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:
My Spirit Be Joyful (Wie Will Ich Mich Freuen) - J. S. Bach
arr. for organ and two trumpets - E. Power Biggs
(c.1952, Mercury Music)
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 one of the main composers 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).
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (We must [pass] through great sadness), BWV 146, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the third Sunday after Easter. Bach composed it in Leipzig in 1726 or 1727. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of Peter, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man" (1 Peter 2:11–20), and from the Gospel of John, Jesus announcing his second coming in his Farewell Discourse (John 16:16–23).
The seventh movement is an Aria (tenor, bass): Wie will ich mich freuen, wie will ich mich laben. The English translation of the text is:
How I will rejoice, how I will delight, when all mortal sorrows are over!
There I will shine like a star and glow like the sun,
Then the divine, blessed joy will be never be disrupted by grieving, weeping, or lament.
Edward George Power Biggs (1906-1977) was a British-born American concert organist and recording artist. Biggs was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, and immigrated to the United States in 1930. In 1932, he was appointed to a post at Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he resided for the rest of his life.
Biggs did much to bring the classical pipe organ back to prominence, and was in the forefront of the mid-20th-century resurgence of interest in the organ music of pre-Romantic composers. On his first concert tour of Europe, in 1954, Biggs performed and recorded works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Sweelinck, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Pachelbel on historic organs associated with those composers. Thereafter, he believed that such music should ideally be performed on instruments representative of that period and that organ music of that epoch should be played by using (as closely as possible) the styles and registrations of that era. Thus, he gave significant impetus to the American revival of organ building in the style of European Baroque instruments, seen especially in the increasing popularity of tracker organs—analogous to Europe's Orgelbewegung.
Biggs was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1950. He was one of the artists honored to celebrate the New York Philharmonic's 125th birthday celebrations in December 1967. Between 1942 and 1958, he also hosted a weekly radio program of organ music (carried throughout the United States on the CBS Radio Network) that introduced audiences to the pipe organ and its literature.
Biggs edited and arranged many Baroque and pre-Baroque organ works. He has arranged this duet for organ and two trumpets.
Easter Morn - John E. West
(public domain)
John Ebenezer West (1863–1929) was the son of William West, an organist and founder of the North-East London Academy of Music. West was taught at home by his father and received organ lessons from Frederick Bridge, organist at Westminster Abbey. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was taught composition by his uncle, Ebenezer Prout, the respected authority on the fugues of Bach. He gained his Associateship from the Academy in 1898 and passed the Fellowship exam of the then College of Organists (it did not receive “Royal” status until 1893).
West held successive organ posts in London at St. Mary’s, Bourdon Street; St. John of Jerusalem, South Hackney; and St. Augustine’s, Queen’s Gate. He conducted various choral societies and choirs in London, Reading, Croydon and Warlingham and lastly, the Railway Clearing House Male-Voice Choir. This choir was highly regarded in the early 20th Century.
In 1884, on his twenty-first birthday, he entered the music publishing firm of Novello & Company in London as an associate editor. In 1897, West succeeded to the post of chief editor and adviser. He was a prolific composer and editor with nearly 500 published pieces to his name. He was a pioneer in the field of editing, especially choral and organ music from earlier centuries. He was awarded the FRAM in 1919 for his services to music and for bringing distinction on his alma mater.
Dance Prelude on Thine is the Glory - Kenneth Grinnell
for Two Trumpets and Organ
(c.1990, Morning Star Music)
Thine Be the Glory, Risen Conquering Son (French: À toi la gloire O Ressuscité), also titled Thine Is the Glory, is hymn for Easter, written by the Swiss Protestant minister, Edmond Budry (1854–1932), and set to the tune of the chorus "See, the Conqu'ring hero comes" from the third section of Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus.
"Thine Be the Glory" is sung to the hymn tune Maccabaeus. The tune was originally written by the German-British composer George Frideric Handel. He composed it initially for his 1747 oratorio Joshua, in which it features as a chorus, "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!", celebrating the military victories of the Biblical figure Joshua. The chorus is sung three times, and its final rendition is accompanied by a military side drum. It is thought that Handel may have taken inspiration from a march in Componimenti musicali written by Georg Muffat. Handel was confident that the tune would prove popular, and claimed to the music historian John Hawkins that “You will live to see it a greater favourite with the people than my other fine things.” So confident was Handel of its popularity that he added the chorus to his other oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, written the previous year. "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!" was repurposed to celebrate the military victory of another Old Testament figure, Judas Maccabaeus. Handel's tune bears some historic anti-Jacobite associations. The composition of Judas Maccabaeus was reportedly influenced by Frederick, Prince of Wales; the subject matter of an old testament military victory was chosen as an oblique tribute to the victory of his brother, the Duke of Cumberland, at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.
