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:
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross - Herbert Colvin
(c.1944, R D Row Music Co.)
Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915) was the author of over 8,500 gospel songs. Though blind at 6 weeks of age, Crosby began composing texts at age 6. She later became a teacher at the New York School for the Blind, where she was a student. A friend of several presidents, Crosby became one of the most important advocates for the cause of the blind in the United States. Her texts were set to the compositions of some of the most prominent gospel song composers of the day including William Bradbury, William Doane and Ira Sankey. Crosby composed under a number of pen names. She married blind musician Alexander Van Alstyne. British hymnals identify her as Frances Van Alstyne, her married name.
This hymn first appeared in the collection Bright Jewels (1869), compiled by Bradbury, Doane, W.F. Sherwin and Chester G. Allen, at least two of whom were famous writers of gospel song tunes. Indeed, it was Doane who wrote the music and then gave it to Fanny Crosby to add the text—a practice that was not uncommon in their relationship. It is one of many texts by Crosby that combine vivid imagery and powerful biblical and evangelical metaphors: the Cross, a fountain of healing streams, free grace, the daily walk of faith, God’s pursuing love and mercy, Jesus, the Lamb of God, beyond the river of death, heaven with its golden streets, and rest for the post-Raptured souls.”
The glory of the Cross, a theme of the refrain, is a common metaphor of Romantic-era hymnody. The Cross, a place where the pain of earth and the joy of heaven come together, is a kind of spiritual altar to which we might draw near for refuge and solace. Though an instrument of cruel punishment and torture, the Cross is a source of a “healing stream” (stanza one) and a place where “the bright and morning star sheds its beams” on us (stanza two). Stanza three invites us to meditate upon the Cross—“bring its scenes before me.” The “shadow” of the Cross falls on my daily path.
Many writers have commented on Fanny Crosby’s ability to employ the technique of hypotyposis—painting a vivid scene as if it were present—even though she was blinded soon after birth. Dwight L. Moody once asked Crosby: “If you could have just one wish granted, what would it be?” Moody expected her to ask for sight. She replied, “If I could have one wish, I’d wish that I might continue blind the rest of my life.” Moody was taken aback and asked, “How can you say that?” Crosby responded, “Because, after being blind for all these years, the first face I want to see now is the face of Jesus.”
Jesus, keep me near the Cross, there a precious fountain,
free to all a healing stream, flows from Calvary’s mountain.
Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and mercy found me;
There the Bright and Morning Star Shed His beams around me.
Near the cross! O lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day With its shadow o'er me.
Near the cross! I'll watch and wait, Hoping, trusting ever;
Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river.
In the Cross, in the Cross, be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Otis Herbert Colvin, Jr. (1923-2011) was professor of piano, theory and carillon at Baylor University for more than 40 years. He also served as University Carilloneur. He earned a B.A. from Baylor University in 1944, then served in the U.S. Navy during WW II until 1946. He then returned to Baylor and earned a B.M. degree in 1948. He earned a Master of Music degree in 1950 from the University of Colorado. He taught music at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, for five years before attending the Eastman School of Music and earning his Ph.D. degree from the University of Rochester in 1958. He was a concert accompanist and organist; in Waco, he served at Central Christian, Columbus Avenue Baptist and Seventh and James Baptist Churches. Professional memberships included the American Guild of Organists, Music Teachers National Association, Texas Society for Music Theory, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, and Baylor Masonic Lodge 32 degree. In addition to teaching and playing, Herbert was an accomplished composer and editor of music. Among his numerous compositions are Organ Voluntaries based on Early American Hymn Tunes; For Sunday; Gloria; Nine Hymn Settings for Organ; For Sunday, Volume II; Sheep May Safely Graze; Surely the Lord is in This Place; Four Madrigals; and They That Wait Upon the Lord. He edited and contributed to many other choral and keyboard compositions, and contributed articles to professional journals.
The Glory of These Forty Days - Mark Sedio
(c.1996, Augsburg Fortress)
St. Pope Gregory I., The Great was born at Rome about A.D. 540. His family was distinguished not only for its rank and social consideration, but for its piety and good works. His father, Gordianus, was a man of senatorial rank and great wealth; whilst his mother, Silvia, and her sisters-in-law, Tarsilla and Aemiliana, attained the distinction of canonization. Gregory made the best use of his advantages in circumstances and surroundings, so far as his education went. "A saint among saints," he was considered second to none in Rome in grammar, rhetoric, and logic. In early life, before his father's death, he became a member of the Senate; and soon after he was thirty, he devoted the whole of the large fortune that he inherited to religious uses. He founded no less than six monasteries in Sicily. In 577 the then Pope, Benedict I, made him one of the seven Cardinal Deacons who presided over the seven principal divisions of Rome.
The following year Benedict's successor, Pelagius II, sent him on an embassy of congratulation to the new emperor Tiberius, at Constantinople. After six years' residence at Constantinople he returned to Rome. It was during this residence at Rome, before he was called upon to succeed Pelagius, that his interest was excited in the evangelization of Britain by seeing some beautiful children, natives of that country, exposed for sale in the slave-market there ("non Angli, sed Angeli"). He volunteered to head a mission to convert the British, and, having obtained the Pope's sanction for the enterprise, but he was recalled by Pelagius, at the earnest demand of the Roman people. In 590, he became Pope, and carried out his intentions towards Britain by the mission of St. Augustine. . His Papacy, upon which he entered with genuine reluctance, and only after he had taken every step in his power to be relieved from the office, lasted until 604, when he died at the early age of fifty-five. His Pontificate was distinguished by his zeal, ability, and address in the administration of his temporal and spiritual kingdom alike, and his missionaries found their way into all parts of the known world. He exhibited tolerance for Jews and heretics, and his disapproval of slavery by freeing all his own slaves.
Gregory's great learning won for him the distinction of being ranked as one of the four Latin doctors, and exhibited itself in many works of value, the most important of which are his Moralium Libri xxxv., and his two books of homilies on Ezekiel and the Gospels. His influence was also great as a preacher and many of his sermons are still extant. But he is most famous, perhaps, for the services he rendered to the liturgy and music of the Church, whereby he gained for himself the title of Magister Caeremoniarum. His Sacramentary, in which he gave its definite form to the Sacrifice of the Mass, and his Antiphonary, a collection which he made of chants old and new, as well as a school called Orplianotrophium, which he established at Rome for the cultivation of church singing, prove his interest in such subjects, and his success in his efforts to render the public worship of his day worthy of Him to Whom it was addressed. The Gregorian Tones, or chants, with which we are still familiar after a lapse of twelve centuries, we owe to his anxiety to supersede the more melodious and flowing style of church music which is popularly attributed to St. Ambrose, by the severer and more solemn monotone which is their characteristic. The contributions of St. Gregory to our stores of Latin hymns are not numerous, but few as they are, they are still used in the services of the Church. The Benedictine editors credit St. Gregory with 8 hymns, (1) “Primo dierum omnium;" (2) "Nocte surgentes vigilemus;" (3) "Ecce jam noctis tenuatur tunbra;" (4) “Clarum decus jejunii;" (5) "Audi benigne conditor;" (6) "Magno salutis gaudio;" (7) “Rex Christe factor omnium;" (8) "Lucis Creator Optime." Some writers credit him with three others. (9) “Ecce tempus idoneum;" (10) "Summi largitor praemii;" (11) "Noctis tempus jam praeterit."
“Clarum decus jejunii” refers to the temptation of Christ in the wilderness; the glory not being, of course, the temptation itself, but the victory over that temptation. The period of forty days - and this hymn - have for centuries since been embedded into the observance of Lent. Note that the very second phrase of the hymn is "we celebrate with songs of praise," signalling that Lent is not a period of - nor does introspective self-denial require - mourning. It was translated by Maurice Bell as “The Glory of These Forty Days”, and published in The English Hymnal (1906).
The hymn tune ERHALT UNS, HERR is the successor to a chant tune associated with the text Veni Redemptor gentium. The first arrangement of this text and tune has been attributed to Martin Luther, first in a 1541 broadsheet in low German, then a high German version appearing two years later in Joseph Klug's Geistliche Lieder (1543). The hymnal version was harmonized by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the tune forms the basis for Cantata 126, Erhalt' uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort ("Keep us, Lord, according to thy Word").
The glory of these forty days We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by Whom all things were made, Himself has fasted and has prayed.
Alone and fasting Moses saw The loving God Who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came The steeds and chariots of flame.
So Daniel trained his mystic sight, Delivered from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became The herald of Messiah’s Name.
Then grant us, Lord, like them to be Full oft in fast and prayer with Thee;
Our spirits strengthen with Thy grace, And give us joy to see Thy face.
O Father, Son, and Spirit blest, To thee be every prayer addressed,
Who art in threefold Name adored, From age to age, the only Lord.
