Music Notes 2-18-24

Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord) is an African-American spiritual that was first printed in 1899.  It was likely composed by African American slaves in the 19th century. The song was first published in William Eleazar Barton's 1899 Old Plantation Hymns but was described in writings prior to this publication. In 1940, it was included in the Episcopal Church hymnal, making it the first spiritual to be included in any major American hymnal. It is also unique in that it is the only African-American song included in the Catholic Church's  Liturgy of the Hours.  The text utilizes a system of coded language in its lyrics like most, if not all, African-American spirituals.  Metaphors, especially those involving Old Testament figures, as well as Jesus, are often central to the meanings of spirituals. Were You There tells the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Underneath this narrative, however, is a metaphor likening Jesus's suffering to the suffering of slaves.  As reported in Howard Thurman's autobiography, the song was one of Mahatma Gandhi's favorites. The song has been recorded by artists including Paul Robeson, Marion Williams, Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Phil Keaggy, Max Roach, Diamanda Galás, Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson, The Seldom Scene, Diamond Version (with Neil Tennant), Bayard Rustin, Rajaton, and Chris Rice. A writer from the Indianapolis News wrote about Paul Robeson's rendition, saying that "It was as startling and vivid a disclosure of reverent feeling of penetrating pathos as one could imagine."  I wanted to create something fresh for the choir, a more theatrical approach to the song.  This week’s anthem will be the premier of the piece.

Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch based in Sydney, Australia.  Founded by Brian and Bobbie Houston in August of 1983, the church grew to the point where the word “megachurch” is utterly redefined by them, with campuses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Gold Coast and Noosa.  In addition, they have international churches in London, Bermondsey (Greater London), Oxford, Guildford, Kent and Newcastle (United Kingdom), Cape Town and Pretoria (South Africa), Kiev (Ukraine), Paris, Lyon and Marseille (France), Konstanz and Duesseldorf (Germany), Stockholm, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Moscow, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey and 3 campuses scheduled to open this year in Arizona.  The band Hillsong United was formed in 1998 from close friends within the Hillsong youth ministry (called “Powerhouse Youth”).  So many songs were being written within the youth ministry that it was suggested they make an album.   The songs One and Everyday were recorded and released with the annual Hillsong worship album in 1999.  They both achieved gold sales status in Australia, and the band has gone on to win five Dove Awards in 2014 and were nominated for an American Music Award and won the Billboard Music Award Top Christian Artist in 2015.  Their song From The Inside Out was released in 2007 on the album Almighty To Save: Powerful Songs of Transforming Worship.

All Glory Laud And Honor is one of the earlier hymns in the hymn book.  The author was Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans (France), who was born around 750 and died in prison in 821 - the usual political intrigue (he was suspected of being involved in a plot against Emperor Louis).  The text to this hymn was translated into the familiar form in 1854 by John Mason Neale.  Neale was born in 1818 and, despite being in perpetually poor health his entire life, was incredibly prolific.  He translated hundreds of hymns from a variety sources, especially Greek and Latin, wrote original hymns, including two volumes of hymns for children and wrote hundreds of books.  He won the Seaton prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College in Cambridge, was ordained by the Church of England in 1842 (although his poor health kept him from the pulpit) and later in life founded the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, which became one of England’s finest training orders for nurses.  The tune, named ST. THEODULF (after the author, obviously), was composed by Melchior Teschner in 1613.  Teschner was born in what is now Poland in 1584.  He studied music, theology and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt and spent his life first as a cantor at the Lutheran church in Fraustadt and then, until his death in 1634, as pastor of the church in Oberpritschen.  He wrote 3 hymn tunes that are still in use, but his magnum opus is All Glory Laud And Honor, which has been published in almost 600 hymn books to date.