From: Richard Thomas
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2017 5:45 PM
,
This Sunday we will hear the winner of the 2017 Peacemaking Essay Contest, Liesel Steinhauer, read her prize-winning essay.
The introit is “O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord,” by John Johnson (1983), which we first sang in June 2014.
The opening hymn is “Behold the Goodness of Our Lord,” no. 241. The text is a versification of Psalm 133 written by Fred R. Anderson in 1987. The tune is CRIMMOND by Jessie Seymour Irvine (first published in 1872, but believed to have been written much earlier).
Rev. Anderson provided versifications of many of the psalms in the psalter portion of the blue Presbyterian Hymnal (1990). Consequently, he has more hymns in that hymnal than any other author. [Charles Wesley (b. 1707) is second and Brian Wren third.]
The Rev. Dr. Fred R. Anderson retired as the pastor of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in May 2015. He was born in southern California and in 1963 began a singing career in opera, concert, and musical comedy.
After serving in the USAF, he resumed his singing career in San Francisco, then enrolled in Princeton Theological Seminary. He received a Master of Divinity degree in 1973 and a Doctor of Ministry in 1981. Since the fall of 1991, he has been a trustee of Princeton Theological Seminary.
This hymn is sung to two tunes, DETROIT and CRIMOND. In the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal it is set to CRIMOND. Jessie Seymour Irvine (b. 26 Jul 1836, Dunottar, Scotland; d. 18 Jun 1887, Aberdeen, Scotland), the composer, was the daughter of a Church of Scotland parish minister who served at three churches in Aberdenshire, Scotland. One church was at Crimond. The tune CRIMOND is known best for its use as a tune for a setting of the 23rd Psalm. Jessie Irvine is buried in St. Machar’s Cathedral, Aberdeen.
Jessie Seymour Irvine
https://youtu.be/eji6_VIbUuE tune CRIMOND played by Neo Brass Band and the Hammonds Saltaire Band, with timpani, cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, and a very dramatic ending!
https://youtu.be/CetwecIv8I0 tune CRIMOND (with descant), but with words of “The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want”
Here’s the tune for the bass part (but the wrong words):
https://youtu.be/VHptLAUcMyE bass part of the tune CRIMOND
The words of the anthem, “A Song of Peace,” are by Lloyd Stone. The music is from the hymn-like portion of Finlandia composed by Jean Sibelius in 1899-1900. Finlandia had no words.
You can hear it sung by Harmonious Combustion here:
https://youtu.be/6OxSYe8_e4Y “A Song of Peace,” a patriotic song. Words by Lloyd Stone, music by Jean Sibelius
The singers of Harmonious Combustion are Nan Geary, Linda Girton, and Mary Walker.
Lloyd Stone’s poem was first set to the music in 1934 and published by the Lorenz Publishing Company.
By the late 1930s, this setting had become popular with the Wesleyan Service Guild of the Methodist Church. The Wesleyan Service Guild adopted it as its official hymn and (unfortunately) had verses added to it by Georgia Harkness to “Christianize” it.
Lloyd Stone’s words appear in at least 18 hymnals, including the red Rejoice in the Lord hymnal (the hymnal that Old South Haven used before we went to the blue 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal), the Methodist hymnal, the Lutheran hymnal, the UCC hymnal, the hymnal of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the new Presbyterian hymnal (2013).
Its appearance in The Hymnal for Friends, published by the Friends General Conference (Philadelphia, 1955) is the earliest use of it in a hymnal I have found. Yale University Press published it in its Hymnal for Colleges and Schools the following year (1956). It then appeared in the Methodist Hymnal of 1966.
Lloyd Shelbourne Stone was born 29 Jun 1912 in Fresno, California. His parents, Lowends Columbus Stone and Gurtha Emalaine Marr were born in Missouri. They had married in Texas County, Missouri, in February 1910, then moved to California.
Lloyd’s father, Lowends Stone was from a very large family (brothers: Virgil, Frederick, Russell, Oscar, and Curtis; sisters: Mildred, Grace, Mary, and Ruth). In California he got a job as a “well puller” and worked for the Associated Oil Co. of Coalinga, California, on the Shawmut Lease.
