Australian contributions to the Christian Science Hymnal

Well, here is something different – Australia gets a mention in the Hymnal Notes!  Even the Outback. 

 

William Vincent Wallace played his violin “in the bush, the wild places, west of Sydney, Australia.”  He had musical success in Sydney, before going back to London and other places.  His music is for hymn 23, Mrs. Eddy’s beloved Blest Christmas Morn.

 

Australia gets another mention in note 26 for Christmas Morn.  The composer of the tune, G. Thalben-Ball, was born in New South Wales.  He also wrote the music for hymns 22, 198, 205, 280, 300, 308; 300 and 308 also having words by Mary Baker Eddy.

 

It is interesting to me how much of the church music comes from England, and how the compiler of the Hymnal seems to have been familiar with it all.

 

The note for hymn 29 tells us that the first edition of the Hymnal was produced in 1892.  I had previously stated that it was 1898.  I now conclude that 1898 was the first copyrighted edition as recorded on page ii of my present Hymnal.

 

Joyce Voysey

Hymn 14 Potsdam- Arise, arise and shine (arranged from JS Bach; words by Mary Mesechre)  Bach wrote: Like all music, [it] should have no other end and aim than the glory of God, and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music.”  

Hymns 14 – 18

I have been dragging the chain again! 

Enjoyed reading about JS Bach in Notes on hymn 14.

Under hymn 16 we find mention of Royal chapels.  Of particular interest to me, having visited St. George's Chapel and heard the small group of men singers sing for a service, I note that the composer James Nares was organist at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, which, like Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal was named a Royal Peculiar, exempt from Episcopal control. 

Episcopal:

1. Of or relating to a bishop

2. Of, relating to, or involving church government by bishops

3. Of or relating to the Episcopal Church

 

Of course, the Episcopalian Church in America is the equivalent of the Anglican Church in England (and Australia), but how do those chapels function without Episcopal control?  Any ideas?

 

Hymn 18’s note is good.  It quotes Mrs. Eddy’s note in her CS Hymnal: “Sing often in The Mother Church the hymn 173.”Hymn 173 is now 18.  My Words Only Hymnal tells me that there is no recording of this one in our church’s CDs of this hymn.

This note also says that the composer Michael Haydn (brother of the more famous Joseph), like Bach, signed his scores, “For the glory of God.”

 

Joyce Voysey

MUSICAL EXCELLENCE – RAISING THE BAR

through PRAYER, PREPARATION AND PERFORMANCE

 

Yesterday, I opened up the Hymn book and was surprised to read a hymn I have not thought about for a long time (hymn 183):

 

Make haste, O man, to do

whatever must be done;

Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,

When all to Truth must come.

 

The useful and the great,

The thing that never dies,

The silent toil that is not lost,

- Set these before your eyes.

 

Up, face the task and work;

Fling ease and self away;

This is no time for thee to sleep;

Up, watch, and work, and pray.

 

 Well, it met a particular need yesterday and today it told me to get to work and dig up notes from long ago to share them on this blog.  So here it is! 

 

About four years ago, the branch church I belonged to held a meeting with the above title.  It was a landmark meeting and a lovely opportunity to consider how to think and pray about music at our church services.  Here is a brief summary of some of the ideas shared at that meeting. 

TOPICS:

1. What qualities are required of the church musician?
2. What are the Church Manual provisions for church music?
3. What does Mary Baker Eddy have to say about music?
4. What practical steps can the musician (soloist or organist) take to promote a high musical standard?
5. What is the purpose of music at church services?

FRUITAGE:

A professional musician and church member shared her thoughts via email:

 

I have found myself more nervous before a church congregation than any other “audience”.  The answer has been to be still and feel love for the congregation – an assurance that we are all one, not divided or separated into performer and listeners with a scary gap in between.  We are all one, listening for the beauty of Soul to be made evident to us. And I stay still until love sills my thought and rules out the nervous claims, which are, after all, only a suggestion coming to us, and which we are free agents to either accept indulge and wallow in in, or reject.

 

Hymns: Music in church can be, and very often is THE most inspirational, uplifting part of the service.  For many, singing lifts their spirits much more than the sermon, and I am very aware that familiar melodies that are easy are important inclusions often, for those who don’t have much musical confidence, as much as are more contemporary musical rhythms for younger congregants.

 

Have you noticed how the lesson sermons themselves have been breaking out into new rhythm and meter over the past months? No more drifting off to sleep with the same 6 moderato sections.  Now we might find punchy little allegro phrases interspersed with more lengthy developments and perhaps a sweet little coda, or a jaunty dance in 10 sections, as in a lesson on the Ten Commandments.

