March 18, 2018

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:

Aus meines herzens grunde – J. C. Bach

This chorale was written by Johannes Mathesius (1504-1565) and first published in Neu Catechismus Gesangbüchlein, Hamburg, 1598. Gottfried Vopelius (1645-1715), was a German Lutheran academic and hymn-writer, mainly active in Leipzig. Vopelius is primarily remembered for the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (New Leipzig Hymnal) which he published in 1682. The subtitle of the publication reads: “... Compiled from the most beautiful and best songs; In which not only songs of the blessed Dr. Luther, and other (songs) with the Word of God, and in accord with the unmodified Augsburg Confession, but also (songs) as introduced and customary in other untainted Evangelical places and regions, and Latin hymns and psalms, set for four, five and up to six voices.”  The Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch is, to a certain degree, a third edition of Johann Schein's Cantional (scores), which originally had been published in 1627, with a new edition in 1645. Over 90 settings in the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch were copied or adapted from Schein. All other composers are represented with less than 10 settings in the hymnal.

Johannes Mathesius was a German minister and a Lutheran reformer. He is best known for his compilation of Martin Luther's Table Talk, or notes taken of Luther's conversation and published afterwards. Mathesius studied at Ingolstadt, from whence he drifted into Bavaria, where he became converted to the Protestant cause. The renown of Luther and Melanchthon drew him to Wittenberg in 1529.  In 1530, he was called as Baccalaureus to the school at Altenberg, and in 1532 was promoted to the headmastership of the Latin school at Joachimsthal, a mining town which had recently sprung up. In 1540, a lucky speculation in mines let him realize his ambition of a clerical calling, and he became a theological student at Wittenberg. The recommendations of Justus Jonas and Georg Rörer got him the prized honor of a seat at Luther's table.  He later became pastor of the church at Joachimsthal until his death. During his later life, he made a collection of Table Talk taken down by others, and added them to his own.  Mathesius spoke enthusiastically of the privilege of eating with Luther and hearing him converse. He stated that Luther's disciples would not speak until spoken to, and that then it was usually Schiefer who answered for the company. Earlier notetakers had written down only the serious remarks of Luther, but Mathesius also wrote down the facetious or even damaging remarks, a sign of the increasing reverence in which Luther was held. He was the first to publish an edition of Luther's Table Talk.  Mathesius was also a mineralogist and a colleague of Georg Agricola, "the father of mineralogy", who also lived in Joachimsthal. He was the first to describe any form of tourmaline in detail. In 2013, a newly discovered mineral from Jáchymov (St Joachimsthal) was named mathesiusite in his honor.

            In the depths of my heart Your name and cross alone

            Shine every moment and hour so that I can be blessed.

            Appear to me for comfort in my need.

My inmost heart now raises In this fair morning hour
A song of thankful praises To Thine almighty pow'r,
O God, upon Thy throne. To honor and adore Thee,
I bring my praise before Thee Thro' Christ, Thine only Son.

For Thou from me hast warded All perils of the night;
From ev'ry harm hast guarded My soul till morning light.
To Thee I humbly cry, O Savior, have compassion
And pardon my transgression; Have mercy, Lord most high!

And shield me from all evil, O gracious God, this day,
From sin, and from the devil, From shame and from dismay,
From fire's consuming breath, From water's devastation,
From need and consternation, From evil sudden death.

Let not Thine angel leave me While here on earth I stay
Lest Satan's arts deceive me And lead my soul astray.
Then keep Thine angel near At night and each new morrow
Lest soul and body sorrow And falt'ring cost me dear.

God shall do my advising, Whose might with wisdom blends;
May He bless rest and rising, My efforts, means, and ends!
To God, forever blest, Will I with mine confide me,
And willing let Him guide me As seemeth to Him best.

Amen I say, not fearing That God rejects my prayer;
I doubt not He is hearing And granting me His care.
Thus I go on my way And do not look behind me,
But ply the task assigned me; God's help shall be my stay.

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.

Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein - Georg Kauffmann

“Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein” was also first published in Neu Catechismus Gesangbüchlein.  This chorale by Paul Eber is based on 2 Chronicles 20, Jehosaphat’s prayer.  Paul Eber (1511-1569) was a German Lutheran theologian and hymnwriter.  He was educated at Nuremberg and Wittenberg, where he became the close friend of Philipp Melanchthon. In 1541, he was appointed professor of Latin grammar at Wittenberg and in 1557, professor of the Old Testament. His range of learning was wide, and he published a handbook of Jewish history, a historical calendar intended to supersede the Roman Saints' Calendar, and a revision of the Latin Old Testament.  He played a large part in the theological conflict of the time, doing what he could to mediate between the extremists. From 1559 to the close of his life, he was superintendent general of the electorate of Saxony.

            When in the hour of utmost need We know no where to look for aid;

            When days and nights of anxious thought Nor help nor counsel yet have brought.

            Then this our comfort is alone, That we may meet before Thy throne

            And cry, O faithful God, to Thee For rescue from our misery.

            To Thee may raise our hearts and eyes, Repenting sore with bitter sighs,

            And seek Thy pardon for our sin And respite from our griefs within.

            For Thou hast promised graciously To hear all those who cry to Thee

            Through Him whose name alone is great, Our Savior and our Advocate.

            And thus we come, O God, today, And all our woes before Thee lay;

            For sorely tried, cast down, we stand, Perplexed by fears on every hand.

            Ah! Hide not for our sins Thy face, Absolve us through Thy boundless grace,

            Be with us in our anguish still; Free us at last from every ill.

            That so with all our hearts we may To Thee our glad thanksgiving pay,

            Then walk obedient to Thy Word And now and ever praise Thee, Lord.

Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (14 February 1679 – 24 March 1735) was a Baroque composer and organist from southern Germany who composed primarily sacred works for the organ and voice.  Late in his life, Kauffmann started to publish a complete edition of his organ chorales; however, he died of consumption before they had been completely published. His widow completed the publication of the Harmonische Seelenlust.  While they did not make a great first impression, over the next century they became one of the most significant achievements in German organ music, and remained in high demand well into the 19th century.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

Give Me Jesus – Mark Hayes

Give Me Jesus originated as an African-American spiritual written during the time of slavery in the United States.  The lyrics of Give Me Jesus are simple, but poignant. Whether we are in tragedy or triumph, whether we are weathering storms or counting treasures, our hearts’ desire should simply be Jesus.  That Give Me Jesus was written by people stripped of all dignity and every human possession says so much about what Jesus is, what He can give and His very nature!

Mark Hayes is an award-winning concert pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. His personal catalog, totaling over 1,000 published works, includes work for solo voice, solo piano, multiple pianos, orchestra, jazz combo, small instrumental ensembles, and choruses of all kinds.  Mark received a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in Piano Performance from Baylor University in 1975. He has conducted the SWACDA and MCDA Community and Church Honor Choir, and served as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, featuring his Te Deum and Magnificat. In 2010, Baylor University Center for Christian Music Studies awarded Mark the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music. Mark arranged and orchestrated the music for Civil War Voices, which won six awards including "Best Musical" in the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York. He conducted the world premiere of his work for chorus, orchestra and narrator, The American Spirit, at Lincoln Center in May 2011 and the world premiere of his Requiem in Lincoln Center in May 2013.  Whether concertizing on the other side of the globe or composing at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, Mark is blessed to live out his mission "to create beautiful music for the world".

Oh, when I come to die, Oh, when I come to die,

            Oh, when I come to die, give me Jesus.

            Give me Jesus, give me Jesus.

            You may have all this world, Give me Jesus.

            Dark midnight was my cry, dark midnight was my cry,

            Dark midnight was my cry, give me Jesus.

            Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,

            You may have all this world, with its troubles and cares,

            For of this I am sure, give me Jesus.

About the Choral Music:

For Love of You – John Carter

John Carter is a productive and versatile composer with a notable and long-standing career in choral composition. In addition to hundreds of sacred and secular choral pieces, Carter has written several collections of piano and organ literature, bell choir arrangements, a number of works for musical theatre and an opera. He is a well-known clinician and guest conductor throughout the United States.  He is currently serving as Director of Music at the University Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio.

            Kneel with me, here in sad Gethsemane;

            All of this I gladly do for love of you.

            Walk with me up the hill to Calvary;

            Every step I gladly take for your dear sake.

            Cry with me on the cross of Calvary;

            Wear the crown I gladly wore; Bear the pain I gladly bore.

            Die with me, here alone at Calvary;

            All of this I gladly do for love, undying love,

            For love, for love of you.

About the Hymns:

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).

