The Golden Harvest More Shaker Chants and Spirituals The Boston Camerata (Joel Cohen, director) Anne Azéma and Margaret Frazier, sopranos; Deborah Rentz-Moore, contralto; Tim Evans and Dan Hershey, tenors; Donald Wilkinson, baritone; Joel Frederiksen, bass Members of the Harvard University Choir (Murray Forbes Somerville, director) Deborah Abel, Megan Anderson, Elizabeth Rogers, Victoria de Menil, sopranos Carolyn Szal, Anna Engstrom, Alice Farmer, altos Michael Cedrone, Edward Chiu, tenors Wesley Chinn, Edward Jones, Daniel Roihl, basses Members of Youth Pro Musica (Hazel Somerville, director) Kate Nyhan, Amanda Savitt, Johanna Murphy, Eliza Murphy, McCurdy Miller Owen Callen, Ruthanne Cullen, Rachel Sklar, Sarah Sklar, Leah Sakala, Meghan Hughes Alison Condon, John Sullivan, John Arida, Alexandra Caruso, Taylor Dunn, Nalini Margaitis The Shaker Family of Sabbathday Lake, Maine Sister Frances Carr, Sister Marie Burgess, Sister June Carpenter Brother Arnold Hadd, Brother Wayne Smith, Brother Douglas Anthony direction: Joel Cohen recorded June- July, 2000 at the Shaker Village, Sabbathday Lake, Maine engineer: David Griesinger producer: Peter Czornyi project coordination, 2010 reissue: Joel Cohen © and (p) 2000, 2010, The Boston Camerata Inc. special thanks to The Florence Gould Foundation, for project funding A greeting from the Shaker Family: It is with joy that we present to you a sampling of Shaker song. Worship has always been central to our life and song is central to our worship. We hope that you will see that the essence of our life and beliefs are summed up in these songs. The reissuing of The Golden Harvest brings to the “World” the opportunity to hear the Shakers themselves in concert with our friends the Boston Camerata. We pray that you enjoy the fruits of this collaboration! “Sing on, dance on, ye followers of Emmanuel, Sing on dance on ye followers of the lamb!” The Sabbathday Lake Shakers November, 2010 Program, and Notes on the songs “ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ...Wherefore by their fruits shall ye know them.” -- Matthew 7:18-20 “If I owned the whole world, I would turn it all into joyfulness” -- Testimonies of Mother Ann Lee (Albany, 1888) JC = a note by Joel Cohen S= a note by the Sabbathday Lake Shakers I. Stone Prison 1. Stone Prison JC: Mother Ann Lee was persecuted and jailed for her beliefs and missionary preaching, both in England and America. A number of beautiful Shaker songs refer to the persecutions she and the other early Shakers underwent. The manuscript annotation to this one reads: “This song Mother Ann sang through an Inst[rument] at the table when the Family was eating bread and water. Harvard [Ma.]1842.” S: This song recalls the imprisonment of Mother Ann in England. During the revival known as Mother’s Work (c. 1837-47) Believers began to celebrate Mother Ann’s birthday (February 29) as well as the arrival of the First Shakers (August 6). It was during such a time that the Community had gathered to remember the sufferings of Mother Ann while in prison for the sake of the Gospel. 2. Trumpet of Peace JC: Shaker tradition has it that Mother Anne and eight followers left Liverpool, England on May 19, 1774. Their ship was old and usafe, and was nearly wrecked en rout to America. The annotation to this song reads: “Learned by inspiration, of Sister Olive Spencer, who said, ‘This song was sung by the Angle of Light, which Mother Ann saw at the mast head, when the ship sprung a leak, &c...Learned 1839, New Lebanon, N.Y.’” 3. Voice of the Angels of Mercy JC: Most of these songs have been transcribed from handwritten Shaker manuscripts. The Sacred Repository, on the other hand, was typeset in letteral notation and printed at the Canterbury, N.H. Village in 1842, contains some of the longer and more difficult pieces of the mid- 19th century Shaker repertoire. These pieces were evidently held in special esteem, but were perhaps deemed harder to learn and perform from memory alone. This vigorous, prophetic hymn is the last one in that collection. Annotated, “Given by inspiration, 1850.” II. Upon this fair soil 4. O Zion Arise JC: Equality of all sects, creeds, and races before the Gospel was an important tenet of the Shaker faith. Singing this text in slaveholding Kentucky surely required admirable courage and commitment. The manuscript notation is extremely difficult to decipher, and some of the pitches in our transcription are conjectural. 