Hymn of the Day: God, When Human Bonds Are Broken, ELW 603
Words: Fred Kaan (1929- 2009 )
Music: MERTON, William H. Monk (1823-1889)
Fred Kaan’s hymns include both original works and translations. He sought to address issues of peace and justice. He was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands in July 1929. He was baptized in St. Bavo Cathedral but his family did not attend church regularly. He lived through the Nazi occupation, saw three of his grandparents die of starvation, and witnessed his parents deep involvement in the resistance movement. They took in a number of refugees. He became a pacifist and began attending church in his teens.
Having become interested in British Congregationalism (later to become the United Reformed Church) through a friendship, he attended Western College in Bristol. He was ordained in 1955 at the Windsor Road Congregational Church in Barry, Glamorgan.
In 1963 he was called to be minister of the Pilgrim Church in Plymouth. It was in this congregation that he began to write hymns. The first edition of Pilgrim Praise was published in 1968, going into second and third editions in 1972 and 1975. He continued writing many more hymns throughout his life.
William H. Monk composed popular hymn tunes, including "Eventide", used for the hymn "Abide with Me", and "All Things Bright and Beautiful". He is best known for his music editing of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861, 1868; 1875, and 1889 editions). He also adapted music from plainsong and added accompaniments for Introits for Use Throughout the Year, a book issued with that famous hymnal. Beginning in his teenage years, Monk held a number of musical positions. He became choirmaster at King's College in London in 1847 and was organist and choirmaster at St. Matthias, Stoke Newington, from 1852 to 1889, where he was influenced by the Oxford Movement. At St. Matthias, Monk also began daily choral services with the choir leading the congregation in music chosen according to the church year, including psalms chanted to plainsong. He composed over fifty hymn tunes and edited The Scottish Hymnal (1872 edition) and Wordsworth's Hymns for the Holy Year (1862) as well as the periodical Parish Choir (1840-1851).
Offertory: “Precious Lord” Roy Ringwald (1910 - 1995)
In 1932, a week after the death of his wife in childbirth and the subsequent death of his newborn son, Thomas Andrew Dorsey ( 1899-1993) wrote this text. He also arranged the George N. Allen tune PRECIOUS LORD to match his text. Dorsey is considered the "father" of the African American gospel tradition (in distinction from the spiritual tradition) and was an active writer in this style from the 1920s through the 1950s. "Precious Lord" is the most popular of the early group of gospel songs that arose in the United States. Martin Luther King, Jr., chose the hymn as one of the "freedom anthems" of the Civil Rights Movement; since that time it has been included in many hymnals.
Given the circumstances surrounding Dorsey's writing of this text, it is not surprising that it has the character of the Old Testament lament psalms: we confess our own helplessness (st. 1), and we utter a cry for divine help (st. 2), but even in the face of death we are confident of God's saving power (st. 3).
Born into a Baptist preacher's family, Dorsey moved to Atlanta when he was five. There he studied music and came under the influence of local blues pianists. He moved to Chicago in 1915, where he studied at the Chicago College of Composition and Arranging and played in nightclubs as "Georgia Tom" or "Barrelhouse Tom," accompanying blues singers such as Tampa Red, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith. Because of his skill as composer, arranger, and pianist, he was in great demand. He also formed his own band, Wildcat's Jazz Band. After suffering from a severe illness in 1926, Dorsey became more involved with the Pilgrim Baptist Church and in 1932 began a forty-year tenure as the church's choral director. He wrote at least two hundred gospel songs (his total works number more than a thousand), organized and was president of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, and frequently directed other ensembles, including the Gospel Choral Union. His gospel songs were popularized by singers such as Mahalia Jackson, Roberta Martin, and Clara Ward.
Roy Ringwald was born in Helena, Montana, he grew up in Santa Monica, California and resided in the Palos Verdes Hills at the time of his death. Choir leaders everywhere rated Roy Ringwald as one of the most accomplished arrangers of our time. Before joining Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians as a singer and arranger in 1935, Roy Ringwald was associated with Earl Burnett, Raymond Paige and Andre Kostelanetz. His exclusivity with Shawnee Press began when the firm was founded in 1939. In the early 1940's, at Fred Waring's request, Mr. Ringwald arranged the poem ""The Battle Hymn of the Republic,"" which was written by Julia Ward Howe. The arrangement was performed by Waring's Pennsylvanians on radio June 22, 1943. Fans inundated Mr. Waring's New York office with letters of praise. By 1962, one million copies of the SATB arrangement had been sold and it continues to be a steady seller today. Roy Ringwald's studies in the field of music were limited to the elementary courses he received in parochial and public schools. Thereafter, he studied on his own and learned ""the hard way."" He was playing the piano at paid engagements with a dance group by the age of 12. While in high school, he studied voice, piano, organ, sight-singing, harmony, score reading and history of music. He organized dance bands and pit bands for silent motion pictures; he served as school organist and student director of the glee club; and he played viola with a classical string quartet (rehearsing at 6:30 a.m. before school), which also played paid engagements. Following high school, he went directly into a professional career as performer and arranger, organizing his own professionally successful groups. When he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians in 1935, he soon retired from performing and devoted his entire attention to writing. His work as an arranger and composer has an individuality of style that has retained its freshness over many years. Battle Hymn of the Republic; Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor; God Bless America; and No Man Is An Island are but a few of the hundreds of his stirring arrangements. His larger works such as Song of America and Song of Christmas are further evidence of his talent. Roy Ringwald continued to write music until his death July 11, 1995 at the age of 84.
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I'm tired, I'm weak, I'm lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.
When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near
When my light is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.
When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
Opening Voluntary: “Precious Lord” Jack Schrader, arr.
Jack Schrader, arranger, composer, conductor, vocalist, and organist/pianist, is past editor with Hope Publishing Company, retiring in January of 2009. A 1964 graduate of Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, where he majored in Voice and Organ, he also received the Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Nebraska (1966). Further studies in theology culminated in Jack's ordination by the Evangelical Free Church of America (1975). Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he now resides in Florida.
Closing Voluntary: “Prelude on DEO GRACIAS” HEALEY WILLAN (1880-1968)
Born in London in 1880, Willan was a prolific composer of some 800 works, including operas, symphonies, concerti and keyboard music. As a teenager, he gained both ARCO and FRCO diplomas and for 10 years, held the position of organist at St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road, London. In 1913, Willan emigrated to Canada, where he lectured in music at Toronto University. In 1921, he became precentor at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, where he remained until his death.
Willan left a substantial body of organ music, and this Prelude on the tune 'Deo Gracias' is the fourth piece of the second set of hymn preludes, first published in 1957. Willan prefaces the score with the hymn tune written out (dated 1415) and in his harmonization, there is a robustness and dignified sense of drive as the music unfolds, working up to a powerful climax on full organ. In 3/4 time, the music is not dissimilar in spirit to Whitlock's 'Allegro risoluto' from the Plymouth Suite, and it would be interesting to know if Willan was influenced by the rhythmic energy and restrained grandeur of Whitlock's style.