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The Shakers in New Hampshire and Maine
The last two Shaker communities are located in New England.
The one at Canterbury, New Hampshire no longer has any Shakers living there and is now a museum. The last Shaker, Sister Ethel Hudson, died at Canterbury in 1992.
The other community is at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. It is the only one that is an active Shaker community and is now the oldest religious communal society
in the United States, having begun back in the 1780s.There are two CD releases available with Shakers from these two communities
singing and speaking about their music.
These were recorded between 1960 and 1980:Early Shaker Spirituals (with illustrated booklet) -- Sabbathday Lake Shakers
Read these pages for tributes to:
Read about the last printed Shaker hymnal of 1908 at this link:
Shaker Music History - 20th Century
You can order a CD of interviews with Shaker sisters at this link:
American Music Recordings Collection
(No. 8: "Celestial Praises" - Music by the Shakers)
"Celestial Praises" and other Shaker spirituals are included in this book:
A Guide to Shaker Music - With Music Supplement
In his e-book, composer and Shaker music scholar Roger Hall, tells the story how he met several Shaker sisters during the 1970s.
In 1972, he interviewed two Shakers from Canterbury, New Hampshire: Eldress Bertha Lindsay and Sister Lillian Phelps.
Later he met several Shakers from Sabbathday Lake, Maine: Sister R. Mildred Barker, Sister Frances Carr, and Brother Theordore Johnson.
Also discussed in the e-book is the first and only meeting of the Sabbathday Lake Shakers with the distinguished composer, Aaron Copland (1900-1990) in 1974, known for his arrangements of "Simple Gifts."
The story about meeting the Shakers is included in the illustrated e-book that includes Roger's early song lyrics and poems from the 1960s and 1970s.
There are also additional poems, photos and audio files.
(shown at left) Sister Lillian Phelps
at Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1972
(photo by Gail Hall)
For more about this illustrated e-book available on CD-ROM, which
includes music files, click on this link:
"Dream World": Songs, Poems and Stories
To order this e-book (available for a limited time),
go to the
The most popular and best known Shaker spiritual today was written back in 1848
by Elder Joseph Brackett Jr. and titled: "Simple Gifts."Here are the words to this one verse song :
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.There have been many arrangements of this well known Shaker dance song,
notably those by Aaron Copland.Also there have been different editions of"Simple Gifts" which have been published, including those by Edward Deming Andrews, Roger L. Hall, and Daniel W. Patterson.
With all the versions of "Tis the gift to be simple" being written today, there exists some confusion between what is an arrangement and what is an edition.
Arrangements
An arrangement is a piece of music that has been significantly altered, such as adding new voice parts and keyboard or other insturmental accompaniment. Therefore, "Love is Little" for four part chorus [shown at left] is an arrangement, since it has added voice parts to the original melody.
Examples of Shaker arrangements are found in the Music Supplement of
A Guide to Shaker Music.
To order CDs with Shaker arrangements, go to: CD Releases
Editions
An edition is basically the original music with only minor corrections or comments. No significant alterations are made to the original music. Examples of this are found in Roger Hall's The Story of Simple Gifts and the songbook for Love is Little (shown at left)
Other music collections are listed at
There are recordings at
Whichever type is used for performance,
the arranger or editor should always be credited in concerts or recordings.Remember that original Shaker music may be in public domain, but much of it would not be available for performance if it were not for the work of these arrangers and editors.
They deserve to be recognized for their work.
One example of a Shaker song with both an edition and an arrangements is one sung by...
The last Shaker from a Massachusetts Shaker community, Brother Ricardo Belden (1870-1958), was interviewed by Jerome Count from
the Shaker Village Work Camp in New Lebanon, NY.The year was 1957 and Brother Ricardo sang one Shaker song
during this recorded interview:"Living Souls Let's Be Marching"
This Shaker marching song from Tyringham, Massachusetts is available in
two different CDs and songbooks,
the first one an edition and the second an arrangement:Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals (edited by Roger Hall)
New Play
Read a review of the play by Arlene Hutton about nine Shaker sisters
at this link:
Rare TV Programs
Shaker scholar Roger Hall has compiled a 2 hour videotape/ DVD-R with television programs originally telecast between 1966 and 1991.
