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Joseph Brackett's "Simple Gifts" - Simplicity in Song
original Shaker manuscript of the song
© Manuscript music image by PineTree Press
Just The Facts Please!
There is a lot of misinformation about this religious song in books (including scholarly ones) and on the Web,
including on Wikipedia. Now it is time as the last line of the song says that -- "we come round right."
For example...
Claiming this tune is a "Shaker hymn" or "an anonymous folk hymn."
Actually it is not anonymous nor is it a hymn.The Shakers had three types of their music: one verse songs, multi-verse hymns and freely composed anthems.
The early Shaker spirituals were melody only.
Beginning in the 1830s they began composing three and four-part harmony music.
As indicated in the above picture,
"Simple Gifts" is indicated as a "Dancing Song."
IIt has only one verse which is typical of their songs,
especially the ones used for their dancing during the 19th century.
It was also intended to be sung at a fast tempo not as a slow ballad.The first line of the Shaker song is NOT: "Tis a gift to be simple"
It should be "Tis THE gift to be simple" which means a specific gift of "simplicity."
Here is the complete lyrics to the single verse dance song in two sections (A + B):
[A] 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. (repeat A section)
[B] When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn, will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning, We come round right. (repeat B section)All the additional verses to this song elsewhere especially on the web are NOT by any Shakers.
The non-Shaker texts should be identified who wrote them.
This 19th century print shows the Shakers dancing--
Note: the words in the B section contain dance instructions like "bow" and "bend" and "turn, turn."
The color print shows the type of dancing possibly used for the "Simple Gifts" song.The dance song was originally intended to be sung at a fast tempo as it is on these two AMRC CDs:
The Shaker Sister Who First Wrote About The Composer© photograph by Gail Hall, 1983
In their journal, The Shaker Quarterly (Summer 1967), Sister R. Mildred Barker wrote about Elder Joseph Brackett in Maine
who was the composer of "Simple Gifts."
She had learned about him when she was a young girl living in the Shaker community at Alfred, Maine.
Later, she moved to Sabbathday Lake, Maine where she became an authority on Shaker music and sang many tunes from memory.
Her narration about shaker music can be heard on this 2-CD record set with illustrated booklet:
© Picture by Gail M. Hall, 1974
On the 50th anniversary of composer Aaron Copland meeting several Shakers in Ohio:
A special Zoom program was presented on November 7, 2024 by Shaker music preservationist, Roger Lee Hall, about his introducing Aaron Copland to several Maine Shakers
in 1974. This was their only meeting. This program was sponsored by the Shaker Historical Society and Shaker Heights Public Library and was titled:"Tis the gift to be simple" - Aaron Copland Meets The Shakers in Shaker Heights
Complete 90 minute program on YouTube (without the audio examples) --https://youtu.be/rcpVRysB328
These are the audio examples for "Tis the gift to be simple" mentioned in the Zoom program:
original version sung by United Society of Shakers, Sabbathday Lake
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0TkI3HGZhM
Folk arrangement
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwH6-QmvM5cJudy Collins arrangement
YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x426_84558Benjamin Luxon and Bill Crofut arrangement
YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrFiSzOEkJIRoger Lee Hall arrangement performed by The Canterbury Singers
YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrqXEQaPLcY
This arrangement is also included on this popular CD:
The remaining audio examples in the Zoom program including the audio from the Shaker Heights teacher workshop in 1974 with the Maine Shakers
and interviews with Aaron Copland and Sister Mildred Barker are on this special multimedia collection:
Two Books About The Shaker song
"Simple Gifts" has the distinction of being the only American religious folk song sung in three different U.S. Presidential Inaugurations
for both Republican (R) and Democrat (D) Presidents:
President Ronald Reagan (R, 1985) - arranged by Aaron Copland
President Bill Clinton (D, 1993) - arranged by Aaron Copland
President Barack Obama (D, 2009) - arranged by John Williams
On the DVD-ROM is the larger book with more information about the Shaker song,
plus a biography of Elder Joseph Brackett.
