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 Choral Music:
Let Thy Holy Presence - P. Tschesnokoff
(c.1954, Pro Art Publications)
Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (Tschesnokoff/Russian: Пáвел Григóрьевич Чеснокóв) (1877-1944) was an Imperial Russian and Soviet composer, choral conductor and teacher. He composed over five hundred choral works, over four hundred of which are sacred. Today, he is most known for his piece Salvation is Created as well as works such as Do Not Reject Me in Old Age and movements from various settings of the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.
Chesnokov was born in Vladimir, near Moscow. While attending the Moscow Conservatory, he received extensive training in both instrumental and vocal music including nine years of solfège, and seven years training for both the piano and violin. At an early age, Chesnokov gained recognition as a great conductor and choirmaster while leading many groups including the Russian Choral Society Choir. This reputation earned him a position on staff at the Moscow Conservatory where great composers and music scholars like Tchaikovsky had shared their skills and musical insight. There he founded a choral conducting program, which he taught from 1920 until his death.
By the age of 30, Chesnokov had completed nearly four hundred sacred choral works, but his proliferation of church music came to a standstill at the time of the Russian revolution. Under communist rule, no one was permitted to produce any form of sacred art. So in response, he composed an additional hundred secular works, and conducted secular choirs like the Moscow Academy Choir and the Bolshoi Theatre Choir. In the Soviet era, religion was often under oppression. Thus, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, whose last choirmaster had been Chesnokov, was destroyed, which disturbed him so deeply that he stopped writing music altogether. Chesnokov died on 14 March 1944 of a heart attack caused by malnutrition while he was waiting in a Moscow bread line.
The choral work "Let Thy Holy Presence" by Chesnokov features lyrics that offer a short, reflective prayer of petition. The English translation is by Walter Ehret. Walter Ehret (1918-2009) was a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and Teachers College, Columbia University. He taught instrumental and choral music in New Jersey and New York for over 40 years. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Hofstra University, Manhattanville College, and Teachers College, Columbia University. He retired as Coordinator of Music for the Scarsdale, New York public schools in 1984. Walter Ehret was one of the nation's most prolific and respected choral editors and arrangers with over 2000 publications to his credit. In addition, he was co-author of Growing With Music, a basic music series (K-8); co-author of Functional Lessons in Singing, a class voice textbook; and author of the Choral Conductor's Handbook.
Let Thy Holy Presence, let Thy Holy Presence come upon us, we pray,
Thy Holy Presence.
Come Holy Spirit, Come Holy Spirit, Thou gift of Heaven,
bring love and joy to us, O Lord, God.
Let Thy Holy Presence, let Thy Holy Presence come upon us, we pray,
Thy Holy Presence come upon us, Alleluia.
About the Hymns:
Faith, While Trees are Still in Blossom
(c. 1988, Hope Publishing)
Anders Frostenson (1906-2006), author of the hymn “Tron sig sträcker efter frukten när i bloming rädet gär” graduated in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree in English, Slavic languages and philosophy from Lund University and served as a Lutheran Priest at the Lövö Assembly until his retirement in 1971. Serving as Court Chaplain at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, the residence of the Swedish King, Frostenson was known not only as a theologian deeply dedicated to hymnody but also as a translator of poetry into Swedish.
Frostenson was highly involved in the development of various hymnals of the Swedish Lutheran Church, especially the Swenska Psalmboken of Konungen gillad och steadfast ar 1937, the children hymnbook Psalmer och Visor and the Den svenska psalmboken. Antagen av 1986 ars kyrkomöte, which is also known as the “Frostensonska” (Frostenson Songbook) because it contains 146 works in the form of original, derivative works and translations of Frostenson.
His hymnody is based on biblical texts that focus on the Old Testament, a rarity among contemporary hymn writers. Fred Kaan translated this particular hymn in 1972 for the 4th edition of Cantate Domino, hymnal of the World Council of Churches, printed in 1974. Frostenson and Mr. Kaan collaborated on the book Songs and Hymns from Sweden in 1976. Mr. Kaan included and translated 13 of Frostenson’s hymn texts.
This hymn is based on Hebrews 11. All the hymn’s images set the imagination of the singer in motion, and one can almost hear the birds in the garden, the rain in Noah’s times and the wild waters of the Red Sea. In the final phrase in stanza five, Mr. Kaan concludes by proclaiming that we need to respond to God’s calling by serving in faith.