Handel's popular chorus tune was first put to use as a hymn tune in Harmonia Sacra, a hymnal compiled in 1754 by Thomas Butts, in which it is used as a setting for Charles Wesley's hymn "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today". His choice of Handel's militaristic theme was intended to reinforce the metaphor the resurrected Christ as a victorious warrior who has vanquished death and the powers of evil.
In 1884, Handel's tune was used as a setting for a new French-language hymn, "A Toi la Gloire." It was written by Edmond Louis Budry, a minister of the Swiss Eglise évangélique du Canton de Vaud. It is reported that he was inspired to write it after the death of his first wife, Marie de Vayenborg in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was later published in French hymn book Chants Evangéliques (1885), and in the YMCA Hymnbook (1904).
The hymn was first translated from French into English by Richard Birch Hoyle in 1923. He was commissioned to translate the hymn by the World Student Christian Federation after Budry granted authorisation to reproduce it from the French version. It was later published in the World Student Christian Federation's hymn book, Cantate Domino Hymnal. World Student Christian Federation retained copyright on Hoyle's English translation. The hymn's popularity was cemented when it was included in The Methodist Hymn Book in 1933.
Budry's text also celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus with references to the appearance of angels in the scene of the empty tomb and uses elements of Isaiah 25:8. The hymn makes particular reference to verses of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 15). The central theme of the victorious Christ is drawn from 1 Corinthians 15:57: "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.", while line in the second verse of the hymn, "death hath lost its sting", is taken directly from 1 Corinthians 15:55: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?". The line "No more we doubt thee" may also be a reference to Doubting Thomas.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu'ring Son;
endless is the vict'ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb.
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let His church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for the Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.
No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life!!
Life is nought without Thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conqu'rors, through Thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu'ring Son;
endless is the vict'ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Kenneth Grinnell studied at Boston college and served as Minister of Music at the First Congregational Church in Manchester, New Hampshire. Among his other accomplishments, Grinnell was an advocate for the Union Leader Santa fund, playing a signifcant role in helping organize an annual "free will offering" concert at the church, which then dontated the proceeds to the Santa Fund.
About the Choral Music:
An Easter Celebration - Craig Courtney
(c.1997, Beckenhorst Press)
A native of Indiana, Craig Courtney received a Bachelors and a Masters degree in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati. He served on the faculty of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, serving as piano teacher and accompanist for the woodwind and brass department. While serving in the music ministry of the Salzburg International Baptist Church, Courtney began composing sacred choral music. In 1985, his compositions came to the attention of John Ness Beck through the publication of his octavo, Thy Will Be Done, initiating a close working relationship between the two men which continued until Beck’s death in 1987. In making plans for the ongoing of Beckenhorst Press, Beck appointed Craig Courtney staff composer and editor. Courtney’s published works include more than two hundred choral octavos, nine vocal collections, two piano solo collections and six extended works for choir and orchestra. Courtney combines his background as pianist, cellist, vocal coach, accompanist and choral director to create works in his unique style.
Courtney has created a medley of Easter hymns, concluding with the congregational hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”
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.
"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.
Thine Be the Glory, Risen Conquering Son (French: À toi la gloire O Ressuscité), also titled Thine Is the Glory, is hymn for Easter, written by the Swiss Protestant minister, Edmond Budry (1854–1932), and set to the tune of the chorus "See, the Conqu'ring hero comes" from the third section of Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus. "Thine Be the Glory" is sung to the hymn tune Maccabaeus. The tune was originally written by the German-British composer George Frideric Handel. He composed it initially for his 1747 oratorio Joshua, in which it features as a chorus, "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!", celebrating the military victories of the Biblical figure Joshua. The chorus is sung three times, and its final rendition is accompanied by a military side drum. It is thought that Handel may have taken inspiration from a march in Componimenti musicali written by Georg Muffat. Handel was confident that the tune would prove popular, and claimed to the music historian John Hawkins that “You will live to see it a greater favourite with the people than my other fine things.” So confident was Handel of its popularity that he added the chorus to his other oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, written the previous year. "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!" was repurposed to celebrate the military victory of another Old Testament figure, Judas Maccabaeus. Handel's tune bears some historic anti-Jacobite associations. The composition of Judas Maccabaeus was reportedly influenced by Frederick, Prince of Wales; the subject matter of an old testament military victory was chosen as an oblique tribute to the victory of his brother, the Duke of Cumberland, at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. Handel's popular chorus tune was first put to use as a hymn tune in Harmonia Sacra, a hymnal compiled in 1754 by Thomas Butts, in which it is used as a setting for Charles Wesley's hymn "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today". His choice of Handel's militaristic theme was intended to reinforce the metaphor the resurrected Christ as a victorious warrior who has vanquished death and the powers of evil.
