February 10, 2016 - Ash Wednesday

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:

Savior, When in Dust to You – Gerald Near

Sir Robert Grant (1779-1838) became Member of Parliament for Inverness in 1826; a Privy Councillor in 1831; and Governor of Bombay, 1834. He was well-known as a hymn writer. His hymns, "O worship the King"; "Saviour, when in dust to Thee"; and "When gathering clouds around I view," are widely used in all English-speaking countries. Some of his hymns were contributed to the Christian Observer, 1806-1815, under the signature of "E—y, D. R."; and to Elliott's Psalms & Hymns, Brighton, 1835. The year following his death his brother, Lord Glenelg, gathered 12 of his hymns and poems together, and published them as  Sacred Poems. By the late Eight Hon. Sir Robert Grant. London, Saunders & Otley, Conduit Street, 1839.

Savior, when in dust to Thee Low we bow the adoring knee;
When, repentant, to the skies Scarce we lift our weeping eyes;
O, by all Thy pains and woe Suffered once for man below,
Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our penitential cry!

By Thy helpless infant years, By Thy life of want and tears,
By Thy days of deep distress In the savage wilderness,
By the dread, mysterious hour Of the insulting tempter's pow'r,
Turn, O turn, a fav'ring eye; Hear our penitential cry!

By thine hour of dire despair, By thine agony of prayer,
By the cross, the nail, the thorn, Piercing spear, and torturing scorn,
By the gloom that veiled the skies O'er the dreadful sacrifice,
Listen to our humble sigh; Hear our penitential cry!

By Thy deep expiring groan, By the sad sepulchral stone,
By the vault whose dark abode Held in vain the rising God,
O, from earth to heav'n restored, Mighty, re-ascended Lord,
Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our penitential cry!

Gerald Near (b. 1942) is considered one of the finest composers of church music writing today. He studied theory and composition at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. While at the University of Michigan, he also studied organ, published organ and choral music, and completed his Master's degree in orchestral conducting. In 1982, he was one of the first recipients of a McKnight Foundation Fellowship. That year also saw two commissioned works for the American Guild of Organists (AGO) National Convention in Washington, D.C. The following year he moved to Dallas, where he was appointed organist/choirmaster of St. Matthew's Cathedral, later becoming Canon Precentor. In 1989, Gloriae Dei Cantores commissioned Mr. Near to compose a work for the choir, Resurrexi, based on Gregorian chant motifs. At the 1998 Denver AGO National Convention, Mary Preston premiered his organ concerto. Pamela Decker premiered his Sonata Breve (Second Sonata), written for her, at the Tucson Chapter's (AGO) Mid Winter Conclave in January of 2008. His works have been heard on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion, and his Magnificat & Nunc dimittis has been performed at the prestigious Southern Cathedrals Festival in England. The St. John's College Choir sang his St. John's Service at Sydney's Opera House.  The Tucson Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) designated him a National Arts Associate in May of 2008.

About the Choral Music:

Come Follow Me – Joseph Martin

Joseph Martin (b. 1959 ), a native of North Carolina, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Subsequently he earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas, Austin. Joseph taught for five years in the Piano Pedagogy Department of the University of Texas.. He is a member of the staff of Shawnee Press as Director of Sacred Publications, with responsibilities for overseeing the editorial and creative direction of the company’s sacred publications and also coordinating the recording and production aspects of future sacred publishing efforts. Joseph has performed solo piano recitals and has been the featured artist with symphony orchestras in the United States and Mexico. As winner of the Nina Plant Wideman Competition, he performed with the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. His solo recital in Ex-convento del Carmen was broadcast nationally throughout the country. Though he continues to perform in concert, he now devotes his efforts to playing in churches and for conferences of church musicians Recognized throughout the United States for his many choral compositions, over 1200 compositions are currently in print and the list continues to grow.

“Come Follow Me” is a movement from the cantata, A Time for Alleluia.  From the passion of Gethsemane to the victory of the empty tomb, A Time For Alleluia celebrates the life of Christ and his redemptive work, using Ecclesiasties as the biblical basis for the text.   “Come Follow Me” takes its text from Matthew 19.

            Take up thy cross and follow.

            Come, faithful seeker of the Light, my voice is calling in the night.

            Walk with me; I’ll be your guide.  Follow me.

            Come weary pilgrim, take my hand.  I’ll lift you up and help you stand.

            All who seek the promised land, follow me.

All who hunger, all who suffer, all who sorrow, all who would be free, follow me.