The hymn is commonly paired with the tune BREAD OF LIFE, also known as FOR THE BREAD, by Vernon Earle Copes, a melody designed for clear congregational singing. The tune's balanced phrasing and moderate range make it accessible for congregations of varying musical ability. Its calm and reflective character suits the contemplative nature of communion worship.
Faith, while trees are still in blossom, plans the picking of the fruit;
faith can feel the thrill of harvest when the buds begin to sprout.
Long before the dawn is breaking, faith anticipates the sun.
Faith is eager for the daylight, for the work that must be done.
Long before the rains were coming, Noah went and built an ark.
Abraham, the lonely migrant, saw the light beyond the dark.
Faith, uplifted, tamed the waterof the undivided sea,
and the people of the Hebrews found the path that made them free.
Faith believes that God is faithful: God will be what God will be!
Faith accepts the call, responding, "I am willing, Lord, send me."
About the Modern Band Music:
The Blessing- Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe, and Steven Furtick
(c.2020, Music by Elevation Worship Publishing, admin. Essential Music Publishing)
"The Blessing," co-recorded by Kari Jobe, her husband Cody Carnes, and Elevation Worship, was written in late February 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Rooted in the ancient scripture of Numbers 6:24–26, the song quickly became a comforting and unifying prayer of peace during a time of global fear and uncertainty. Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Steven Furtick, and Chris Brown. gathered for a writing session in Charlotte, North Carolina. Steven Furtick had an idea to build a melody around the traditional biblical benediction (the Aaronic blessing). The core lyrics came together rapidly, framing the literal scripture into a singable melody, followed by a powerful bridge about God's favor extending across generations ("in my home, in my life, in my generation"). They finished writing the track and introduced it live at Elevation Church just days later, on the weekend of March 1, 2020.
Released on YouTube on March 6, 2020, the song struck a profound emotional chord as lockdowns began worldwide. Church choirs across dozens of countries recorded their own localized adaptations and video chain-links in over 100 languages, transforming the track into a viral worldwide prayer. The track won the GMA Dove Award for Song of the Year and earned a Grammy nomination, cementing Jobe's vision for a song that encourages families to declare peace and protection over their households.
The Lord bless you And keep you
Make His face shine upon you And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His Face toward you And give you peace
Amen Amen Amen
May His favor Be upon you And a thousand generations
And your family And your children And their children And their children
May His presence Go before you And behind you And beside you
All around you And within you He is with you He is with you
In the morning In the evening In your coming And your going
In your weeping And rejoicing He is for you He is for you
He is for you He is for you
I've Witnessed It - Andrew Holt, Austin Davis, and Melodie Malone
(c. Andrew Holt Music Publishing, Melodie Malone Designee, TBCO Publishing, and A.L.K.D. Music, admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
Passion has served students in worship and prayer since the late 90s. During the January 2023 Passion Conference, they unleashed the new worship song, I’ve Witnessed It. The song is recorded live with 30,000 students singing along.
Passion’s Melodie Malone says, “We don’t often use the word ‘witness’ in our everyday vernacular, and it is my hope that we reinstate a bit of the meaning it carries in this song.” Malone also says, “We sing to remind our souls of the character of the one we worship and to help resuscitate a faith in desperate need of hope.” Passion did not root the lyrics in any specific scripture. As I mentioned before, the song is mostly a testimonial, but not entirely. It has two themes, the first being a witness to the hope we have in God’s goodness.
When I was lost and all alone Your presence was where I found home
You were there and You're here right now In every high and every low
You never left me without hope You were good and You're good right now
I've witnessed Your faithfulness I've seen You breathe life within
So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy God You're worthy of all of it
Your promises never fail I've got stories I'll live to tell
So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy God You're worthy of all of it
You left the throne and chose the cross Laid down Your life to rescue us
The Savior then the Savior now But even death was not the end
You conquered hell so I could live Resurrecting then resurrecting now
Resurrecting then resurrecting now
You're good and I've witnessed it You're strong and I've witnessed it
You're constant I've witnessed it And I'm confident I'll see it again and again
You love and I've witnessed it You heal and I've witnessed it
You save and I've witnessed it And I'm confident I'll see it again and again
To the broken I'll witness it To the hurting I'll witness it
To the lost I will witness it I'll tell them this
I'll tell them what I witnessed
To my family I'll witness it To my city I'll witness it
To the nations I'll witness it I'll tell them this
I'll tell them what I witnessed I've Witnessed It -
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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