 

I feel we can let these patterns and moods influence our choice of music for the service.  Be creative and original and most of all, fresh, in your presentation.

 

Solos: It’s the THOUGHT you communicate, as much as the words.  I know I have sung The Communion Hymn (Don Humphreys setting) as though I was on holy ground simply by being totally immersed in the spirituality of the words and letting that lead and inspire my interpretation.  Even if your voice is not that great, holy inspiration can transcend that and touch the listener.  Sincerity wins every time.

 

Rehearsal: If I’m the soloist, I always go over the solo several times with the organist til we feel united in purpose, knowing where we are “breathing”, where we are changing the mood and colour, what the shape of the phrases is and the direction.  Sometimes a listener can contribute very helpful comments and observations at this point.  And I often ask for feedback if someone happens to be there in the church.

Topic 1 – What qualities are required of the church musician?

Some of the qualities mentioned were: Listening, assurance, peace, calm, diligence, joy, unity, freshness, excellence, harmony, intelligence, practice, professionalism, expressiveness, innovation, inspiration, thorough preparation and musicianship, and dignity.

 

Topic 2 – The Church Manual*

See Page 61: Article XIX, lines 16-5.  Note especially the following requirements –

·        “appropriate religious character”

·        “recognized standard of musical excellence”

·        “dignified and suitable manner”

 

Topic 3 – RELEVANT REFERENCES FROM Mrs EDDY’S WRITINGS

Throughout her prolific writings Mrs Eddy makes numerous references to music and musical terms e.g. harmony, tone, rhythm etc either in a specific context, or as a means to demonstrate the principles of Christian Science. Using the Concordance to all her works, the following is a selection of quotes referencing the words “music”, “musical”, “musician” and “harmony”:

 

Science and Health

144: 30-7           natural understanding of music vs. theory

213: 16-30         spiritual understanding of music e.g., Mozart & Beethoven

276: 12-16         discord is unreal and mortal

304: 20-4          to be master of chords and discords, the “science of music” must be understood

452: 32-5           reliable authority

298: 4-7            immutable harmony

563: 1-2            harmony is the real and discord the unreal

217: 1-5            the origin of harmony

VIII: 4-8            harmony of spiritual sense

60: 24-28           life’s sweeter harmonies

Miscellaneous Writings

106: 28-4          “Music is the harmony of being; but the music of Soul affords the only strains that thrill the chords of feeling and awaken the heart’s harpstrings....”

116: 11-19         “...Are we filling the measures of life’s music aright.... As crescendo and diminuendo accent music, so the varied strains of human chords express life’s loss or gain...”

187: 3-12           “...in Science a chord is manifestly the reality of music...”

206: 19-23         “The real Christian Scientist is constantly accentuating harmony in word and deed, mentally and orally, perpetually repeating this diapason of heaven: ‘Good is my God, and my God is good.  Love is my God, and my God is Love.”

287: 8               “To an ill-attuned ear, discord is harmony...”

Retrospection and Introspection

27: 21-28           music in nature – “As sweet music ripples...like the brooklet...”

Unity of Good

13: 8-11            “The principle of music knows nothing of discord.”

Message for 1900

11: 3-20            “Music is more than sound in unison. ...I want not only quality, quantity, and variation in tone, but the unction of Love.  Music is divine.  Mind, not matter, makes music...”

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL ON THE SUBJECT from The Christian Science Journal:

v  June 1968     “The Importance of Church Music”

v  Sep 1977      “The Organist Prepares”

v  Sep 1980      “We organists can do better”

v  Sep 2007      “The Music of Soul”

v  March 2009   “Building on the Fundamentals” (Editorial)

 

Christian Science Publishing Society booklet “ART AND BEAUTY” (1978)

v  Pg 3              recipe for beauty

v  Pg 7              Soul as the art aspect of God

v  Pg 8/9           Definitions of musical terms

 

Topic 4 – What practical steps can the musician take to promote a high musical standard?