The black & white television program from 1966 on NET is the earliest known telecast about Shaker culture. It highlights the Shaker Village Work Group, a summer program for teenagers in New Lebanon, New York. The program also includes a brief interview with Sister Mildred Barker from Sabbathday Lake, Maine.
Other television segments include interviews with Eldress Bertha Lindsay at Canterbury; and Sister Mildred Barker, Frances Carr, Brother Arnold Hadd at Sabbathday Lake.
Most of these programs are very rare and hard-to-find anywhere else.
These television segments are for non-commercial use only.
To inquire how to get a copy of the VHS tape or DVD-R for educational use,
write to:
Ken Burns and Shaker Music
Ken Burns is known for his well received series on PBS television,
such as"The Civil War"; "Baseball"; and "Jazz."One of his first documentary films he made was premiered on PBS in 1985 and titled: "The Shakers."
It was beautifully photographed but did not tell much about the Shakers today.Most of the film deals with the rise and fall of Shaker communities during the 19th and early 20th centuires. The Shakers from Canterbury, New Hampshire and Sabbathday Lake, Maine are featured in the film but not given much attention. Unfortunately, very little music sung by the Shakers themselves was used on the soundtrack. Most of the music was arranged by Jesse Carr and a CD
was never released.First issued on videotape, it is now available on DVD....
Ken Burns' America: The Shakers
In 1999, Ken Burns produced another documentary shown on PBS which included some Shaker music, but it was not identified correctly.
The CD used the same title as the film...
Not for Ourselves Alone:
The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
The DVD has the same title...
Not for Ourselves Alone:
The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
& Susan B. Anthony
Included in this documentary film by Ken Burns and Paul Barnes is some Shaker music.
This soundtrack CD for Not for Ourselves Alone lists only one Shaker song:
"Good Evening My Friends" (track 8 of the CD).
Actually there are TWO Shaker songs included on this track:
"Good Evening, My Friends" (New Lebanon, New York, 1837)
"Mount Lebanon March" (New Lebanon, New York, 1822)
Both songs were published in the collection titled, The Happy Journey: Thirty-Five Shaker Spirituals, edited by Roger L. Hall, and published by The Fruitlands Museums in Harvard, Massachusetts in 1982.
The two Shaker song arrangements used in Not for Ourselves Alone were made by William Coulter and Barry Phillips and available on their CD. This is one of the best recordings of Shaker instrumental arrangements available today. If you love simple and tasteful instrumental arrangements, then you should enjoy this CD...
A story treatment is available for consideration by filmmakers or film producers interested in a making a dramatic film about the early Shakers, including their most prominent early songwriter, Father James Whittaker.
The story of their early years and voyage from England to America, their triumph over persecution and suffering and the missionary travels in New England with their charismatic leader Mother Ann Lee, who was also a singer,
would make a highly compelling dramatic film or a documentary.The hauntingly beautiful and simple Shaker music would be ideal
for the film's soundtrack.Inquiries about this story treatment and music should be directed to:
Would you like to commission one or more Shaker spirituals for a concert,
church service or a special event like an anniversary?Composer Roger Hall has arranged many Shaker tunes in the past.
He is available for commissions of Shaker music arranged for solo voice and accompaniment or for a mixed chorus at a reasonable fee.
Examples of his Shaker arrangements are found on these two CDs:
Send your request to:
Are you interested in scheduling an entertaining music program for your school, church, museum or other organization?
For more information, click on this link:
Shaker Music Lectures and Workshops
American Shaker Music -- a sister web site and the oldest one on the Internet dealing with Shaker music and related information.
CD Releases -- a selection of original and arranged Shaker tunes.
Joseph Brackett's 'SIMPLE GIFTS' -- information about the best known Shaker song.
National Carry A Tune Week -- several Shaker tunes have been selected.
Shaker Music History -- background from 1781 to 2001.
Books and Articles -- relating to Shaker music.
Tune Talk -- Joseph Brackett's "Simple Gifts" and Sydney Carter's "Lord of the Dance."
Wikipedia -- article about "Simple Gifts."
If you have any questions or comments, write to:
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