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"Love is little"
A Shaker Song Discovery
This simple Shaker song was first heard at Sabbathday Lake, Maine
during a conference held to celebrate
the bicentennial of the Shakers first arrival in America in 1774.
Shaker music scholar, Roger Hall, attended that conference and
he asked Daniel W. Patterson who provided it in his presentation,
where that song mansucript was located.
But Dr. Patterson wouldn't tell him,
so he set out to find it himself.After spending many hours looking through Shaker music mansucript volumes at the Western Reserve Historical Soiety Library in Cleveland, he finally found the manuscript which contained the "Love is little" song. It was written about 1834 at South Union, Kentucky. The author of this one verse song is unknown.
Roger Hall made a transciption
into modern music notation from the original alphabet music notation
as shown here:
His modern edition of the song was first published in a songbook
with that song as the title, published in 1992 by The World of Shaker,
and reprinted by Sampler Records in 1996:
Also an accompanying CD was released
which has received very favorable reviews --
A collection of 36 Shaker spirituals, released by Sampler Records in 1992, representing all of the 18 major Shaker communities, performed by Roger Hall, Mitzie Collins and other soloists, also The Sampler Chorus. It is titled after the popular Shaker humility song from South Union, Kentucky.
There is also an accompanying songbook compiled by Roger Hall with all the music from the CD, plus music notes, a list of titles from the Shaker Song Series, and a bibliography.These are the titles and Shaker communities with dates included:
1. Mother Ann's Song-- Harvard, Massachusetts, 1783
2. Father James's Song -- Harvard, Massachusetts, 1783
3. In Yonder Valley-- Father James Whittaker, Enfield, Connecticut, 1787
4. Square Order Shuffle -- Harvard, Massachusetts, 1791
5. Quick Step Manner -- Sung by John Robinson, Shirley, Mass, 1815
6. The Happy Journey -- Sung by Joshua Goodrich, Harvard, Mass, 1808
7. How Beautiful Do The Heavens Ring-- Hancock, Massachusetts, 1849
8. Living souls Let's Be Marching-- singing of Ricardo Belden, 1950s
9. Followers of the Lamb - Clarissa Jacobs, New Lebanon, NY, 1847/1985
10. Put Thy Hands To Work -- Community unknown, 1869
11. A Prayer For The Captive -- Cecilia DeVere,
New Lebanon, New York, 1862
12. Glory and Honor -- David A. Buckingham, Watervliet, New York, 1873
13. O Do Feel More Life -- Sodus, New York, 1837
14. Welcome, Welcome Gospel Kindred -- Lydia Dole, Groveland, NY, 1865
15. Chinese -- Groveland, New York
16. Praise to Mother -- Ann Marie Love, Groveland, NY, 1852
17. A Round Dance -- Eldress Lydia Dole, Groveland, NY, 1865
18. All is Summer -- Groveland, NY, 1875
19. If Our Home is So Beautiful -- Groveland, NY, 1893
20. All At Home-- Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1870/1912
21. More Love -- Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1870/1914
22. Prayer Universal -- Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1890
23. Millennial Praise -- James G. Russell, Enfield, New Hampshire, 1883
24. Peace to Zion -- Enfield, New Hampshire, 1851
25. The Shakers -- text: Richard McNemar/Sabbathday Lake Shakers, 1980
26. Simple Gifts -- Joseph Brackett, Jr., Alfred, Maine, 1848
27. Blended Together -- Joseph Holden, New Lebanon, NY, 1870
28. Let Zion Move -- Mary Ann Gillespie, Alfred, Maine, 1875
29. Redeeming Love -- Mary Ann Gillespie, Alfred, Maine, 1875
30. Mother -- text: Richard McNemar. Union Village, Ohio, ca. 1813
31. How Happy Are They -- Richard McNemar, Watervliet, Ohio, 1833
32. Ode to Contentment -- text: Richard Pelham/tune: Issachar Bates
33. On The Landing Of Mother Ann In America -- North Union, Ohio, 1860
34. Slow March (The angels of heaven) -- Ephraim Frost,
White Water, Ohio,1872
35. Gentle Words -- Polly M. Rupe, Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, ca. 1867
36. Love is Little -- South Union, Kentucky, ca. 1834
Rave Reviews:
"The recording includes a nice contrast of styles, tempi, vocal timbres and ranges. It resists the temptation to 'arrange' the music for modern performance, but lets the music speak for itself. I'd recommend both the book and recording as useful for singers and scholars, and would suggest that traditional music groups will find the collection a means of incorporating these songs into their own repertories. I'd also recommend the recording if for no other reason than that you'll enjoy it."
--- Susan Porter, Professor of Music, Ohio State University, Lima, Ohio in The Sonneck Society for American Music Bulletin, Summer, 1993.
"The excellent vocals of Mitzie, Roger and the Sampler Chorus carry this recording onto a high level of musical achievement. Anyone interested in the Shakers and their music must have this recording."
-- Andy Recommends in Andy's Front Hall Catalog, Voorheesville, New York
In 1976, Roger Hall made a four-part harmony arrangement for a recording by the Plymouth Church Choir in Shaker Heights, Ohio, John D. Herr, Director.
It was privately produced for the church.Later, the arrangement was included on this CD compiled by Roger Hall
with original Shaker tunes and some of his arrangements:
From his humble beginning at a 19th century Shaker community
in Kentucky, to its re-discovery in the 20th century when it was
first made available by Roger Lee Hall, and to later arrangements
by others, this Shaker song has shown that its simple four-line text
can still have meaning in our world.One key word in the song was changed
by the Sabbathday Lake Shakers (in brackets)
to include everyone (our spirit):Love is little, love is low,
Love will make my [our] spirit grow.
Grow in peace, grow in light,
Love will do the thing that's right.
Contact: pinetreepro@aol.com
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