February 14, 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:

Ach, was soll ich Sünder machen? – Johann Pachelbel

Johannes Olearius (1611-1684) studied at the University of Wittenberg (M.A. 1632, D.D. 1643], where he became lecturer and adjunct of the philosophical faculty. In 1637, he became Superintendent at Querfurt; and, in 1643, was appointed by Duke August of Sachsen-Weissenfels as his chief court preacher, and private chaplain at Halle. Olearius was the author of a Commentary on the whole Bible, and of various devotional works. He was also the compiler of one of the largest and most important German hymn-books of the 17th century, the Geistliche Singe-Kunst, of which the first edition appeared at Leipzig in 1671, with 1207 hymns, and the second at Leipzig in 1672, with 1340. The first edition contained 302 hymns by Olearius himself, marked "D. J. O."

Oh, how great is Your compassion, Faithful Father, God of grace,
That with all our fallen race In our depth of degradation
You had mercy so that we Might be saved eternally!

Your great love for this hath striven That we may, from sin made free.
Live with You eternally. Your dear Son Himself has given
And extends His gracious call, To His Supper leads us all.

Firmly to our souls' salvation Witnesses Your Spirit, Lord,
In Your Sacraments and Word. There He sends true consolation,
Giving us the gift of faith That we fear nor hell nor death.

Lord, Your mercy will not leave me; Ever will Your truth abide.
Then in You I will confide. Since Your Word cannot deceive me,
My salvation is to me Safe and sure eternally.

I will praise Your great compassion, Faithful Father, God of grace,
That with all our fallen race In our depth of degradation
You had mercy so that we Might be saved eternally!

Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706)  was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era. Pachelbel's music enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany. Today, Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D, as well as the Chaconne in F minor, the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the Hexachordum Apollinis, a set of keyboard variations.

Come, Ye Disconsolate – J. Bert Carlson

Son of John Moore, a Dublin tradesman, Thomas Moore (1779-1852) received his education at a private school, and at Trinity College, Dublin. He studied law and held a post in the Bermuda government for a time. He was also a well-known poet and an Irish nationalist. He wrote 32 hymns, including “Come, Ye Disconsolate” was published in 1816 with the title “Relief in Prayer”.  The word “disconsolate” speaks of an unhappy person who has been unable to find any consolation or comfort.  Moore’s poem expresses the assurance that God provides comfort for all ills.

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
            Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
            Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
            Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

            Here see the bread of life, see waters flowing

            Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.

            Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing

            Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

J. Bert Carlson (b. 1937), retired pastor, holds a master of music from Duquesne University School of Music and has served as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Whiting, NJ since 1997. Carlson wears many diverse hats as a piano teacher, organ recitalist, tenor soloist, musical director, and conductor as well as cofounder of the Chicago Oratorio Society and clinician for numerous workshops with an emphasis on choral methods, organ and hymn composition. His prodigious list of publications includes anthems, vocal songs, organ works, and piano works.

Sortita per Organo or Armonio – Luigi Bottazzo

 Luigi Bottazzo (1845-1924) was an Italian organist and composer. At the age of 9, he became blind; studied music at the Institute for the Blind in Padova, and at the age of 19, he became teacher of harmony, counterpoint and organ in the same institute.   He composed more than 300 works, mostly for organ, but also for voice and piano, piano solo, solo voices, voice and organ. He also published a series of music theory books, some of which were adopted by music conservatories.  

A “Sortita” is literally a piece written to play while people are “leaving”.  This Sortita was written to be played either on the organ or the harmonium.  In 19^th century Europe, harmoniums were found in home and in small churches that could not afford organs, just as the American reed organ was often found in churches and homes in this country. The hamonium is a free reed keyboard instrument much like an American reed organ. 

Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein (1723–1795), professor of physiology at Copenhagen, was credited with the first free-reed instrument made in the Western world, after winning the annual prize in 1780 from the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg.  The harmonium's design incorporates free reeds and derives from the earlier regal. A harmonium-like instrument was exhibited by Gabriel Joseph Grenié (1756–1837) in 1810. He called it an orgue expressif (expressive organ), because his instrument was capable of greater expression, as well as of producing a crescendo and diminuendo. Alexandre Debain improved Grenié's instrument and gave it the name harmonium when he patented his version in 1840.  There was concurrent development of similar instruments.  A mechanic who had worked in the factory of Alexandre in Paris emigrated to the United States and conceived the idea of a suction bellows, instead of the ordinary bellows that forced the air outward through the reeds. The firm of Mason & Hamlin, of Boston, in 1860 made their instruments with the suction bellows, and this method of construction soon superseded all others in America.  This is the primary difference between the American reed organ and the harmonium.  The harmonium blows air out through the reeds and the reed organ sucks air in through them.  If you have played a harmonica, you have experienced this difference.  The harmonica also uses free reeds, and, as you know, sound can be made both by sucking and blowing with only slight variation in the tone quality.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