His mother was a seamstress.
Lloyd Stone attended Lindsay High School, Lindsay, California, graduating in 1930. He was president of his class in his Junior year. He then attended the University of Southern California.
Lloyd Stone, University of Lloyd Stone, age 42,
Southern California, 1934 1954
He wrote “This Is My Song” before, or at about the time of, his graduation from USC.
In October 1936, at age 24, his name appears on the passenger list of the S. S. Lurline on its voyage from Los Angeles Harbor to Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii.
An article in Esquire said:
"Lloyd Stone was born . . . on a California desert . . . He went to school . . . graduating from the University of Southern California as a music major . . . supposed to be a teacher . . . joined a circus bound for Honolulu instead . . . Quit the circus to design in a jewelry shop . . . later joined the staff at Kulamanu Studios as pianist-composer . . . '
From a Hawaiian newspaper, The Islander,
"Mr. Stone is probably among the most versatile contributors to the arts of whom Hawaii can boast. His poetry reflects Hawaii. He does not sing of the palms and the surf, but of the earthy human beauty which is the heritage of the islands. He finds his niche as an interpreter of that which lies beneath the lovely outward shell of Hawaii. He has made Hawaii his home. And Hawaii is fortunate."
The Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii passed a concurrent resolution in 1951 “bestowing the honor and title of poet laureate of Hawaii (Ka Haku-Mele O Hawaii) on Lloyd Stone.
WHEREAS, Lloyd Stone, of Honolulu, has so ably and beautifully recorded Hawaii in verse, poetry and art for posterity through: (1) eight books on Island Poetry which have wide circulation, (2) an annual Poetry Contest, (3) a weekly radio program on Poetry, (4) his teaching in the public schools of Hawaii, and (5) for his many other fine contributions to community activities, now therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Senate of the Twenty-Sixth Legislature of the ...
He wrote many books of poetry while in Hawaii, illustrated his own works and those by others, and also created and sold greeting cards.
His published works include: For You (with decorations by the author) (1937)—[original title For Me], Poems to Be Served with a Poi Cocktail (1940), Lei of Hours (1941), Hawaiian War Chant (1942), Aloha Means an Island (1944), In This Hawaiian Net (1945), Hawaiian Christmas (1945), Keaka, the Hawaiian Fishboy by Max Keith, illustrated by Lloyd Stone, Laughter Wears a Coconut Hat (1948), Escape to the Sun with illustrations by the author (1949), The Cave of Makalei: Old Hawaii Pageant Aloha Week (1958), Song Stories of Hawaii by Carol Roes with drawings by Lloyd Stone (1959), A Children’s Hawaiian Program: “Eight Islands” by Carol Roes, with drawings by Lloyd Stone (1963), Boy's Illustrated Book of Old Hawaiian Sports (na pa'ani kahiko) (1964), Christmas Luau (1976), and San Joaquin Carols (1977).
Most of the volumes were self-published. His works during the period 1943 to 1946 were published by Keith-Stone (a partnership between Max Keith and himself).
After spending many years in Hawaii, he returned to California. He served as state president of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets in 1982.
His father died in Lindsay on 30 Jan 1978. His mother lived to be 100, dying on 03 Dec 1987.
Lloyd Stone died, age 80, in Visalia, Tulare County, California, on 09 Mar 1993.
His two-line obituary in the Fresno Bee described him as “a retired teacher,” and made no mention of his poems, his being the poet laureate of Hawaii, or his well-known “A Song of Peace.”
The Old Testament reading is just two verses, Deuteronomy 31:7-8. Moses is 120 years old, and Yahweh has told him that he will not cross the Jordan.
Deu 31:7 Moses then summoned Joshua and, in the presence of all Israel, said to him, 'Be strong, stand firm; you will be the one to go with this people into the country which Yahweh has sworn to their ancestors that he would give them; you are to be the one who puts them into possession of it.
Deu 31:8 Yahweh himself will lead you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do not be alarmed.'
