AMERICAN SHAKER MUSIC (History and Performance)

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AMERICAN SHAKER MUSIC

This page is devoted to Shaker music history and performance.

A Brief History

By Roger Hall

The Shakers are the oldest surviving religious communal society in the United States.

Today, the Shakers are known primarily for their simple and beautiful furniture.

Yet their music played a much more important role in Shaker history.

Most folks today only know one Shaker song: "Simple Gifts" (or "Tis the gift to be simple").

Unfortunately, it is usually incorrectly identified as a "Traditional Shaker Hymn."

In truth, "Simple Gifts" is not a hymn. It's a dance song.

Contrary to popular belief, all Shaker songs are not "Traditional" or "Anonymous." Many of their tunes can be identified. Shaker music actually has a long and varied history going back several centuries in America.

For a more detailed description of music history, go to:

Shaker Music in America

18th century

The first Shakers, led by Mother Ann Lee, left England and arrived in New York City on August 6, 1774.

This important event is commemorated each year with a worship service at Sabbathday Lake (where the few remaining Shakers live) and programs at various Shaker museums, such as Canterbury , New Hampshire and Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. This important landing in America was celebrated with special music, such as: "On the Landing of Mother Ann in America" from North Union, Ohio in 1860 (recorded on Love is Little).

The first Shaker settlement was located at Niskayuna (later Watervliet), New York in 1776.

However, their first organized community was at New Lebanon (later called Mt. Lebanon), New York in 1787.

Shaker Songs

The first songs were composed by the church leaders (or "Gospel Parents") who had emigrated from England.

They were: Mother Ann Lee, her brother Father William Lee, and Father James Whittaker. All three wrote songs.

The earliest known Shaker songs in America were composed during the 1780s and were without any text and sung to syllables, as in "Mother Ann's Song" [recorded on the CD, Love is Little].

The first known Shaker song with texts and music was written by Father James Whittaker in 1787 and titled: "In Yonder Valley." [ Love is Little ]

Dance songs were also popular at this time and they were also without any text, such as "Square Order Shuffle" and "Quick Step Manner." [both recorded on Love is Little]

19th century

Shaker Hymns

By 1805, hymns began to be appear and they often had many stanzas of text.

One of the most popular early ones was "The Happy Journey." [ Love is Little ]

But probably the greatest early Shaker spiritual was Elder Richard McNemar's powerful religious ballad, "Mother" [ Love is Little ].

Though there are 16 stanzas in this ballad, only ten of them are sung by modern day Shakers.

The complete text (without music) is available in Edward Andrews's book, The Gift to be Simple: Songs, Dances and Rituals of the American Shakers.

The words and music with the ten stanzas sung today are included on the CD and songbook: Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals. This hymn is also available on the Simple Gifts CD.

Sister R. Mildred Barker introduced this ballad in 1974 at a Sabbathday Lake conference celebrating the bicentennial of the Shakers arrival in America. She began at stanza 6:

At Manchester, in England,

This blessed fire began,

And like a flame in stubble,

From house to house it ran:

A few at first receiv'd it,

And did their lusts forsake;

And soon their inward power

Brought on a mighty shake.

The words and music with the ten stanzas sung today are included on the CD Love is Little and its accompanying songbook. This hymn is also available on the Simple Gifts CD.

Other hymns were written about her birthday, such as: "Reflections on Mother Ann's Birthday" by Brother David A. Buckingham (recorded on the Verdant Groves CD).

Shaker Anthems

Around 1815, the third type of Shaker music was introduced - the anthem.

This was a longer piece of unrhymed music.

One prominent early anthem was "Mount Zion"by Elder Issachar Bates [available on Simple Gifts of Shaker Music]. He had been a fifer in the American Revolution and later a Baptist song leader, before he joined the Shakers in 1801. He later made missionary journeys to Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

A much later example is Elder James Russell's 1883 popular anthem, "Millennial Praise" [on Love is Little].