         

Prayer		Preparation		Performance
Prayer involves being still enough to really listen (a musician’s essential tool kit).  With the listening come ideas for what to play and how to play it.  We must listen and then follow the guidance given.  Don’t go off on your own tangent.		Be familiar with the Lesson.  Choose music that is relevant to its message.  Music is part of the service and it complements the readings.  Confer with the First Reader or Music Committee in regard to the selections.  Unity of purpose strengthens the service.		Aim for freshness, rhythm, dynamic contrasts.
vExpect to be directed. vExpect assurance and peace. vExpect to be freshly inspired.		Hymns: Thoroughly learn the notes and study the words of the hymns.  The organist must “breath” with the congregation - practice singing the hymn; it is not enough merely to be able to play the notes.  Allow time at the end of each verse for the congregation to catch their breath.  Remember that speed alone doesn’t always mean liveliness; the character of the piece must be caught in the phrasing, dynamics, colour, and choice of stops.		Organists: Communicate confidence to the congregation – it’s a joint effort!  Recognize the phrasing and be familiar with the words.  Give a long last note at the end of each verse and pause between verses.  Keep the pace.  Look at the words for breathing spots and for the meaning.
Music in church heals, calms, uplifts, cleanses, purifies and brings joy.		Solos: Always allow enough time for thorough rehearsal together in order that you can get beyond the notes to the inspiration, the “feel” of the music and its message.		Don’t leave anything to chance.  Have your music prepared physically before the service starts.
The musician can be the channel for blessings.		Schedule diligent and intelligent practice sessions.		Bring expressiveness.  Sing with the spirit. Sing with the understanding.
Avoid stale repetition; this supports healing.				Be professional.  It doesn’t matter how many or how few are in the congregation; your job is to perform to the highest level you can because this heals.

 

Topic 5 – What is the purpose of music at our church services?

Music in church heals, calms, uplifts, cleanses, purifies and brings joy.  It also offers an opportunity for everyone to participate, to SING OUT.  Let us pray that everyone leaving the service will take with them the sweet assurance of harmony and beauty.

 Julie Swannell– with contributions from Marie Fox and Colin Stephenson

*Readers will be interested to read Stephanie Johnson’s lovely article on the Church Manual in the December issue of The Christian Science Journal (see p. 53-55) where she writes about the Manual directive that the music “shall not be operatic, but ...of a recognized standard of musical excellence”.  She looked up the dictionary and found that “operatic” can mean “showy”.  She writes “So, I began to cherish the idea that everything I do should have a recognized standard of excellence to it without being showy... I found that calm, quiet eloquence and love speak louder and touch hearts more deeply than the obtrusive performance of mortal selfhood.”

 

 

 

Christmas hymns

As we are fast approaching Christmas, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the hymns that are especially appropriate for this time of year.  If you have found some others that fit this category, please let us know! 

I have found the following with “Christmasy” tunes or words:

 

·        9 All glory be to God on high

·        11 Angels at the Saviour’s birth

·        23-28 Blest Christmas Morn

·        72/405 Glory be to God on high (same tune with slight variations)

·        102/3 Hear our prayer

·        122 How blest are they whose hearts are pure (tune: “While shepherds watch their flocks by night”)

·        123 How firm a foundation (tune:“O come all ye faithful”)

·        158/9 It came upon the midnight clear

·        164/5 (also 417) Joy to the world

·        170 Let every creature hail the morn

·        222/3 O little town of Bethlehem (words by Phillips Brooks)

·        310 Sing ye joyous children sing (tune: “Hark the herald”)

·        362 To us a Child of Hope is born

·        368/9 Watchman, tell us of the night

·        414 I love to tell the story

 

This evening’s testimony meeting had the subject “angels” and we sang hymn 158.  How lovely it is.  Our Hymnal Notes tell us that the tune comes from Giovanni Marie Giornaovichi (1745 – 1804) who was “a restless Italian artist who ended his years in Russia” and was “a distinguished violinist”.  The words come from a Massachusetts Unitarian minister Edmund H. Sears (1820 – 1876).

Our Reader mentioned that the alternate tune (hymn 159) is also lovely, though largely not known to most congregations.  I’ve just listened to it (using the program Concord), and it is a pretty tune called Pentatone.  The name comes from its use of the “old five tone scale”: 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 – which uses the black keys of the piano. The melody has a certain vertical quality about it for me, like a delicate little dance. Maybe congregations could take up the challenge of trying this and other unfamiliar hymns and learning them.  Perhaps we could sing them more than once in a church service so they grow more familiar.  The composer here is Sir H. Walford Davies who composed or arranged the following hymns:

 

9 “Carol” – All glory be to God on high

223 “Christmas Carol” – O little town of Bethlehem (a tune I’ve never sung; it’s quite pretty)

380 “Courage” – Well for him who, all things losing (I’ve not sung this one either.)

132 “Etherington” – I am the way the truth the life (I don’t know this one at all.)

203 “Firmament” – O, Father, may we bear each hour (This one is very familiar to me.)