            The path is steep, the road is long, but with my love I’ll keep you strong;

            Then my grace will lead you home. Come follow me.

Come follow me, O faithful one, until the final race is won,

            Until the great Amen is sung!  Follow me.

           

            I am the Way, the Truth, the Life.  Follow me.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

Come As You Are – David Crowder

David Wallace Crowder (b. 1971^]), known by his mononymous stage name Crowder, is an American folktronica musician. He was the lead singer in the now defunct David Crowder Band. As of 2012, Crowder is making a solo career for himself on sixstepsrecords and Sparrow Records labels, and released his first solo album Neon Steeple in 2014. Crowder released his first solo single entitled "I Am" on 2013, which rose to the No. 3 position on the Christian Songs chart.

Come out of sadness from wherever you've been
Come broken-hearted, let rescue begin
Come find your mercy, oh sinner come near
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal

There's hope for the hopeless and all those who've strayed
Come sit at the table, come taste the grace
There's rest for the weary, rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't cure

There's joy for the morning, oh sinner be still
Earth has no sorrow, that heaven can't heal

So lay down your burdens, lay down your shame
All who are broken, lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home, you're not too far
So lay down your hurt, lay down your heart
Come as you are.

About the Hymn:

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling. 

At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years.  On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.

The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word "Ebenezer" commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics.

February 7, 2016

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:

With High Delight – Charles Ore

George Vetter (1536-1599) was a Moravian Roman Catholic priest who wrote 6 published hymns.  He wrote this text on the melody of a Huguenot Psalm (probably originally of Guillaume Franc,1543).  It was first published in Kirchengeseng darinnen die Heubtartickel des Christlichen Glaubens gefsset (also called the Bohemian Brethren’s Kirchengeseng), 1566.  The text was translated by Martin H. Franzmann (1907-1976), a theologian and poet of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

With high delight Let us unite
In songs of sweet jubilation.
You pure in heart, Each take your part,
Sing Jesus Christ, our salvation.

Let praises ring; Give thanks, and bring
To Christ our Lord adoration.
His honor speed by word and deed
To every land, every nation.

In addition to being an accomplished organ recitalist, Dr. Charles Ore (b. 1936) composes organ and choral music, and is a leader in the use and development of improvisation in organ playing. He is organist at First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Neb.

Voluntary on “Nyland” – Gordan Young

Rusty Edwards (b. 1955) provides Christians with a hymn that articulates a contemporary vision of the mission of the church. He was born in Dixon, Ill. Following graduation from Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Nebraska, Dr. Edwards taught school at St. Boniface in Elgin, Neb.  His theological education includes a master of divinity degree from Luther Northwestern Seminary (now Luther Seminary), a doctorate in creative ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation at Notre Dame, Ind., and a certificate from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest.  Following his ordination in 1985, he served Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Moline, Ill., until 1991. He currently serves as senior pastor at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Rockford, Ill. He is also the pastoral advisor for Rockford Lutheran High School and is on the board of the Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity. 

“We All Are One in Mission” was written in 1985. The unity of the church, local and universal,

is at the heart of this hymn. It is not the responsibility of only missionaries or ordained clergy to practice mission in all of its forms, but is integral to the service of all in the church who are 

united by Christ and have a sense of his “resurrected Justice.” “We All Are One in Mission” is 

found in Dr. Edwards’ first collection of hymns, The Yes of the Heart: Faith, Hope and Love 

Songs (Hope Publishing Co., 1993), as well as in numerous recent hymnals. It is the most 

published of his hymns, appearing in over two dozen collections and hymnals, and according to

the author is “rather unique, because it has been published with 10 different tunes.” 

               We all are one in mission, We all are one in call,

               Our varied gifts united By Christ, the Lord of all.

               A single, great commission Compels us from above

               To plan and work together That all may know Christ's love.

               We all are called for service To witness in God's name.

               Our ministries are diff'rent, Our purpose is the same:

               To touch the lives of others By God's surprising grace

               So ev'ry folk and nation May feel God's warm embrace.

               We all behold one vision, A stark reality:

               The steward of salvation Was nailed upon a tree.

               Yet resurrected Justice Gives rise that we may share

               Free reconciliation And hope amid despair.

               Now let us be united And let our song be heard.

               Now let us be a vessel For God's redeeming Word.

               We all are one in mission, We all are one in call,

               Our varied gifts united By Christ, the Lord of all.

