March 22, 2015

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; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources 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:

Vater unser in Himmelreich – Johann Krieger

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and priest who became a professor at the University of Wittenberg.  In 1517, he published his 95 Theses, proposing major reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.  These reforms were rejected by Papal Bull, resulting in the German Reformation and leading to the foundation of the Lutheran Church.  Luther translated the Bible into German (1521-1534) and had a huge influence on German hymnody, publishing nine hymnals containing German chorales written by Luther and others.

“Vater unser im Himmelreich” was included in Geistliche Lieder auffs neu gebessert (1539), in 9 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled "The Lord's Prayer briefly expounded and turned into metre" (apparently first as a broadsheet with the same title, in 1539.  Each of the first eight stanzas amplifies one of the clauses of the Lord's Prayer (omitting the doxology), and the ninth is on the Amen. It is a beautiful rendering, and has been by some regarded as Luther's finest hymn. 

6. All unsre Schuld vergib uns, Herr,              Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore,
Daß sie uns nicht betrübe mehr,                      Remove from us their burden sore,
Wie wir auch unsern Schuldigern                   As we their trespasses forgive
Ihr' Schuld und Fehl' vergeben gern;              Who by offenses us do grieve.
Zu dienen mach uns all' bereit                        Thus let us dwell in charity
In rechter Lieb' und Einigkeit!                        And serve our brother willingly.

Johann Krieger (28 December 1651 – 18 July 1735) was a German composer and organist, younger brother of Johann Philipp Krieger. Born in Nuremberg, he worked at Bayreuth, Zeitz, and Greiz before settling in Zittau. He was one of the most important keyboard composers of his day, highly esteemed by, among others, George Frideric Handel. A prolific composer of church and secular music, he published several dozen of his works, and others survive in manuscript. However, hundreds more were lost when Zittau was destroyed by fire in 1757, during the Seven Years' War.

Krieger's keyboard music places him among the most important German composers of his time.  The two published collections, Sechs musicalische Partien (1697) and Anmuthige Clavier-Übung (1698), contain harpsichord suites, organ toccatas, fugues, ricercars, and other works. Krieger's contemporaries praised his contrapuntal skill, evident in the extant fugues and ricercars. Johann Mattheson was particularly impressed with Krieger's double fugues, remarking that he knew nobody who surpassed Krieger in this form, except Handel. Handel himself admired and studied Krieger's work, even taking a copy of Anmuthige Clavier-Übung with him to England.

Ach, Gott verlass mich nicht - Max Reger

Salomo Franck (1659-1725) was a member of the Fruitbearing Society, and the author of a considerable number of secular poems, which are almost all "occasional" pieces and now forgotten. A diligent worker and a man of true piety, he had severe family afflictions to bear, and an undercurrent of meditation on death is present in many of his hymns. As a hymnwriter, he is distinguished for ease and correctness of style; for adaptation to popular understanding and to congregational singing; for his love of adding refrains to his hymns; and for his happiness in word-painting and in setting forth contrasts.   “Ach Gott verlass mich nicht” (O God, forsake me not) is a beautiful hymn of supplication for God's help based on Psalm 38:22. It was published in the Anderer Theil des Naumburgischen Gesang Buchs, Naumburg, 1714.   The editor of this collection, J. M. Sehamelius, who was one of the best hymnologists of the time, evidently thus believed that it was by Franck, but it has not yet been found in any work published by Franck himself. Each stanza begins and ends with "Ach Gott verlass mich nicht."

O God, forsake me not!
Your gracious presence lend me;
Lord, lead Your helpless child;
Your Holy Spirit send me
That I my course may run.
O be my light, my lot,
My staff, my rock, my shield--
O God, forsake me not!