The tune “Beach Spring” is attributed to Benjamin Franklin White, who with the help of Elisha J. King, published The Sacred Harp (Philadelphia, 1844), where it was sung with the text of “Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched.” Named after the Beech Spring Baptist Church in Harris County, Georgia, the church was given its name because of its close proximity to two beech trees at a spring.  Although the original spelling of the name should be “Beech,” White’s misspelling “Beach,” has stuck with the hymn throughout the ages. White was mostly a self-taught singing school teacher from South Carolina. Eventually he moved to Hamilton in Harris County, Georgia, where he worked at many different vocations, including a stint in the Georgia Militia. Eventually White married Thurza Golightly, and together the two had 14 children (the same number of children that White’s parents had).  At some point along the timeline of Benjamin Franklin White’s history, a rumor was started that he worked closely with William Walker (who was his brother-in-law) to publish Southern Harmonies, but this rumor was probably not true.  The two books were wildly popular in the south, but both contained the same southern white spirituals which were popular in the more rural areas. In the 20^th century, the tunes from The Sacred Harp, and Southern Harmonies are included in more denominational hymnals and inspired many different composers to arrange the melodies in various ways. The Sacred Harp is one of the most popular books in four-shape notation and has gone through numerous editions and is still published today.  Sacred Harp societies across the south still hold quarterly and annual “sings” where people gather to sing  these great old hymns all day, complete with “dinner on the ground”.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was the son of an English schoolmaster. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin at age four, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor.

The number of Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in 1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His Horae Lyricae  was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared in July, 1707. The first hymn he is said to have composed for religious worship, is "Behold the glories of the Lamb," written at the age of twenty. It is as a writer of psalms and hymns that he is best known. Some of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. His published hymns number more than eight hundred.

The Lutheran Hymnal Handbook includes this little narrative about the hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:” “With regard to the practical application of the final stanza, Father Ignatius of St. Edmund’s Church in London is reported to have blurted to his congregation: ‘Well, I’m surprised to hear you sing that. Do you know that altogether you put only fifteen shillings in the collection bag this morning?’”  While Watts might not have been talking explicitly about money in the last line of his text, there is the expectation that we dedicate ourselves entirely to God, for God demands not just a piece of who we are, but “our soul, our life, our all.” This can be an incredibly difficult line to sing with any sense of honesty. Devotional author Jerry Jenkins writes in his book Hymns for Personal Devotions, “Perhaps it’s the distance between where Watts encourages me to be and where I truly am that makes this hymn so hard to sing. It’s a lofty and worthy spiritual goal to say that ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all,’ but how short I fall!”  And so as we sing this hymn of love and awe, we must sing it with a prayer in our hearts, asking God to enable us each day to live our life wholly for him.

Lowell Mason's hymn tune HAMBURG is one of the most familiar products of the church music reform that swept the United States during the early decades of the nineteenth century.1 Together with the English melody Rockingham (Old) it has become one of the two most common settings in United States hymnals for Isaac Watts's "When I survey the wondrous cross."  The church music reform began as a reaction against the elaborate psalmody of eighteenth-century United States composers such as William Billings and the shape-note folk hymnody that was popular in rural areas of the country. In the estimation of the reformers, the complexity, harmonic "ineptitudes," and often dance-like rhythms of the eighteenth-century composers were both too difficult for congregations to sing and lacked the requisite devotional quality. Folk hymnody was suspect because of the secular background of many of its tunes and its association with shape notes, which, though intended to teach people how to read notation, was seen by the reformers as a stumbling block to a true understanding and performance of music.

Lowell Mason and his slightly older contemporary, Thomas Hastings, were the chief figures among the reformers. In their desire to provide what they considered to be acceptable congregational music they took a two-pronged approach: (1) adapting, arranging, and simplifying melodies from European classical masters such as Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven as hymn tunes, and (2) writing new tunes that were characterized by graceful melodies of limited range, clear harmonies emphasizing the primary chords, and easy rhythms. Mason's HAMBURG is representative of both of these techniques.

March 11, 2018

TIME CHANGES THIS SUNDAY!

