Music Spotlight (Sunday, September 12, 2021)
Closing Hymn
#643 "Now Thank We All Our God" (NUN DANKET)
This text by Martin Rinckart (1586-1649) was certainly written during or soon after the Thirty Years’ War.
British Hymnologist J.R. Watson accounts that as one of the last surviving ministers in the city, Rinckart had to stretch personal resources to take care of refugees and spend most of his time performing nearly fifty funerals per day at the height of the plague. This experience during the Thirty Years’ War had a profound impact on Rinckart’s poetry, just as it did for his hymnwriter contemporaries. Lutheran scholar Carl Schalk observes that unlike the objective hymn texts of the Reformation period, the “cross and comfort” hymnody of the time reflected life situations of the people with greater metrical regularity, smoother language, and a theology relatable to everyday life.
The tune was composed by Johann Cruger (1598-1662) and included in his collection Praxis Pietatis Melica, which became the most reprinted Protestant chorale book in Germany. In the 1663 edition, the hymn was entitled “Tisch- Gebetlein” (“A little table music”), which suggests that it was originally meant to be sung as grace before a meal. Perhaps this explains why NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT has become a familiar Thanksgiving hymn. READ MORE.
Our three hymns are historically linked today! "Now Thank We All" and "Praise to the Lord" were both originally included in Cruger's Praxis Pietatis Melica. "Now Thank We All" and "There's A Wideness" were both translated from German to English by Catherine Winkworth. 
#35 "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" (LOBE DEN HERREN)
We do not know who wrote the tune, called LOBE DEN HERREN, but find it in the 1668 collection Praxis Pietatis Melica. The dance-like melody has been arranged by many composers, including J.S. Bach, over the centuries and sung fast or slow by denominationally-diverse congregations.
(J. G. Walther's famous Baroque arrangement for organ):
Joachim Neander (1650-1680) wrote the German text which appeared in a 1680 publication.
In a curious historical coincidence, Joachim Neander's move to Düsseldorf placed him in a region of Germany now called Neandertal or sometimes "the Neander Valley" where nearly 200 years after Neander's untimely death the skull of the first example of Homo neanderthalensis was discovered in 1856 by workers in a limestone quarry named Neandershöhle (Neander's Hollow) after pastor Joachim Neander. "Neander" is the Greek translation of the family name "Neumann", both of which mean "new man." Pastor Neander is said to have loved the natural beauty of this valley named for his family and it inspired many of his hymns. READ MORE.
Middle Hymn
#435 "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy" (IN BABILONE)
IN BABILONE is a traditional Dutch melody that appeared in Oude en Nieuwe Hollantse Boerenlities en Contradansen (Old and New Dutch Peasant Songs and Country Dances) around 1710. Ralph Vaughan Williams discovered this tune as arranged by Julius Rontgen (1855-1932)--an important Dutch pianist, composer, conductor, scholar, and editor. Vaughan Williams included the tune in The English Hymnal (1906), from which it gained widespread use. [Source]
The ultimate theme of this text--written by Frederick Faber (1814-1863), an English Catholic clergyman--is based on the premise and paradox that a sovereign God, unlike earthly rulers, demonstrates welcome, kindness, grace and mercy. All we need to do is have a simple faith that “rest[s] upon God’s word.” [Source]
We are able to sing this beautiful text because of Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878), British hymn translator. Winkworth published almost 400 translations of German hymns into English for British hymn books between 1855 and 1869, and her collections were issued in three volumes.
Special Music:
"Let All the World in Every Corner Sing" by Tom Mitchell, performed by the Choir
Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.
(Verse)
The heav’ns are not too high,
His praise may thither fly:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.
The church with psalms must shout,
No door can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
It is said that English poet George Herbert (1593-1633), while on his death bed at age 39, gave this poem, amongst others, to a friend, saying "If....it may turn to the advantage of any dejected poor Soul, let it be made publick: if not, let him burn it: for I and it, are less than the least of God’s mercies.”
The poem, originally entitled "Antiphon" (meaning it consists of passages sung alternately by two choirs), was subsequently published in the widely-disseminated 17th-century collection The Temple.
What are we to make of the lofty and dominant monarchial language – “God and King” – in the twenty-first century? We cannot (or should not) rewrite history. On the one hand, this language bears little connection to the American experience and psyche. On the other hand, this hymn bears witness to a part of the history of the Christian church. It is unlikely that we will suspend the singing of the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah (1714) by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The repeated “King of kings and Lord of lords” (from Revelation 19:16) is unlikely to be modified by any church musician for fear of significant reprisals. While not the preferred characterization for God by many in this century, Herbert’s reference is one of a wide range of ways to address the Deity … and it would be regrettable to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath in such a magnificent devotional expression. READ MORE.
Offertory:
"I Love You, O My God Most High" by David Hogan, performed by the Choir
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H. David Hogan published the anthem we are singing today in 1994. Hogan (1949-1996) was an American vocalist, choral director, and composer. He directed CIGAP (Le Choeur Int'l Gai de Paris), a choir composed of openly gay men until his tragic death at the age of 47 in the 1996 Boeing plane crash. His wife, Terry Hogan Johnson, and daughter, Hilary Hogan, are talented vocalists in their own right.
This anthem is based on a traditional Irish melody called "Daniel," with text originally written by Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). Loyola was a Spanish Catholic priest who in part founded the Jesuits, an order committed to teaching and missionary work around the world.
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