Shaker Music Scholar


Roger Lee Hall

is one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of music of the American Shakers,
the religious communal society who arrived in America from England in 1774 and later
spread from the Northeast to the Midwest. Their music was written between the 18th and 20th centuries.

For his many years of music research and publications on Shaker music plus other American music,
Mr. Hall has been listed in International Who's Who in Music, Who's Who in America, and other directories.


His first research involved interviews with several Shaker sisters in New Hampshire and Maine.

He wrote about their music in his Master's Thesis at Binghamton University titled:

"The Shaker Letteral System: A Practical Approach to Music Notation" (1972)

Since then he has written over 1,000 pages about Shaker music.

See his current collections -- click here

 

Coming in 2024!

For the 250th anniversary of the Shakers arrival in America in 1774,
and the 50th anniversary of his introducing composer, Aaron Copland to the Shakers,
Mr. Hall is preparing his 20th collection on a DVD-ROM.

This collection from his 50 years of research, performance and recording Shaker music
will include audio and video examples.

It is titled:

 

 

Some of his publications have been donated to the Shaker library at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.

Most of his Shaker music collection was donated to the library at Canterbury Shaker Village.

To see the Finders Aid of his collection at Canterbury -- click here

 

 

Here is the list of music publications published from his research:

1976: A Western Shaker Music Sampler - Twelve Shaker Spirituals
1982: "The Happy Journey" - Thirty-Five Shaker Spirituals
1992: "Love is Little" - A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals
1997: Joseph Brackett's 'Simple Gifts' - Evolution of a Shaker Dance Song
1999: "Let Zion Move" - Music of the Shakers (CD booklet notes)
2004: "Come Life, Shaker Life" - The Life and Music of Elder Issachar Bates
2006: A Guide To Shaker Music (with music supplement)
2006: "The Best Choice" - A Sampling of American Communal Hymns
2007: "How Happy Are They" - Twelve Shaker Spirituals from Kentucky and Ohio
2011: "May I Softly Walk and Wisely Speak" - Music of New Hampshire Shakers
2014: "Simple Gifts" - Great American Folk Song (2014/ 2nd ed, 2019)
2015: "Give Good Gifts" - Shaker Music in the 20th Century
2017: "Give Us This Day" - Two Historic American Choral Traditions
2019: "Gentle Words" - The Meaning and Message of Shaker Music
2019: "The Humble Heart" - A Fifty Year Survey of Shaker Music
2020: "More Love" - A Shaker Music Legacy
2021: "Invitation To Zion" - A Shaker Music Guide


Two latest publications:

2022: "Blended Together" - Interviews with The Shakers

In celebration of his 50th anniversary of Shaker music research
at Canterbury, New Hampshire and Sabbathday Lake, Maine

 

 


2022: In celebration of the 200th anniversary of
the founding of this Shaker Community in 1822

"May We Ever Be United" - Music of the North Union, Ohio Shakers (2nd edition)
(2nd edition) -- read about this publication -- click here

 


Over the years, Mr. Hall has prepared many Shaker spirituals in modern editions and in arrangements.

ed. = edition (corrections and transcriptions of the original music)
arr. = arrangement (added harmony or instrumental parts to the original melody)

"Almighty Savior" (hymn) - ed.
" Blended Together" (song) - ed.
"Celestial Praises" (hymn) - ed. and arr.
"Come Life, Shaker Life" (song) - ed.
"Followers of the Lamb" (hymn) - ed.
"Gentle Words"(song) - ed. and arr.
"The Humble Heart" (hymn) - ed. and arr.
"In Yonder Valley" (song) - ed.
"Love is Little" (song) - ed. and arr.
"May I Softly Walk and Wisely Speak" (song) - ed. and arr.
"Millennial Praise" (anthem) - ed.
"Mother" (ballad hymn) - ed.
"Mount Zion" (anthem) - ed.
"My Shaker Home (song) - ed. and arr.
"Ode to Contentment" (hymn) - ed.
"On the Landing of Mother Ann in America" (hymn) - ed.
"A Prayer for the Captive" (hymn) - ed.
"Simple Gifts" (song) - ed. and arr.
"Welcome, Welcome" (song) - ed. and arr.
"We Will All Go Home With You" (song) - ed. and arr.


In addition to his arrangements of Shaker tunes,
he has also composed an original piano composition based on a Shaker melody:

"Seven Variations on a Shaker Marching Tune" (Op. 1, No. 2)
Read about this composition and his Shaker music arrangements -- -- go here

Between 1981 and 1996, he wrote a regular music column for
The Shaker Messenger Magazine
with a total of 56 Shaker songs and hymns.
They are -- listed here



 

In 1973, he presented his first lecture on Shaker music and dance.
Since then he had presented many programs at various museums,
churches, and other locations.

