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The Angels are sounding on their golden trumpets -- Shaker hymn by Matilda A. Butler, 1846 This hymn, titled "Invitation to Souls," is included in the Music Supplement of
These Shaker music pages replace the "American Shaker Music" site on AOL For questions or comments, write to: Shaker Music Scholar Much of the information on these Shaker music pages was compiled and written by Roger Lee Hall, a composer, singer, musicologist and music preservationist who has studied Shaker music for over thirty-five years. Over the years he has edited or arranged over 200 Shaker tunes and written over 700 pages about Shaker music for various publications. They include the first modern editions of "All at Home" ; "Gentle Words"; "Love is Little" ; also variant editions of "The Humble Heart", "Rights of Conscience" and "Simple Gifts." Some of his Shaker music research and editions have been used on these CDs: Gentle Words -- The Tudor Choir Mr. Hall is a respected scholar who has taught in schools and colleges, worked on radio and cable television, and performed as a singer in live concerts and on recordings. He is one of the foremost authorities on music from earlier America and has compiled numerous collections and CDs. He has been listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.
See the Shaker music publications and CDs
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The music of the Shakers (officially known as The United Society of Believers) contains some of the most simply beautiful religious folk melodies from America's past. Yet much of their music remains unknown today to the general public, except for the Shaker dance song, "Simple Gifts," which was first arranged by Aaron Copland and later by folksingers, such as: George and Gerry Armstrong, Bob Beers and Judy Collins. Arrangements of
other Shaker songs and hymns have been made by
Jack Bomer , William Cutter, http://www.shakervoices.org/ For over 150 years, from the 1780s to 1950s,
well over 10,000 tunes were composed by the Shakers -- Among the books written about Shaker music are those by Edward Deming Andrews, Harold E. Cook, Jane F. Crosthwaite and Christian Goodwillie, Roger L. Hall, Robert C. and Viola E. Opdahl, Daniel W. Patterson. The last remaining Shaker community is located at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. Another popular Shaker dance song has been "Come Life, Shaker Life"
The above illustration shows the dance song written in a music notation This Quick Dance Song was composed by the first prominent Shaker tunesmith, Several songs, hymns and anthems by Elder Issachar Bates have been recorded, including "Come Life, Shaker Life"; the ballad hymn "Rights of Conscience"; and the anthem "Mount Zion," all available on the CD, Gentle Words.
Music Genres Unfortunately, there has been a great deal of incorrect information spread around The most common error is classifying all Shaker music as
Traditional or Anonymous hymns. There are actually three broad types of Shaker music: Songs, Hymns, and Anthems. The earliest Shaker music are wordless songs beginning in the 1780s. The first known Shaker song with words is "In Yonder Valley", composed by Father James Whittaker in 1787. The first hymns were written about 1805 and the first printed hymbook, Millential Praises, was published in 1812-13. By 1815, the first anthems began to be written, similar in style to early New England anthems by William Billings and Jacob French, except the Shaker anthems had melody only. By the 1830s, Shaker anthems were harmonized in three or four voice parts. An example of an early Shaker anthem with melody only is: "Mount Zion" by Elder Issachar Bates , and an anthem in four parts (SATB) is: Both hymns and songs are most often in two part (or binary) form: A + B. The difference between Shaker hymns and songs are: 1. hymns usually have only the second half of the tune repeated [A + BB], 2. hymns have two or more verses, while songs have one or two verses. Examples: An early Shaker hymn from Hancock, Massachusetts: "The Happy Journey" An early Shaker song by their foremost spiritual leader: "Mother Ann's Song" Because this is American religious folk music, all three categories (hymns, anthems and songs) are best classified together as: Shaker Spirituals
Music Editions Many performing ensembles have failed to give credit where it is due to Shaker music editors, such as Roger L. Hall and Daniel W. Patterson, who have provided extensive amounts of Shaker music available in modern editions. Without such editors, these Shaker spirituals would remain buried in manuscript music books. Often it is just the arranger who gets the credit, not the editor who first discovered it and made it available to perform. Note to all music directors and performers: Give credit to the editors!