The celebrated German composer Johann Baptist Joseph  Maximilian Reger (1873-1916), was the son of a school-teacher and amateur musician, who gave him instruction on the piano organ, and various string instruments. In 1874 the family moved to Weiden, where he studied organ and theory with Adalbert Lindner. He then attended the teacher-training college; after visiting the Bayreuth Festival in 1888, he decided on a career in music. He went to Sondershausen to study with Riemann in 1890, and continued as his pupil in Wiesbaden (1890-1893).  From 1890 to 1896, Max Reger was active as a teacher of piano, organ, and theory. Following military service, he returned to Weiden in 1898 and wrote a number of his finest works for organ. He went to Munich in 1901, first gaining general recognition as a pianist and later as a composer.  He was professor of counterpoint at the Königliche Akademie der Tonkünst. He went to Leipzig as music director of the University and as professor of composition at the Conservatory.

Max Reger's fame as a composer was enhanced by his successful tours as a soloist and conductor in Germany and throughout Europe. Max Reger was an extraordinarily gifted musician, widely respected as a composer, pianist, organist, conductor and teacher. A master of polyphonic and harmonic writing, he carried on the hallowed Classical and Romantic schools of composition. Although he wrote major works in nearly every genre, he is best known for his organ compositions.

Prelude on “Amazing Grace” – David Lasky

David Lasky received his Bachelor of Music in Music History and Literature and his Master of Music in Organ Performance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.. Since 1981, he has been Organist/Director of Music at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has performed solo recitals and in ensemble throughout New England.

Trumpet Tune on "O Day full of Grace" - Wayne Wold

The grace of God is theme of the Danish folk hymn for Pentecost, “O Day Full of Grace”. Versions of this hymn were sung throughout Scandinavia prior to the Reformation. The earliest manuscript dates to about 1450 and is in the library of the University of Uppsala, and the first Protestant hymnal to include it was Den danske Psalmebog in 1569. In 1826, as part of the commemoration of the thousandth anniversary of Christianity being brought to Denmark, Nikolai Grundtvig recast the hymn. Lutheran hymnals of the late 19th century and early 20th century in North America name Gruntvig as the hymn writer. Because a number of Grundtvig’s hymns are in praise of the Holy Spirit, he is known as the Poet of Whitsuntide.

Just as the work of the Holy Spirit is to point us to Christ, so this Pentecost hymn focuses on Christ and His redemptive work. The first two verses focuses on His incarnation and birth, in language of “light” coming into a “dark” place, imagery common to the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons. The third verse brings us to the Cross, where Christ work of salvation was completed by His atoning death, and to the empty tomb, where Christ’s victory over sin and death was declared. The fourth verse is the only one to mention Pentecost and the Holy Spirit explicitly. Pentecost is described in terms of God coming to us, and the work of the Holy Spirit as bringing “to us all” the “healing” provided by Christ’s death and resurrection.

            God came to us then at Pentecost, His Spirit new life revealing,

            That we might no more from Him be lost, All darkness for us dispelling.

            His flame will mark the sin efface And bring to us all His healing.

Wayne L. Wold (b. 1954) is active as a teacher, church musician, composer, author, performer, and clinician. He serves as Associate Professor of Music and College Organist at Hood College in Frederick, Md. Over 200 of his compositions are published by fourteen different companies in the U.S. and Australia and include twenty volumes of works for organ and instruments with organ, 30 choir anthems, a children's musical, a recorder suite, and several hymn tunes. He is the author of numerous hymn and anthem texts, articles in professional journals, and two books -- Tune My Heart to Sing: Devotions for Choirs Based on the Revised Common Lectionary and Preaching to the Choir: The Care and Nurture of the Church Choir.

About the Choral Music:

Fairest Lord Jesus – Craig Courtney

“Beautiful Savior” is thought to have originated as early as 1607, possibly written by German Jesuits, and called “Schön­ster Herr Je­su“. It first appeared in print in 1677, in the Mün­ster Ge­sang­buch, with author unknown. It was translated and the fourth stanza was added by Lutheran pastor and theologian, Joseph A. Seiss in 1873.  Originally this song was most likely sung to a Gregorian Chant by the Jesuit monks. The music that was most popular with 17th Century German peasants was a tune from an ancient Silesian folk song.  The tune and the German text were printed together for the first time in 1842 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben and Ernst Richter under the name “Schönster Herr Jesu” (Most beautiful Lord Jesus). In 1850 the Danish hymnwriter B. S. Ingemann wrote “Dejlig Er Jorden”, which he set to the same melody. An English translation by Jens C. Aaberg was published as “Fair Is Creation”.  Apart from their musical setting, the Danish and German lyrics are unrelated.  According to some accounts, “Fairest Lord Jesus” is called "Crusader's Hymn" because it was sung by German Crusaders as they made their way to the Holy Land.

