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Shaker Music Preservation Series
In Memory of a Dear Friend
who with her husband, Paul Van Kolken,
published The Shaker Messenger magazine
for many years and included
the "Shaker Song Series" in each issue,
Diana Van Kolken
(1943-2013)
The series was published in each issue of THE SHAKER MESSENGER magazine
between 1981 and 1996.The 56 Shaker songs and hymns in the series were transcribed and edited for performance by Shaker music scholar and composer, Roger Lee Hall.
The term "Song" is meant in the broadest sense including any vocal music and thus includes both single verse songs and multiple verse hymns. None of the longer Shaker anthems were included in this series.
Some of hymns and songs in this series (Nos. 2-3, 9, 19, 37) were written in memory of their most important spiritual leader, Mother Ann Lee (1736-1784).
Each of the titles listed below has the Shaker community, year of composition (if known), and the Shaker sister or brother who composed it or collected it.
These recordings are listed with the song and hymn titles:
BT = Blended Together: Interviews with The Shakers
CP = Celestial Praises - A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals
Arrangements by Roger Lee Hall and Conrad Held
ESS = Early Shaker Spirituals - Sabbathday Lake Shakers
GW = Gentle Words - A Shaker Music Sampler -
Various musicians/ arrangements by Roger Lee Hall
GWTC = Gentle Words - The Tudor Choir
(arrangements by Kevin Siegfried)
JOA = Joy of Angels: Shaker Spirituals for Christmas and
The New Year
LIL = Love is Little: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals
LZM = Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers - Shaker singers
from Canterbury, New Hampshire and Sabbathday Lake, Maine
MOA = Music of Angels: Songs of the Shaker West -
MSH = My Shaker Home: Words & Music by Shaker Sisters
SG = Simple Gifts - Shaker Chants and Spirituals
TGH = The Golden Harvest
"Shaker Song Series"
in The Shaker Messenger magazine (1981-1996):Click on the links for more information.
No. 1 (1981): THE HUMBLE HEART -Shaker hymn from Harvard, Massachusetts - Words: Eunice Wyeth/ Tune: Thomas Hammond Jr./ Arranged by Roger Hall [GW]
No. 2 (1982): ON THE BIRTHDAY OF MOTHER ANN - Shaker hymn
from North Union, Ohio, 1850 - Words/Tune: James S. Prescott
No. 3 (1982): MOTHER'S LOVE - Shaker song from New Lebanon, New York, 1839
No. 4 (1982): WELCOME, WELCOME PRECIOUS GOSPEL KINDRED -
Enfield, New Hampshire, 1869/ Attributed to Rosetta Cummings - Arranged by Roger Hall [CP/ GW/ MSH]
No. 5 (1982): WE WILL ALL GO HOME WITH YOU -
Canterbury, NH, 1862/ From singing of the Sabbathday Lake Shakers, 1976/ arranged by Roger Hall [CP & GW]
No. 6 (1983): THE HAPPY JOURNEY - Harvard, MA, 1808/
Attributed to Joshua Goodrich, Hancock, MA [LIL]
No. 7 (1983): THE MORNING SUN - South Union, Kentucky, 1847
No. 8 (1983): THE SHAKERS - Union Village, Ohio, ca. 1812
Words: Richard McNemar/ From the singing of Sister R. Mildred Barker and Sister Frances Carr, 1980 [LIL]
No. 9 (1983): MOTHER -f.l.: "At Manchester in England this blessed fire began" - Union Village, Ohio, ca. 1812
Words: Richard McNemar [LIL & SG]
No. 10 (1983): CHRISTMAS HYMN - North Union, Ohio 1869
Words/Tune: Elmina Phillips [JOA]
No. 11 (1984): RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE - Union Village, Ohio, ca. 1810 Words/Tune: Issachar Bates [GW and TGH]
