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:
Nicaea - Robert Lind
(c.2011, Paraclete Press)
Reginald Heber (1783-1826) wrote this text for Trinity Sunday, the day for which lectionary in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer prescribes the reading of Revelation 4. Using reverent and apocalyptic language, "Holy, Holy, Holy!" alludes to Revelation 4:6-11; 5:13; 15:2-4; and Isaiah 6:1-3 to sing the great majesty of the triune God. Note the cosmic scope of the text: human beings (st. 1), saints and angels in glory (st. 2), and all creation (st. 4) praise the name of the Lord. Though God's holiness, love, and purity are cloaked in mystery, we can still experience God's mercy and mighty power, and we can participate in praising God. It references the Sanctus, which is often called the "Holy holy holy" in English. The name is a tribute to the First Council of Nicaea which formalized the doctrine of the Trinity in 325.
It was first published in the third edition (1826) of A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury and was also published posthumously in Heber's Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Services of the Year (1827). The unusual single rhyme (all on the "ee" sound) and the uneven number of syllables in some lines have not detracted from the hymn's popularity. It was soon adopted by hymn-book compilers, and is the best known and most widely used of the author's hymns.
John Bacchus Dykes composed the tune NICAEA for this hymn in 1861. The tune name is a tribute to the First Council of Nicaea which formalized the doctrine of the Trinity in 325.
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man, Thy glory may not see:
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty,
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Robert Lind studied at North Park College at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, majoring in organ, composition, and music theory. At the age of 20, he worked with Leo Sowerby and became his assistant at the Cathedral of St. James, Chicago. He succeeded his mentor, Dr. Sowerby, as organist-choirmaster at the Cathedral two years later. After serving in the US Army during the Vietnam era, Lind entered the publishing world, while continuing to serve various churches in the Chicago area. He is currently organist at Lord of Life Lutheran church in Schaumburg, IL. He has played recitals in Chicago area for several decades, has presented organ repertory workshops for the American Guild of Organists, and has composed extensively for the church. Mr. Lind has approximately 180 works published for the organ.
About the Piano Music:
O Christ the Same - Marianne Kim
(c.2015, Augsburg Fortress)
Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926) wrote this text the opening of the Cambridge University Mission in what was then Jamaica Road, South East London, in November 1972. Given plenty of notice, the words were written over a year earlier, at Sevenoaks, Kent, in September 1971. Dudley-Smith had lived in a small flat at the Cambridge University Mission, later renamed The Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey, when he was Head of the Mission. He based this text on Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today…”
LONDONDERRY AIR is an Irish folk tune that originated in County Londonderry, first recorded in the nineteenth century by Jane Ross of Limavady in the county. Ross submitted the tune to music collector George Petrie, and it was then published by the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland in the 1855 book The Ancient Music of Ireland, which Petrie edited. The tune was listed as an anonymous air, with a note attributing its collection to Jane Ross of Limavady. The song "Danny Boy" written by English lawyer Fred Weatherly uses the tune, with a set of lyrics written in the early 20th century.
O Christ the same, through all our story’s pages,
Our loves and hopes our failures and our fears
Eternal Lord the King of all the ages
Unchanging still amid the passing years,
O Living Word, the source of all creation
Who spread the skies and set the stars ablaze,
O Christ the same who wrought our whole salvation,
We bring our thanks for all our yesterdays.
O Christ the same, the friend of sinners sharing,
Our inmost thoughts the secrets none can hide,
Still as of old upon Your body bearing
The marks of love in triumph glorified,
O Son of Man who stooped for us from heaven,
O Prince of life in all Your saving power,
O Christ the same to whom our hearts are given,
We bring our thanks for this the present hour.
O Christ the same, secure within whose keeping
Our lives and loves our days and years remain,
Our work and rest our waking and our sleeping,
Our calm and storm our pleasure and our pain,
O Lord of love for all our joys and sorrows,
For all our hopes when earth shall fade and flee,
O Christ the same beyond our brief tomorrows,
We bring our thanks for all that is to be.