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:

Wondrous Love – Robin Dinda

“What Wondrous Love Is This” is sometimes described as a "white spiritual", from the American South. Its text was first published in 1811, during the Second Great Awakening, and its melody derived that of from an English popular ballad. The hymn's lyrics were first published in Lynchburg, Virginia in the c. 1811 camp meeting songbook A General Selection of the Newest and Most Admired Hymns and Spiritual Songs Now in Use. The lyrics may also have been printed, in a slightly different form, in the 1811 book Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Original and Selected published in Lexington, Kentucky. In most early printings, the hymn's text was attributed to an anonymous author, though the 1848 hymnal The Hesperian Harp attributes the text to a Methodist pastor from Oxford, Georgia named Alexander Means.  Camp meeting attendees during the Second Great Awakening would sing the hymns printed in these hymnals to a variety of popular melodies, including "The Ballad of Captain Kidd", which was well known at the time; this is likely how the text and melody came to be paired.  The text and melody were first published together in The Southern Harmony, a book of shape note hymns compiled by William Walker.  In 1966, the United Methodist Hymnal became the first standard hymnal to incorporate “What Wondrous Love Is This”.  Today it is a widely known hymn included in many hymnals. 

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great 'I am';
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I'll sing on.

Robin Dean Dinda (b.1959) began playing the organ and composing at age eight.  Dinda played his first European recitals at age sixteen, performing organ concerts in Germany that included his own compositions.  He is particularly known for his performances of American organ music, and his programs invariably include examples of his own published compositions.  He earned degrees from Davidson College, The University of Cincinnati, and The University of Michigan, holds the Fellowship Certificate of The American Guild of Organists.  Robin Dinda is Professor of Humanities (Music) at Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  He is also Director of Music at The First Parish (Unitarian - Universalist) in Fitchburg. 

My Song is Love Unknown – Karl Osterland

Seventeenth-century devotional poetry provided a nurturing environment that enriched hymnody in the days before such 18th-century hymn writers as Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley.
Congregational singing beyond metrical psalms was not widely practiced during the 17th century. Though devotional poetry during this era was not typically written to be sung by congregations, verse from this century found its way into hymnals later on.

Samuel Crossman (1624-1684), an Anglican minister, received a bachelor of divinity at Penbroke College, Cambridge. He then served both an Anglican parish at All Saints, Sudbury, and a Puritan congregation. Crossman sympathized with the Puritan cause as a dissenting religious body within the context of the Anglican Church of England. He participated in the 1661 Savoy Conference, which attempted to revise the Book of Common Prayer so that it could serve both Puritans and Anglicans. The Conference was unsuccessful, and the 1662 Act of Uniformity expelled some 2,000 Anglican ministers, including Crossman. He recanted and was soon ordained in 1665, becoming a royal chaplain. He was called to a position in Bristol in 1667 and became Dean of Bristol Cathedral in 1683.

This poignant meditation of the Passion of Christ was published just before Crossman’s ordination, in The Young Man’s Meditation (1664). This short book of poems was reprinted in 1683, and the poem appeared for the first time as a hymn in the Anglican Hymn Book in 1686, just two years after the author’s death.  The original poem has seven stanzas, taking the singer from Palm Sunday through the crucifixion. But its purpose is not simply to retell the events of the Passion. From the beginning we find that this is a love song—sung to the Savior who demonstrated pure love, even to the “love-less” so that they might be “love-ly.” 

My song is love unknown, my Savior's love to me,
love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be.
O who am I that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh and die?

He came from his blest throne salvation to bestow,
but men made strange, and none the longed-for Christ would know.
But O my friend,  my friend indeed, who at my need, his life did spend.

Sometimes they strew his way, and his strong praises sing,
resounding all the day  hosannas to their King.
Then "Crucify!" is all their breath, and for his death they thirst and cry.

Why, what hath my Lord done? What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run, he gave the blind their sight.
Sweet injuries! Yet they at these themselves displease, and 'gainst him rise.

They rise, and needs will have my dear Lord made away;
a murderer they save, the Prince of Life they slay.
Yet steadfast he to suffering goes, that he his foes from thence might free.

Karl Osterland began playing the organ when he was ten years old. He has his BA and MM in Organ Performance from the University of Michigan.  He is organist at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, Detroit. 

Jesus Loves Me – Wilbur Held

"Jesus Loves Me" was written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called Say and Seal, written by her older sister Susan Warner (1819–1885), in which the words were spoken as a comforting poem to a dying child. The tune was added in 1862 by William Bradbury (1816–1868). Along with his tune, Bradbury added his own chorus "Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus Loves me" After publication as a song it became one of the most popular Christian hymns in churches around the world, especially among children.

