Moderator

 

           Roger Lee Hall

 

Biographical Highlights

Roger Lee Hall is a respected music preservationist and musician who has been active for four decades in research and performance.

He is now one of the foremost authorities on vintage American songs and has been a frequent guest on radio and cable television.

Mr. Hall is the author of over twenty-five publications
and numerous articles.

Also, he is an ASCAP songwriter and composer.

He has also produced, edited or performed on 12 CDs.

After years of private piano lessons and frustrating songwriting disappointments, he attended Rutgers University where he received his B.A. degree in music theory and composition.

Two years later, Mr. Hall was awarded his M.A. degree in ethnomusicology from Binghamton University.
His Master's Thesis was on Shaker music notation.

His Ph.D. studies were at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, where his specialty was early American music.

Since then Mr. Hall has been involved these activities as:

  • composer & songwriter
  • lecturer
  • musicologist
  • music consultant
  • radio host
  • cable television writer & host
  • reviewer
  • singer
  • teacher
  • web moderator

Because of his prolific accomplishments in so many areas of music, Mr. Hall has been honored with entries in the 2008 editions of these respected directories:

Who's Who in America
Who's Who in American Education
Who's Who in the World (Silver Anniversary Edition)

All of these directories are published by the prestigious Marquis Who's Who®, which has been compiling biographies of
noteworthy individuals since 1898.

Here is what Managing Editor Karen Chassie wrote in her letter to him:

"Congratulations! Because of the reference value of your outstanding achievements, Marquis Who's Who has selected your biographical profile for inclusion in the 25th Silver Anniversary Edition of Who's Who in the World...It is a testament to your hard work and dedication to success that you have earned a place in Who's Who in the World. You should be proud of your achievements."

Mr. Hall has been web moderator for two other web sites:

The Music Buffs Web Pages

The Tune Lovers Web Pages

 

He holds the following positions:

 

Announcements and Articles:


Mr. Hall has written several illustrated eBooks based on song titles:

"Following the Stars" - Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy (2005)

 

"Dream World" - Songs, Poems and Stories (2007)

 

 

 

Also three monographs:

Music in Stoughton: A Brief Survey (1989)

MAJESTY: William Billings and The Stoughton Musical Society (2000)

The Story of SIMPLE GIFTS:
Joseph Brackett's Shaker Dance Song (2006)

He also compiled a CD of favorite music from the 1940s to 1990s:

Songs of Survival: A Musical Scrapbook

 

In addition to his music career, Mr. Hall has written many poems
and several short plays.

Two of his plays were directed by him and
videotaped at their first performances:

"The Grand Constitution" -- celebrating the 200th anniversaries of the U.S. Constitution and The Stoughton Musical Society Constitution, both written in 1787. The play concerns the writing of the Stoughton Musical Society's Constitution, now the oldest constitution of any performing musical organization in America. Cast: Wayne Olem and Bert Anderson.

Music by William Brown, Francis Hopkinson, Alexander Reinagle, William Billings, and patriotic tunes.

Videotaped at the Wales French Room, Stoughton Library, Stoughton, Massachusetts, October 1987.

"The Musical Telephone" -- based on a chapter of Edward Bellamy's famous utopian novel, Looking Backward (1888). Cast: Greg Bazaz and Dorothy Yanish.

Music by Edwin Arthur Jones, Joseph Brackett, and Roger Hall.

Videotaped at the Bellamy Centennial Conference, Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts, September 1988.

 

 

 

 

Composer and Songwriter

 

Though he wrote a number of songs, none of them were commercially successful. So he turned his attention to music in more depth, studying composition at Rutgers University with Robert Nagel and George Walker (first Afro-American composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music).

Since 1985, Mr. Hall has been a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and has composed or arranged over 125 pieces of music including piano works, chamber music, songs and choral music.

One of his compositions is titled:"Creator God, We Give You Thanks."
This environmental anthem won a choral competition prize.
More information about this anthem is available at:

PineTree Music

For several anniversary celebrations of the
Old Stoughton Musical Society (the oldest choral society in the United States) ,
Mr. Hall composed two songs: "Peace" and "Dedication."
Both of these Stoughton songs are available on this CD:

American Choral Sampler

 

He also arranged music for two plays he wrote which included these songs:

1. "Yankee Song" (based on Yankee Doodle) -- One of the songs in The Grand Constitution (1987), presented in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution and the Stoughton Musical Society's Constitution, written the same year in 1787.