No. 12 (1984): ODE TO CONTENTMENT - North Union, Ohio
Words: Richard Pelham, 1835/Tune: Issachar Bates, 1833 [GW and LIL]
No. 13 (1984): BLENDED TOGETHER - New Lebanon, NY, ca. 1870
Words/Tune: Joseph Holden/ From the singing of Sister Mildred Barker and Sister Frances Carr, 1974 [BT]
No. 14 (1985): HEALING BALM - Enfield, NH, 1851
No. 15 (1985): INVITATION TO ZION - Watervliet, NH, 1843
Words/Tune: David A. Buckingham
No. 16 (1985): FOLLOWERS OF THE LAMB - New Lebanon, NY, ca. 1847 Words/Tune: Clarissa Jacobs [LIL & MSH]
No. 17 (1985): A NEW SONG - Alfred, Maine, ca. 1873
No. 18 (1985): LET ME HAVE MOTHER'S GOSPEL - Enfield, NH, ca. 1865 Words/Tune: Abraham Perkins [ESS]
No. 19 (1986): REFLECTIONS ON MOTHER ANN'S BIRTHDAY -
Watervleit, NY, 1840 - Words/Tune: David A. Buckingham
No. 20 (1986): A PRAYER FOR THE CAPTIVE - New Lebanon, NY, 1862 Words/Tune: Cecilia DeVere [GW & MSH]
No. 21 (1986): O GIVE ME A LITTLE LOVE - Sabbathday Lake, 1883 Words/Tune: Sarah Fletcher/ In memory of Brother Theodore E. Johnson [ESS]
No. 22 (1986): LOVELY GOSPEL KINDRED - New Lebanon, NY, 1836 Words/Tune: Issachar Bates
No. 23 (1987): ALMIGHTY SAVIOR - New Lebanon, NY, 1836
Words/Tune: Issachar Bates [GWTC]
No. 24 (1987): ON ZION'S HOLY GROUND - Harvard, MA, ca. 1837
From the singing of Sister Ethel Peacock, 1963 [ESS]
No. 25 (1987): SONG TO NEW LEBANON - Harvard, MA, ca. 1852
No. 26 (1987): MAY I SOFTLY WALK - New Lebanon, NY, 1869 [LZM] - arranged by Roger Hall [CP/ GW/ MSH]
No. 27 (1988): HEAVENLY MUSIC - North Union, Ohio, ca. 1853
Words/Tune: Nelson Phillips [JOA]
No. 28 (1988): LOVE, O LOVE IS SWEETLY FLOWING -
New Lebanon, NY, 1846 - Words/Tune: John Robe
No. 29 (1988): O BLESSED BEAUTIFUL LAND -
Sabbathday Lake, Maine, 1878
No. 30 (1988): JOIN TOGETHER HEART AND HAND -
North Union, Ohio, 1853
No. 31 (1989): GENTLE WORDS - Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, ca. 1834 Words/Tune: Polly M. Rupe [GW/ GWTC/ MSH]
No. 32 (1989): MORE LOVE - Canterbury, NH, ca. 1870 [LIL]
No. 33 (1989): ALL AT HOME - Canterbury, NH, ca. 1870 [LIL]
No. 34 (1989): I HUNGER AND THIRST - Alfred, Maine, 1837
From the singing of Sister R. Mildred Barker, 1976 [ESS]
No. 35 (1990): O GLORY TO GOD - Union Village, Ohio 1856
No. 36 (1990): HOW BEAUTIFUL DO THE HEAVENS RING - Hancock, MA, 1849 -For 200th anniversary of Hancock Shaker Village [LIL]
No. 37 (1991): MOTHER SAYS, O RISE BE GLAD - Canterbury, NH
From the singing of Eldress Bertha Lindsay, 1972 [BT]
No. 38 (1991): GOOD BELIEVER'S LIFE - Harvard, MA, 1837
For the 200th anniversary of Harvard Shaker Village
No. 39 ( 1991): SUNSHINE OR STORM - Union Village, Ohio, 1876
Words/Tune: Oliver C. Hampton
No. 40 (1991): CELESTIAL PRAISES - Canterbury, NH, 1841
Arranged by Roger Hall for SATB Chorus, 1974
For the 200th anniversary of Canterbury Shaker Village
[CP & GW]
No. 41 (1992): LIVING SOULS LET'S BE MARCHING - Tyringham, MA - From the singing of Brother Ricardo Belden, 1957 [LIL]
No. 42 (1992): WE MUST BE MEEK - Enfield, Connecticut, date unknown - From the singing of Sister Mildred Barker, 1970
[ESS & MSH]
No. 43 (1992): HOW LOVELY ARE THE FAITHFUL SOULS - New Lebanon, NY, 1830 - From the singing of Sister Mildred Barker, 1970 [ESS]
No. 44 (1993): WE HAVE SET OUT FOR GLORY - Shirley, Massachusetts, 1856 - For the 200th anniversary of Shirley Shaker Village
No. 45 (1993): BOWING SONG - New Lebanon, NY, 1865
For the 200th anniversary of Alfred Shaker Village -