It reminds one of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final public speech (at 1:18 in the video): https://youtu.be/4WZbxYGy3As
"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything, I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." — the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Luke 8:26-39, the story of the Jesus and the homeless man who was possessed by a legion of demons. (He had been living, naked and out of his mind, among the tombs.) The evil spirits, recognizing that they had met their match, and noticing a herd of hogs on the hillside, beg Jesus to let them go into the hogs rather than be thrown by him into the abyss. Jesus gave his permission, so they did. The hogs then immediately ran down the steep slope, ran into the lake and drowned. (We know that Jesus was in Gentile territory, as the Jews didn’t eat pork.)
An account of this exorcism appears in all three synoptic gospels, with the account in Mark (Mark 5:1-20) being the longest.
At the end of the story, the people of the town come to see what had happened, and they are afraid. They ask Jesus to leave the region.
The accounts don’t say what the people are afraid of, but for someone born on a farm, that seems fairly obvious.
They undoubtedly feared losing more of their livestock. The death of so many hogs would have been a huge financial loss to the people who owned them. They surely would have depended on their hogs in order to generate enough income to afford the other necessities of life, just as hog farmers do today.
Also, considering the inability to transport large quantities of livestock from place to place in those days, the loss of the large number of hogs would have dramatically affected the amount of food available in the area.
If Jesus kept driving demons into pigs, who then immediately drowned or otherwise immolated themselves, pork would very quickly become quite scarce. People might even starve.
I can see why people were upset. Losing an entire herd of hogs is no small matter.
Mark 5:13 says, “The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.”
Mark surely exaggerates a bit, but that there was such a large herd of hogs implies that pork was a major source of protein for the community. The loss of the entire herd must have been devastating.
I expect that some of the swine were just shoats, but still, such a large herd surely would have represented a large portion of the wealth of the community.
There would now be many workers and herdsmen who were out of a job and unable to bring home the bacon for their families.
Now, what would they eat?
No wonder the people were afraid and asked Jesus to leave.
They had just lost all their swine!
What next? their sheep? their chickens?
Also, I can understand why the man who was healed wanted to leave with Jesus. Even though he wasn’t at fault, he probably realized that it wouldn’t be too long before some would begin to blame him for what had been lost.
Christ Heals the Demoniac by Henri-Joseph de Forestier, 1818
The second hymn is “Give to the Winds Thy Fears, “ or “Befiehl du deine Wege,” hymn no. 286.
The text of this hymn was translated by John Wesley, the son of Samuel and brother of Charles, in 1739, but it was authored by Paul Gerhardt in 1656, eighty-three years earlier.
Paulus Gerhardt was born at Grafenhaynichen on 12 May 1607 and attended the University of Wittenberg. He then went to Berlin where he served as a tutor and married Anna Maria Barthold in the household of those he was tutoring. He also preached while he was tutoring.
After that, he served many churches in and around Berlin.
Paul Gerhardt
(12 Mar 1607 – 27 May 1676)
According to the Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907), “Gerhardt ranks, next to Luther, as the most gifted and popular hymnwriter of the Lutheran Church.”
Also: “The outward circumstances of Gerhardt's life were for the most part gloomy. . . . His latter years at Lübben, as a widower with one surviving child, were passed among a rough and unsympathising people.”
John Wesley’s translation of this hymn declined in popularity after 1840, though it showed a brief resurgence of popularity around 1870.
The text is sung to many tunes. In the Presbyterian Hymnal (1990), it is sung to ST. BRIDE, composed by Samuel Howard in 1762.
Dr. Samuel Howard, an organist and composer, was born in 1710 in England. He was a chorister in Chapel Royal. The title of tune probably derives from the name of one of the congregations he served on Fleet Street, St. Bride’s, in London.
You can see a video about Samuel Howard’s church here:
https://youtu.be/q0SE7NdV0T4 St. Bride’s church, Fleet Street, London. (There is great music at St. Bride’s.)
He also composed the music of “a Drury Lane pantomime”: “The Amorous Goddess, or, Harlequin Married,” and he composed sonata, cantatas, anthems, and songs.
