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New expanded edition now available
A Grand Celebration of Local History in Music!
"DEDICATION" -
Singing In Stoughton,
1762-1992
by Roger Hall
Stoughton Square - old postcard
"may the artistic values of choral music, mass participation, and the
strengthening of friendship's ties throughout the Town and district,
through music, be not forgotten among us."
-- Frank W. Reynolds, 1962
This fact-filled multimedia publication has been updated and expanded from a previous book about choral singing in Stoughton, Massachusetts. The book has a chronology from the earliest documented singing meetings in 1762 to the year when there was the World Premiere of the 1881 cantata,
SONG OF OUR SAVIOUR,
by local composer, Edward Arthur Jones, performed in 1992.
This collection has hundreds of files about singing in Stoughton and was compiled by musicologist, Roger Hall, the former Historian of the Old Stoughton Musical Society,
who has researched the singing tradition in Stoughton for over 40 years.
He was the one responsible for the entry in the Guinness Book of Records indicating the Old Stoughton Musical Society
(OSMS) as the oldest continuing choral society in the U.S.A., organized on November 7, 1786. OSMS also has the oldest constitution of any choral organization in America, written in 1787, the same year as the U.S. Constitution.
Currently, Hall is Director of the Center for American Music Preservation
(or CAMP) and the New England Music Archive (or NEMA), both designed to help preserve vocal music
from America's past through research and recordings.
You can order the PDF book (200 pages) here which highlights the years from the first documented singing meetings in Stoughton in 1762 to the premiere of the E.A. Jones choral masterpiece, SONG OF OUR SAVIOUR, in 1992.
To order the PDF book, DEDICATION: Singing in Stoughton, 1762-1992 (200 pages)
and also receive a bonus audio file (MP3) of OLD STOUGHTON by E.A. Jones
both for only $14.95
click the "Add to Cart" button below
to pay through Safe and Secure PayPal.
Important!
After you have ordered the book, send your email
address
to receive the PDF book and free audio file sent by email attachment.
To send your email address -- click here
Of special interest to historians, researchers and teachers:
The DVD-ROM contains more information with 400 files, including an audio album of Old Stoughton concert music plus two video programs (see below) with information about
early composers from three connected towns: Canton, Sharon and Stoughton, Massachusetts.
This disc provides much historical information and useful for school teachers, students, singers, historians, writers,
and
interested individuals.
Two singing organizations in town:
*The Old Stoughton Musical Society (OSMS),
organized in 1786
and
now the oldest existing choral society in the USA.
*The Musical Society in Stoughton (MSIS),
organized in 1802 and disbanded in 1982.
- 01: PDF Book with listings of singing meetings and concerts from 1762 to 1992 - This book available separately.
- 02: 200th Anniversary OSMS Commemorative Concert Program Booklet in 1986
- 03: Sheet Music Collection: TEN TOWN TUNES: Music in Stoughton, 1770-1990
- 04: Historical pictures and booklets
- 05: Supply Belcher, composer from Canton
- 06: Edward and Jacob French, composers from Sharon and Stoughton
- 07: Samuel Capen, composer from Canton
- 08: Edwin Arthur Jones, best-known 19th century composer from Stoughton, and his two major choral compositions:
EASTER CONCERT (1890)and SONG OF OUR SAVIOUR (1881).
- 09: Bonus music album - Old Stoughton Music Sampler including music from the "Dedication Concert" in 1981
- 10: Bonus videos from local cable TV programs from 1987 and 1990
Two major choral works by E.A. Jones:
First modern performances of the oratorio, "EASTER cONCERT," in 1981
World Premiere Performance in 1992 of the cantata, "SONG OF OUR SAVIOUR" (1881),
for soloists, chorus and orchestra by E.A. Jones, conducted by Dr. Raymond Fahrner.
This cantata was discovered by Roger Hall at the Stoughton Historical Society in 1980.
