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Shaker Music In Our Time
"My Shaker Home" - Two Shaker Sisters Preserve Their Music Heritage
Much of the preservation of Shaker music in the 20th century,
was done by Shaker women members.A new research article, illustrated with music examples,
is now available about two important Shaker Sisters
and how they helped preserve their extensive repertory of communal music
through their writings, performance and recordings.
These two Shakers were:
Sister Bertha Lillian Phelps (1876-1973)
at Canterbury, New Hampshire community,
composer of "My Shaker Home", a pianist,
and author of a booklet about Shaker music
and
Sister Ruth Mildred Barker (1897-1990)
at Alfred and Sabbathday Lake, Maine communities,
a singer and author of articles on Maine Shaker history and musicians
Roger Hall, the author of the article, is a Shaker music scholar,
who has researched and performed Shaker music for over 50 years.His interviews both Shaker Sisters are on --
When he interviewed Sister Lillian Phelps in 1972, she was then 95 years old and could still
play Shaker hymns on the piano from memory.His interview with SisterMildred in 1980 included her speaking about the best known Shaker song,
"Simple Gifts" and her singing of a favorite Shaker hymn,
"The Shakers," which was later published in this Love is Little music collection
and also on the accompanying CD album:
Both Shaker Sisters were narrators on the music portion of a massive ten LP record set produced in 1961 by Cleveland disc jockey and college professor, Bill Randle.
Two of the ten LP records were about their music
and were later released on Rounder Records on a 2-CD set,
with a 72 page booklet written by Shaker music expert, Roger Hall:
The PDF article tells the background about Shaker music written by Sister Lillian Phelps and poems and articles by Sister Mildred Barker during the 20th century.
A music edition by Roger Hall of the last known Shaker song, "My Shaker Home,"
composed in 1959, is included in the research article.The PDF article is available for only $4.95, and comes with
two audio clips (MP3) of excerpts from interviews
with Sister Lillian and Sister Mildred.
Click the "Add to Cart"
to pay through Safe and Secure PayPal
Important!
After you have ordered this title
send your email address so the PDF article
and audio clips
will be sent directly to you by email attachment.To send your email address to PineTree Productions -- click here
About Shaker Music
Arrangements
An arrangement is a piece of music that has been significantly altered, such as adding new voice parts and keyboard or with other instrumental accompaniment.
For example,"Love is Little," a Shaker song that was originally just melody only. It was arranged into a four part chorus (soprano-Alto-Tenor-Bass) by Roger Hall. Examples of Shaker arrangements are found in the Music Supplement of
"Invitation to Zion" - A Shaker Music Guide.
See also:
Shaker music arrangements
Editions
An edition is basically the original music itself with only minor changes such as the best key for singing. No significant alterations are made to the original music.
Examples of this are found in Daniel Patterson's The Shaker Spiritual and Roger Hall's Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals [shown at left].
See the music editions listed at
There are also recordings with
edited Shaker music 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 the arrangers and editors. They deserve to be recognized for their work.
One example of a Shaker song with both an edition and arrangement is by the last Shaker male from a Massachusetts Shaker community, Brother Ricardo Belden. He was interviewed in the mid-1950s by Jerome Count from the Shaker Village Work Camp in New Lebanon, NY. Brother Ricardo sang one Shaker song during the recorded interview,
"Living Souls, Let's Be Marching" which is included on this CD:Gentle Words - A Shaker Music Sampler
Are you looking for Shaker music to perform or research
for an article or book?
See the 56 Shaker songs and hymns listed in the Shaker Music Series
Latest Music Publications
To read about this massive multi-media collection
with over 500 files including 100 audio examples -- click here
To read about this book and accompanying CD -- click here
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Four music collections
with historical information, sheet music,
music albums and video clips...
"Give Good Gifts": Shaker Music in the 20th Century
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CDs with arrangements of Shaker tunes
Both original Shaker tunes and arrangements
of Shaker songs and hymns are included on this CD:Celestial Praises: A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals (AMRC CD 0017)
Includes some of the earliest religious vocal music
composed by women in America -- click here
John Adams and his Shaker Loops
One of the most popular classical compositions of the past few decades is an instrumental piece titled, Shaker Loops, composed by composer, John Adams. He composed this piece in remembrance of where he grew up in New England. As he tells it:
From the front window of our home in New Hampshire I could see Shaker Road, which led several miles up through the woods to a defunct Shaker colony in the nearby tiny village of Canterbury. As a child I'd heard stories, probably exaggerated, of the 'shaking' ceremonies. 'Shaker' had originally been a term of mockery. In fact, these church members called themselves the United Society of Believers. But the image of their shaking dance caught my attention. The idea of reaching a similar state of ecstatic revelation through music was certainly in my mind as I composed Shaker Loops.
--from Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life
by John Adams, pages 91-92.
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:
Ken Burns' America: The Shakers
Music Program
Would you like to schedule a program about Shaker music for your group, either in-person or on the Web?
Are you interested in scheduling an entertaining music program with Roger Lee Hall
To inquire about a Shaker music program either in person or as a webinar -- click here
Would you like to perform Shaker music with a choir in church or other location?
Roger Lee Hall has arranged many Shaker tunes over the years and some of them have been recorded.
See his list of Shaker music arrangements -- click here
If you have any questions, write to:
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