Anna’s family home was quite close to the United States Military Academy at West Point, in New York, in the era just before the Civil War. Each Sunday Anna taught Bible classes to the cadets. Her remains are buried in the military cemetery, and her family home is now a museum on the grounds of the United States Military Academy.

Her original poem follows:

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! Loves me still,
Tho I'm very weak and ill,
That I might from sin be free,
Bled and died upon the tree.

Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way.
Thou hast bled and died for me;
I will henceforth live for Thee.

Wilbur C. Held (1914-2015) was born in Des Plaines, Illinois, and received his B.M. and M.M. degrees at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He then attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he earned his S.M.D. A member of the Episcopal Church, for many years Dr. Held was Professor of Organ and Church Music at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.  He remained in this position for over 30 years, and for most of that time was also organist-choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio.  Dr. Held started composing little pieces for the organ because he felt there was a lack of teaching material aimed at developing style and registration, especially for the romantic use of the instrument.  Having written several suites primarily for pedagogical use, he turned his attention to broadening the repertoire for church use, continuing to stress modest technical requirements and flexibility of registration. To date he has published 325 organ works. He has served on the national councils of both the AGO and the Hymn Society of America and has appeared as recitalist at their national conventions.

About the Choral Music:

God So Loved the World – Franz Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was among the creators of the fundamental genres of classical music, and his influence upon later composers is immense. Haydn’s most celebrated pupil was Ludwig van Beethoven, and his musical form casts a huge shadow over the music of subsequent composers such as Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms.  Haydn was recruited at age 8 to the sing in the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where he went on to learn to play violin and keyboard. After he left the choir, he supported himself by teaching and playing violin, while studying counterpoint and harmony.  Haydn soon became an assistant to composer Nicola Porpora in exchange for lessons, and in 1761, he was named Kapellmeister, or "court musician," at the palace of the influential Esterházy family, a position that would financially support him for nearly 30 years. Isolated at the palace from other composers and musical trends, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original."

While Haydn rose in the Esterházy family's esteem, his popularity outside the palace walls also increased, and he eventually wrote as much music for publication as for the family. Several important works of this period were commissions from abroad, such as the Paris symphonies (1785-1786) and the original orchestral version of "The Seven Last Words of Christ" (1786). Haydn came to feel sequestered and lonely, however, missing friends back in Vienna, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, so in 1791, when a new Esterházy prince let Haydn go, he quickly accepted an invitation to go to England to conduct new symphonies with German violinist and impresario Johan Peter Salomon. He would return to London again in 1794 for another successful and lucrative season.  Already well known and appreciated in England, Haydn's concerts drew huge crowds, and during his time in England the composer created some of his most popular works, including the "Rider" quartet and the Surprise, Military, Drumroll and London symphonies.

Haydn is remembered as the first great symphonist and the composer who essentially invented the string quartet. The principal engineer of the classical style, Haydn exerted influence on the likes of Mozart, his student Ludwig van Beethoven and scores of others.

            God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

            Whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

            God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

            But that the world through him might be saved.

About the Hymns:

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

The psalms are a source of inspiration for hymn writers. Psalm 103 is the basis of "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven" by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847). Born in Scotland and educated at Enniskillen and Trinity College in Dublin, Lyte's most significant appointment was as Anglican curate at Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England, where he served for 24 years. Lyte was known as a man frail in body but strong in faith and spirit. Suffering from chronic asthma and tuberculosis, he retired from his parish in September 1847. Seeking a better climate in Italy, he died that November in Nice, France, on his way to Rome.  Lyte's poetry earned him several honors. His collections include Tales on the Lord's Prayer in Verse (1826), Poems, Chiefly Religious (1833, 1845), and The Spirit of the Psalms (1834). His most famous hymn was "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide", which represents the heart of the Romantic style. This hymn was published as one of 280 free psalm paraphrases in The Spirit of the Psalms. One of three paraphrases of Psalm 103, Lyte took a very free approach to his interpretation. 

An Anglican minister, he drew upon Miles Coverdale's translation as found in the Book of Common Prayer rather than the Authorized King James Version. Instead of beginning with "Bless the Lord, O my soul," this translation opens with: "Praise the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me praise his holy Name. Praise the Lord, O my soul: and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sin: and healeth all thine infirmities; Who saveth thy life from destruction: and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness." One can see these theological ideas in the opening stanza of Lyte's hymn, but in a free poetic form. When the hymn appeared in the influential collection Hymns Ancient and Modern, the editors substituted "Alleluia! Alleluia!" for "Praise him! Praise him!", a change that not only improved the ease of singing, but elevated the exaltation.