"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!
O sons and daughters of the King, Whom heav’nly hosts in glory sing,
Today the grave has lost its sting! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
The strife is o’er, the battle done; Now is the victor’s triumph won!
Now be the song of praise begun. Alleluia!
Thine is the glory, Risen, conquering Son;
Endless is the victory Thou o’er death hast won!
Angels in bright raiment Rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes Where Thy body lay.
Thine is the glory, Risen, conquering Son.
Endless is the victory Thou o’er death hast won!
Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Earth and heav’n in chorus 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!
Dying once He all doth 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 Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
Praise eternal as His love; Alleluia!
Praise Him, all ye heav’nly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia, Praise the Risen King! - Lloyd Larson
(c.2005, Beckenhorst Press)
Lloyd Larson (b. 1954) is an active composer and arranger for several major publishing companies of church and school music. His compositions and arrangements include well over 1,000 published works—including choral anthems, numerous extended Christmas, Easter and non-seasonal works, keyboard collections, vocal solo and duet collections, instrumental works for solo and ensembles, orchestrations, and handbell settings. It is Lloyd's work in his local church that continues to be the catalyst for much of his writing. He currently directs the adult choir in his home church in addition to being involved in worship planning and leadership.
This anthem incorporates “The Day of Resurrection” using hymn tune WEBB. This hymn from the early eighth century is one of the oldest expressions found in most hymnals. Its origin is rooted in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church. It was written by one of the famous monks of that church, St. John of Damascus, c. 676–c. 780. He became an Orthodox priest late in life, and spent the rest of his life at St. Sabas convent near Jerusalem. He was a gifted poet ––the greatest poet of the Greek Church.
The story is told of John writing this hymn for the funeral of a fellow monk –– a monk not yet dead but at death's doorstep. After writing the hymn John started practicing it loudly. The next thing he knew, the dying monk came shuffling into the room to protest the unseemly noise.
The celebration of Easter has always been a spectacle of ecclesiastical pomp in the Greek Orthodox Church. Even today, as a vital part of the ceremony, the worshipers bury a cross under the high altar on Good Friday and dramatically resurrect it with shouts of “Christos egerthe” (“Christ is risen”) on Easter Sunday. With this announcement begins a time of joyous celebration. Torches are lit, bells and trumpets peel, and salvos of cannons fill the air.
This hymn, "The Day of Resurrection," was part of a much longer poem. John Mason Neale translated it into English in the 19th century –– a thousand years after it was first written.
George J. Webb (1803-1887) composed WEBB (also known as MORNING LIGHT) on a voyage from England to the United States. The tune was published in The Odeon, a collection of secular music compiled by Webb and Lowell Mason in 1837. There it was set to "'Tis Dawn, the Lark Is Singing." WEBB was used as a hymn tune in The Wesleyan Psalmist (1842), where it was the setting for "The Morning Light Is Breaking" (thus its other title).
Although his parents had intended that he become a minister, Webb's early skills in music soon pointed toward a career in music. He studied organ at Salisbury Cathedral and became organist in a church in Falmouth. In 1830 he immigrated to the United States, settled in Boston, and became organist in the Old South Church, a position he held for the next forty years. In his later years Webb taught singing in Orange, New Jersey, and New York City and published two books on voice pedagogy. Working with Lowell Mason on a number of projects, including the publishing of The National Psalmist (1848), Webb also taught music at Mason's Boston Academy of Music and was president of the Handel and Haydn Society. In 1835 Webb joined the Swedenborgian Church and was influential in shaping its musical service book of 1836 as well as the book's revisions in 1854 and 1876. He also edited other songbooks such as The Massachusetts Collection of Psalmody (1840), The Psaltery (1845), The Melodist (1850), and Cantica Ecclesiastica (1859).
Rejoice, be glad, lift your voice and sing!
The King of love, our glorious King, has conquered death and he lives again.
Let earth and heaven ring!
On Easter morn at the break of day, to the tomb, the women made their way.
“He is not here,” the angel said, “He is risen from the dead!”
Rejoice, be glad, lift your voice and sing!
The King of love, our glorious King, has conquered death and He lives again.
Let earth and heaven sing!
The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
the passover of gladness, the passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
Our Christ has brought us over with hymns, hymns of victory!
Rejoice, be glad, lift your voice and sing!
Let earth and heaven’s praises ring!
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, praise the risen King!
Hallelujah, from Messiah – G. F. Handel
(c.1912, G. Schirmer)
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:
Up from the Grave He Arose
Robert Lowry (1826-1899), the Philadelphia-born author and composer of this hymn, was a popular Baptist preacher and educator who served churches in Pennsylvania, New York City and Plainfield, N.J. Lowry studied theology at the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell University), graduating in 1854 and teaching literature there from 1869-1875. Lowry was recognized as a most capable minister of the gospel, possessing keen insight and administrative ability. He became known as a thorough Bible scholar and a brilliant and captivating orator; few preachers of his day had greater ability to paint word pictures and to inspire a congregation.
Music and a knowledge of hymnology were his favorite studies, but always as an avocation.
He became known for his gospel songs while ministering in Brooklyn, collaborating often with William H. Doane in producing gospel song collections. Among his most famous gospel compositions are “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” and “Shall We Gather at the River”. He also composed tunes for other’s texts, such as MARCHING TO ZION, a camp meeting version of Isaac Watts’ text, “Come, We that Love the Lord,” and NEED, a tune for Annie Hawks’ hymn, “I Need Thee Every Hour.” When William Bradbury, another well known gospel song writer, died, Lowry was selected by the Biglow Publishing Company in 1868 to be its music editor. In this capacity he published more than 20 Sunday school songbooks. Pure Gold, considered to be his most successful publication, sold more than 1,000,000 copies.
When asked about writing a hymn, he said, “It must be readily apprehended by the Christian consciousness, coming forth from the experience of the writer, and clothed in strong and inspiring words.” “Low in the Grave He Lay,” called “Christ Arose” in many hymnals, was composed in 1874 while Lowry was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lewisburg, Pa. It first appeared in the collection Brightest and Best (1875) under the title “He is not here, but risen—Luke 24:5.” When it was included in music evangelist Ira D. Sankey’s Sacred Songs and Solos (1875), the song became very popular in the Moody-Sankey revivals. From that point it appeared in a number of 19th-century British and American hymnals.
Mr. Osbeck records this account of the composition of the gospel song: Following his reflection on the resurrection as recorded in Luke 24:6-8, “. . . Lowry found himself seated at the little pump organ in the parlor of his home, and, in a very spontaneous fashion, there came forth the music and the words, giving expression to the thoughts that had been uppermost in his mind.”
The centerpiece of the song is the textual and musical contrast between the stanzas and the refrain. The dirge-like stanzas in block chords with a melody that plods in a step-wise fashion give way to a rhythmic refrain that surges up like a trumpet blast. Like many gospel songs, the three stanzas basically say the same thing three different ways. Each stanza ends with “Jesus my Lord!”—reminiscent of the early Christian affirmation “Jesus is Lord.” (Romans 10:9-13) Within the Western 19th-century gospel sound, the music of this song captures perfectly the spirit of the transition from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior, vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!
Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior; he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
Refrain:
Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
O Lord, Hear My Prayer
(c.1984, Les Presses de Taize, admin by GIA Publications)
Jacques Berthier (1923-1994) was a French composer of liturgical music, best known for writing much of the music used at Taizé. Berthier was born in Auxerre, Burgundy; both of his parents were musicians. His father Paul was the kapellmeister and organist at the Auxerre Cathedral and his mother Geneviève Parquin was a composer. Learning first from his parents, Berthier was trained in music at the École César Franck in Paris. In 1955, Berthier was first asked to compose music for the Taizé Community, which was then just a monastic community of twenty brothers. Six years later he became organist at the Church of the Jesuits in Paris, Saint-Ignace, where he worked until his death. In 1975, Berthier was again asked to compose for Taizé, this time for chants to be sung by the increasing numbers of young people coming to worship there. Over nearly twenty years, Berthier built up a body of church music that has been utilized around the world. In 2006, the Jubilate Deo Award was granted to him posthumously.
In more than twenty years, Berthier left an important corpus (232 songs in 20 different languages) in wide use today by other communities and around the world. He is also the author of Masses for organ, a cantata in the form of the cross and a cantata for Saint Cecilia. In total, he wrote over 1,500 pieces of work.
Berthier wrote the text and music of “O Lord, Hear My Prayer” in 1991. The text is adapted from Psalm 102: 1-2.
O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer. When I call, answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer. Come and listen to me.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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