All three types of Shaker music (song, hymn, and anthem) continued to be written throughout the rest of the 19th century.

20th century

By the early 20th century, there were far fewer Shaker songs, hymns and anthems being written.

One of last Shaker songs was "Let Mine Be The Hand," composed by Sister Lillian Phelps at Canterbury in 1914 [heard on Let Zion Move].

Since then, only a few other Shaker songs have been written - one possibly as late as 1959.

In more recent times, the Shakers have sung music from their long and prolific past, available on two CD collections:

Early Shaker Spirituals - singing by the Sabbathday Lake Shakers

Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers - commentary & singing by Canterbury & Sabbathday Lake Shakers

With over 12,000 Shaker tunes written between the 18th and 20th centuries, they have an enormous repertoire to sing from!

For other information, see:

Religion in Song: The Craftsmanship of Shaker Music

Aaron Copland Meets The Shakers

by Roger Hall

In November of 1974, composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was in Cleveland, Ohio for a week-long celebration of his music. It so happened that three Shakers from Sabbathday Lake also were in nearby Shaker Heights for a teacher workshop.

Through a lot of scurrying around and last minute arrangements, I was able to introduce Copland for the first and only time to the Shakers.

He was kind enough to autograph a copy of his vocal arrangment of "Simple Gifts" for two Shaker sisters. His autographed score page appears in the monograph -

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

This photo was taken at the historic moment when Copland met Sister Mildred Barker on 9 November 1974 in Shaker Heights, Ohio...

(Photo by Gail Hall, enhancement by Toni Cassis)

A few recommended CDs of Copland's "Simple Gifts" arrangements:

Orchestral -

A Copland Celebration Vol. 1 - includes Appalachian Spring (original chamber version) & other works - original ballet version, including "Simple Gifts" variations.

Vocal -

A Copland Celebration Vol. 2 - includes Old American Songs & other works - includes arrangement of "Simple Gifts" for voice (William Warfield) and piano (Aaron Copland)

A Copland Celebration Vol. 3 - includes Old American Songs & other works - orchestral arrangement of Shaker song, sung by baritone William Warfield (the distinguished baritone who was known for Porgy & Bess and for "Ol' Man River" in the movie musical, SHOWBOAT)

To read an Aaron Copland centennial tribute, go to:

AMERICAN COMPOSERS

Shaker Music in Performance

Shaker music is religious folk song and should be sung in a simple, natural vocal style.

It should not be sung extremely fast and loud as in the Shape Note tradition, nor should it be too slow and precious either.

The Shakers themselves sing in traditional folk style - simple and direct, not highly cultivated.

Contrary to some recordings, there is no hard evidence to support the use of bass drones in Shaker singing.

Instruments weren't used by the Shakers until 1870. The first instruments used were organ and piano (as heard on Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers).

Other instruments like cello, violins and saxophones were also used in the 20th century but for entertainment rather than worship.

If you wish to hear how the Shakers perform their own music, then you should get copies of these two CDs:

Early Shaker Spirituals (Sabbathday Lake Shakers)

Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers (Canterbury and Sabbathday Lake Shakers)

There are also two titles performed a non-Shaker chorus on Sampler Records:

Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals. The CD and songbook have 36 Shaker spirituals from the 1780s to the 1980s (based on field recordings of Shaker singing). The music is from 18 major Shaker communities. Also included in the songbook are the words & music for all the music as well as notes about the music, a chronology from 1781 to1981, and a list of the 56 tunes in the "Shaker Song Series" from The Shaker Messenger magazine between 1981 and 1996.

Joy of Angels: Shaker Spirituals for Christmas and the New Year. This is the only available collection of Shaker music for Christmas and the New Year and has 38 Shaker spirituals. The songbook has all the words and music and notes about how the Shakers celebrated Christmas, a Checklist of Printed Shaker Hymnals, and a listing of Aaron Copland's "Simple Gifts" arrangements.

Links to related web sites

For permission to use any material on this web site or to ask questions, write to:

American Shaker Music

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