph in Revelation 19 with his vision of the great multitude in heaven roaring, "Alleluia!" Jerome, translator of the Latin Vulgate, conveyed the joy when he wrote that Christian houses of worship in the fourth and fifth centuries shook from the intense alleluias shouted by believers. Roman Catholics and Anglicans refrain from speaking or singing alleluia during Lent, but they reintroduce the word into their liturgies to express their thanksgiving on Easter morning. Even in nonliturgical churches, alleluia retains a kind of liturgical significance. Bernard Lord Manning, a hymnologist, historian, and observer of Methodism during the early 20th century, explained how hymns like "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" functioned as a liturgy for John and Charles Wesley's spiritual descendants.
But in the evening at the chapel [the Dissenting church], though I was uncertain about the prayers, there was no gamble about the hymns. I knew we should have Charles Wesley's Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," with its 24 "Alleluias": and we did have it. Among any Dissenters worth the name that hymn is as certain to come on Easter Day as the Easter Collect in the Established Church. And mark this further—those 24 "Alleluias" are not there for nothing: the special use of "Alleluia" at Easter comes down to us from the most venerable liturgies. Our hymns are our liturgy, an excellent liturgy. Let us study it, respect it, use it, develop it, and boast of it.
This melodic liturgy conveys the triumphant joy that is ours on Easter morning. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
This setting for organ and brass is by Dr. David Cherwien (b. 1957), who is currently serving as Director of Music at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN, and in 2002 was appointed Music Director for the National Lutheran Choir, also based in the Twin Cities. He has also held full time parish music positions in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Chicago, Seattle, and Berlin. He completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance, and the Master of Arts degree in Theory and Composition, both from the University of Minnesota. His undergraduate work was in organ performance and music education at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, where he was honored as distinguished alumni in the fall of 2000.
Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia! Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia! Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia! Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!
King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia! Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy pow’r to prove, Alleluia! Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!
The Strife is O’er
"The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done" was originally a 17th-century Latin hymn, "Finita jam sun proelia”. John Mason Neale (1818-1866), the famous British translator of Latin and Greek hymnody, included the Latin text with his translation in his Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851). Francis Pott (1831-1909) provided his own translation of the original Latin for his Hymns Fitted to the Order of Common Prayer (1861). Pott was on the hymnal committee for the first edition of the famous 19th-century landmark British hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861); Pott’s translation, with alterations, was included in this hymnal. It has become a staple of Easter hymnody since that time.
The text of the hymn extols the triumphant Christ whose victory over death and Hell is described as a battle, as related in the Harrowing of Hell. The hymn also makes reference to Christ breaking the chains of hell and to Christ in Majesty. Each verse concludes with an Alleluya! refrain.
"The strife is o'er" is often sung to the tune VICTORY, adapted from a 1591 setting of the Gloria by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina from a Magnificat tertii toni. The additional Alleluya refrain was set to music by Edwin George Monk.
William Hart, in his book, Hymn Stories of the 20th Century, which was published in 1948 (not long after World War II had ended), adds the unusual note that a soldier’s chorus sang this hymn at the funeral of General George Patton on December 23, 1945 after his death in an automobile accident.
The strife is o’er, the battle done; The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun: Alleluia!
The pow’rs of death have done their worst; But Christ their legions has dispersed;
Let shouts of holy joy outburst: Alleluia!
The three sad days are quickly sped; He rises glorious from the dead;
All glory to our risen Head: Alleluia!
He closed the yawning gates of hell; The bars from heav’n’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise His triumphs tell: Alleluia!
Lord, by the stripes which wounded You, In us You’ve won the vict’ry too,
That we may live, and sing to You: Alleluia!
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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