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,

Robed in the blooming garb of spring:

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,

Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,

And all the twinkling starry host;

Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer

Than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful savior!  Lord of all the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor, praise, and adoration,

Now and forevermore be Thine!

Amen.

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.   

Bound for the Promised Land – Neil Johnson

      (Souled Out - Youth choir)

Samuel Stennett (1727-1795), an English Baptist, came from a long line of ministers. He was the son of a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor.  In the 18th century, university education was not easily available to nonconformist families—those who refused to swear allegiance to the Church of England.  Stennett did study at the academy at Miles End with distinction, however.  In spite of his nonconformist religious stance, Stennett was a personal friend to the reigning monarch, King George III.  Stennett was honored in 1763 with a doctor of divinity degree from King’s College, Aberdeen, for his accomplishments.  He served as an assistant to his father in his congregation in 1747 and assumed the position of pastor upon his father’s death in 1758. 

John Rippon, an English Baptist pastor, published in 1787 an influential collection, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors. Thirty-eight of Stennett’s hymns appeared in this popular collection. Among those was a hymn under the heading of “Heaven Anticipated” with the title of “The Promised Land” in eight four-line stanzas.  The hymn as it appeared in America looked and sounded much different. William Walker’s The Southern Harmony (1835) was the first to include “The Promised Land.” This was one of the most popular of the 19th-century, oblong-tune books with shaped notes.

  

The tune PROMISED LAND was paired with the text. The Southern Harmony attributes the tune to “Miss M. Durham” but we know nothing else about the composer. The tune has many of the characteristics the traditional folk melodies of the time.  Originally written in a minor mode, Rigdon M. McIntosh, a Southern musician, altered the tune to the major mode, and as was customary among American evangelicals in the 19th century added a refrain beginning with “I am bound for the promised land.” This version was published in 1895 in H. R. Christie’s Gospel Light and has become the standard version for many hymnals since that time.

From the start, the four stanzas focus on heaven. The singer stands on the banks of the Jordan River looking across to the “fair and happy land” of Canaan—a metaphoric mixture of images from the books of Exodus and Revelation. Our true “possessions” lie in Canaan (Heaven) and not on the earthly side of Jordan.  metaphors of the vision, vigor, enthusiasm, and optimism of frontier life moving on to the promised land of Kentucky or Missouri.”

            On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye

            To Canaan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie.

            I close my eyes and in the scene that rises to my sight

            I see sweet fields in living green and rivers of delight.

            There generous fruits that never fail on trees immortal grow;

            There rocks and hills and brooks and vales with milk and honey flow.

            Soon the Lord my soul prepare for joys beyond the skies

            Where never ceasing pleasures roll, and praises never die.

I am bound for the promised land, Oh Lord, I’m bound for the promised land.

            Oh, who will come and go with me?  I am bound for the promised land.

Neil Johnson has directed music groups of every age level from elementary through university and adult. He has over 38 years experience from elementary through college level, including 30 years spent teaching at the junior high level. He has taught band, orchestra and chorus, and is recently retired from Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he was one of two choir directors. Neil is in demand as a clinician for regional and state elementary, junior high, and high school choral workshops, new materials reading clinics, and local and state choir festivals. Neil has appeared in over 20 states and two Canadian provinces, and has been on the staff of Showchoir Camps of America for 23 years as clinician and teacher workshop coordinator.  He has had over 70 choral compositions published. 

About the Hymns:

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

"The Hymn of Joy" 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).

Freely, Freely

Carol Sue Owens (b.1931) attended San Jose State College and Cathedral School of the Bible, Oakland, Calif. She and her husband James composed Christian musicals. “Freely, Freely” is featured in Come Together, A Musical Experience in Love, written in 1974.

Amazing Grace

"Amazing Grace" was written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807).  With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.

Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was drafted into the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. However, he continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.

Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It was first printed in 1779 in Newton and Cowper's Olney Hymns, but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States however, "Amazing Grace" was used extensively during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies, but in 1835 it was joined to a tune named "New Britain" to which it is most frequently sung today.

Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive

Accepting and giving forgiveness may be one of the most important aspects of living. I believe that the Assurance of Pardon is one of the most significant parts of Christian worship: "In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!" These words may offer healing and hope for many in worship, even beyond anything else said or sung. Forgiveness is not only a personal way of living, but also an attribute of societies. How many times do we observe centuries of hate and hurt that, because of the inability to forgive, continue to fester and cause suffering, death, and destruction?

With "Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive" by Rosamond Herklots (1905-1987), we receive a full treatment of Matthew 6:12: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (KJV) Luke 11:4 states: "And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us." "Trespasses" first appeared in William Tyndale’s translation in 1526 and was retained for use in the first Book of Common Prayer in English in 1549. The English Language Liturgical Consultation (1988), a group of ecumenical liturgists in the English-speaking world, proposed "and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." A companion Scripture is Colossians 3:13, "bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive"

This hymn was written in June 1966 and printed soon afterward in the parish magazine of St. Mary’s Church, Bromley, Kent. The idea of the hymn had occurred to Herklots when she was digging out weeds in her nephew’s garden; she reasoned that their deep roots, obstructing the growth of the flowers near them, resembled the bitterness and resentment that can become entrenched and hinder the Christian’s growth in grace.  Herklots' language is potent in describing the blessings we miss when our "heart . . . broods on wrongs and will not let old bitterness depart"

Rosamund Eleanor Herklots (1905-1987) was born in India to missionary parents. She was educated at the University of Leeds in England. Working as a teacher and secretary, she began writing hymns in the early 1940s. She submitted hymns for the "Hymns for Britain" competition, two of which were selected to be sung on television. She wrote more than seventy hymns.

March 15, 2015

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; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources 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:

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind – Normand Lockwood

This hymn’s origin is a paradox. John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) worshipped in the tradition of the Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. Whittier was one of the most important of the 19th-century American poets. The New Englander was a Quaker abolitionist, reared in a large farmhouse in the rural setting of Merrimac Valley at East Haverhill, Mass.  Traditionally, Quakers have not sung in worship, but value silence, waiting for the “still, small voice” of God.

According to accounts Whittier had been reading in Max Müller’s The Sacred Books of the East about the use of soma, a plant found in northwest India. Soma was used to prepare an intoxicating drug that was ingested in religious rituals, resulting in a state of frenzy.  This hymn began as a part of a long narrative poem, “The Brewing of Soma,” published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1872. The poem describes Vedic priests going into the forest, brewing a drink from honey and milk, and drinking themselves into a frenzy. Whittier was critical of those who believed they might find God through unbridled ecstasy, such as the hysterical camp meetings and revivals common in his day.   Whittier’s response was a 17-stanza poem, of which stanzas 12-17 have been excised to form the hymn as found in many hymnals.

English hymnologist J.R. Watson summarizes well the contribution of this hymn: “It is the opposite end of the devotional spectrum from those hymns which encourage activity and energy; but everyone experiences the need for quiet meditation at some time, and this hymn encourages an almost mystical contemplation of the peace of God ‘which passes all understanding.’” 
 

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,

Forgive our foolish ways!

Re-clothe us in our rightful mind

In purer lives thy service find,

In deeper reverence praise.

Drop thy still dews of quietness

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire

Thy coolness and thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,

O still small voice of calm!

Normand Lockwood (March 19, 1906 – March 9, 2002) was an American composer born in New York, New York. He studied composition at the University of Michigan and then traveled to Rome and studied composition under Ottorino Respighi and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He won a Prix de Rome in 1929.  He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.  Lockwood returned to America, becoming an associate professor of composition and theory at Oberlin Conservatory, and won two Guggenheim Fellowships. He taught at Columbia University, Trinity University (Texas), University of Wyoming, University of Oregon, and University of Denver.  Lockwood composed works in many forms, but he was most well-known for his choral works, which were mostly based on religious texts. He also composed operas, orchestral symphonies and suites, and instrumental and vocal chamber music.

