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:
Communion - Alexandre Guilmant
(c.1960, Carl Fischer)
Organ "Communion" pieces are short, contemplative compositions typically played during the Communion liturgy, often following the Agnus Dei. They serve as musical accompaniment to the distribution of the elements, sometimes with the addition of a sung Communion chant. Many Communion pieces are based on the Communion chant for the day, as set in the Graduale Romanum or other liturgical texts. Composers often choose to use the appointed chant as a foundation for their composition. Others may be freely composed, often reflecting a sense of peace, contemplation, and reverence appropriate for the liturgical setting.
Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) was a French organist and composer. In 1871, he was appointed to play the organ regularly at la Trinité church in Paris, and this position he held for 30 years. Guilmant was known for his improvisations, both in the concert and church setting. His inspiration came from gregorian chants, and he was greatly noted amongst his colleagues for his mastery of the melodies. From then on, Guilmant followed a career as a virtuoso; he gave concerts in the United States (the first major French organist to tour that country), and in Canada, as well as in Europe, making especially frequent visits to England. His American achievements included a 1904 series of no fewer than 40 recitals on the largest organ in the world, the St. Louis Exposition Organ, now preserved as the nucleus of Philadelphia's Wanamaker Organ.
In 1894 Guilmant founded the Schola Cantorum with Charles Bordes and Vincent d'Indy. He taught there up until his death at his home in Meudon, near Paris, in 1911. In addition, he taught at the Conservatoire de Paris where he succeeded Charles-Marie Widor as organ teacher in 1896.As a teacher, Guilmant was noted for his kindness and attention to detail. His students' recollections feature accounts of a particular focus on all facets of a note: attack, release, character. Marcel Dupré was the most celebrated of his many students.
Guilmant was an accomplished and extremely prolific composer. Unlike Widor, who produced a great deal of music in all the main genres, Guilmant devoted himself almost entirely to works for his own instrument, the organ. His organ output includes: 'Pièces dans différents styles', published in 18 books; 'L'organiste pratique', published in 12 books; Eighteen 'Pièces Nouvelles'; and 'L'Organiste liturgique', published in 10 books. Guilmant's Eight Sonatas were conceived with the Cavaillé-Coll organ of La Trinité in mind, and are therefore symphonic in style and form, taking their place alongside the symphonic organ works of César Franck and the Organ Symphonies of Charles-Marie Widor.
Partita on Hymn to Joy: Finale - Charles Callahan
(c.1993, MorningStar Music)
"The Hymn of Joy" (often called "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" after the first line) is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 with the intention of musically setting it to the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's final symphony, Symphony No. 9. Van Dyke wrote this poem in 1907 while staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield. He was serving as a guest preacher at Williams at the time. He told his host that the local Berkshire Mountains had been his inspiration. The lyrics were first published in 1911 in Van Dyke's Book of Poems.
Van Dyke wrote of this hymn: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.” This hymn is generally considered by hymnologists to be one of the most joyous expressions of hymn lyrics in the English language.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906. In 1908–09 Dr. van Dyke was an American lecturer at the University of Paris. By appointment of President Wilson, a friend and former classmate of van Dyke, he became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors. Among his popular writings are the two Christmas stories, The Other Wise Man (1896) and The First Christmas Tree (1897). Various religious themes of his work are also expressed in his poetry, hymns and the essays collected in Little Rivers (1895) and Fisherman’s Luck (1899).
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life.
Charles Callahan (b. 1951) is one of America’s leading organist-composers. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America. In recognition of his service to the church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the U.S., he was awared the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1999. In addition to compositions and performances, Charles Callahan is a noted educator and author whose two books on American organ-building have become standard reference works.
About the Piano Music:
O God, Beyond All Praising - Paul Tate
(c.2013, GIA Publications)
Michael Perry (1942-1996) was born in Beckenham, Kent, England, where he served as Vicar of Tonbridge and a canon of Rochester Cathedral. One of England’s most promising hymn writers, he worked as editor and director of Jubilate Hymns until an inoperable brain tumor led to his untimely death in December 1996. Michael Baughen founded the Jubilate group in the early 1960s. According to Perry, the group pooled their talents to meet the challenge of a new generation in the United Kingdom., who wished to extend their singing beyond the foursquare ways of metrical hymnody and the “unpredictability of Anglican chant.” With the newfound popularity of Perry’s “Calypso Carol” and the support of the Church Pastoral Aid Society, Youth Praise 2 was published in 1969.
