HYMNS, OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE LESSON 19 Upper Level Day is Dying in the West PACING: 1 day ESSENTIAL QUESTION, BIG IDEA, and STANDARDS: See Intrductin t Hymns, Our Christian Heritage. CONCEPT: Christian hymns are a cherished and valuable legacy, expressing the emtins and experiences f Gd s peple thrugh many centuries. OBJECTIVES: Learn the text and tune f an imprtant hymn f faith. Interpret the spiritual meaning f the hymn. Understand and cmmunicate imprtant facts abut the life f the authr f the wrds and/r the cmpser f the music. VOCABULARY: hymn, hymn writer, hymnal, text, tune, cmpser, verse, stanza RESOURCES: Perfrmances f Day Is Dying in the West Ladies tri, a cappella, beside the cean, SDA (2:34), https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=r76ldz8qtq Oakwd Cllege Aelians, a cappella (6:25), https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=0rgbvt7gkfu Children s chir with rgan accmpaniment (2:40), https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=s8iwst8k4rw Organ nly with lyrics shwn (3:09), https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=t3k5ifgnci ACTIVITIES: Either give each student a printed cpy f the hymn, display the hymn fr the class electrnically r have the students find the hymn Day Is Dying in the West (#51) in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal. Read the wrds thrugh tgether. Discuss what the wrds mean. Review the meaning f specific wrds and phrases t clarify the students understanding: day is dying in the west, evening lamps, dme f the universe, embrace, eternal mrning, etc. Play a recrding f the hymn fr the students. (See links abve) Use discussin questins fund in the Intrductin t Hymns, Our Christian Heritage. Sing the hymn tgether. Discuss its frm, meldy and rhythm. Nte hw many verses r stanzas it has. Des it have a Refrain? The music included in this hymn lessn is written in 3/4 time in the key f F. The music in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal is written in 6/4 time in the key f G. What des that mean? (If yu change the time signature frm 3/4 t 6/4 and take ut every ther bar line, the result wuld be music in 6/4 time. But it wuld sund the same. Changing frm the key f G t the key f F makes the whle sng ne whle step lwer and fr a lt f peple, easier t sing, especially the last line where the meldy ges quite high.) Read r tell the stry f Mary Lathbury wh wrte the wrds f this hymn, using the bigraphical sketch fund in this lessn. Mary Lathbury s bk may be dwnladed r read n line in its entirety: Child s Life f Christ, Stries frm the Bible (Mary A. Lathbury, published 1898). Ask peple in yur church if they knw this hymn. Find ut what their memries are f this hymn. Discuss the reasn this hymn was written and the manner f its first perfrmance. D yu think that hw and where and by whm a piece is perfrmed can make it memrable r nt? Why? What is a laureate? Can there be laureates in different areas? Research what the Chautauqua mvement was all abut. Were they like ur camp meetings tday? Review the stry by cmpleting the Lessn 19 Review.
Sing the hymn, fcusing n its expressive qualities and memrizatin f at least the first stanza. Chse a venue t perfrm the hymn. If n pprtunity is fund fr a perfrmance at the schl, church r ther cmmunity event, cnsider videtaping a perfrmance fr future use. Create psters fr a bulletin bard display featuring aspects f the hymn stry r the wrds f the hymn in a calligraphic style with hand-drawn illustratins. Use activities fund in the Intrductin t Hymns, Our Christian Heritage. EXTENSION ACTIVITIES: Create a chral reading f the hymn. Create a special arrangement f the hymn, utilizing vcal r instrumental sls r ensembles, etc. Create a skit telling the stry f the hymn writer r the circumstances under which the hymn was written. This may be presented t the yunger students in a wrship r at Sabbath Schl r church. ASSESSMENT: There is a Lessn 19 UL Review included. Als, any f the fllwing assessments may be used: teacher bservatin, discussin, perfrmance, teacher-created wrksheets. ANSWER KEY: (8 pints) Day Is Dying in the West 1. B 2. A 3. False 4. True 5. C 6. B 7. C 8. True
Day is Dying in the West Mary Artemesia Lathbury (1841-1913) Mary was brn in New Yrk t devut Christian parents. Her father was a preacher, and later her tw brthers als became preachers in the Methdist Church. Mary discvered that she had talent fr drawing and writing petry. As a little girl, she lved t write pems and illustrate the pages n which they were written. Mary said she heard a vice ne day that she believed was Gd. He said t her, Remember, my child, that yu have a gift f weaving fancies int verse and a gift with the pencil f prducing visins that cme t yur heart. Cnsecrate these t Me as thrughly as yu d yur inmst spirit. And that is what she did. As the years passed, the multi-talented Miss Lathbury taught art in varius schls and then became assciate editr f The Methdist Episcpal Sunday Schl papers. She cntributed much t these magazines and bks fr children. This jb led her t becme invlved in the beginnings f the Chautauqua mvement lcated at a frmer Methdist campgrund n the shre f Lake Chautauqua in New Yrk. Begun in 1874, Chautauqua was a ten-week adult educatin prgram held each summer. There were lectures, cncerts and ther high-class entertainment. She attended the sessins fr years, regularly respnding t requests t write hymns fr the Chautauqua prgrams. She became knwn as the Laureate f Chautauqua. One time her bss, Jhn Vincent, asked her t write a study hymn fr the Chautauqua grup. Day Is Dying in the West was the result. It was first sung August 5, 1877, at the utdr evening wrship. First, it was played as a crnet duet; then it was sung as a sl by Mr. Sherwin, wh had written the music. Finally, it was sung by the chir, directed by Sherwin. The chir members were all in bats a shrt distance frm the shre. Try t imagine the scene as the sun set with the beautiful sunds f Isaiah 6:3 drifting acrss the water: Hly, Hly, Hly is the Lrd f hsts, the whle earth is full f His glry. This stry is tld by Cathy O Bryant in her bk Ging In and Out My Windw (XLibris Crp, 2011):...family wrship always began by us singing, Day Is Dying in the West. We kids thught the sng was s bring that we giggled thrugh the sng. We never knew r felt the impact f that family wrship hur until we were grwn. Nr did we realize its effect n ur neighbrhd friends. Then a friend tld her that when they were visiting the beautiful island f Jamaica with Cathy s sister, she brke int singing this hymn as the sun set n Friday evening. T everyne s surprise the rest began singing with her, and fund they knew all the wrds! Cathy s friend said that she searched Baptist and Methdist hymnals and fund the sng nly in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal.
Student Name: Hymns, Our Christian Heritage Lessn 19 UL - Review Scre: 8 Day Is Dying in the West Text by Mary A. Lathbury 1. What was the prfessin f Mary s father? a. Teacher b. Preacher c. Banker 2. What talents did Mary discver she had? a. Writing petry and drawing b. Knitting and sewing c. Writing music 3. True r False. Mary was never able t teach art in spite f her desire t d s. 4. True r False. Chautauqua was a ten-week summer adult educatin prgram. 5. The first Chautauquas were held beside a. Lake Michigan b. The Great Salt Lake c. Lake Chautauqua 6. When Miss Lathbury s bss asked her t write a hymn fr the clse f the day, she wrte a. Nw the Day is Over b. Day is Dying in the West c. All Thrugh the Night 7. While they were singing, the chir members were a. Marching arund the camp b. Standing in the chir lft f the church c. Sitting in bats in the lake 8. True r False. Part f the hymn text cmes frm Isaiah 6:3.