Vater unser in Himmelreich – Dieterich Buxtehude

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and priest who became a professor at the University of Wittenberg.  In 1517, he published his 95 Theses, proposing major reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.  These reforms were rejected by Papal Bull, resulting in the German Reformation and leading to the foundation of the Lutheran Church.  Luther translated the Bible into German (1521-1534) and had a huge influence on German hymnody, publishing nine hymnals containing German chorales written by Luther and others.

“Vater unser im Himmelreich” was included in Geistliche Lieder auffs neu gebessert (1539), in 9 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled "The Lord's Prayer briefly expounded and turned into metre" (apparently first as a broadsheet with the same title, in 1539.  Each of the first eight stanzas amplifies one of the clauses of the Lord's Prayer (omitting the doxology), and the ninth is on the Amen. It is a beautiful rendering, and has been by some regarded as Luther's finest hymn. 

6. All unsre Schuld vergib uns, Herr,              Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore,
Daß sie uns nicht betrübe mehr,                      Remove from us their burden sore,
Wie wir auch unsern Schuldigern                   As we their trespasses forgive
Ihr' Schuld und Fehl' vergeben gern;              Who by offenses us do grieve.
Zu dienen mach uns all' bereit                        Thus let us dwell in charity
In rechter Lieb' und Einigkeit!                        And serve our brother willingly.

Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637/39^-1707) was a Danish-German organist and composer of the Baroque period. His organ works represent a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and in church services. He composed in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental idioms, and his style strongly influenced many composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1705, J.S. Bach, then a young man of twenty, walked from Arnstadt to Lübeck, a distance of more than 250 miles, and stayed nearly three months to hear the “Abendmusik”, meet the pre-eminent Lübeck organist, hear him play, and, as Bach explained, "to comprehend one thing and another about his art". Today, Buxtehude is considered one of the most important composers in Germany of the mid-Baroque.

There are over 40 surviving chorale settings by Buxtehude, and they constitute the most important contributions to the genre in the 17th century. His settings include chorale variations, chorale ricercares, chorale fantasias and chorale preludes. Buxtehude's principal contributions to the organ chorale are his 30 short chorale preludes. The chorale preludes are usually four-part cantus firmus settings of one stanza of the chorale; the melody is presented in an elaborately ornamented version in the upper voice, the three lower parts engage in some form of counterpoint (not necessarily imitative).  The ornamented cantus firmus in these pieces represents a significant difference between the north German and the south German schools; Johann Pachelbel and his pupils would almost always leave the chorale melody unornamented.  

About the Handbell Music:

Gaelic Blessing – John Rutter

          Jubilation Ringers/Michele Anderson, soprano

John Rutter (b. 1945) studied at Cambridge, where he wrote his first published compositions and conducted his first recording while still a student.  His compositional career has included both large and small scale choral works, orchestral and instrumental pieces, a piano concerto, two children’s operas, and music for television.  In 1979, he formed the Cambridge Singers, a professional chamber choir primarily dedicated to recording sacred choral works, and he now divides his time between composition and conducting.  In 1980, he was made an honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, and in 1988 a Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians.  In 1996, the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Music upon him in recognition of his contributions to church music.

A Gaelic Blessing was commissioned by the Chancel Choir of First United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, as a parting gift for their choir director.  The text is translated from old Gaelic runes.

            Deep peace of the running wave to you;

            Deep peace of the flowing air to you;

            Deep peace of the quiet earth to you;

            Deep peace of the shining stars to you;

            Deep peace of the gentle night to you.

            Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.

            Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world, to you.

            Deep peace of Christ to you.

About the Choral Music:

Father, Forgive Us – Craig Courtney

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.   

This moving anthem with text by Pamela Martin and music by Craig Courtney was written and dedicated to the victims of hurricane Katrina. 

Father, forgive us each time we close our eyes to a bruised and wounded world,
the shattered broken lives, empty ones who die alone, forsaken in their shame.
Every time we turn away, we crucify again.

Father, forgive us each time that we disown mothers who have lost their sons,
the children with no home, thousands crying out in thirst, the prisoners in pain.
Every time we turn away, we crucify again.

