Music Spotlight! (Sunday, September 19, 2021)

Special Music

"Precious Lord, Take My Hand" by Thomas A. Dorsey, Arr. Jack Schrader

Known as the "Father of Black Gospel Music," Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993) combined African American church hymns with blues and jazz--a "worldly" combination that fired up controversy at first but set the tone for gospel music for decades to come. "Precious Lord" was written in 1932 out of tragedy.

"Back in 1932 I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago’s Southside. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn’t want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. . . .

". . . In the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED. . . .

"When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. . .

"But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Frye, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to Malone’s Poro College, a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys." READ MORE.

Precious Lord, take my hand,

lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Through the storm, through the night,

lead me on to the light:

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

(Dr. Thomas A. Dorsey singing from the album, "National Convention of Gospel Choirs & Choruses Mass Choir" 1980.)

Opening Hymn

#1 "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God Almighty" (NICAEA)

...Heber intended for “Holy, Holy, Holy,” written for Trinity Sunday, to be sung between the sermon and the creed by his parish in Hodnet. This was iconoclastic at the time, since hymn singing was prohibited in Church of England liturgies. In contrast, the Methodist societies in the eighteenth century were known for their hymn singing, along with the dissenting churches that had been using the hymns of Isaac Watts for nearly one hundred years. Consequently, then, British hymnology scholar J. R. Watson notes Heber was a man who “helped to dispel the idea that hymns were associated with Methodists and extreme Evangelicals” (Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology). Unfortunately, he failed to persuade church authorities within the Church of England to grant permission for hymn singing during Sunday services while he was alive... READ MORE.

The infamous text of "Holy, Holy, Holy" was written by Reginald Heber, Anglican bishop over all of British India from 1823-1826. Heber worked tirelessly to build a training school for local clergy and traveled extensively around India preaching the gospel. He also embodied nineteenth-century British missiology, which purposed to use Britain’s divine right and calling to evangelize the rest of the world. His use of the Trisagion (thrice holy) reminds us that these words have been uttered in worship for centuries. Isaiah received his vision in the eighth century B.C.; John the Apostle recorded his revelation in the first century C.E.; while Reginald Heber composed his hymn in 1826.

The tune, named after the Council of Nicaea where the nature of the Trinity was shaped theologically, was written by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876), choir director of the Durham Cathedral in England. NICAEA is a classic example of Victorian hymn tune writing, notably with its solid harmonies and subtle chromaticism.

Middle Hymn

#373 "O Day of Peace" (JERUSALEM)

Carl Daw Jr. (b. 1944)--American Episcopal priest and executive director of The Hymn Society--wrote this text for an old British tune called JERUSALEM at the behest of The Hymnal 1982 committee.  

...Dr. Daw describes his thinking about the hymn: “This hymn deals with two aspects of peace: pax, an understanding of peace based on the cessation of conflict, and shalom, the condition of living abundantly in harmony and mutual goodwill. . . . Although this hymn affirms that peace is always God’s gift, it also recognizes the importance of human responsibility in preparing an environment in which peace can flourish.” READ MORE.

British singers know by heart the tune penned by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918). However, it is set to a William Blake poem. Hear it sung at the BBC Proms above. 

Offertory
"Lord of Life, King of Glory" by Michaelangelo Grancini, Edited by Richard Proulx

Richard Proulx (1937-2010)--American composer and editor of The Hymnal 1982--draws the music for this anthem from a piece called "Dulcis Christe" by Michaelangelo Grancini (1605-1669). Proulx also translated the Latin text to English (full text can be found HERE.)

Grancini, Italian composer and organist, wrote almost exclusively for the church. He employed "stile antico" (ancient style) as well as "stile moderno" (modern style) characteristics. "Stile antico" was the compositional style of the late Renaissance--featuring controlled dissonance, modal effects, and avoiding lavish instrumentation or ornamentation. "Stile moderno" developed for more secular use, with emphasis on the solo voice, polarity of the melody and the bass line, and interest in expressive harmony.