Gordon Young (1919-1998) was born in McPherson, Kansas, and during his lifetime was

recognized as one of this country's great church organists. He was a prolific and talented

composer for both organ and choir, with nearly 1000 published works.  During the course of his career, he was a radio organist in Tulsa, a music critic and columnist for daily newspapers in

Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and choirmaster in churches in Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Young taught organ in conjunction with Wayne State University and for 15 years was organist

and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Detroit.

Fughetta No. 7 – Joseph Rheinberger

A fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject

(theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and recurs frequently in the course of the composition.  The English term fugue originated in the 16th

century and is derived from the French word fugue or the Italian fuga. This in turn comes from

Latin, also fuga, which is itself related to both fugere ("to flee") and fugare ("to chase").  A

“fughetta” is quite literally a short fugue.

Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839- 1901) was an organist and composer, born in Liechtenstein but resident for most of his life in Germany.  Rheinberger showed exceptional musical talent at an early age. When only seven years old, he was already serving as organist of the Vaduz parish church, and his first composition was performed the following year.  In 1851, his father, who had initially opposed his son's desire to embark on the life of a professional musician, relented and allowed him to enter the Munich Conservatorium. Not long after graduating, he became professor of piano and of composition at the same institution.

The stylistic influences on Rheinberger ranged from contemporaries such as Brahms to composers from earlier times, such as Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert and, above all, Bach. He was also an enthusiast for painting and literature (especially English and German).  Rheinberger was a prolific composer. His religious works include twelve Masses (one for double chorus, three for four voices a cappella, three for women's voices and organ, two for men's voices and one with orchestra), a Requiem and a Stabat Mater. His other works include several operas, symphonies, chamber music, and choral works.  Today Rheinberger is remembered above all for his elaborate and challenging organ compositions; these include two concertos, 20 sonatas in 20 different keys (of a projected set of 24 sonatas in all the keys), 22 trios, and 36 solo pieces.

About the Choral Music:

Panis Angelicus – César Franck

César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (1822-1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who was born at Liège, in what is now Belgium (though at the time of his birth it was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands). In that city he gave his first concerts in 1834. He studied privately in Paris from 1835.  After a brief return to Belgium, and a disastrous reception to an early oratorio Ruth, he moved to Paris, where he married and embarked on a career as teacher and organist. He gained a reputation as a formidable improviser, and travelled widely in France to demonstrate new organs built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.  In 1858, he became organist at Sainte-Clotilde, a position he retained for the rest of his life. He became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872; he became a French citizen, a requirement of the appointment.

He wrote for organ and piano, as well as orchestral and choral works.  His music is often contrapuntally complex, using a harmonic language that is prototypically late Romantic, showing a great deal of influence from Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. In his compositions, Franck showed a talent and a penchant for frequent, graceful modulations of key.  Franck had huge hands, capable of spanning twelve white keys on the keyboard. This allowed him unusual flexibility in voice-leading between internal parts in fugal composition, and in the size of the repeated chords which are a feature of much of his keyboard music. Of the Violin Sonata's writing it has been said: "Franck, blissfully apt to forget that not every musician's hands were as enormous as his own, littered the piano part (the last movement in particular) with major-tenth chords... most mere pianistic mortals ever since have been obligated to spread them in order to play them at all."  The key to his music may be found in his personality. His friends record that he was "a man of utmost humility, simplicity, reverence and industry." Louis Vierne, a pupil and later organist titulaire of Notre-Dame, wrote in his memoirs that Franck showed a "constant concern for the dignity of his art, for the nobility of his mission, and for the fervent sincerity of his sermon in sound... Joyous or melancholy, solemn or mystic, powerful or ethereal: Franck was all those at Sainte-Clotilde."

Panis angelicus (Latin for "Bread of Angels") is the penultimate strophe of the hymn "Sacris solemniis" written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.  The strophe of "Sacris solemniis" that begins with the words "Panis angelicus" (bread of angels) has often been set to music separately from the rest of the hymn. Most famously, in 1872, César Franck set this strophe for tenor voice, harp, cello, and organ, and incorporated it into his Messe à trois voix, Op. 12.

            Panis angelicus                       May the Bread of Angels

            fit panis hominum;                  Become bread for mankind;

            Dat panis coelicus                   The Bread of Heaven puts

            figuris terminum:                     all foreshadowings to an end;

            O res mirabilis!                       Oh, thing miraculous!

            Manducat Dominum               This body of God will nourish

              Pauper, servus et humilis           the poor, the servile, and the humble.

