From the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP)
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The Stoughton Musical Society's
Centennial Collection of Sacred Music
(Boston: Ditson & Company, 1878, 304 pages,
Reprint by DaCapo Press in 1980)
This is the largest collection of music published in 19th century New England, with 62 American and European composers represented.
The (Old) Stoughton Musical Society is now the oldest choral society in the USA, founded on November 7, 1786.
The tunebook was supposed to be originally printed for the 100th anniversary of the musical society's founding but was published two years later in 1878. The reprint by DaCapo Press was edited with a new introduction by composer, musicologist anf former Historian
of the Old Stoughton Musical Society,
Roger L. Hall, describing how this collection was compiled.
This reprint also includes a description of the first known singing contest held in America in 1790 and with biographical descriptions of
26 New England composers at the back of the tunebook.
The New England composers with the most tunes are:
William Billings = 28 tunes
Daniel Read = 14 tunes
Oliver Holden = 11 tunes
Jacob Kimball = 10 tunes
Timothy Swan = 7 tunes
Jacob French = 6 tunes
Abraham Maxim = 5 tunes
Jeremiah Ingalls = 4 tunes
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Sample page from the 1878 Centennial Collection
reprint
with
two tunes:
DEVOTION by Daniel Read
and
CHESTER by William Billings
Also in this Centennial Collection are a few pieces by English composers (Calcott, Tans'ur, Stephenson) and several choral arrangements of music by Haydn, Mozart, and Naumann.
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This reprint is a most welcome offering for anyone interested in examining our native musical heritage, particularly those concerned with the choral tradition...This volume should furnish hours of pleasant singing - useful in the church, the concert hall and home.
-- David P. McKay, from his review in The Hymn, July, 1982
Read more about music from Stoughton's past at these links on
American Music Preservation.com:
Singing Stoughton
Stoughton Choral Music Series
World's Columbian Exposition Concerts
in Chicago in 1893
Old Stoughton Musical Society
Official Website -- click here
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