Music Program On Saturday, August 15, 2009, Roger Lee Hall was keynote speaker in the Scott Swank Lecture Series at the Canterbury Shaker Village museum. He played a few of the songs from his new publication, Gentle Words: Shaker Music in the 20th Century , and rare field recordings of Canterbury Shaker singers from the accompanying CD. He also sang what is believed to be the last Canterbury Shaker song, "My Shaker Home," written in 1959 by Sister Lillian Phelps, and performed for the FIRST TIME in a public program. The title of his program: "Gentle Words -- Music at Canterbury Shaker Village" For further information, see the Calendar at Canterbury Shaker Village
One of the most unusual Shaker hymns from the Civil War era was received in a dream in 1862 by Sister Cecilia DeVere at New Lebanon, New York. This pacifist hymn titled, "A Prayer for the Captive" (also titled: "Supplication in a Nation's Calamity") was reportedly sung in all Shaker communities on the day of President Abraham Lincoln's funeral. The first recording of this important Shaker hymn is available on a CD titled: Lincoln and Liberty: Music from Abraham Lincoln's Era It is also available on the CD: Gentle Words: A Shaker Music Sampler
Shaker vs. Non-Shaker Tunes
Contrary to what many authors have written, Shaker music is not all anonymous or traditional. In fact, many of their songs, hymns and anthems are credited to Shaker poets and composers. These Shaker spirituals were written by a Shaker sister or brother, who wrote the words and/or the music. For example these Shaker spirituals...
"Abiding Care" by Eldress Dorothy Durgin
"Blended Together" by Elder Joseph Holden
The most important CD releases are those on Rounder Records with 40 spirituals each, sung by the Shakers from Canterbury, New Hampshire and Sabbathday Lake , Maine, with background notes by two authorities on the subject:
Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers Many of the harmonized hymns performed on this CD set are from the .
If are looking for Shaker spirituals to perform in a concert
Read about the evolution of Shaker music from the time
A Selection of Shaker Music on CDs
NEW RELEASE! Gentle Words: A Shaker Music Sampler
I Am Filled With Heavenly Treasures
The River of Love:
Love is Little:
Music Collections and Songbooks
"Simple Gifts"
A new piece by film composer John Williams, titled, "Air and Simple Gifts," was premiered during the Inauguration Day ceremonies for U.S. President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. Find out more about the Shaker song, "Simple Gifts," and the book,
Joseph Brackett's "Simple Gifts"
A new series of colorful music broadsides are now available These are the current Shaker song titles in the series:
No. 1: "Simple Gifts"
No. 4 " May I Softly Walk" No. 5: "Welcome, Welcome" No. 6: "We Will All Go Home With You"
Blended Together -- Interviews with the Shakers Gentle Words-- A Shaker Music Sampler
Attention film makers and documentary producers! A story treatment
about the early years of struggles by Write to:
Read a review of the play by Arlene Hutton
Rare copies of the out-of-print magazine, THE SHAKER MESSENGER magazine at
Aaron Copland Meets The Shakers -- description of their first meeting. American Music Recordings Archive -- interviews and Shaker music available on limited issue CDs. Books and Articles -- relating to Shaker music. CDs and DVDs -- original Shaker music and arrangements. New England Choral Sampler -- music collection with a Shaker song and anthem. Shaker and Non-Shaker Tunes -- incorrectly identified tunes and sources. Shaker Lectures and Workshops -- programs about Shaker music and their folk art. Shaker Music News -- announcements of publications, recordings and other information. Simple Gifts of Shaker Music -- list of recommended CDs at Amazon.com Wikipedia -- article about the Shaker song, "Simple Gifts."
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Shaker Music Collections
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