A Chicago-based composer, pianist, organist, and harpsichordist, Marianne Kim (b. 1972) has been noted for her vibrant performances and compositions in a wide diversity of musical styles, including classical, jazz, Broadway musicals, R&B, and gospel, alongside traditional and contemporary church music. Born and raised in Korea, Marianne studied piano and composition at Pusan High School of Arts and earned a BM in composition at Pusan National University. After working professionally for more than a decade in the United States, she returned to school and earned dual Masters of Music in jazz studies and organ performance with scholarships and prizes from Northern Illinois University.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
I Can Only Imagine - Bart Millard
(c.2002, Simpleville Music, adm. Fun Attic Music)
"I Can Only Imagine" is a song by Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by lead singer Bart Millard, it was originally recorded for the band's 1999 independent album The Worship Project before being included on their 2001 major-label debut album Almost There. Millard drew upon his thoughts about his father's death. Lyrically, it imagines what it would be like to be in front of God in heaven; it opens with just a piano before building to include guitar and drums. After being released on October 12, 2001, as the second single from Almost There, "I Can Only Imagine" became a major success on Christian radio; it spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Radio & Records Christian AC chart and became the most-played Christian single of 2002. It received the Dove Awards for Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year at the 33rd GMA Dove Awards, also garnering Millard the award for Songwriter of the Year; he also won the Songwriter of the Year award at the 25th American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Christian Music Awards.
MercyMe was formed in 1994 by vocalist Bart Millard, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, and keyboardist Jim Bryson. The band later brought on drummer Robby Shaffer and bassist Nathan Cochran. The band decided to write and produce an album of original worship songs. In the last phases of production, MercyMe needed one more song to include on the album. Late at night on the band's bus, Millard found an old notebook with the phrase "I can only imagine" written in it. He began to write a song, basing it on his personal feelings about his father Arthur's death. Early in Bart's life, Arthur had been physically and emotionally abusive towards his family, with Bart being beaten severely at points; Arthur and his wife Adele eventually divorced, and Bart was sent to live with his mother after an especially extreme whipping. Bart kept in contact with his father, however, who was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when Bart was 15. His father began to make amends for his actions and started becoming more religiously observant, reading the Bible and going to church regularly. As Arthur progressively became more ill, his relationship with his son improved dramatically; by the time Arthur died in 1991, when Bart was 18, the two were very close. Millard said that "I got a front row seat to see this guy go from being a monster to falling desperately in love with Jesus. By the time he passed away when I was a freshman in college, not only was he my best friend, he was like the Godliest man I’d ever known". After Arthur's death, Bart became obsessed with the phrase "I can only imagine" after hearing his grandmother say that she could only imagine what Arthur was seeing in heaven. Millard found comfort in the thought and began to write it on anything he could find. Once Millard started writing the song, he estimated that it took him only about ten minutes to write the lyrics. Millard said that it was one of the few songs he had ever written where there were not any mistakes in the writing process; "it was just written the way it is and left at that”.
I can only imagine what it will be like when I walk by Your side.
I can only imagine what my eyes would see when Your face is before me.
I can only imagine.
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, I can only imagine.
I can only imagine when that day comes and I find myself standing in the Son.
I can only imagine when all I will do is forever, forever worship You.
I can only imagine, I can only imagine
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, yeah, I can only imagine.
I can only imagine, yeah, I can only imagine.
I can only imagine when all I will do is forever, forever worship You.
I can only imagine.
About the Hymns:
For the Beauty of the Earth
Folliott Piermont (1835-1917) was born in Bath, England and was a lay member of the Anglican Church. Following his graduation from Queen's College, Cambridge, he taught the classics for a time at Somerset College, later becoming a freelance writer. During his 82 years of life, Pierpoint published seven volumes of poems and hymn texts, many of them showing his love for nature. He is most remembered for this beautiful hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth.