5. Joyful Praises JC: This beautiful, dancelike hymn also appears in the New-Hampshire produced Sacred Repository; we perform the melody here as it was preserved in the South. S: This hymn evokes the fulfillment of the Promised Land and is filled with Biblical imagery, a common theme in Shaker music. 6. Rights of conscience JC: According to Shaker scholar Damiel W. Patterson, Elder Issachar Bates, who had been a fifer boy at the Battle of Bunker hill, adapted a fife tune called “The President’s March” to create the melody for this hymn. There are fifteen strophes to the original, which was printed in the important early collection of Shake hymns, Millenial Praises. Though pacifists, the Shakers believed that American democracy was a necessary precondition to the spreading and acceptance of their gospel. George Washington, therefore, was an instrument of God. 7. The Blessings of Peace JC: A fine and moving example of a Shaker anthem. Like its antecedents, the New England anthem, the baroque motet, and the Renaissance madrigal, the Shaker anthem is a through-composed genre, setting each line of text to new music. Less well known than the Shaker hymns and spirituals, the anthems nonetheless contain some of the finest poetical and musical inspirations of these religious communities. Annotated “Union Village, Ohio. “ S: The sentiment for this anthem is taken from the first major theological treatise written in the West, The Testimony of Christ’s Second Appearing, which was published in 1808 and became one of the most enduring works, undergoing four editions. 8. Holy Habitation JC: Another hymn of thanksgiving, compsed in New Lebanon, N.Y. Here, as elsewhere, we have chosen to alternate strophes between mens’ and womens’ voices. This practice is documented in the printed hymnal, Millenial Praises (1813). S: As in Joyful Praises (track 5), the Biblical imagery is very strong, as are the rewards to those who would maintain a Shaker life. 9. Thanksgiving JC: The melody is related to those sung to the English ballad, Barbara Allen. Annotated “Enfield, N. H., 1841.” 10. A suite of five dance tunes (from a manuscript at Sabbathday Lake, Maine) JC: All these tunes come from a small manuscript of wordless songs notated circa 1830 and preserved at Sabbathday Lake. The melodies and rhythms of this collection evoke the intense energy, both spiritual and physical, of a young and active community . The last tune, which we interpret in a quick 6/8, is related to the English folksong, “The Girl I left behind me.” III. Sweep as I go 11. Solemn song of the ancients JC: The mystical, wordless Solemn Songs are among the oldest in the Shaker repertoire. They were copied down years later by Shaker scribes, from oral tradition. This one, like others of the genre, seems to be in a rather free and rhapsodic style. S: The Shakers spread the music of one Comnnunity with another in several forms. The primary occured during visitations. Elder Otis Sawyer of the Maine ministry copied this song preserved from the time of the First Parents while on a visit to New Lebanon in 1842. 12. Mother Ann’s song JC: Like many of the tunes Mary Hazzard preserved in her songbook, this one is all the more intense and poignant for being very brief. S: The Community is very fortunate to have in its collections a beautiful songbook composed by Sister Mary Hazzard. Her precise handwriting provides a delight to the eye. She was born in 1811 in Hancock, MA., but joined the Shakers in neighboring New Lebanon, N.Y. She entered the North, or Gathering Order in the 1820s, and was transferred to the Church family in 1837. During the time of Mother’s Work she was often gifted with songs, as many of the entries in this book attest. In 1851 she was sent to the Office to be an associate Deaconess there. Finally, ripe in spirit and age, she passed on to spirit life January 31, 1899. (We are indebted to Stephen Paterwic for the biographic information.) 13. Path of sorrow JC: Mother Annn’s sorrows and tribulations are often held up as examples for Shaker believers, as in this magnificent hymn, transcribed and reintroduced after over a century’s lapse, in early 2000. As we discussed and rehearsed this song at Sabbathday Lake in preparation for the present recording, concern was expressed in the community that one of the brothers, wheo had recently experienced a major personal loss, might find it too stressful. “No, it’s very consoling,” he replied. 