See the list of his music lectures and workshops -- click here

To contact Mr. Hall about a possible Online or in-person lecture
or to inquire about a commission for a new Shaker music arrangement

-- click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An article from The Lewiston Journal newspaper in Maine, 18 July 1987

 

 

 

 



Publications by Roger Lee Hall

 

 

 

 

 

To read about the new expanded edition
of the "Gentle Words" book with lyrics to 25 Shaker spirituals -- click here

 

 

 



"The Humble Heart" - A Fifty Year Survey of Shaker Music

click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Sample Articles by Roger Lee Hall:


"Simple Gifts": The Discovery and Popularity of a Shaker Dance Song in Communal Societies (2016)

"The Shaker Leaf Song: Solving a Perplexing Puzzle" in American Communal Societies Quarterly,
Volume 1, Number 3 (July 2007)

"The Simple Gifts of Shaker Music" - SING OUT! magazine, Summer 1998 (Vol. 43, No. 1)

"An Interview with Aaron Copland" in The Journal of Church Music, Volume 24, Number 2,February 1982

"Shaker Hymnody: An American Communal Tradition"
in The Journal of Church Music (October 1975)/reprinted in The Hymn (January 1976)

 

 

 

 

 

Music CDs

This CD has received rave comments:

"My Shaker Home" - Words & Music by Shaker Sisters
AMRC CD 0048

 

 

 

 




"Celestial Praises" - A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals
(AMRC CD 0017)

 

 

 

Includes interviews and singing by the Shakers:

"Gentle Words" - A Shaker Music Sampler
(AMRC CD 0016)

 

"Blended Together"- Interviews with The Shakers

 

Roger Lee Hall has been music consultant for these CDs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music papers and programs

Roger Hall presented his paper at the Communal Studies Association Annual Conference,
held at Zoar, Ohio, October 5-7, 2017. His paper was titled:

"Heavenly Music: Evolution of communal singing at Kirkland, North Union and Zoar,"
compiled from his research for his publication titled,
"The Best Choice": A Sampling of American Communal Hymns -- click this link

 

 

 

Mr. Hall presented an illustrated music talk with singing
focused on Shaker women composers and singers
from New York State, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
and Maine on 5 August 2017
at Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire.
The title of his talk was:

"Give Good Gifts:
The Simplicity of Shaker Music"

For more information about the multimedia DVD -- click here

 

 

On Saturday, 23 April 2016, Roger Lee Hall gave a PowerPoint presentation at
the Enfield Shaker Museum Spring Shaker Forum in Enfield, New Hampshire.
The title of his presentation was "My Shaker Home"
An arrangement of this last Shaker song composed at Canterbury, New Hampshire
is on this CD:

"My Shaker Home" (AMRC 0048)


 

 

 

"Symbols and Symmetry: Shaker Music, Art and Architecture"
An audio-visual program presented by Roger Lee Hall

Fruitlands Museums
Harvard, Massachusetts
Monday, 14 September 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enfield Shaker Museum
Spring Shaker Forum
26-28 April, 2013


"Break forth into singing”:
Evolution of an Enfield Shaker Anthem


A paper discussing the evolution of the popular Shaker anthem,
"Millennial Praise (Break forth into singing)"
composed by Elder James G. Russell.

This anthem is available on the CD:

Gentle Words - A Shaker Music Sampler



First Programs and Conferences:

1973" "Songs and Dances of the Shakers"
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
and Shaker Historical Society, Shaker Heights, Ohio.

1974: "On the Landing of Mother Ann in America"
Shaker Bicentennial Conference,
Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

1974" Oliver C, Hampton: Ohio Shaker Hymnodist"
American Musicological Society, Midwestern Chapter,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

1975: "Shaker Hymnody"
National Meeting of Hymn Society of America, Wittenberg University, Ohio.

1976: "Issachar Bates: Shaker Fifer and Tunesmith"
National Meeting of the American Musicological Society, Washington, D.C.

1977: Shaker Music: Its Meaning and Message
Elmira College Shaker Seminar, Darrow School, New Lebanon, New York

1979: Isaac N. Youngs: The Ingenuity of a Shaker Craftsman"
Shaker Conference, Museum of American Folk Art, New York, New York

Two later music collections:

"Come Life, Shaker Life": The Life and Music of Elder Issachar Bates (2004)

"How Happy Are They": Twelve Shaker Spirituals from Kentucky and Ohio (2007)

 

 

 

 

 

In 2004, he was a presenter at the popular John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. He led the singing of Shaker songs in Morning song and also gave a lecture titled, "The Humble Heart: The Craftsmanship of Shaker Music." The lecture included 15 Shaker spirituals that were sung and played from recordings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to his many publications, Roger Lee Hall is also an ASCAP composer and his compositions and arrangements are on several popular CDs: "Gentle Words" and "Celestial Praises."