Father, forgive us; our hearts remain unmoved by suffering and poverty.
We know not what we do.
When we fail to hear the voice of Christ in every cry,
when we do not recognize the Savior in their eyes,

We crucify again.

Father, forgive us.

About the Hymns:

To God Be the Glory

Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915), born in New York and died in Connecticut, wrote over 8,500 gospel hymns. In 1972, Hope Publishing Co. found over 1,000 unpublished manuscripts. Her work defined what it meant to be a successful writer of gospel hymns.  By the age of six weeks, Fanny Crosby was completely blind. She entered the New York School for the Blind at age twelve. She began writing hymns and poetry at age twelve.  Her collaborators in publishing gospel hymns included the most successful and popular composers of her day, including William Bradbury, William Doane, Robert Lowry, Ira Sankey, and William Kirkpatrick. Crosby used numerous pen names in publishing her songs, including: Ella Dale, Mrs. Kate Gringley and Miss Viola V. A.  She married blind musician Alexander Van Alstyne, and the British most often refer to her by her married name rather than Fanny Crosby.  She was a lifelong Methodist and her contributions to The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) include: “Blessed Assurance,” “Close to Thee,” “I Am Thine, O Lord,” “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Rescue the Perishing,” and “To God Be the Glory.”
Frances Jane Crosby’s hymns have historically been among the most popular songs sung by Methodists.  “To God be the glory” was included in William Doane’s Songs of Devotion in 1870.  Ira Sankey probably saw the hymn in Doane’s collection and incorporated it into the first edition of his Sacred Songs and Solos (1875).  Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey helped to establish the hymn’s popularity during their revivals in Great Britain in the late 19th century.  It also appeared in some British hymnals including the Methodist Hymn Book (1933).

However, it was not until the 1954 Billy Graham Crusade in Nashville that Cliff Barrows introduced this song to congregations in the United States.  Mr. Graham and Mr. Barrows had learned the song during the 1952 revivals they had conducted in Great Britain.  Hymnologist William J. Reynolds, writing in his hymnal companion Hymns of Faith (1964), documented the return of this hymn to the USA: “It is most extraordinary that this long-forgotten American gospel song should have been imported from England and become immensely popular during the last decade.” 

Grace Greater than All Our Sin

Julia Harriet Johnston (1849-1919) was a Sunday school teacher at First Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois, and for 41 years was head of the infant class in the children’s department.  For twenty years, Julia was president of the Presbyterian Missionary Society of Peoria which had been founded by her mother. Also a prolific author, she produced primary Sunday school lesson material for the David C. Cook Publishing Co. of Chicago, IL, and had several of her own works published, including School of the Master in 1880, Bright Threads in 1897, Indian and Spanish Neighbors in 1905, and Fifty Missionary Heroes in 1913. Furthermore, Miss Johnston is credited with about 500 hymns, set to music provided by a number of different composers.

"Grace Greater Than Our Sin" is dated 1910, and the tune (Moody) was composed that same year by Daniel Brink Towner (1850-1919), the director of the music department at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL The first appearance of "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" seems to have been in Towner’s Hymns Tried and True, published in 1911 by the Bible Institute Colportage Association of Chicago.
This “marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe,” finds a scriptural basis in Paul’s teaching of justification by faith in Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Paul continues in verses 14-16, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift of grace. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.”

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

Charles Gabriel (1856-1932) grew up on an Iowa farm and learned music by playing the reed organ in his home. He became one of the most prolific composers of gospel songs of his day. Gabriel's musical activities ranged from teaching in the singing schools that were so popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to authoring texts, composing songs, anthems, and cantatas, and editing song collections. He was associated with the leading gospel song publishers of his day, including Homer Rodeheaver, Hope, and E. O. Excell.  Though self-trained, he started leading singing school educational events as a teenager. He worked with Grace Episcopal Methodist Church in San Francisco from 1890-1892, and then moved to Chicago where he worked for Homer Rodeheaver’s publishing firm.  Gabriel is credited with between 7000 and 8000 songs, thirty-five gospel song collections, Sunday school song books, collections for men's and women’s choirs, numerous cantatas, including 41 Christmas cantatas, and music education texts. He wrote under numerous pseudonyms, making it often difficult to know the precise number of songs he wrote.