Also, the arrangements of the Shaker song and a chapter about a new English song, "Lord of the Dance" by Sydney Carter.
There is a section with personal comments about what the song has meant to people.
Included are bonus audio clips and concert videos with arrangements of the Shaker song."Simple Gifts": Great American Folk Song
(PineTree Press, 3rd edition, 2024)
This smaller PDF book has information about the song and the Shaker leader who composed the song.
Also interviews with Sister Mildred Barker and composer Aaron Copland who first arranged the song.
When you order you will also receive an audio file of "Simple Gifts" (MP3) performed by a choir sent by email attachment.
The PDF book is available worldwide for the price of $11.95.To order your copy, click the "Add to Cart" below to receive your copy of the PDF book by email --
Important!
After you have sent in your payment,
please send an e-mail and mention the book title
where your copy will be sent by email attachment.
Send your email address to:
Celebrate his birthday!
See Elder Joseph Brackett Day -- go here
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Also available is this research article
written by the foremost expert on the song's history:
"Simple Gifts": The Discovery and Popularity of a Shaker Dance Song
by Roger Lee Hall
in Communal Societies Journal (Vol 36, No 2, 2016)
May 6 is Joseph Brackett Day
Elder Joseph Brackett, 1797-1882
Sponsored by The American Tune Lovers Society (ATLS), this day of remembrance began in 1997 on the bicentennial of the birth of Elder Joseph Brackett.
This description first appeared in the national directory, Chase's Calendar of Events:
JOSEPH BRACKETT DAY. May 6. Day honoring the Shaker religious leader, born May 6, 1797, at Cumberland, Maine in 1848. He composed the popular Shaker song "Simple Gifts" (also known as "Tis the gift to be simple) while at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine. This Shaker song became known worldwide after Aaron Copland used it in his score for the ballet Appalachian Spring in 1944. Elder Joseph Brackett died at New Gloucester, Maine, July 4, 1882.
In his book, The Gift to be Simple: Songs, Dances and Rituals of the American Shakers, Edward Deming Andrews states the following about the "Simple Gifts" song:
Like "Come Life, Shaker Life," this song was sung everywhere in the United Society. It appears in many collections copied down during the period of "Mother Ann's Work" (1837-1847 and after) and probably was a product of that revival. One manuscript states that the song was "composed by the Alfred Ministry,
June 28, 1848." It is a rather lively piece, Shaker Allegro in the original MS.In the book, Simple Gifts: Great American Folk Song, a Shaker sister from Maine is quoted who wrote the following to one of her relatives:
You are a stranger to me but it must be that you are a very good man to be worthy of your lineage grandfather's brother whom you inquire about,
was our Elder Joseph, a man dearly loved by us all, one of the best men that ever lived.Each year there is a birthday commemoration of this Shaker religious leader who composed the words and music to "Simple Gifts" in 1848.
It is coincidental that May 6 was also the birthday of Sydney Carter (1915-2004) who was the British poet and composer of "Lord of the Dance."
He arranged the Shaker tune and added his own words and his song has become very popular.
It is not generally known that Joseph Brackett also composed other Shaker songs.
One of them is "The True Vine," composed in 1856. To hear an arrangement by Conrad Held of this beautiful song,
and also an arrangement of "Simple Gifts" by Roger Lee Hall, order this popular AMRC CD:
See also the description on Checkiday of Joseph Brackett and his famous dance song -- click here
Illustrated Shaker Music Program
Would you like to schedule a program by Roger Hall
about the "Simple Gifts" song?In his illustrated talk (available on the web or in person) he will tell how "Simple Gifts" was written and its impact on popular culture,
including discussion of interviews he conducted with Sister Mildred Barker from the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community,
and composer, Aaron Copland.To inquire about scheduling this program for your group -- click here
Additional Collections
Shaker Books and Articles -- books and articles about Shaker music
Shaker Music Preservation Archive
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Music of the American Shakers - Resources and Recordings
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No original material to be published without prior permission. Contact: pinetreepro@aol.com