Follow Me – Ira Stanphill

Ira Forest Stanphill (1914-1993) was a well-known American gospel music songwriter of the mid-twentieth century.  Stanphill began preaching when he was 22, first in a summer traveling ministry with Christian Ambassadors of the Assemblies of God, then becoming director of youth and music at a church in Breckenridge, Texas. He later became music director at Faith Tabernacle in Oklahoma City, then became pastor of Trinity Assembly of God in Orange, California. In the early 1940s, he served as associate pastor at Full Gospel Tabernacle in Bakersfield, California.  In 1949, he became music director at Bethel Temple in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1956, he was the founding pastor of Bethel Assembly of God Church in Lake Worth, Florida. In September 1962, he became pastor of the Assembly of God Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1968, he was pastor of Rosen Heights Assembly of God Church in Fort Worth, Texas. After serving 13 years as pastor of Rockwood Park Church in Fort Worth, he resigned to devote more time to evangelism and concerts, traveling to churches and Bible camps around the country, sometimes accompanied by his wife. They played and sang some of his compositions in addition to his preaching. In 1941, they joined the team of evangelist Raymond T. Richey. An ad for a crusade Stanphill held in 1964 described him as "Preacher of Old Time Religion." In addition to traveling throughout the United States, he preached in 40 other countries. Occasionally as part of his crusades, he would ask members of the congregation to suggest titles for songs. Selecting one title from the suggestions, he would write words and music for a song during the service.  In the 1970s, Stanphill's ministry included a 30-minute weekly television program. Young At Heart originated on WCFC in Chicago. In the 1990s, he appeared on several Southern gospel music videos produced by Bill Gaither.

By the age of 10, Stanphill had already become a fluent musician, having learned to play the piano, organ, ukulele, and accordion. He went on to learn to play xylophone, guitar, saxophone, and clarinet. At 17, he was composing and performing his own music for church services, revival campaigns, and prayer meetings.  Stanphill composed more than 500 gospel songs. 

When he was a 39-year old singing preacher, who’d been conducting his own ministry for many years, he heard a story by Charles Greenaway at a Texas conference in 1953.  The Greenaways (Charles and his wife Mary) had been young missionaries in Africa, and Ira Stanphill, as any minister committed to God’s work would do, probably expected to hear something interesting and informative from them as he attended the Grand Prairie conference one evening. Maybe he got more than he bargained for, because the story made its way onto a song sheet the next day, through his own tears. The Greenaways didn’t think Africa was for them at first, those many years earlier. Mary was sick, an irony that probably was not lost on her and Charles, who had gone to help people there through a medical missionary effort they were eager to use as a springboard to introduce God to the people. It seemed that the physical needs of the locals were so great, however, that no room was left for the deeper spiritual food they wanted to dispense too. And with Mary laid low, Charles’ spirit called out ‘Lord, send us somewhere else!’ He sensed God’s answer, a gentle but firm reminder that Jesus had likewise felt the sting of apathy and rejection. Do as He did, they sensed, and leave the rest to Him. Eventually, the Greenaways saw the spiritual fruit they longed to harvest. From one minister to another, Charles Greenaway’s story washed over Ira Stanphill.   Stanphill certainly identified with messaging to other cultures, as he preached in 40 different countries outside of the U.S. before expiring at the age of 79.  The words he wrote – loneliness, sacrifice, burdens, and misplaced pride –an experience like the Greenaways. Hang tough, and know the intimate fellowship with Him that comes along the coarse, uneven path.

            I travelled down a lonely road and no one seemed to care.

            The burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair.

            I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me,

            And then I heard Him say so tenderly:

            “My feet were also weary upon the Calvary road.

            The cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load.

            Be faithful, weary pilgrim, the morning I can see.

            Just lift your cross and follow close to Me.”

            “I work so hard for Jesus,” I often boast and say,

            “I’ve sacrificed a lot of things to walk the narrow way.

            I gave up fame and fortune; I’m worth a lot to Thee.
            and then I hear Him gently say to me:

            “I left the throne of glory and counted it but loss.

            My hands were nailed in anger upon a cruel cross.

            But now we’ll make the journey with your hand safe in mine.

            So lift your cross and follow close to Me.”

            O Jesus, if I die upon a foreign field some day,

            ‘Twould be no more than love demands, no less could I repay.

            “No greater love hath mortal man than for a friend to die.”

            These are the words He gently spoke to me:

           

            “If just a cup of water I place within your hand,

            Then just a cup of water is all that I demand.”