“O God beyond all praising” was written specifically for the melody THAXTED in 1982, a composition by the early 20th-century British composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934). This tune is normally associated in the U.K. with a more patriotic text. Perry composed this text, he said, “in response to a call for alternative words that would be more appropriate for Christian worship.” Rarely is a symphonic theme taken en toto and used for a hymn tune. The ranges are usually too wide and the phrases may be too long for congregational singing. The melody THAXTED, named for a small town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, comes from the middle section of the “Jupiter” movement in Holst’s orchestral suite, The Planets (1914-1916). In 1921, Holst adapted the theme to fit Cecil Spring-Rice’s patriotic poem “I vow to thee my country” (1908). It is hard to underestimate the fervor that this text/tune combination inspires in the British homeland. It is often sung at Remembrance Day services, and Princess Diana requested it for her wedding in 1981. The song was repeated for her funeral in 1997 and again for the 10th anniversary observance of her death in 2007.
Perry faced a formidable challenge in composing a text to such a stately theme, especially one that bears an association with a text that combines patriotic and religious fervor. To meet this challenge, he created a majestic hymn of praise that is biblically rooted. For example, the final line of the second stanza, “our sacrifice of praise,” come directly from Psalm 116:17 and Hebrews 13:15. In stanza one, the phrase, “wait upon your word,” echoes Psalm 130:5. Another phrase from stanza one, “for we can only wonder at every gift you send,” resounds in the spirit of James 1:17.
The brief words “without number” was an acknowledgment to fellow hymn writer Timothy Dudley Smith for his encouragement and an expression of homage to Dudley Smith because this was one of his favorite phrases. In the final stanza, the phrase “we’ll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless you still” was, according to the author, a “reflect[ion on] my remembered determination of youthful days to overcome acute disappointment and personal loss.”
A new second stanza was added at the request of Roman Catholic composer Richard Proulx who wished to write an anthem based on the text. It was written for a specific Sunday based on the reading for the day, I Corinthians 15..
O God beyond all praising, we worship you today
and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder at every gift you send,
at blessings without number and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you, our great and mighty Lord.
The flower of earthly splendor in time must surely die,
its fragile bloom surrender to you the Lord most high;
but hidden from all nature the eternal seed is sown -
though small in mortal stature, to heaven's garden grown:
for Christ the Man from heaven from death has set us free,
and we through him are given the final victory!
Then hear, O gracious Savior, accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill,
we'll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise.
Paul A. Tate, a graduate of the University of Georgia, is a professional musician living in Sugar Hill, Georgia. As an active workshop presenter and concert performer, Paul has released a dozen recordings and published over 100 original songs and arrangements. His liturgical compositions appear in a number of hymnal resources, and his voice has been heard around the world on Sirius Satellite Radio.
About the Choral Music:
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus - Gilbert Martin
(c.1996, Lorenz Publishing)
"O the Deep Deep, Love of Jesus" was written by the London merchant Samuel Trevor Francis. Francis (1834–1925) had a spiritual turning point as a teenager, contemplating suicide one night on a bridge over the River Thames. Experiencing a renewal of faith, he went on to author many poems and hymns and was a preacher in addition to his merchant career. The song compares Jesus' love to the ocean in scope, emphasizing the limitless, unchanging, and sacrificial nature of God's affections for the singer and all of humanity.
"BEACH SPRING" is a hymn tune attributed to Benjamin Franklin White (1800-1879), co-editor of The Sacred Harp shape-note hymnal, where the tune was published in 1844. Paired there with a text beginning "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy," it has served as accompaniment for various other hymn texts since.
Gilbert M. Martin (b. 1941) is a free-lance composer and editor of choral music. For more than 30 years, organists, pianists, schools and churches have performed and enjoyed his original compositions and arrangements. He often travels throughout the country to teach and conduct musical ensembles. He received a B. Mus. from Westminster Choir College, where he was honored as a distinguished composer and graduate. He has received 21 yearly ASCAP Awards, and is a member of ACDA, AGO, AEA, and NARAS.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free;
rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of his love;
leading onward, leading homeward to that glorious rest above.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread his praise from shore to shore;
He who loves us, ever loves us changes never, nevermore!
He who died to save his loved ones, intercedes for them above;
He who called them his own people, watches over them in love.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best;
Vast the ocean of his blessing, sweet the haven of his rest.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus - for my heav'n of heavens is he;
This my everlasting glory - Jesus’ mighty love for me!