The words of the gospel hymn “I Stand Amazed” were written in 1905 when Gabriel was 49 years old, after more than three decades into his life’s work in music. The hymn’s words indicate he was not self-absorbed, as some with his talent over such a long stretch of time might have been. Instead, Gabriel focused his attention on the One who had gifted him musically. Gabriel’s composition shows he saw his own faults (a sinner, condemned, unclean), but that’s not where he dwelt. Gabriel evidently had emerged from his own struggles – including his father’s death when Charles was still a teenager, and his failed first marriage - to recognize the Lord’s work in his life. Look at Him, hold Him in awe, and open your mouth in joyous response as you look forward to a face-to-face encounter. That sums up Gabriel’s song-message. It’s not hard to find something amazing about Him – you just have to look.

March 8, 2015

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; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources 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:

Vater unser in Himmelreich – Georg Telemann

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and priest who became a professor at the University of Wittenberg.  In 1517, he published his 95 Theses, proposing major reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.  These reforms were rejected by Papal Bull, resulting in the German Reformation and leading to the foundation of the Lutheran Church.  Luther translated the Bible into German (1521-1534) and had a huge influence on German hymnody, publishing nine hymnals containing German chorales written by Luther and others.

“Vater unser im Himmelreich” was included in Geistliche Lieder auffs neu gebessert (1539), in 9 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled "The Lord's Prayer briefly expounded and turned into metre" (apparently first as a broadsheet with the same title, in 1539.  Each of the first eight stanzas amplifies one of the clauses of the Lord's Prayer (omitting the doxology), and the ninth is on the Amen. It is a beautiful rendering, and has been by some regarded as Luther's finest hymn. 

5. Gib uns heut' unser täglich Brot,                Give us this day our daily bread
Und was man braucht zur Leibesnot;             And let us all be clothed and fed.
B'hüt uns, Herr, vor Unfried' und Streit,        From war and strife be our Defense,
Vor Seuchen und vor teurer Zeit,                   From famine and from pestilence,
Daß wir in gutem Frieden stehn,                    That we may live in godly peace,
Der Sorg' und Geizes müßig gehn!                 Free from all care and avarice.

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the city's five main churches.  Telemann was one of the most prolific composers in history, composing more than 3,000 pieces, and was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the godfather and namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, and to George Frideric Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally.  Telemann's music was one of the driving forces behind the late Baroque and the early Classical styles. Starting in the 1710s he became one of the creators and foremost exponents of the so-called German mixed style, an amalgam of German, French, Italian and Polish styles. Over the years, his music gradually changed and started incorporating more and more elements of the galant style, but he never completely adopted the ideals of the nascent Classical era: Telemann's style remained contrapuntally and harmonically complex, and already in 1751 he dismissed much contemporary music as too simplistic.  Equally important for the history of music were Telemann's publishing activities. By pursuing exclusive publication rights for his works, he set one of the most important early precedents for regarding music as the intellectual property of the composer.

O Bread of Life from Heaven – Winston Cassler

The Latin hymn “O esca viatorum” was probably composed by a German Jesuit of the 17th century, though it has been by some ascribed to St. Thomas of Aquino. It has not been traced earlier than the Maintzich GesangBuch, 1661, where it is entitled "Hymn on the true Bread of Heaven."  It was translated into English by Philip Schaff (1819-1893).

O Bread of Life from heaven,
To saints and angels given;
O manna from above!
The souls that hunger, feed Thou,
The hearts that seek Thee, lead Thou,
With Thy sweet, tender love.

G. Winston Cassler (1906-1990) was a member of the faculty of St. Olaf College from 1949 until his retirement in 1972.

Become to Us the Living Bread – John Leavitt

Miriam Drury (1900-1985) composed many complete hymns (words and music), anthems, and poems for both children and adults. She was an award-winning composer for the Hymn Society of America and a number of her hymns were published by the society. The text of “Become to Us the Living Bread” is based on John 6:35-58.