316 “Fragment” – Speak gently, it is better far to rule by love (gorgeous tune)

232 “Hampstead” – O Love, our Mother, ever near (I think most prefer the 406 tune.)

136 “Heavenward” – I love Thy way of freedom (This is a gorgeous Irish melody, arranged by Sir Davies.)

159 “Pentatone” – It came upon the midnight clear

165 “Plenitude” – Joy to the world (This tune has not caught on over the years, methinks!)

82 “Purpose” – God is working His purpose out (He was on to a winner with this one.  We used to sing this in Sunday school and it has stayed a favourite with me.)

344 “St. Andre” – Thou art the Way (This pretty tune has to compete with the even prettier – to me – Scottish melody of hymn 343.  There is a third tune for these words – hymn 429.)

278 “Wallog” – Pilgrim on earth (a lovely tune)

While I’m here, I’ll note that the back of the hymnal has some most useful information, i.e.

·        Tunes, alphabetical

·        Tunes, metrical

·        Composers and sources

·        Tempo indications

·        Authors and sources

·        First lines

How interesting it all is to the musician and the non-musician.  I met a choral conductor recently who said he’s always amazed that you can get a bunch of people together who have had no training in music at all, but when they sing together, somehow it all comes together.  All we have to do is join together in joyous praise to God and beautiful music can be the result!  Anyway isn’t it great that we can sing at home, in the car, at the beach, in the shower, and of course at church.  We can sing on our own, with a friend, or with a bunch of friends (or strangers).  It is so thrilling to just sing out and smile!

Julie Swannell

Maria Louise Baum and the Hymns of Mary Baker Eddy

This morning I have read in the Hymnal Notes, Maria Louise Baum’s The Hymns of Mary Baker Eddy.  How beautiful!  Sort of sacred writing.  She gives us a little task: Look up “dove” in the Concordances to Mary Baker Eddy’s works, in reference to the dove as illuminating a sense of peace.

I think Maria Louise Baum was one-time Editor of the Home Forum Page of The Christian Science Monitor.  I looked her up on http://JSH-OnLine.com and found an article titled “Love’s Omnipresence” From the October 6, 1906 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel and which begins: 

“Several years before I became a member of The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, I had an experience which I have often wished to record, yet I have hesitated because human language seems so feeble an expression of those things which we have seen and handled of the Word of Life. The help lately found in hearing a similar testimony from a friend has, however, prompted this present attempt.......The circumstances were such that it seemed the greatest battle I had ever won, but the immediate reward appeared to be nothing better than anxiety for my future and threatened nervous prostration. I had heard and thought a good deal about Christian Science, but had not persisted in my interest, and now turned to a doctor for advice. The doctor prescribed merely rest and the endeavor to be free from troublesome or exciting thoughts. In following these directions, I turned away from my worldly affairs, thought much of God, strove to be occupied with such peaceful things as the beauties of nature, hymns, and quiet books. One day there suddenly swept over me ...” 
 

[Ed. Read the article in its entirety from the October 6, 1906 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.]

How great is our debt to Maria Louise Baum for the words of seven precious hymns in the CS Hymnal:

1.     Here, O God, Thy healing presence................... 109, 110

2.     High to heaven let song be soaring........................... 112

3.     If the Lord build not the house.................................. 141

4.     In Thee, my God and Saviour..................................... 152

5.     Like as a mother, God comforteth His children........ 174

6.     Put on the whole armor of pure consecration......... 292

7.     Rouse ye, soldiers of the cross.................................. 296

Joyce Voysey

Editor:

Readers may be interested to know that the article “The Hymns of Mary Baker Eddy”, referred to above, was adapted for the Concordance to Christian Science Hymnal and Hymnal Notes (pages 171 -174) from an article in The Christian Science Journal of February 1914, and may be read either at http://jsh-online.com or from the bound volumes available in many Reading Rooms world-wide.  Some of the lovely points made by Ms Baum about Eddy’s poems are that they express “the actual need of the hour” and that this gives them their “marvellous vitality”; also that “every word of hers is used for its exact and full value”.  Further on she tells us that “her clear speaking follows from a knowledge that what she says is true”.

Baum refers in detail to the seven poems we now have as hymns in our hymn book and it’s most interesting to find out about a couple of significant changes made by Eddy to her poems Christ My Refuge (see hymns 253 – 257) and Mother’s Evening Prayer (hymns 207 – 212):

  “wait to know a world more bright”  became “wake to know a world more bright”; and

  “finds her home and far-off rest” became “finds her home and heavenly rest”.