The premiere performance of the cantata was written about in several newspapers:
The Stoughton Journal, The Patriot Ledger, and a feature article
in The Boston Globe on May 4, 1992 titled,
"Giving life to a lost masterpiece"
Listen to several excerpts from this cantata by E.A. Jones -- go here
Here is the the first page
of the original journal of the Stoughton Musical Society
showing its
date of organization as November 7, 1786:
Picture from
the Bicentennial OSMS Concert held two hundred years later
at Stoughton High School
on November 7, 1986:
Also included on the multimedia computer disc:
--200th anniversary commemorative program in 1986
with
letters from President Ronald Reagan, Gov. Michael Dukakis,
and notes on the concert by music director Earl Eyrich,
plus historical notes and a Bicentennial Hymn written by Roger Hall
--Ten Town Tunes: Music From Stoughton
with sheet music performed in Stoughton
between 1980 and 1990 by these composers:
William Billings, Oliver Shaw, Jacob French,
Frank W. Reynolds, Edwin A. Jones,
F. William Kempf, Roger L. Hall
Two Bonus Video Programs
1. "Old Stoughton and The Grand Constitution" (1987)
Written and Directed by Roger Hall
Celebrating the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution
and the Stoughton Musical Society (SMS) Constitution,
both written in 1787. The SMS's Constitution
is the oldest of any music organization in the USA.
The half-hour program was videotaped at
the Stoughton Public Library on October 8, 1987.
It includes readings from the U.S. Constitutions
by
school students and town residents.
The highlight is a one-act play written and directed by
Roger Hall
titled,
"The Grand Constitution."
It features two actors portraying two original members of the Stoughton Musical Society:
Elijah Dunbar (Wayne Olem) and Samuel Capen (Bert Anderson). Also a chorus from
the
Old Stoughton Musical Society.
The songs performed include:
"The Grand Constitution"
"Beneath a weeping willow's shade" (Francis Hopkinson)
"The Federal March" (Alexander Reinagle)
"Chester" (William Billings)
"Yankee Doodle" (1788)
"Ode to George Washington"
Here is an excerpt of the opening Preamble to this Constitution with Rules and Regulations,
first voted on October 8, 1787 (just a few weeks after the U.S. Constitution was written):
And as the powers of harmonious music are most admirably calculated to humanize the ferocious passions,
to increase the various emotions of the mind, the different degrees of sensibility and all the feelings of the heart...
We, therefore, esteem it our duty to study to promote that harmony which is pleasing to our Maker and so delightful to ourselves. Stimulated with these salutary and laudable motives, we, whose names are underwritten, form ourselves in a society by the name of the Stoughton Musical Society, for the implied purpose of practicing vocal music.
2. A Stoughton Musicfest: A Celebration of Local Composers and Musicians (1990)
Produced by Roger Hall
This one hour documentary is about the history of singing in Stoughton
and
a celebration of local composers and musicians.
The disc includes performances of several patriotic songs by a combined Stoughton Elementary School Chorus singing: "Yankee Doodle" and "Ode to President George Washington."
The highlight is a short play written by Roger Hall titled, "William Billings Teaches A Singing School."
The participants in this documentary:
Narrator: Marion Wroble , Host of "Conversations" on WBET radio
Actor: Skip Mahoney (portraying William Billings)
Vocal Quartet: Elizabeth Trueblood, Carol Mezzanotte, Sally MacKerron, Roger Hall
Flute: Donna Hieken
Piano: Richard Hill
Elementary School Chorus, Carol Mezzanotte, Director
High School Instrumental Ensemble, Ronald Christianson, Director
DVD-ROM -- this disc prepared by Stoughton music preservationist, Roger Hall, has the PDF book, audio album and two videos. It is a great resource for researchers, classroom teaching,
and for anyone interested in American music history.
This disc is not available from any other website.
Order your copy of this fact-filled collection for your personal collection, for a school library, music class,
or if you are interested in New England history.
To order your copy of this special multimedia DVD-ROM,
go to this web-page
See the music titles available at
Stoughton Music Heritage Series
See the list of music performed by the
Stoughton Musical Society chorus and orchestra for
the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 -- click here
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