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:
Abide with Us: For it is Toward Evening, and the Day is Far Spent - Jaromir Weinberger
(c.1939, H. W. Gray)
Jaromír Weinberger (1896-1967) was a Bohemian born Jewish subject of the Austrian Empire, who became a naturalized American composer. Weinberger was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, into a family of Jewish origin. He heard Czech folksongs from time spent at his grandparents' farm as a youth. He started playing the piano aged 5, and composing and conducting aged 10. He became a student at the Prague Conservatory at age 14. In 1922, Weinberger moved to the United States where he took up a position as an instructor at Cornell University. Between 1922 and 1926 he was professor of composition at the Ithaca Conservatory (now the music school of Ithaca College), New York.
When he returned to Czechoslovakia he was appointed director of the National Theater in Bratislava, and later received appointments in Eger, Hungary, and Prague. In 1926 Weinberger completed Schwanda the Bagpiper (Švanda Dudák), which became highly successful, with thousands of performances in hundreds of theatres including the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His operetta Frühlingsstürme was first performed at the Theatre in Admiralspalast in Berlin on January 19, 1933, but the show was closed down by the Nazi government in March. His subsequent European works include the Passacaglia for orchestra and organ, Six Bohemian Dances for violin and piano, the opera The Outcasts of Poker Flat and a grand oratorio Christmas, though none of them matched the success of Schwanda the Bagpiper.
In 1939, after extensive travels to the United States, Bratislava and Vienna, he left Czechoslovakia to escape the Nazis and settled in New York state, teaching there and in Ohio. He wrote a number of works on commission from American orchestras. He became an American citizen in 1948. In later life, he developed cancer of the brain. This, together with money worries and the neglect of his music, prompted him to take a lethal sedative overdose in August 1967.
Among his organ compositions is this set of pieces called Bible Poems, about which he wrote: “I composed the following six Preludes, representing my first composition for organ, while in New York in April, 1939. They were inspired by the New Testament and in them I have attempted to give symbolic expression to the Biblical quotations. Contents: 1. Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent; 2. Lord Jesus, walking on the sea; 3. Marriage in Cana of Galilee; 4. Hosanna; 5. The Last Supper; 6. Hear, O Israel.”
About “Abide with Us: For it is toward Evening, and the Day is Far Spent”, Weinberger states:In St. Luke 24, we read that Jesus went towards Emmaus after his Resurrection. On his way He joined two men. “And they drew night unto the village, whither they went; and He made as though He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” Weinberger expresses the sadness and confusion, accompanied by hope the disciples feel as they talk to the stranger on the road.
Caithness - Healey Willan
(c.1960, C.F.Peters)
By all accounts, the author of the hymn O for a closer walk with God led a tragic life clouded by mental instability. After receiving his education at Westminster School, William Cowper (1731–1800) studied law and was called to The Bar in 1754. During the next few years he suffered spells of severe depression, and though he was offered several prestigious posts, the thought of taking them up induced such terror in his mind that he tried to take his own life three times. After 1765, Cowper went to live with the Reverend John Newton, Curate of Olney, and between them they composed over 350 hymns.
William Cowper wrote this text on December 9, 1769, during the illness of his long-time friend and housekeeper, Mrs. Unwin. In a letter written the next day Cowper voiced his anxieties about her condition and about what might happen to him if she died. Saying that he composed the text "to surrender up to the Lord" all his "dearest comforts," Cowper added, “Her illness has been a sharp trial to me. Oh, that it may have a sanctifying effect!. . . I began to compose the verses yesterday morning before daybreak, but fell asleep at the end of the first two lines; when I awoke again, the third and fourth were whispered to my heart in a way which I have often experienced.”
The text was published in Richard Conyers's Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1772) and, with some revision, in the Olney Hymns (1779). There it had the heading "Walk with God" and included a reference to Enoch in Genesis 5:24. Although Cowper frequently battled depression, doubt, and melancholy, this text speaks of a very intimate walk with the Lord. That walk is rooted in Scripture, rejoices in conversion, and denounces all idols that would usurp God's sovereignty. This is one of the most beautiful, tender, and popular of Cowper's hymns.
The tune CAITHNESS derives from a melody in The Scottish Psalter of 1635, also known as ‘The Old Psalter’ or ‘John Knox’s Psalter’. This psalter, an incomplete version of which was published in 1561 for use in the Anglo-Scottish Church, was brought back from Geneva by the Scottish refugees who had fled there to escape the persecutions of the Reformation. The psalter was completed and issued in Edinburgh in 1564; it appeared in many later editions and served the churches for a century. The early editions contained melodies only but 1635 saw the publication of an edition which provided harmonized tunes.
O for a closer walk with God, a calm and heav'nly frame,
a light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb!
Where is the blessedness I knew when first I sought the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view of Jesus and His Word?
What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their mem'ry still!
But they have left an aching void the world can never fill.
Return, O holy Dove, return, sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn and drove Thee from my breast.
The dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be,
help me to tear it from Thy throne and worship only Thee.
So shall my walk be close with God, calm and serene my frame;
so purer light shall mark the road that leads me to the Lamb.