A missing stanza four corresponds very closely with verses 15-17:

     Frail as summer's flower we perish: Blows the wind and it is gone.
     But, while mortals rise and perish, God endures unchanging on.
     Praise him! Praise him! Praise the high eternal One! 

Besides a sense of jubilation, this hymn emphasizes God's providence. The poet consistently emphasizes the reliability of God.

John Goss (1800-1880) composed LAUDA ANIMA (Latin for the opening words of Psalm 103) for this text in 1868. Along with his original harmonizations, intended to interpret the different stanzas, the tune was also included in the appendix to Robert Brown¬ Borthwick's Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book (1869). LAUDA ANIMA is one of the finest tunes that arose out of the Victorian era. A reviewer in The Musical Times, June 1869, said, "It is at once the most beautiful and dignified hymn tune which has lately come under our notice."

Christ is the World’s Light

The Reverend Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) was a British Methodist minister and hymnwriter.  His hymns reflect his rejection of fundamentalism and show his concern with social issues. They include many that were written to supply obvious liturgical needs of the modern church, speaking to topics or appropriate for events for which there were few traditional hymns available. His hymns appear in hymn books of various denominations, but most notably in Hymns and Psalms, the hymn book of the Methodist Church of Great Britain, and the United Methodist Hymnal used in the United States.

Fred Pratt Green was born just outside of Liverpool, England, into a Christian home that he described as “a place where religion was scrupulously observed but never made burdensome.”   Green was ordained in 1924, continuing his ministry in various parishes throughout England well into the 1940s. As a minister, he rarely had time for outside interests, but when he met the devout poet Fallon Webb, he was instantly fascinated. The two would continue exchanging poetry for nearly 20 years until Webb’s death. Green did not focus on hymn writing until he retired from active ministry.

 “Christ is the world’s light” was written at the request of the hymnal committee for a text to accompany the tune CHRISTE SANCTORUM for the British Methodist hymnal, Hymns and Songs.  The tune comes from the Paris Antiphoner (1681), a collection of music for Latin hymns. The melody, ideal for the natural stresses of the Latin language, presented Green with problems in English, but he overcame them by repeating the words at the end of the first three lines of stanzas, 1, 2, and 3: “other,” “brother” and “Father.”  The original title is “The Uniqueness of Christ,” and is based on John 8:12, Ephesians 2:14, John 1:4 and particularly, John 14:9: “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” 

Each stanza begins with a descriptive assertion of Christ’s uniqueness: Christ is the world’s light” (John 1:4 and 8:12); Christ is the world’s peace” (Ephesians 2:14); and Christ is the world’s life” (John 1:4). The final stanza is Trinitarian, “give glory [to the] Spirit, Son, and Father.”  One of the most important recurring themes of this hymn is the nature of our relationship to Christ—he is our brother. At birth, Christ “became our brother”; in his passion, our brother was “murdered here”; in the final stanza, “God with us” is “my brother.” Christ, the son of God, walked alongside us as our own brother. The recurring line at the end of every stanze, “Glory to God on high,” is a refrain that focuses the entire hymn on exclaiming the glory of God.

March 4, 2018

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 Lamm Gottes – Charles Callahan

"O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" (O Lamb of God, innocent) is an early Lutheran hymn, with text and melody attributed to Nikolaus Decius (1485-1541). Decius (Nicolaus a Curia or von Hofe, otherwise Hovesch, seems to have been a native of Hof, in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, and to have been originally called Tech. He became a monk, and was Probst of the cloister at Steterburg, near Wolfenbüttel. Becoming a follower of Luther, he left Steterburg in July, 1522, and went to Brunswick, where he was appointed a master in the St. Katherine and Egidien School. In 1523, he was invited by the burgesses of Stettin as an Evangelical preacher along with Paulus von Rhode. He became preacher at the Church of St. Nicholas; was probably instituted by the Town Council in 1526, when von Rhode was instituted to St. Jacob's; and at the visitation in 1535 was recognized as pastor of St. Nicholas'. He died suddenly at Stettin, March 21, 1541, with some suspicion of being poisoned by his enemies of the Roman Catholic faction. He seems to have been a popular preacher and a good musician. Three hymns are ascribed to him. These are versions of the “Sanctus," the "Gloria in excelsis," and the "Agnus Dei." He is also said to have composed or adapted the melodies set to them.