Piermont was about 29 years old when he wrote the text for this joyful hymn. It was a lovely day in late spring. While enjoying the surrounding area of his native city of Bath, in England, he was inspired by the beautiful countryside with its winding cool and peaceful river, Avon, in the distance. The tuneful songbirds, the wind whispering over a vibrantly colored hillside, all seemed to be praising the Creator with their unrestrained gladness and peace. Overwhelmed with emotion, he expressed his feelings of gratitude in the penning of this sacred song. The text was inspired by Hebrews 13:15: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." It first appeared in 1864 in a book of Eucharistic hymns and poems entitled Lyra Eucharistica, Hymns and Verses on The Holy Communion, Ancient and Modern, with other Poems with the title "The Sacrifice of Praise".
An early form of the tune DIX was composed by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872). Trained as a teacher, Kocher moved from Germany to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a tutor at the age of seventeen. But his love for the music of Haydn and Mozart impelled him to a career in music. He moved back to Germany in 1811, settled in Stuttgart, and remained there for most of his life. The prestigious Cotta music firm published some of his early compositions and sent him to study music in Italy, where he came under the influence of Palestrina's music. In 1821 Kocher founded the School for Sacred Song in Stuttgart, which popularized four-part singing in the churches of that region. He was organist and choir director at the Striftsckirche in Stuttgart from 1827 to 1865. Kocher wrote a treatise on church music, Die Tonkunst in der Kirche (1823), collected a large number of chorales in Zions Harfe (1855), and composed an oratorio, two operas, and some sonatas. William H. Monk created the current form of DIX by revising and shortening Conrad Kocher's chorale melody for “Treuer Heiland, wir sind hir,” found in Kocher's Stimmen aus den Reiche Gottes (1838). Monk's tune was published in the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, of which Monk was music editor.
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth over and around us lies.
For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light,
For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind’s delight,
for the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight;
For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,
For thy church, that evermore lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore her pure sacrifice of love;
For Thyself, best gift divine, to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of Thine, peace on earth, and joy in heaven.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise, this our sacrifice of praise.
Softly and Tenderly
Rebuffed in an early attempt to sell his songs to a commercial publisher, Will Lamartine Thompson (1847-1909) started his own publishing company. He later expanded, opening a store to sell pianos, organs and sheet music. Both a lyricist and composer, he ensured he would always remember words or melodies that came to him at odd times: "No matter where I am, at home or hotel, at the store or traveling, if an idea or theme comes to me that I deem worthy of a song, I jot it down in verse. In this way I never lose it."
When the world-renowned lay preacher, Dwight Lyman Moody, lay on his death bed in his Northfield, Massachusetts, home, Will Thompson made a special visit to inquire as to his condition. The attending physician refused to admit him to the sickroom, and Moody heard them talking just outside the bedroom door. Recognizing Thompson’s voice, he called for him to come to his bedside. Taking the Ohio poet-composer by the hand, the dying evangelist said, “Will, I would rather have written “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” than anything I have been able to do in my whole life.”
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching, Watching for you and for me.
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading, Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies, Mercies for you and for me?
O for the wonderful love he has promised, promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon, pardon for you and for me.
Come home, come home, You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling, O sinner, come home!
As We Go - Jeremy Johnson
(c.2007, Van Ness Press, admin by LifeWay Worship)
Jeremy Johnson is a full-time songwriter and producer for LifeWay Worship Music Group. Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Jeremy moved to Nashville in 1994 to attend Belmont University. He signed an exclusive publishing deal with LifeWay in 2004 when his songs gained the attention of producer/songwriter Greg Nelson. Jeremy is the pianist/band leader at The Church at Station Hill in Spring Hill, TN.
This hymn is a simple, sincere call to carry the message and Spirit with us wherever we go. The words and music were written by Jeremy Johnson in 2011. The text is based on Psalm 48:14 and Matthew 28:16-20.
As we go, may your Spirit go before us.
As we go, may we follow where you lead.
May we live what we have learned,
share the message we have heard,
and be a light unto the world as we go.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment