Shakers

This article is about the Shakers, a religious denomination. For other uses of the term shakers or shaker, see Shakers (disambiguation).

Shaker music

The Shakers considered music to be an essential component of the religious experience, and created some of the most tuneful, idiosyncratic, and utterly singable music in American history. In Shaker society, a spiritual "gift" could also be a musical revelation, and they considered it to be important to record these musical inspirations as they occurred. Scribes, many of whom had no formal musical training, used a form of music notation for this purpose: it used letters of the alphabet, often not positioned on a staff, along with a simple notation of conventional rhythmic values. This method has a curious, and coincidental, similarity to some ancient Greek music notation.

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Many of the lyrics to Shaker tunes consist of syllables and words from unknown tongues, the musical equivalent of glossolalia. Many of them were imitated from the sounds of Native American languages, as well as from the songs of African slaves, especially in the southernmost of the Shaker communities.

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The most famous of Shaker songs is Simple Gifts, which Aaron Copland used as a theme for variations in Appalachian Spring. The tune was written by Elder Joseph Brackett and originated in the Shaker community at Alfred, Maine in 1848. Many contemporary Christian denominations incorporate this tune into hymnals, under various names, including "Lord of the Dance," adapted by English poet and songwriter Sydney Carter.

Related Topics:
Simple Gifts - Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring - Alfred, Maine - 1848 - Hymnal - Sydney Carter

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