About the Hymns:

O Worship the King

Of Scottish ancestry, Robert Grant (1779-1838) was born in India, where his father was a director of the East India Company. He attended Magdalen College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1807. He had a distinguished public career a Governor of Bombay and as a member of the British Parliament, where he sponsored a bill to remove civil restrictions on Jews. Grant was knighted in 1834. His hymn texts were published in the Christian Observer (1806-1815), in Elliot’s Psalms and Hymns (1835), and posthumously by his brother as Sacred Poems (1839).

Grant’s text was influenced by William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561). Grant’s text was first published in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody (1833) with several unauthorized alterations. In 1835 his original six-stanza text was published in Henry Elliott’s Psalm and Hymns. Stanza 3 was omitted in the Psalter Hymnal.

Rather than being a paraphrase or versification, the text is a meditation on the creation theme of Psalm 104, focusing on God’s creation as a testimony to his “measureless might.” More personal in tone, stanzas 4 and 5 confess the compassion of God toward his creatures and affirm with apocalyptic vision that the “ransomed creation, with glory ablaze” will join with angels to hymn its praise to God.  In the last verse, Grant points to Christ as the ultimate reconciler of a broken, but still beautiful creation. An original last stanza that we no longer sing reads, “The humbler creation, though feeble their lays, with true adoration shall lisp to Thy praise.”

Fill My Cup, Lord

Richard Eugene Blanchard Sr. (1925-2004) was born in 1925 in Chungking, China, to Methodist missionary parents. When the Blanchard family returned home to the United States, Richard grew up as a child and youth in Indiana and North Carolina.  Blanchard was ordained in 1950, after serving two years as pastor of the Snellville-Grayson circuit of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Transferring to the Florida Conference in 1950, Blanchard completed 40 years in the ministry of the United Methodist Church.

Certainly Blanchard's most famous song was "Fill My Cup, Lord". During the 1970s the song was popularized throughout much of the United States by Blanchard's close friend, musician and evangelist Rev. Ray Vaughn.  Our United Methodist Hymnal only has the chorus.  The verses are as follows:

Like the woman at the well I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy;
And then I heard my Savior speaking:
"Draw from my well that never shall run dry".

There are millions in this world who are craving
The pleasures earthly things afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

So, my brother, if the things this world gave you
Leave hungers that won't pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you,
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray.

Here I Am, Lord

Dan Schutte is a native of Wisconsin, who received his education at St. Louis University with a bachelor’s degree in 1973, a master of divinity degree in 1979 at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, Calif., and a master’s degree in 1980 at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.  Following graduation, Mr. Schutte joined the Jesuits and served as the director of liturgy at Marquette University (1982-1986). He entered parish ministry in Milwaukee serving as director of music at Immaculate Heart of Mary and then Our Lady of Lourdes parishes.   He is currently director of music at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution, and tours extensively as a Christian concert artist. Of his many hymns, “Here I Am, Lord” is the most commonly sung.

A salient feature of Catholic renewal hymnody since the Second Vatican Council is a stirring and memorable refrain. “Here I Am, Lord” recalls immediately Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’”

An unusual attribute of this hymn is the change in point of view that the singer makes between the stanzas and the refrain. The stanzas speak from the perspective of God in the first person singular, while the refrain, though remaining in first person, is from the perspective of the singers of the hymn offering their lives to God.   Each stanza reflects a paradox. The powerful God, creator of “sea and sky,” “snow and rain” and “wind and flame” is also the God who hears the “people cry,” bears the “people’s pain” and “tend[s] the poor and lame.”  This is a hymn of transformation. God transforms the darkness into light in stanza one, melts “hearts of stone” with love in stanza two and nourishes the “poor and lame” with the “finest bread”—a clear Eucharistic reference.  Each stanza ends with the question, “Whom shall I send?” Rhetorical questions are very common poetical devices in Christian hymnody, but this is not one of them. The refrain immediately offers the response, “Here I am, Lord.”

January 31, 2016

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:

O Gott, du frommer Gott – Flor Peeters

Johann Heerman (1585-1657), son of a furrier, was the fifth but only surviving child of his parents. During a severe illness in his childhood, his mother vowed that if he recovered she would educate him for the ministry, even though she had to beg the necessary money. He was appointed diaconus of Koben, a small town on the Oder, in 1611, and was promoted to the pastorate there.  Much of Heermann's life was spent amid the distressing scenes of the Thirty Years' War; and by his own ill health and his domestic trials he was trained to write his beautiful hymns of “Cross and Consolation." Between 1629 and 1634, Koben was plundered four times by the Lichtenstein dragoons and the rough hordes under Wallenstein sent into Silesia by the King of Austria in order to bring about the Counter-Reformation and restore the Roman Catholic faith and practice; while in 1616 the town was devastated by fire, and in 1631 by pestilence. In these troublous years Heermann several times lost all his moveables; once he had to keep away from Koben for seventeen weeks; twice he was nearly sabred; and once, while crossing the Oder in a frail boat loaded almost to sinking, he heard the bullets of the pursuing soldiers whistle just over his head. He bore all with courage and patience.  After 1623 he suffered from an affliction of the throat, which compelled him to cease preaching in 1634. 