            Become to us the living bread

            By which the Christian life is fed,

            Renewed, and greatly comforted:

            Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

John Leavitt (b. 1956) is a composer, conductor, teacher, and church musician. He received the Doctorate of Musical Arts from The Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Leavitt is a lifetime member of the American Choral Directors Association and is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, from which he has received annual recognition for his achievements in composition.  Currently, Dr. Leavitt serves on the faculty of MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, KS as professor of music and director of choirs. In 2010, Dr. Leavitt was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts’s American Masterpieces which partnered with the Kansas Arts Commission and the Kansas Music Educators Association. He was commissioned by them to write a new choral work in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the State of Kansas. 

About the Choral Music:

You are the Bread – Marcia Jones

This anthem by Marcia Jones and arranged by David Wyatt reminds us that while Jesus is the “Bread of Life”, we are called to bring that bread, to be that bread, to the world.

            You are the bread and you are the wine, broken and crushed for us.

            You are the spirit filling our hearts, just as we fill this cup.

            You are the bread and you are the wine, broken and poured for us.

            You are the spirit filling our hearts, just as we fill this cup.

            As our wills are broken, your bread of life is multiplied.

            As we love with your love, your thirsty ones are satisfied.

            Lord, break us; Lord, make us;

            Lord, take our lives.  Lord, take our lives!

So pour us out into the world, as you poured out your blood.

            We will be your broken bread, feeding the world your love.

About the Hymns:

For the Healing of the Nations

During the 1960s and 1970s, four English-language hymn writers emerged on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean who were the leaders of the “hymnic explosion.” Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926) and Brian Wren (b. 1936) all were born in Great Britain.   Unlike the other three, Fred Kaan (b. 1929), though ordained in the United Reformed Church and serving in England, is a native of Haarlem, The Netherlands.   These writers, along with their counterparts from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, brought the language and theological vision of hymnody out of the earlier Victorian era into the late 20th century. In many cases, their work continues to enrich 21st-century congregational song.

After serving congregations in England, Kaan served as minister-secretary of the International Congregational Council in Geneva, Switzerland and the executive secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.  He returned to England in 1978 as a moderator of the Western Midlands Conference of the United Reformed Church. From 1986-1989 he returned to parish ministry in the United Reformed Church.

Kaan’s linguistic ability, ecumenical service and fervent concern for the powerless are apparent in his hymns, numbering more than 200.  Collections of his hymns appear in this country as The Hymn Texts of Fred Kaan (1985), Planting Trees and Sowing Seeds (1989) and The Only Earth We Know (1999). He was elected Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada in 2001. His hymns have been translated into more than 15 languages.

In 1985, Dr. Kaan reflected on “For the healing of the nations,” saying, “Of all the hymns I have written, this is the text that has been more widely reprinted and incorporated in major hymnbooks than any other. It was first used in 1965 in a worship service at the Pilgrim Church, Plymouth, to mark Human Rights Day. Subsequently, it has been used on many official occasions, such as the 25th anniversary of the United Nations organization.”

Dr. Kaan reminds us to care for a world where we are inter-dependant and to use our political will, global influence and natural resources for the good of all humanity in seeking justice and “abundant living” for all.

Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service

Albert F. Bayly (1901-1984) was ed­u­cat­ed at Lon­don Un­i­ver­si­ty and Mans­field Coll­ege, Ox­ford.  Be­gin­ning in the late 1920’s, he served at four Cong­re­ga­tion­al church­es in North­um­ber­land, Lan­ca­shire and East York­shire; in 1962, he be­came pas­tor in Thax­ted, Es­sex.  Af­ter re­tir­ing in 1971, he moved to Spring­field, Chelms­ford, and was ac­tive in the local Unit­ed Re­formed Church.  He wrote sev­er­al pa­geants on mis­sion themes, and li­bret­tos for can­ta­tas by W. L. Lloyd Web­ber (father of Andrew). 

Bayly wrote this text in response to a Hymn Society of America search for new hymns on social welfare. It was chosen as the theme hymn for the Second National Conference on the Churches and Social Welfare held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 23-27, 1961. The Hymn Society published the text in Seven New Social Welfare Hymns (1961).