14. Fall on the Rock S: This song speaks of the need for humility. The concept of falling on the rock is to break one’s pride. Humility is one of the central themes in a Shaker’s life; it can never be stressed too strongly. 15. Sweep as I go JC: With only a few variants, the Shakers sing this song exactly as it was notated in the 1840’s, even though the traditional notational system is no longer employed among them, and they must rely entirely on their ears. The Shakers attribute this extraordinary fidelity to a received text to Sister Mildred Barker’s dedication to musical tradition, and to her insistence on “getting it right.” S: This song was sung during the “Midnight Cry” that sounded through the Dwelling House at Enfield, N.H. While the Community slept, a group of singers would proceed through the house, waking the inhabitants, who would then join in the sweeping. They would start in the attic and go to the cellars, spiritually sweeping the house clean of everything that was unclean. IV. Gifts songs: birds 16. Philomela JC: Among the hundreds, if not thousands, of gift songs received in the 1840’s are many that evoke birds. Elder Otis Sawyer, an excellent musician who scrupulously notated many volumes of Shakers songs, was also a leader of the Alfred and Sabbathday Lake communities. According to today’s Shakers, he had a reputation as a stern man. But as the Shakers remark, these newly-transcribed songs from his handwriting show another, and gentler, aspect of his humanity. S: The Shakers primarily have always been farmers, and birds are harbingers of the changing seasons. Shaker scribes never fail to note the arrival of each bird in spring. 17. Mourning Dove 18. Mother’s pretty dove 19. Consoling dove JC: “Holy Land” is the spiritual name of the Alfred, Maine community; “Chosen Land” is that of Sabbathday Lake. S: This song was most likely only ever sung once. As was the case with so many songs received, it was composed for a specific event: Elder Otis received the song and “gave it out” in the course of the first meeting in Maine Ministry attended upon their return to Chosen Land (New Gloucester). V. Gift songs: Native spirits 20. Woben Mesa Crelana JC: The Shakers were interested in the other races that peopled the New World, and many fine songs were received as gifts from Native American and African-American spirits. This one perhaps belongs to the Native American category. 21. He haw talabo 22. Indian Song S: Sister Mary Hazzard noted on this song, “the two foregoing songs learned of the Chief by John Allen, Sept 11, 1842.” 23. Negro songs JC: The Shakers made music with the voice alone, but numerous songs are meant to simulated the sounds of spiritual trumpets, flutes and harps. The second of these two little melodies seems to evoke the plucking of a banjo. S: Throughout Mother’s work the spirits cam in groups. The Indian spirits were among the first to arrive, and when their time was completed then the Negro spirits. These were followed by the ancient prophets, etc. Although this pair of tunes comes from two separate Communities, yet they are united in representing the same visitation. The New Lebanon piece was given through brother George Allen by a Negro spirit called “King George William.” 24. Pretty Home JC: Patsy Williamson was an black sister, and to my ears this lively tune incorporates some African-American elements into Shaker song style. VI. Gift songs: Heavenly Spirits 25. Angel of Light JC: Communication with heavenly spirits is an accepted part of Shaker belief, and many fine gift songs were received from angelic inspiration. S: From the very beginning of Shakerism, angels have played a central role in guiding and protecting us. They also act as messengers from God to dleiver encouragement or warnings. 26. Angel invitation 27. Four little angels 28. Sweet angels come nearer JC: The older sisters at Sabbathday Lake remember this song from communal singing earlier in the century; it was also printed, in four harmonized parts, in a later hymnal from Canterbury. The melody was apparently adapted from an earlier song by Elder Otis Sawyer that we discovered in the Shaker archive in the course of the recording sessions. S: The manuscript entitles the song “A Prayer,” and such it is. Although the hymnal is from South Union, the song is transcribed in a sectioned learned in the eastern Shaker Communities and in the middle of songs from Alfred. Given that Joel found an earlier version from the pen of Elder Otis, whose melody was used for this song, it seems most likely that the song originated at Alfred, where it continued to be sung. 29. Mother’s comforting promise JC: This song is related musically to the one that follows; such melodic borrowings are not unusual in the Shaker repertoire. S: This song expresses the deep feelings of tribulation Elder Otis was feeling in 1848 as he was required to leave his position in the Maine Ministry and move to New Gloucester to become their Trustee. This move was necessitated by the apostasy of the former Trustee and lack of any other male capable to take the position in that Society. 30. Holy order song S: The Holy Order was among the first dance steps introduced by Father Joseph Meacham in the 1780’s. It was the longest lived of all the dances, being used for nearly a century. This song was received by Elder Otis from the spirit of “Elder Brother Oliver Holmes,” who had recently passed to the spirit land. 31. O come, come away 32. The Savior's cheering promise JC: A well-loved song that appears in a number of Shaker manuscripts, including at least two at Sabbathday Lake. S: This song was given through Sister Sarah while in company with the Ministry in Maine on a visit to the Feast Ground (the place of outdoor worship) at Lebanon. Elder Otis recorded this with the song he entered in his notebook: “received of the Holy Savior’s angel while at the Holy Fountain, September 11, 1848. For the Elders of the Church, Chosen Land (New Gloucester).” VII. The Golden Harvest 33. Behold the Day JC: The agricultural life of the Shaker communities provide rich imagery for many Shaker songs. 34. All glean with care JC: Perhaps one of the most important and powerful Shaker songs. The text is inspired by a number of passages in the Testimonies of Mother Ann Lee concerning economy of means. “In the time of the harvest, while some of the Brethren were reaping their weat, Mother Ann sent Elder Jamers into the field to teach them... ‘Cut your grain clean; God has caused it to grow, and you ought to be careful to save it; for you cannot make one kernel grow, if you know you must starve for the want of it’.” S: Elder Otis noted at the end of this song: “The forgoing hymn was written in gold and purple letters and placed upon the gate posts leading into the Feast Ground upon the Holy Mount. The same was engraved upon a gold and silver trumpet which was taken from off the Altar of truth on the Holy Mountain at New Lebanon, June 12 1850.” What Elder Otis is describing is a vision seen and recorded by an inspired Shaker (Instrument). The hymn and description were sent in a letter to the Maine Ministry to the Lebanon Ministry. 35. The Harvest JC: The Shakers still sing this piece, from oral tradition, almost exactly as the nineteenth century manuscript recorded it. 36. Angel Reapers S: Eldress Mary Anne Gillespie was born in Portsmouth, N.H. She was orphaned at the age of three and brought up by a neighbor until the age of eleven, when she went to live with the Canturbury (NH) Shakers. At 16 she was sent to the Second Family to care for the little girls, a position she held for six years until called to be the family’s Nurse Sister. She was then transferred to the North Family to become the Second Eldress of that Family. Here she remained until called to join the Order of the Maine Ministry in 1860. She was a faithful, tireless worker, spiritually and physically. Her health began to deteriorate in 1886, evidently a case of “consumption” (tuberculosis). She was sent to the Shaker Community in Philadelphia in hopes of recuperation, but sadly she did not recover. She died in Philadelphia on April 15, 1887, at the age of 45. During her time in Maine she was gifted with hundreds of inspired songs, many of which are still in use today. 