            But if by death to living they can Thy glory see,

            I’ll take my cross and follow close to Thee.

About the Hymns:

I Love to Tell the Story

"I Love to Tell the Story" is a well-known hymn which was written as a poem by an English evangelist, Katherine Hankey (1834-1911). Hankey was the daughter of a wealthy banker and was associated with the Clapham sect of William Wilberforce, a group of prominent evangelical Anglicans from the Clapham area. This group helped to establish the British and Foreign Bible Society, promoted the … abolition of slavery, and was involved in improving the lot of England's working classes. Hankey taught Bible classes for shop girls in London, visited the sick in local hospitals, and used the proceeds of her writings to support various mission causes. Her publications include Heart to Heart (1870) and The Old, Old Story and Other Verses (1879).

Hankey had a serious spell of sickness while in a mission in Africa. During her long days of convalescence, she wrote a long on the life of Jesus in 1866 in two parts. The first part was a poem of fifty stanzas, titled "The Story Wanted" (dated January 29, 1866) and second part titled "The Story Told" (dated November 18, 1866).  Certain verses were taken from Part I. by Dr. W. H. Doane in 1867 to make the popular and familiar hymn beginning, "Tell me the old, old story". From Part II. certain verses were selected to make the hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story".  The tune was composed by William G. Fischer and appeared in Fischer's Joyful Songs, Nos. 1 to 3 published in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Methodist Episcopal Book Room.

Apart from the context of the larger poem, some of the couplets of this text appear rather shallow or repetitious; thus the Psalter Hymnal includes only the original stanzas 1, 3, and 4. But the entire original poem provides a fine autobiographical testimony to Hankey's evangelical fervor, which she expressed in her writings and in her support of foreign and home missions (she taught church school classes to the rich and poor of London). The text simply affirms the Christian's zeal to "tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love" to the unsaved as well as to the saved, here on earth and in glory.

Where He Leads Me

Earnest W. Blan­dy, a Sal­va­tion Ar­my of­fi­cer, wrote this song in 1890, af­ter choos­ing be­tween a com­fort­a­ble post at an es­tab­lished church, and an al­ter­nate as­sign­ment to the New York Ci­ty wa­ter­front and slum called "Hell’s Kitch­en." He chose the lat­ter.  No other biographical information on Rev. Blandy has survived.  The text is based on Matthew 16:24:  “Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”

The melody was composed by pastor and evangelist John S. Norris, who died in 1907.  Norris was born on the Isle of Wight, which is in the English Channel off the southern coast of England. His family emigrated to Canada. In 1868, a few years after the Civil War ended, he was ordained into the Methodist Church ministry. However, 10 years later he joined the Congregational Church and pastored churches in Canada and the United States. Little is known of his ministry. His only legacy is the soulful tune of this simple song of invitation and consecration.

Jesus Calls Us

Cecil Frances Alexander (1823-1850) married William Alexander, an Anglican clergyman who later became the Anglican Archbishop for all of Ireland. Alexander was an outstanding young woman by virtue of ability, education, and service.  While still quite young, she and her sister operated a school for the deaf, and she also published a highly successful book of hymns for children––designating the profits for the benefit of the school. Her hymns are mostly for children, and were published in her Verses for Holy Seasons, with Preface by Dr. Hook, 1846; Poems on Subjects in the Old Testament, pt. i. 1854, pt. ii. 1857; Narrative Hymns for Village Schools, 1853; Hymns for Little Children, 1848; Hymns Descriptive and Devotional, 1858; The Legend of the Golden Prayers 1859; Moral Songs, N.B.; The Lord of the Forest and his Vassals, an Allegory, &c.; or contributed to the Lyra Anglicana, the S.P.C.K. Psalms and Hymns, Hymns Ancient & Modern, and other collections. She wrote 400 hymns during her lifetime ­­–– mostly children's hymns––but "Jesus Calls Us" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful" are the best known.

Impressed by her hymns, her husband, Bishop Alexander, asked her to write a hymn for use during the coming Sunday worship on St. Andrew's Day based on the call of  Simon, Andrew, James, and John (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-18).  She wrote this hymn, "Jesus Calls Us," for that occasion.  The first verse of this hymn begins, "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea"––acknowledging the call of those first disciples by the Sea of Galilee.  A recurring theme is "Christian, love me more"––"Christian, love me more than these" ––"serve and love thee best of all."  Those words were inspired by John 21:15, where Jesus, after the resurrection, asked Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"  Her text was published in the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge's (SPCK) Hymns for Public Worship (1852). Though written for a relatively minor saint's day, this hymn quickly gained popularity. 

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.”