Mark Sedio serves Cantor at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. In addition, he has held teaching positions both at Augsburg College and Luther Seminary. Sedio is an active recitalist, clinician, conductor and composer, having presented hymn festivals and workshops throughout North America and Europe. Over 125 of his compositions for organ, piano, choral and instrumental ensembles are available from a number of publishers. A number of his hymn tunes, texts and harmonization appear in various denominational hymnals and supplements. A love of foreign language acquisition and linguistics combined with interest in folk music and styles has led to a keen interest in global church music. He holds a B.A. in music from Augsburg College and an M.A. in choral music from the University of Iowa. He has studied in the M.Div. program at Luther Seminary and the liturgical studies program at St. John’s University. A charter member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Sedio served on the organization’s founding board and as its first Director of Ecclesiastical Concerns. He chaired the worship committee for the 2008 national convention of the American Guild of Organists.
About the Choral Music:
Your Still, Small Voice - Douglas Wagner
(c.2002, Belwin-Mills Publishing)
Douglas E. Wagner, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is an international recognized composer and arranger. With thirty years as a high school music educator and administrator behind him, Mr. Wagner now devotes all of his time and energy to writing, editing and their allied activities. He is an A.S.C.A.P. award-winning composer, an editor for a major publishing company, and has served several denominations as a church musician. 2,500 titles by Douglas E. Wagner have been published since 1973, included works for choir (sacred and secular), concert band, orchestra, handbell ensemble, organ, piano, instrumental solo, and voice. Fifteen million copies of his music have been sold to date.
“Your Still, Small Voice” sets a text by Charlotte Lee, based on I Kings 19:11-12.
Your still, small voice, Lord, let me hear it,
Your still, small voice in this frantic world.
Your still, small voice, calm my restless spirit;
Speak to me until I find my rest in you.
Your still, small voice, Lord, let me hear it,
Your still, small voice in this troubled world.
Your still, small voice, call my restless spirit;
Speak to me until I find my rest in you.
Lord, I heard you not in the thunder, nor the fire, nor the whirlwind’s blast;
But perhaps in silent wonder, you will touch my life at last.
Your still, small voice, Lord, let me hear it,
Your still, small voice in this troubled world.
Your still, small voice, call my restless spirit;
Speak to me until I find my rest in you.
In the quiet peace of the morning, when the day is fresh and clear,
Speak to me, Lord, I will listen, call to me and I will hear.
Your still, small voice, Lord, let me hear it,
Your still, small voice in this frantic world.
Your still, small voice, calm my restless spirit;
Speak to me until I find my rest in you,
’til I find my rest in you.
About the Hymns:
Hope of the World
(c.1982, Hymn Society of America)
Of the hundreds of hymns submitted in a search for new hymns for the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches (held in Evanston, IL, in August 1954), "Hope of the World" was chosen as the winner by the Hymn Society of America. Theologian Georgia E. Harkness (1891-1974) wrote the text to coincide with the Assembly's theme, “Jesus Christ, Hope of the World.” First published in a Hymn Society of America pamphlet, Eleven Ecumenical Hymns (1954) and in The Hymn (July 1954), the text has since appeared in many North American hymnals. Translated into several languages, it has also been published in hymnals in various other countries.
Harkness studied at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, received a doctoral degree from Boston University (1923), and did further studies at Harvard, Yale, and Union Theological Seminary. She taught at Elmira (NY) College (1922-1937); Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (1937-1939); Garret School of Theology, Evanston, Illinois (1939-50); and the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California (1950-61). The first woman in the United States to be appointed a full professor in a theological seminary, Harkness was ordained in the Methodist Church in 1926. Partly because of her work in the World Council of Churches, her influence was wide-ranging. The recipient of many honors and awards, she wrote thirty-seven books, including John Calvin: The Man and His Ethics (1931), Prayer and the Common Life (1947), TheProvidence of God (1960), and Women in Church and Society (1972). Her hymn texts and other poetry were published in Holy Flame (1935), The Glory of God (1943), and Be Still and Know (1953).
Joseph Barnby composed O PERFECT LOVE and said it was a "hymn tune in the natural style and idiom … of our own time." Originally an anthem, O PERFECT LOVE was shortened into a hymn tune for publication in The Hymnal Companion (1890) and in the Church Hymnary (1898). The tune is also known as FIFE and SANDRINGHAM.
Hope of the world, thou Christ of great compassion,
speak to our fearful hearts by conflict rent.
Save us, thy people, from consuming passion,
who by our own false hopes and aims are spent.
Hope of the world, God’s gift from highest heaven,
bringing to hungry souls the bread of life,
still let thy spirit unto us be given,
to heal earth’s wounds and end all bitter strife.
Hope of the world, afoot on dusty highways,
showing to wandering souls the path of light,
walk thou beside us lst the tempting byways
lure us away from thee to endless night.
Hope of the world, who by thy cross didst save us
from death and dark despair, from sin and guilt,
we render back the love thy mercy gave us;
take thou our lives, and use them as thou wilt.