He is currently Director of the Center for American Music Preservation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaker Concerts and Presentations


Two concerts for release of
Celestial Praises - A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals

Canterbury United Community Church
Canterbury, New Hampshire
November 3, 2013

and

Concord Community Music School
November 16, 2013

 

 

 

 

 


Lecture: "Celestial Praises"
Music of the New Hampshire Shakers


Date: June 7, 2012

Time: 12:10 p.m.

Bach's Lunch Series,
Concord Community Music School
23 Wall Street, Concord, New Hampshire

Speaker: Roger Lee Hall

The lecture included a selection of Shaker spirituals from the two communities in New Hampshire -- at Enfield and at Canterbury.
Several of the songs were learned from Shaker Sisters.



 

 

"The Humble Heart"
Music of the Harvard Shakers

Date: April 12, 2012

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Harvard Historical Society, 215 Still River Road,
Harvard, Massachusetts

Presented and performed by Roger Lee Hall

This program takes you on a musical journey through several centuries with the Shakers in Harvard, from the songs of their first spiritual leaders in the 1780s, to arrangements of Shaker tunes.

Harvard has a unique place in Shaker history because it was where Mother Ann Lee (1736-1784) spent time on her missionary journey through New England in the 1780s. A good deal of music was composed or collected at Harvard from the 1780s onward.

The program is titled after the hymn which Roger considers the best to come from the Harvard Shakers and demonstrates the sharing of creative ideas among the sexes -- a Shaker sister (Eunice Wyeth, 1756-1830) wrote the words to the hymn and a Shaker brother (Thomas Hammond Jr., 1791-1880) wrote the Shaker tune. Since the Shakers believed strongly in being humble, this hymn is titled appropriately, “The Humble Heart.”

Another hymn was first published in 1991 in an edition by Roger for the 200th anniversary of the Harvard Shaker Community. This hymn is titled, "Good Believer's Life."

A sing-along with the audience of a few Shaker songs is at the end of this musical journey through Harvard’s Shaker history.

In the above picture, Roger Lee Hall presents his gift of Harvard maps, a sheet of color slides of Harvard Shaker sites,
a pamphlet (Blended Together), and Gentle Words (music book and CD) to Denis Wagner, President of the Harvard Historical Society.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Shaker Music Editions and Arrangements

 







Mr. Hall's research and music editions have been used on these CDs:

  • All at Home (Singers of Lower Shaker Village, 1995)

  • Blended Together: Interviews with The Shakers (2008)

  • Celestial Praises: A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals (The Canterbury Singers, 2013)

  • Farewell to Nauvoo (Fiddlesticks with Lisa Arrington, 2006)

  • Gentle Words: A Shaker Music Sampler (includes singing by Shaker singers, 2009)

  • Gentle Words (The Tudor Choir, 2001)

  • The Humble Heart: Twenty-four Shaker Spirituals (2010)

  • Joy of Angels: Shaker Spirituals for Christmas and The New Year (The Sampler Chorus, 1995)

  • Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers (2 CD set with illustrated booklet, 1999)

  • Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals (The Sampler Chorus, 1992)

  • Music of Angels: Songs of the Shaker West (The Pleasant Hill Singers, 1999)

  • Music On The Mountain (William Coulter, Barry Phillips and other musicians, 1996)

  • The River of Love: Music of the Shakers and Music Based On Shaker Themes (New England Voices, 2007)

  • Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals (The Boston Camerata, 1995)

  • Tree of Life (William Coulter, Barry Phillips and other musicians, 1993)

  • Verdant Groves: A musical journey through four New England Shaker Villages (Various musicians, 1998)

 

 

 

A best-selling CD featured arrangements by Kevin Siegfried
performed by the Tudor Choir on the CD, Gentle Words - Shaker Songs (Loft Records, 2001).

Some of the arrangements were based on Roger Hall's editions:

"In yonder valley"
"All is summer"
"Love is little"
"Followers of the Lamb"
"Peace"
"Angels of heaven"
"A Prayer for the Captive"
"Gentle Words"
"Almighty Savior"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to schedule Roger Hall to speak to your organization about the popularity of the Shaker dance song, "Simple Gifts,"

or some other related topic including some singing, write to discuss scheduling and fee by clicking this link:

Shaker music program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See his list at --

Music Lectures and Workshops

 

 

 

Related links on this site

 

 

Aaron Copland Meets The Shakers

CD Releases

Joseph Brackett's 'Simple Gifts'

Shaker music books and articles

Shaker music arrangements

Shaker music preservation series

Shaker music in our time

Shaker and Non-Shaker tunes

 

 

 

 

 

 

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