As a hymnwriter, Heermann ranks with the best of his century.  He began writing Latin poems about 1605 and was recognized for his poetry at Brieg in 1608. He represents the transition from the objective standpoint of the hymnwriters of the Reformation period to the more subjective and experimental school that followed him. His hymns are distinguished by depth and tenderness of feeling; by firm faith and confidence in face of trial; by deep love to Christ, and humble submission to the will of God.In his House and Heart Music some of his finest hymns are in the section entitled "Songs of Tears. In the time of the persecution and distress of pious Christians."

Oh God, you righteous god you source of good gifts,
without whom nothing exists that does exist, from whom we have everything :
give me a healthy body and grant that in such a body
there may remain an inviolate soul and a pure conscience.

Grant that I may do diligently what it is my duty to do,
as your command guides me in my position.
Grant that I may do it promptly, at the time when I should,
and when I do it, then grant that it may turn out well!

Help me, so that I may always say what I can stand by,
let no useless word come from my mouth,
and when in my office I should and must speak,
then give my words force and weight without causing vexation.

If there is danger, then let me not despair,
give me heroic courage, help me to bear my cross !
Grant that I may overcome my enemies with gentleness.
And if I need counsel may I find good counsel.

Let me with everyone live in peace and friendship,
as far as is Christian. If you want to give me anything to do with
wealth, property and money, then give this also,
that nothing may be mixed up with any goods that are unjust.

If in this world I have to live my life longer,
through many a bitter step  press on to old age,
then give me patience. From sin and shame protect me,
so that I may bear with honour my grey hair

At my end let me depart relying on Christ's death,
take my soul to you to your joys in heaven,
bestow a little space on my body, a grave by my parents,
so that it may have peace by their side.

On that day when you will awaken the dead,
then stretch out your hand to my grave,
let me hear your voice, and awaken my body
and lead it beautiful and transformed to the multitude of your chosen people!

Flor Peeters (1903-1986) was an important Belgian composer, organist and teacher.  When sixteen years old, he began his studies at the Lemmens Institute in Mechelen (since moved to Leuven), which was named after the nineteenth-century organist Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens.  In 1923 he became an organ teacher at the Institute; simultaneously he acquired the position of chief organist at the St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, which he held for most of the rest of his life;  As an organist and pedagogue, Peeters enjoyed great renown, giving concerts and liturgical masterclasses all over the world. He also made recordings of sixteenth-, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century organ music; some of these have been reissued in recent years on compact disc. Most of his own pieces (he wrote well over 100) were for organ, for choir, or for both. Peeters was created a baron by King Baudouin of Belgium in 1971.

Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gibt sein Gunst – J. C. Bach

Johann Kolrose (c.1487-1558) was a German poet, philologist, and pedagogue.  In 1528, he became director of the boys’ elementary school in Basel, and in 1530, he published a textbook for drama.  He wrote hymns texts for the Reformation. “Wo Gott zum Haus” was written in 1525 and published in Geistliche Lieder (1535).  It is a versified paraphrase of the Psalm 127.

If God will not the building bless, The builders’ toil is meaningless;
If God the city not maintain, The watchman waketh but in vain.

Oh, vain it is, ere dawn to rise, Or late to shut your weary eyes,
Or bread of sorrows to digest, For God shall give His lov’d ones rest.

Our children are God’s heritage, His gift to us, His goodly pledge;
As arrows in the hand of might, So is the youth in God’s own sight.

That man is happy and at ease, Who hath his quiver full of these;
They shall not fall to shame and woe, For God preserves them from their foe.

Praise God the Father and the Son And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
As ‘twas, is now, and so shall be, World without end, eternally!