Amen, amen, amen.
About the Hymns:
O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing
(c.1989, United Methodist Publishing House)
The author of the Latin poem “O filii et filiae, Rex coelestis, Rex gloriae,” Jean Tisserand (d. 1494, Paris), is little known to us. He was a Franciscan monk who founded a penitent order for women. Tisserand’s Latin poem was translated into English by the famous 19th-century hymnologist, John Mason Neale (1818-1866). Neale was the guiding light of the Oxford Movement, devoted to the recovery of ancient practices in hymns, liturgy and architecture.
This particular song falls under the category of an Easter Carol with a dance-like feel (in three beats or even one beat to a measure) and its storytelling quality. Probably, this was a tune that could have been accompanied with medieval wind instruments and percussion, most likely outside of the church’s liturgy. In its original form, the carol begins with a triple alleluia that sets the tone for the narrative to follow. In many ways, this carol is the Eastertide equivalent of “The First Noel”.
“O Sons and Daughters” is particularly attractive for its simple narrative quality. The nine stanzas found in many hymnals are part of an original 12-stanza hymn that was included in Neale’s Medieval Hymns and Sequences (1851). It tells not only the story of the resurrection, but continues with the risen Christ’s appearance to the apostles who “met in fear” following the death of Christ.
O sons and daughters of the King, whom heavenly hosts in glory sing,
today the grave has lost its sting. Alleluia!
That Easter morn at break of day, the faithful women went their way
to seek the tomb where Jesus lay. Alleluia!
An angel clad in white they see, who sat and spoke unto the three,
"Your Lord has gone to Galilee." Alleluia!
At night the apostles met in fear; among them came their Master dear
and said, "My peace be with you here." Alleluia!
When Thomas first the tidings heard that some had seen the risen Lord,
he doubted the disciples' word. Lord, have mercy!
”My pierced side, O Thomas, see, and look upon my hands, my feet;
not faithless but believing be." Alleluia!
No longer Thomas then denied; he saw the feet, the hands, the side.
"You are my Lord and God!" he cried. Alleluia!
How blest are they who have not seen and yet whose faith has constant been,
for they eternal life shall win. Alleluia!
On this most holy day of days Our hearts and voices, Lord, we raise
To Thee, in jubilee and praise. Alleluia! Alleluia!
We Walk by Faith
(c.1984, GIA Publications)
Henry Alford, D.D. (1810-1871) was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with honors, in 1832. In 1833 he was ordained to the Curacy of Ampton. Subsequently he held the Vicarage of Wymeswold, 1835-1853,--the Incumbency of Quebec Chapel, London, 1853-1857; and the Deanery of Canterbury, 1857-1871. In addition he held several important appointments, including that of a Fellow of Trinity, and the Hulsean Lectureship, 1841-2. His greatest literary undertaking was his edition of the Greek Testament, the result of 20 years' labour. His hymnological and poetical works were numerous, and included the compiling of collections, the composition of original hymns, and translations from other languages. His hymns are evangelical in their teaching, but somewhat cold and conventional and they vary greatly in quality. His most popular hymn is "Come, ye thankful people, come”.
The hymntune SHANTI was written by Mary Haugen (b. 1950), a prolific liturgical composer with many songs included in hymnals across the liturgical spectrum of North American hymnals and beyond, with many songs translated into different languages. He was raised in the American Lutheran Church, received a BA in psychology from Luther College, yet found his first position as a church musician in a Roman Catholic parish at a time when the Roman Catholic Church was undergoing profound liturgical and musical changes after Vatican II. Finding a vocation in that parish to provide accessible songs for worship, he continued to compose and to study, receiving an MA in pastoral studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota. A number of liturgical settings were prepared for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and more than 400 of his compositions are available from several publishers, especially GIA Publications, who also produced some 30 recordings of his songs. He is composer-in-residence at Mayflower Community Congregational Church in Minneapolis and continues to compose and travel to speak and teach at worship events around the world.
We walk by faith, and not by sight: no gracious words we hear
of him who spoke as none e’er spoke, but we believe him near.
We may not touch his hands and side, nor follow where he trod;
yet in his promise we rejoice, and cry “My Lord and God!”
Help then, O Lord, our unbelief, and may our faith abound;
To call on you when you are near, and seek where you are found.
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.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