In all early prints, "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" is titled Das Agnus Dei Deutsch (The Agnus Dei in German), indicating that it was supposed to take the position of the Agnus Dei during the Abendmahl (communion). This function was soon taken by Luther's "Christe, du Lamm Gottes", while "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig", which adds the memory of Christ's Passion, was used as a hymn for Passiontide. It has often been set to music, prominently as the cantus firmus in the opening chorus of Bach's St Matthew Passion. It is included in most German hymnals, and was translated by Catherine Winkworth. Until the 18th century, the hymn "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" was printed in hymnals without mentioning an author. Philipp Julius Rehtmeyer presented in his historical Braunschweigische Kirchen-Historie a Latin report from 1600, which called Decius as the author of text and melody of ""O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" and "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr". A medieval melody may have been the model for the tune. The creation of hymns by Decius is dated 1522/23, in the early Reformation, before Martin Luther's first hymns.  It was published in 1524 in the first Lutheran hymnal.  The song was first printed in Low German in Joachim Slüter's Geystlyke leder in Rostock in 1531. The first print in High German appeared in a hymnal in Leipzig in 1539. The melody appeared with the text first in Johann Spangenberg’s hymnal Kirchengesenge Deudtsch, published in Magdeburg in 1545, but it had appeared in a slightly different version a few years earlier in a Strasbourg hymnal.  Like in the Latin model, the Lamb of God is called three times, twice asking for mercy, the third time for peace.

Lamb of God, pure and holy, Who on the cross didst suffer,
Ever patient and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer.
All sins Thou borest for us, Else had despair reigned o'er us:
Have mercy on us, O Jesus;  Give us thy peace, O Jesus.

Charles Callahan (b. 1951) is one of America’s leading organist-composers.  A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America.  In recognition of his service to the church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the U.S., he was awared the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1999.  In addition to compositions and performances, Charles Callahan is a noted educator and author whose two books on American organ-building have become standard reference works.

Come, Ye Disconsolate – 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. His Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence were published by Lord John Russell in 1855. In that work every detail concerning himself and his numerous publications, most of them of high poetical merit, will be found. His connection with hymnody is confined to his Sacred Songs, which were published in 1816, and again in his Collected Works, 1866. He wrote 32 hymns in all, using popular tunes of various nations.  “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.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,

Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,

“Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”

            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.

Prelude in G – William Spark

William Spark (1823-1897), English organist and writer, was a chorister at Exeter Cathedral, where his father was a lay vicar.  He was a student of S.S. Wesley for five years in 1840. When Wesley moved to Leeds parish church in 1842, Spark went with him, and was soon appointed Leeds Burough Organist. The 5 manual organ at Leeds town hall was built by Gray and Davison to his specification and was boasted to do “all that an orchestra could do but less expensively”.

About the Choral Music:

The Holy Heart – Molly Ijames

This sacred song takes us on a journey into the heart of Christ's mercy and grace. The music has the sonority of a folk hymn and yet there is fresh quality in the sound. This arrangement uses the richness of the choir to go from whispered silence to soaring crescendos of praise. The words and melody were originally written by Anne Barbour and Marsha Skidmore.  Anne Barbour has been active in the arena of contemporary worship as a singer and songwriter for 35 years. She was a founding member of the Maranatha Praise Band, now the Tommy Coomes Band, and has traveled the world leading worship on platforms for Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Chosen Women, Harvest Crusades, Anne Graham Lotz, Jill Briscoe and many others.  Marsha Skidmore, Director of Contemporary Worship at First Presbyterian Church, Bakersfield, California, incorporates the blending of hymns and sacred music with the new songs of this generation, believing that all styles of music can bring glory to God and draw peopleʼs hearts closer to Him in worship. Marsha has been in music ministry for most of her life. A gifted soloist, songwriter and worship leader, Marsha has also traveled the world with the Tommy Coomes Band supporting the ministries of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association and Samaritanʼs Purse International Relief Organization (also known for their “Operation Christmas Child” shoebox ministry). Marsha still has opportunity throughout the year to travel with the band sharing in evangelistic events around the world.