Johann Sebastian Bach’s life was surrounded by Johann Christophs:  an uncle, a cousin, an older brother, and a son.  Here we have a chorale prelude by his 1st cousin once removed, who became the town organist in Eisenach in the year 1665 and court chamber musician there in 1700.  Prior to Johann Sebastian, Johann Christoph (1642-1703) would have been considered the most famous musician of the Bach family. His work is of the highest quality and, in some instances, has been improperly attributed to Johann Sebastian himself (e.g. the motet Ich lasse dich nicht). Johann Christoph composed choral works (motets and cantatas) and works for organ (preludes and fugues). Johann Sebastian described his cousin as "the great and expressive composer," and performed his works often as did Carl Philipp Emanuel.

About the Handbell Music:

Festivo! – Bob Burroughs

Bob Burroughs (b. 1937) is known primarily in music circles as a composer and arranger of church music. He is a graduate of Mars Hill College, holds a BME from Oklahoma Baptist University and a MCM with a double major in theory and composition from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been active in church music for 55 years. He was on the faculty of Samford University, Mercer University (Atlanta campus) and Palm Beach Atlantic University- as Composer-in-Residence and Associate Professor of Theory and Composition. He was the Director of the Church Music Department, Florida Baptist Convention, Jacksonville, Florida, until his retirement in 2001.  Burroughs has over 1,300 compositions published in the United States, and was awarded the Hines Sims Award by the Baptist Church Music Conference, June, 2007.

About the Choral Music:

One Faith, One Hope, One Lord – 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.  

Dignified and thoughtful, this powerful affirmation of faith is harmonically rich and features beautiful choral writing, which thickens through the piece. The text is based on Ephesians 4:4-6, 13.

            One faith, one hope, one Lord, one church for which He died,

            One voice, one song, we lift in praise to Him who was and is and shall be evermore.

            There is one body, one spirit, as you were called to one hope.

            One Lord, baptism and faith, one God and Father of all, who is in you all.

            Though we be many people, diverse with various gifts,

            We are given to each other for the unity of faith,

            That we grow in the knowledge of the Son of God, in the fullness of Christ.

            One faith.  One hope.  One Lord.

About the Hymns:

Christ for the World We Sing

Samuel Wolcott (1813-1886) was born at South Windsor, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College and Andover Theological Seminary. From 1840 to 1842, he was a missionary in Syria. On his return to America, he was successively pastor of several Congregational congregations. He was Secretary of the Ohio Home Missionary Society for some time.  His hymn-writing began late in life, but has extended to more than 200 hymns, many of which are still in manuscript.  On Feb. 7, 1869, Wolcott attended a meeting of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Ohio.  The pulpit at the church where the meeting was held was inscribed, “Christ for the World, and the World for Christ.”  On the way home, Wolcott composed the hymn, “Christ for the World We Sing”. 

Take Time to Be Holy

“Take Time to Be Holy” was written by William Longstaff (1822-1894) in 1882.  Longstaff, an English businessman, had often meditated on 1 Peter 1:16, “Be ye holy, for I am holy”, and considered it to be the heart of the gospel.  Upon hearing Dr. Griffith John, a missionary from China, speak and use the phrase, “Take time and be holy”, he was inspired to write this hymn.  Longstaff showed the hymn to Ira Sankey, who in turn passed it on to American songwriter George C. Stebbins (1846-1945) to set in 1882. Stebbins laid it aside and did not recall it until an evangelistic meeting in India, during which the theme of holiness was explored. Stebbins recalled Longstaff’s hymn and set it to music for the revival. He sent his tune “HOLINESS” to Sankey, who published the hymn in New Songs and Sacred Solos (1888).

God of Grace and God of Glory

“God of grace and God of glory” was written in 1930 by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) for the dedication of the famous Riverside Church in New York City.   Fosdick was granted degrees from Colgate University and Union Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1903 to ministry in the Baptist Church and became pastor of First Baptist Church, Montclair, N.J.   Fosdick served as a chaplain during World War I and then was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in New York City. From this congregation he was called to pastor Park Avenue Baptist Church, which was renamed Riverside Church.

“God of grace and God of glory” was written while the United States was in the throes of the Great Depression between the two World Wars. Fosdick was a champion of the social gospel, a movement that recognized the plight of the poor, especially in the urban Northeast during the Industrial Revolution.   UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young has noted: “Fosdick’s stirring radio sermons, books, and public pronouncements established Riverside as a forum for the critique of the same wealth and privilege whose gifts had made possible the building of the church.  Under his leadership Riverside Church was interdenominational, interracial, without a creed, and, astonishingly for Baptists, required no specific mode of baptism. At the center of Fosdick’s ministry was urban social ministry.”   Fosdick was perhaps the most vocal proponent of the social gospel of his time—a position that brought both wide acclaim and broad disdain.