[Before 1843 in Great Britain, only theaters that could obtain a special license were allowed to stage plays containing spoken dialog, hence, the pantomime.]
Samuel Howard obtained a Doctor of Music degree from Cambridge University. The 1824 Dictionary of Musicians says he was also esteemed for his private virtues, “being ever ready to relieve distress, to anticipate the demand of friendship, and to prevent the necessities of his acquaintance” [whatever that means].
He died in London on 13 July 1782.
https://youtu.be/xA91zF9R5cQ “Give to the Winds Thy Fears” by Paul Gerhardt, ST. BRIDE by Samuel Howard
https://youtu.be/4qgzE-oqVTE “Befiehl du deine Wege” by Paul Gerhardt sung to a different, but sprightly tune, by Beate Blessing.
The sermon title is “From Fear to Awe.”
The closing hymn is “When Will People Cease Their Fighting?,” no. 401.
The title reminds me of “Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together?” from G. F. Handel’s Messiah, an aria for bass. (It’s from Psalm 2:1.)
https://youtu.be/Zs_sdWaqpZw Teddy Tahu Rodes sings “Why Do the Nations Rage So Furiously Together?”
They hymn is modern, written by Constance Cherry in 1986. It is set to a much older tune, RUSTINGTON, composed by C. Hubert H. Parry in 1897.
The Rev. Dr. Constance Cherry
Rev. Dr. Constance Cherry styles herself as a “worship architect” and markets her services under that title:
http://theworshiparchitect.com/about-me/
Constance Cherry was born in 1953. Her undergraduate degree is from Huntington University, Huntington, Indiana, which is affiliated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Her master of music degree is from Bowling Green State University, Kentucky. Her doctorate is from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, near Chicago. It is now known as “Northern Seminary.” It is theologically conservative and was originally supported by American Baptist churches. (Not all ABC churches are theologically conservative. The members of each congregation determine their own approach as the Holy Spirit leads them.)
She is now Professor of Worship at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.
Ten of her hymns appear in hymnals. “When Will People Cease Their Fighting?” has been published in six hymnals. The hymn can also be sung to the AUSTRIAN HYMN.
You can hear RUSTINGTON here: http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/182598
Here is the tune played on a large organ:
https://youtu.be/6IT9FJYqXw0 RUSTINGTON on organ at St. Luke’s Episcopal, Atlanta, Georgia, as setting to “Round the Lord in Glory Seated,” with descant.
https://youtu.be/8U0qkiQ9T-w RUSTINGTON, instrumental only, played by Stephen Buzard at St. Bridget Catholic Church, Richmond, Virginia
Stephen Buzard is the son of the president and founder of Buzard Pipe Organbuilders, the company that built the organ he is playing.
The tune is by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet.
Sir C. Hubert Parry was born in Bournemouth on 27 Feb 1848. His grandfather and great-grandfather had been directors of the British East India Company. His father had inherited enormous wealth upon the death of C. Hubert Parry’s grandfather in 1816. Parry’s father was an artist and art collector. Parry spent much of his early years at Highnam Court, the family’s country estate.
Highnam Court, the estate purchased by the Sir Parry’s father in 1838.
After purchasing it, he spruced it up a bit.
His mother died twelve days after his birth. His father remarried, and Parry’s step-mother, when giving her attention to children, gave it to her own rather than to her step-children. His father was mostly away, either in London or on the Continent. Parry was sent to Twyford Prepartory School, then to Eton. While still at Eton, he sat for the Bachelor of Music examination at Oxford and passed. He then went to Exeter College, Oxford, in 1867.
He is best known for having composed the tune for JERUSALEM to which William Blake’s words are sung.
The tune RUSTINGTON is named for a village in which Parry lived and where he died on 27 Feb 1918. It is located in Sussex, England. The tune is also used for Fred Kaan’s “Out of Deep, Unordered Water” and Robert Edwards’ “God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending.”