2. "The Dark Night is Ending" -- This song was written for a short play titled: The Musical Telephone (1988). The play was based on a chapter from the well known utopian novel, Looking Backward, and was first performed at the Edward Bellamy Centennial Conference in 1988 at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

Also, Mr. Hall composed a special song in Russian and English:

"My dareem vam nashee pyesnee (We give you a gift of our songs)"

This was written for Sharing A New Song to perform on their Russian tour in 1988. His song opened the historic concert when for the first time a combined Russian and American chorus sang together in Yaroslavl. The Russian song and other pieces are available on this CD:

 

Come, Gentle Peace -- Music by Roger Hall, Volume 1

 

 

More music, including the award-winning environmental anthem "Creator God, We Give You Thanks" are included on a second CD:

 

The Dark Night is Ending -- Music by Roger Hall, Volume 2

 

 

 

If you wish to inquire about his compositions or
to commission a piece of music from him, write to:

PineTree Music

 

 

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Lecturer

Over the past four decades, Mr. Hall has presented over one hundred programs and workshops on different topics, including these:

  • Hooray for Hollywood: Memorable Movie Music
  • I Got Rhythm: The Genius of George Gershwin
  • The Lore and Legends of New England Songs
  • Remembering Radio: Great Songs and Singers
  • The Sidewalks of New York: Old Songs and Stories
  • The Simple Gifts of Shaker Music

He is available for these and other programs listed at this link:

Lectures and Workshops

 

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Musicologist

Since 1972, Mr. Hall has been a musicologist and consultant for such distinguished institutions as the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C (music from Tonga), the Paul Revere House in Boston (early New England music), and various seminars and other organizations.

Read a newspaper story describing his efforts to

Preserve local music

He is a longtime film music historian, has taught film music courses, and has written close to one thousand music reviews.

In addition, he has written a reference book, now in its 3rd edition:

A Guide to Film Music -- Songs and Scores

 

Mr. Hall has been singer, consultant or editor for recordings on

  • Albany Records
  • Community Music School
  • Erato Records
  • Musical Heritage Society
  • Rounder Records
  • Sampler Records Ltd.

If you wish to inquire about his consulting work, write to:

PineTree Music

 

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Teacher

In 1975, Mr. Hall taught his first course on the history of American popular music at Case Western Reserve University. He was then assisting Prof. Bill Randle, a disc jockey who had introduced Elvis Presley on national television in 1956.

For over twenty-five years, Mr. Hall continued as a music teacher at various colleges and adult education programs. He had a special interest in teaching adult students and he is now retired, though he still does lectures and workshops.

A few of the courses he has taught:

  • Great Composers (J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart)
  • The Genius of George Gershwin
  • History of American Music
  • Listener's Guide to Music
  • Music in the Movies
  • Masters of the American Song

 

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Radio and Cable Television

Over the years, Mr. Hall has been a frequent radio guest on several stations. He was a frequent guest on Ron Della Chiesa's popular "MUSIC AMERICA" program on WGBH-FM in Boston, Massachusetts, where he presented his annual Oscar film music tributes and also
The Sammy Awards.


Some of these programs are listed in this radio guide
with accompanying CDR:

Remembering Radio

 

On another station Mr. Hall prepared a monthly radio series titled: Great American Songs. He also hosted his own nightly four hour radio program titled, IN THE MOOD, playing popular music
from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

Here are a few of his radio specials he presented on his IN THE MOOD program:

  • Fifties Favorites: Songs and Singers
  • Top Ten Big Band Themes
  • Top Ten Movie Songs and Scores
  • Tributes to Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy: World War II Musicals

He also produced and hosted a series of music programs on cable television. These programs featured local musicians and historians. They include two series:

"IN CONCERT" (12 programs)

"NOW AND THEN" (3 programs)

Some of these programs are available on videotape at

Singing Stoughton

 

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Singer

Ever since 1972, Mr. Hall has been a singer in numerous programs at various museums, historical sites, churches, colleges, conferences,
and special events.

