Music Notes 9-22-24
I’m Goin’ Up is an original anthem written by Mary McDonald. A native of Tennessee, she served as Senior Music Editor for Lorenz Publishing in Ohio and was the accompanist for the accompanist for the Tennessee men’s Chorale for 36 years. She was the first woman President of the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference, and has performed at Carnegie Hall 3 times, both as accompanist and as conductor. Her anthem I’m Goin’ Up is a popular, bluesy gospel anthem that references the old hymn Love Lifted Me and is guaranteed to get the toe tapping.
Holy, Holy, Holy is a classic hymn that, at last count, has been published in 1421 hymnals. The words were written in by Reginald Heber, an English clergyman born in 1783. He entered Oxford at age 17, winning awards for his poetry, and was appointed to the post of Vicar of Hobnet (near Shrewsbury) in 1807. All 57 of his hymns were written during his time at Hobnet, were he resided for 16 years before being appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823. He was inspired by the Nicene Creed to write this great hymn of praise to the Triune God, with the intent that the hymn be sung before or after the creed was recited in a service, and on Trinity Sunday – eight weeks after Easter. The tune was composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1861 and is considered to be one of his best melodies. He was called his tune NICAEA, in recognition of Heber’s text, and after their first publication together in Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861, the tune and the text have been inseparable.
Matt Redman is an English Christian worship leader currently based in Brighton. He has won 10 Dove Awards for everything from Worship Song of the Year 2005 (for Blessed Be Your Name) to Songwriter of the Year 2013. His album 10,000 Reasons was released in 2012, and the title track went on to be #1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, where it remained for 13 weeks. 10,000 Reasons also won Grammy Awards in 2013 for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance. Today, Matt and his wife, Beth, are members of St. Peter’s Church in Brighton, England and have 5 children.
Michael Joncas (born Jan Michael Joncas) is a priest, liturgical theologian and a composer. He did his Master’s degree in liturgy at Notre Dame and studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. He was ordained in 1980 and now teaches at the University of St. Thomas (in Minnesota), at Notre Dame and at the St. John’s School of Theology. He is best known for his hymn On Eagle’s Wings, which he wrote in the late 70’s, basing the lyrics on Psalm 91 and Isaiah 40. He recorded it in 1979, and it has become a standard in the liturgical music world (it’s even in our hymnbook). It was performed at the funerals of many of the victims of the 9/11 attack, as well as the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti. He has stated that his preference for the title would be "On Eagle's Wings," indicating that the wings belong to a single eagle as a metaphor for God, but he said he could make an argument for the plural "On Eagles' Wings," since many wings would be needed to lift up the multitude of people in covenant with God.