Parry didn’t just compose music for hymns, he also wrote some symphonies:
https://youtu.be/FIIQBdTMVYE “Symphony No. 5 in B-minor” by Hubert Parry
Instrumental Music
The prelude is “Chant” by Robert J. Powell.
http://youtu.be/2E4O-oBJm1I “Chant” by Robert J. Powell
Robert J. Powell was born in Benoit, Mississippi in 1932. For 34 years, he was the organist/choir director at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenville, South Carolina.
Since retirement, he has been the organist at Trinity United Methodist Church. He also served as organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
He has a Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music.
Robert J. Powell, currently organist at UMC, Greenville, SC.
The offertory music is an arrangement of music for the hymn “Stand Up and Bless the Lord.”
Robert Montgomery wrote the words of the hymn. It is sung to at least thirteen different tunes. There are 395 instances of it appearing with the tune ST. THOMAS (Williams), 181 with the tune ST. MICHAEL (Genevan), 176 instances of the tune LABAN, and 82 instances of the words being sung to CARLISLE (Lockart), so I expect Lani Smith has arranged one of these tunes as a piece for organ. However, he may have created an entirely new tune.
I found many videos of “Stand Up and Bless the Lord,” but none identified as a Lani Smith arrangement.
Here is the hymn sung by the Herbster Trio:
https://youtu.be/tEetPJnlZWI “Stand Up and Bless the Lord,” sung by the Herbster Trio
Here it is sung to the tune CARLISLE by the Oasis Chorale (with a beautiful descant).
https://youtu.be/3dnlHGL4qIM “Stand Up and Bless the Lord,” tune: CARLISLE (Lockart)
Lani Smith
Lani Smith was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 09 Jun 1934. He died on 24 Jun 2015 in Tucson, Arizona, where he lived with his wife of thirty-five years. Even in semi-retirement, he wrote several arrangements for organ every week.
From 1967 to 1982 he worked for the Lorenz Publishing Company. He was also a church organist and choir director. He composed and arranged thousands of organ, choral, and piano pieces.
The postlude is "Marche Héroïque" by William Stickles. William Stickles was famous for his arrangements, so I expect this is an arrangement of another’s composition.
There are many works called “Marche Héroïque,” the most famous being a composition for orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns (Op. 34, 1870).
Alexandre Guilmant did a transcription for organ, but it rather long:
https://youtu.be/T7jx440_3xU “Marche Héroïque” by Saint-Saëns, transcribed for organ by Alexandre Guilmant, performed by Georges Bessonnet
(After 7 minutes, the piece sort of staggers its way to the end like a jubilant bunch of drunken sailors—though I’m sure that isn’t the intent.)
There is a composition for organ by A. Herbert Brewer called “Marche Héroïque” (1915). It is a shorter work.
https://youtu.be/w84OOoq9bas Herbert Brewer’s “Marche Héroïque” played by Christopher Herrick, University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
William Charles Stickles was born in Cohoes, New York, (north of Troy) on 07 Mar 1882. He was a composer, arranger, teacher, and editor.
He attended the Utica Conservatory and Syracuse University, then studied abroad. For five years, he assisted Isadore Braggiotti, a voice teacher, in Florence, Italy. Then he spent two years as a vocal coach for soloists with Felix Motti at the Hof Theater in Munich. After that, he taught in Boston and New York.
On 01 Dec 1919, he married Clara Hazard of Los Angeles in Trinity Chapel, New York City. She was a soprano and soloist at St. John’s Protestant Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He had been touring with her and Theodore Karie (tenor) as their accompanist.
He produced many arrangements of standard works for chorus, organ, and piano, and also composed original pieces. He did arrangements of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” (music: Jerome Kerns, words: Otto Harbach), “Bali Ha’i” (music: Richard Rogers, words: Oscar Hammerstein II), “Summertime” (SATB) (George Gershwin and Du Bose Heyward), “easy-to-play piano arrangements” of the songs of Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me Kate,” and also a collection of arrangements of “cowboy duets,” along with arrangements of the songs of many other popular musicals (“Oklahoma,” “West Side Story,” etc.).
He died in Queens, New York, in October 1971.
Richard