Hope of the world, O Christ o’er death victorious,
who by this sign didst conquer grief and pain,
we would be faithful to thy gospel glorious;
thou art our Lord! Thou dost forever reign.
What Wondrous Love is This
What Wondrous Love Is This is sometimes described as a "white spiritual", from the American South. Its text was first published in 1811, during the Second Great Awakening, and its melody is derived from an English popular ballad. The hymn's lyrics were first published in Lynchburg, Virginia in the c. 1811 camp meeting songbook A General Selection of the Newest and Most Admired Hymns and Spiritual Songs Now in Use. The lyrics may also have been printed, in a slightly different form, in the 1811 book Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Original and Selected published in Lexington, Kentucky. In most early printings, the hymn's text was attributed to an anonymous author, though the 1848 hymnal The Hesperian Harp attributes the text to a Methodist pastor from Oxford, Georgia named Alexander Means. In 1966, the United Methodist Book of Hymns became the first standard hymnal to incorporate What Wondrous Love Is This.
Most sources attribute the hymn's melody to the 1701 English song "The Ballad of Captain Kidd", which describes the exploits of pirate William Kidd (misnamed "Robert" in American versions of the ballad). The melody itself predates the Kidd usage, however, possibly by more than a century.(In addition, at least a dozen popular songs were set to the same melody after 1701.) In the early 1800s, when the lyrics to "What Wondrous Love Is This" were first published, hymnals typically lacked any musical notation. Camp meeting attendees during the Second Great Awakening would sing the hymns printed in these hymnals to a variety of popular melodies, including "The Ballad of Captain Kidd", which was well known at the time; this is likely how the text and melody came to be paired. The text and melody were first published together in the appendix of the 1840 edition of The Southern Harmony, a book of shape note hymns compiled by William Walker. The three-part harmony printed in The Southern Harmony was arranged by James Christopher of Spartanburg, South Carolina. In a later printing of the hymn, William Walker noted that it was a "very popular old Southern tune”.
The hymn is sung in Dorian mode, giving it a haunting quality. Though The Southern Harmony and many later hymnals incorrectly notated the song in Aeolian mode (natural minor) even congregations singing from these hymnals generally sang in Dorian mode by spontaneously raising the sixth note a half step wherever it appeared. Twentieth-century hymnals generally present the hymn in Dorian mode, or sometimes in Aeolian mode but with a raised sixth.
The song's lyrics express awe at the love of God and are reminiscent of the text of John 3:16. The following lyrics are those printed in the 1811 hymnal A General Selection of the Newest and Most Admired Hymns and Spiritual Songs Now in Use; a number of variations exist, but most are descended from this version.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this! That caused the Lord of bliss!
To send this precious peace, To my soul, to my soul!
To send this precious peace To my soul!
When I was sinking down, Sinking down, sinking down;
When I was sinking down Sinking down
When I was sinking down, Beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown For my soul, for my soul!
Christ laid aside his crown For my soul!
Ye winged seraphs fly, Bear the news, bear the news!
Ye winged seraphs fly Bear the news!--
Ye winged seraphs fly, like comets through the sky,
fill vast eternity! With the news, with the news!
Fill vast eternity With the news!
Ye friends of Zion's king, join his praise, join his praise;
Ye friends of Zion's king, join his praise;
Ye friends of Zion's king, with hearts and voices sing,
and strike each tuneful string in his praise, in his praise!
and strike each tuneful string in his praise!
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing--
To God and to the Lamb, who is the great I AM,
while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing!
while millions join the theme, I will sing!
And while from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on,
And while from death I'm free, I'll sing on.
and while from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be,
and through eternity I'll sing on, I'll sing on,
and through eternity I'll sing on.
Come and Fill Our Hearts
(c.1991, Les Presses de Taize, admin. GIA Publications)
The hymn “Come and Fill Our Hearts” was written in 1982 by the Taizé community in France. The tune CONFITEMINI DOMINO was composed by Jacques Berthier. The hymn is a prayer of healing and centering.
Jacques Berthier (1923-1994) studied music at the Ecole Cesar Franck in Paris. From 1961 until his death he served as organist at St. Ignace Church, Paris. Although his published works include numerous compositions for organ, voice, and instruments, Berthier is best known as the composer of service music for the Taizé community near Cluny, Burgundy. Influenced by the French liturgist and church musician Joseph Gelineau, Berthier began writing songs for equal voices in 1955 for the services of the then nascent community of twenty brothers at Taizé. As the Taizé community grew, Berthier continued to compose most of the mini-hymns, canons, and various associated instrumental arrangements, which are now universally known as the Taizé repertoire. In the past two decades this repertoire has become widely used in North American church music in both Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Have mercy on us.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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