Healey Willan (1880-1968) was an Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano, but is best known for his religious music. Willan was born in England, and he began musical training at age eight, with studies at St. Saviour's Choir School in Eastbourne. He earned, by examination in organ playing, harmony, counterpoint, history and orchestration, the Royal College of Organists' Associateship in 1897 and Fellowship in 1899. The Anglo-Catholic Tractarian movement led to an Anglican revival of plainsong, and in 1910, Willan joined the London Gregorian Association (which strove to preserve and revive "plain-chant"). In 1913, Willan emigrated to Canada. In 1921, he become Precentor of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto), where he remained until his death. St. Mary Magdalene, under Willan, became a North American mecca for choral and Anglican church musicians. In 1920, the Toronto Conservatory (now the Royal Conservatory of Music) appointed Willan Head of its Theory Department. In 1934, he founded the Tudor Singers, which he conducted until it disbanded in 1939. From 1937 to 1950, Willan was University of Toronto Professor of Music and Organist. When the Order of Canada was established in 1967, it named Willan a Companion. In Britain, it was customary for the Archbishop of Canterbury to occasionally grant very distinguished English cathedral musicians the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus. D Cantaur; in 1956, Willan, "the Dean of Canadian composers", became the first non-English church musician to be so honoured. People who remember Willan from his time at St Mary Magdalene's like to moderate his somewhat dourly pious public image by quoting him: "English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption.”
About the Choral Music:
We Will Walk in the Light – Don Besig
(c.1998, GlorySound, div. of Shawnee Press)
Don Besig was a public school music teacher for over thirty years in western New York. He taught at all levels and since his retirement has continued to serve as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator. Recognizing a need for choral music written especially for student singers and volunteer church choirs, he began composing for his own choral groups in 1960. He is also the recipient of several ASCAP Plus Awards Don is a graduate of Ithaca College and a member of Phi Mu Alpha and ASCAP. He and Nancy Price collaborate to write music and lyrics.
This gospel style anthem is based on 1 John 1:7
We will walk in the light. We will walk in the light.
Yes, we will walk in the light of the Lord.
Through every night and every day, we will surely find our way
When we walk, walk in the light, the light of the Lord.
We will walk in the light. We will walk in the light.
Yes, we will walk in the light of the Lord.
Through every night and every day, we will surely find our way
When we walk, walk in the light, the light of the Lord.
Sometimes when the road is rough and long,
We feel like everything in life just seems to be wrong.
When we feel afraid, and touble is all around us,
We need God’s light to keep us strong!
We will walk in the light. We will walk in the light.
Yes, we will walk in the light of the Lord.
Through every night and every day, we will surely find our way
When we walk, walk in the light, the light of the Lord.
When we’re lost and don’t know what to do,
We’ll find our Savior right beside us, helping us through.
Everywhere we go, wherever the road may lead us,
God’s light is shining strong and true!
We will walk in the light. We will walk in the light.
Yes, we will walk in the light of the Lord.
Through every night and every day, we will surely find our way
When we walk, walk in the light, the light of the Lord.
We will walk in the light. We will walk in the light.
Yes, we will walk in the light of the Lord.
Through every night and every day, we will surely find our way
When we walk, walk in the light, the light of the Lord.
We will walk, walk in the light, the light of the Lord.
We will walk in the light, of the Lord, the light of the Lord.
Abide With Us - Greg Scheer
(c.2021, Greg Scheer)
Greg Scheer has composed over a thousand pieces of music in a variety of styles. Jeremy Begbie calls it “music that will disturb your imagination and delight your heart–a rare combination. Scheer’s sacred music appears in numerous hymnals and choral catalogs: over 300 Psalm settings, global worship song translations, choral anthems, and hymn arrangements. Scheer has received commissions from the Holland Symphony Orchestra, Baylor University, the Chagall String Quartet, the St. Cecilia Music Society, and others. Scheer’s symphonic rock group, The St. Sinner Orchestra, has released three albums; he also performs his original jazz with Outside Pocket.
This Gospel chorus attempts to distill some key elements of the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples on the road to Emmaus. Abide with us. Something about the stranger makes them want to spend more time with him. The disciples, recalling their conversation with Jesus say, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us?”
Abide with us. Abide with us.
Our eyes are opened, our hearts awoken, abide with us.
Our eyes are opened, our hearts awoken, abide with us.
About the Hymns:
Trust and Obey
This hymn was inspired in 1886 when the composer of the music, Daniel B. Towner (1850-1919), was the music leader during one of Dwight L. Moody’s famous revivals. Towner provided the following account cited by Moody’s musical partner, Ira D. Sankey, in his biography, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns: “Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, ‘I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.’ I just jotted that sentence down, and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.” Sammis is said to have composed the lines of the refrain upon receiving the letter:
“Trust and obey—for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
As is the case with most gospel songs, these lines provide the central theme around which all of the stanzas were written. The text and first Towner’s tune, TRUST AND OBEY, appeared in the 1887 collection, Hymns Old and New, and has been included in countless hymnals since. Methodist hymnals in the United States have carried it since 1897.
When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do, where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
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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