From the singing of Sister Mildred Barker and Sister Frances Carr, 1974
No. 46 (1993): GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE - Enfield, NH, ca. 1851
Words/Tune: Abraham Perkins -
For the 200th anniversary of Enfield Shaker VillageNo. 47 (1993): A DREAM - Union Village, Ohio, October 14, 1860
Words/Tune: Harvey L. Eades [GW]
No. 48 (1994): DOXOLOGY - Union Village, Ohio, 1856
Words/Tune: Oliver C. Hampton [GW]
No. 49 (1994): THE TRUE VINE - Sabbathday Lake, Maine, 1856
Words/Tune: Joseph Brackett, Jr. (who also composed the best known Shaker song, "Simple Gifts")
For the 200th anniversary of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
No. 50 (1994): A WELCOME SONG - Pleasant Hill, Kentucky,
May 9, 1869 - Words/Tune: Polly M. Rupe [MOA]
No. 51 (1995): THE SEASONS - Union Village, Ohio, 1808
Words: Richard McNemar/Tune: "The Black Joke"
No. 52 (1995): TYPICAL DANCING - Union Village, Ohio, 1809
Words: Richard McNemar/ Tune: Polly M. Rupe, 1846
No. 53 (1995): INVITATION TO SOULS - White Water, Ohio, ca. 1846 - Words/Tune: Matilda A. Butler
No. 54 (1995): CELESTIAL CHOIR - Canterbury, NH, 1847
Arranged for two part chorus (SA) by Roger Hall [GW]
No. 55 (1996): I WANT TO BE LIVING AND FREE -
South Union, Kentucky, 1834
No. 56 (1996): MY WELL BELOVED CHILDREN -
North Union, Ohio, May 1856/ Words and Tune: James Prescott
TOTAL Shaker Hymns = 24
TOTAL Shaker Songs = 32TOTAL Eastern Shaker Tunes = 36
(Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York)
TOTAL Western Shaker Tunes = 20
(Ohio, Kentucky)
Read more about his extensive work with Shaker music -- click here
For a list of his music lectures and workshops -- click here
For The Record
Also from THE SHAKER MESSENGER magazine was a shorter series comparing non-Shaker and Shaker tunes which have been recorded. This series was also written by Roger Hall.
No. 1: "Lord of the Dance" and "Simple Gifts"
Volume 10/No. 1 (Fall, 1987)
No. 2: "Run, Shaker Life" and "Come Life, Shaker Life"
Volume 10/ Number 3 (Spring 1988)
No. 3: "The President's March" and "Rights of Conscience"
Volume 11, Number 4 (Summer 1989)
No. 4: "Animation" and "While We're Marching"
Volume 14/ Number 3 (1992)
Shaker CD Series
Recordings of music performed by Shaker and non-Shaker musicians,
featuring original and arranged Shaker tunes:
"Gentle Words" - A Shaker Music Sampler
" Celestial Praises" - A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals
25 premiere recordings of original Shaker tunes
and arrangements by Roger Lee Hall and Conrad Held.
"My Shaker Home" - Words & Music by Shaker Sisters
First recording of music by Shaker women
with original Shaker tunes and vocal arrangements.
Multi-media collections
on computer DVDs
With lyrics book, image gallery, sheet music collection,
two music albums, and video clips from a Shaker music concert"Give Good Gifts" - Shaker Music in the 20th Century
"The Humble Heart" - A Fifty year Survey of Shaker Music
"Invitation to Zion" - A Shaker Music Guide
Largest Recorded Collection
with the Shakers singing
The spiritual music of the Shakers. as might be expected, is notable for its simplicity and straightforward nature...anyone with an interest in American religious music will find the material both interesting and moving. Highly recommended.
--Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
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