This arrangement is by Molly Ijames, a native of Flint, Michigan, who holds a B.S. in Music Education from Bob Jones University. Her love for sacred music began as a church pianist in her teenage years, and now as an adult, her ministry as an accompanist expands to church and community choirs, Christian camps, schools, and local congregations. She spent seven years working for SoundForth Publishing and BJU in Greenville, South Carolina. She is widely recognized for her sacred compositions and arrangements in various catalogs with over 200 choral anthems, several seasonal cantatas, multiple piano solo and duet collections, keyboard magazines, and instrumental ensemble pieces in publication.

            The Holy Heart was broken, sent from the Father’s side;

                The Son of God forsaken, the Holy Sacrifice.

            For me He was forsaken, for me He died alone,

            My sin forever taken, that I might be His own.

            The Holy Lamb was stricken, abandoned and alone,

            He bore the world’s affliction, He bore it as His own.

            And when my heart is broken, Torn by my sin and pride,

            The Son of God now risen, now risen will draw me to His side.

            For me He was forsaken, for me He died alone,

            My sin forever taken, that I might be His own,

            And now I am His own.

About the Hymns:

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. 

The tune GALILEE was written for this text by W. H. Jude in 1887.  William Herbert Jude (1851-1922) was an English composer and organist. He was a precocious child, and attended Wisbech Grammar School where records note that by age eight he was composing incidental music for school plays. He later attended Liverpool Organ School and Liverpool College of Music. By 1881, he was organist for the Blue Coat Hospital and Stretford Town Hall near Manchester, as well as being a lecturer and teacher. As a recitalist, he was asked to "open" over 1000 new organs across the UK, Ireland and Australia. He was frequently referred to as "the most brilliant organist of the day".  Christian texts and topics appear frequently in Jude's compositions. He was an admirer of the British evangelist Rodney "Gipsy" Smith, and published a collection of Gipsy Smith's Favourite Solos in 1903. Jude appears to have supported the temperance movement; "Fight the Drink", a song by Jude with lyrics by A Sargant, appears in a collection of his music with the note that it was "sung at the Crystal Palace Festival by 5000 people". Between 1890 and 1894, the composer embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Beginning in 1904, he served as editor for several musical periodicals, including Monthly Hymnal, Minister of Music, and Music and the Higher Life. He also compiled several hymnbooks: Mission Hymns in 1911 and Festival Hymns in 1916. 

Come Down, O Love Divine

Bianco of Siena (c. 1345-c. 1412) was born in Anciolina, a small hamlet in Tuscany, Italy, but moved at a young age to Siena where he labored as a wood carver. We have little information about the life of this mystic; what we do know is due to the efforts of Feo Belcari (1410-1484), a poet and playwright from Florence, who reconstructed Bianco’s biography from his poetry. 
Bianco joined the Gesuati, a lay order founded by Giovanni Colombini, and lived for a number of years in a monastery of the order in Cittè di Castello. He spent the last years of his life in Venice. Bianco composed in the laude form, a vernacular sacred song used outside of the medieval Catholic liturgy. Lauda spirituale were popular well into the 19th century. Most laude were composed in a melody-only form, though polyphonic, or multi-part, laude developed in Italy in the early 15th century. Bianco’s more than 100 laude may be divided into two groups: doctrinal and mystical. Inspired by intense religious zeal, his poetry has its mystical roots in that of Jacopone da Todi, particularly in regard to the theme of divine madness. The immediacy of Bianco’s language and the unadorned simplicity of his statements enhanced the popular appeal of his poetry.

“Come Down, O Love Divine” (“Discendi, amor santo”) is a translation of four of the original eight stanzas from Bianco’s ‘Laudi Spirituali del Bianco de Siena, Lucca, 1851.  Richard Littledale (1833-1890), an Irish scholar and minister, translated four of the stanzas that appeared in the People’s Hymnal (1867). The hymn’s popularity increased significantly after it appeared in the English Hymnal (1906), one of the most influential hymnals of the early 20th century, with a musical setting by the eminent English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). Vaughan William’s tune DOWN AMPNEY carries the majesty and mystery of the text beautifully and is now the standard musical setting for this text. Lutheran hymn writer Gracia Grindal notes that “the entire hymn is an invocation to the Holy Spirit [to] ‘kindle’ the heart so that it burns with the ardor of the Spirit.”  The text is intense—intensely personal and intensely passionate.