He is one of the singers on these CDs:

 

Blended Together

The Humble Heart

Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Preservationist

Besides his other achievements, Mr. Hall has spent considerable time working to preserve neglected American music from the past.

His preservation work includes researching, editing, publishing,
performing and recording the music.

His most extensive projects have involved music from
two of the oldest singing traditions in the USA:

The Stoughton Musical Society (founded 1786)

The United Society of Shakers (first community in 1787)

 

Music in Old Stoughton



He has received several Massachusetts Arts Council grants for this project which involved researching and writing about music and composers in Stoughton, Massachusetts during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

This town has the oldest surviving choral society in the United States, founded on 7 November 1786. Original called The Stoughton Musical Society, it also has the oldest constitution of any performing musical organization, written in 1787 just a few weeks after the United States Constitution. Several pamphlets, music collections and video programs
have been produced.

Read more about this choral society at

Singing Stoughton

 

Music of the Shakers

The second major project involved collecting research about this religious communal society, the oldest surving one in the United States.

The Shakers originated in the Manchester area in the UK. Their spiritual leader, known as Mother Ann Lee, and some of her followers arrived in New York City on 6 August 1774. This is the date celebrated by the Shakers as the beginning of their church in America.

Their first settlement was at Niskayuna (later Watervliet) New York in 1776, and their first community was established in 1787
in New Lebanon, NY.

Mr. Hall is one of the foremost experts on Shaker music and has written extensively about it for the past thirty-five years..

He was the first to write a Master's Thesis dealing with Shaker music.
His thesis with music analysis is titled:

The Shaker Letteral System: A Practical Approach to Music Notation
(Binghamton University, 1972)

Since then he has researched and edited many Shaker spirituals,
and performed them in concerts.

He has also edited and arranged over 200 Shaker tunes.

Some of them are available on

Shaker CD Releases

 

In addition he has compiled and edited these music collections:

  • A Western Shaker Music Sampler (1976)
  • The Happy Journey: Thirty-Five Shaker Spirituals (1982)
  • Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals (1992)
  • A Guide to Shaker Music (1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006)
  • Come Life, Shaker Life: The Life and Music of Elder Issachar Bates (2004)
  • How Happy Are They: Twelve Shaker Spirituals from Kentucky & Ohio (2007)

Mr. Hall has worked on these recordings of Shaker music as singer, consultant, or editor:

  • Harp of Joy -- Soloists and Choir, Plymouth Church, Shaker Heights, Ohio (1976)
  • Love is Little -- Soloists and The Sampler Chorus (Sampler Records, 1992)
  • Joy of Angels -- Soloists and The Sampler Chorus (Sampler Records, 1995)
  • Simple Gifts -- Boston Camerata and Sabbathday Lake Shakers (Erato, 1995)
  • Let Zion Move -- Shakers from Canterbury & Sabbathday Lake (Rounder Records, 1999)
  • The River of Love -- Soloists and Chorus of New England Voices (Albany Records, 2007)

Two of these Shaker recordings are described here:

Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers - 2 CD set featuring commentary and 40 Shaker spirituals performed by the Shakers from Canterbury, New Hampshire and Sabbathday Lake, Maine. The recordings and interviews were made between 1960 and 1980. Also included is a 72 page illustrated booklet with all the words for the music and extensive notes by Roger Hall. This is the most extensive historical recording ever compiled of the Shakers speaking about their heritage and performing their music. Much of it was recorded by William Randle, a Cleveland disc jockey who helped promote Elvis Presley in the 1950s.

To order a copy of this CD set, just click on this link:

Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers

 

 

Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals - a CD released from Sampler Records containing 36 Shaker spirituals from all the major Shaker communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio and Kentucky. A songbook with all the music and extensive notes, including a music chronology, is also available.

Click on this link for more information:
Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals

 

There are a few copies remaining of the very rare First Edition of the Love is Little songbook (1992).

To order your copy (single copies only), write to:

Shaker songbook

 

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Publications

Publications compiled and written by Roger Hall available
at the AMP Store:

Mr. Hall has produced a series of twelve CDs, half of them featuring his own music. For further information and list of the CD titles,
click on this link for

PineTree Music

 

 

 

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