37. Light S: During Sunday meeting Elder William Dumont gave an especially gifted testimony which inspired Eldress Mary Anne to receive this song. It was thereafter known as “Elder William’s Song.” It was not written with either four part harmony or a second verse; these were added at Canterbury, NH, where the song also became a favorite. It was included in the Shaker Hymnal in 1908. It is a song that continues to be sung and cherished here at Sabbathday Lake. 38. The Angel Reapers S: This song is recorded in a South Union hymnal, but the unidentified scribe must have learned it during a trip to the eastern Communities in 1869. The Ministry of South Union made a grand tour that year, and it is understandable after such a long journey that the scribe had difficulty remembering where the song was learned. This program, The Golden Harvest, was conceived and edited by Joel Cohen (S.A.C.E.M.) Transcriptions of the individual melodies by Anne Azéma (16, 17 ), Joel Cohen ( 1-5, 7-13, 18-19, 22-31, 33-35, 36, 38 ), and Daniel W. Patterson (6, 4, 20, 21, 24, 32, 35) suggested further reading: Daniel W. Patterson, The Shaker Spiritual (Princeton, 1979) further program notes by the Sabbathday Lake Shakers and Joel Cohen I. The Shakers: Who are they? The United Society of Believers, commonly known as the Shakers, have best been described as a Protestant Monastic Community. An old hymn of ours (included on the Simple Gifts CD) states "at Manchester in England this blessed fire began" and so it did in 1747. The first Believers had come out of the formalized, rational, and often cold life of the Church of England. They sought to imitate the primitive Church in all that they did. To this nascent group came a highly spiritual and gifted woman named Ann Lee. By 1770 she had become the leader of the Church and was acknowledged by the members to be their spiritual Mother in Christ. Even today, Shakers still refer to her as Mother Ann in remembrance of her special call and dedication to God. In the year 1774 there was a "gift"for those who felt able to come to America to preach the Gospel. In May of that year nine members, including Mother Ann, embarked on the ship Mariah for a two-month voyage to America. They landed in New York City on August 6. [Today we continue to commemorate this event with a special worship service]. Several members went up the Hudson River to Niskayuna, just outside Albany. They purchased a tract of land and immediately set to building a home in the wilderness. Several of the songs you will be hearing in the early parts of the present recording refer to these experiences. The Shakers, being newly arrived from England, and pacifists, kept a low profile. There was a religious revival in progress in the surrounding district and soon the Shakers were discovered. Mother Ann and the Elders decided to make a missionary tour. Due to the charisma of Mother Ann and the preaching of Father James and Father William, many converts were made. Mother Ann preached a way of life that was a living theology. There seemed to be even more persecutors than converts. The brutal and frequent attacks took their toll; Stone Prison, the first song of the present recording, refers to Mother Ann's imprisonment in Poughkeepsie, New York. Father William Lee [Mother Ann's natural brother] expired on July 21, 1784. In less than two months, Mother Ann herself died. For the next three years, Father James would head the Church. He wore himself out and died in 1787, leaving the church in the hands of the American converts. Father Joseph Meacham and Mother Lucy Wright were chosen to lead the Church. It was under these two most capable leaders that the Societies were called into "Gospel Order." Community life as they envisioned it requires a person to live their life based on the life and teachings of Christ: to be celibate, to confess their sins, pratice a community of goods, and be pacifists. From the beginning there has been equality for all, regardless of race or gender. The administration of Father Joseph and Mother Lucy marked the greatest period of growth for the Shakers. At the time of Mother Lucy's death in 1821 there were 18 communities stretching from Maine to Kentucky. The following four decades were ones of stability and, for most of the Communities, prosperity. Peaking at five thousand members, the Shakers were never a large religion, but we have affected the "World" greatly by our technology, ingenuity, and reliable products. Following the Civil War, there came a time of decline for many of the Societies, and a gradual retrenchment began to occur. At the close of the century Communities were forced to close because of debts and lack of membership. Thankfully, the Maine communities at Alfred and Sabbathday Lake were relatively isolated. They began to enjoy their greatest times of stabilized membership and financial prosperity. Most importantly, when the other Societies were abandoning the tenets of the faith, the Maine Shakers continued to practice the traditional way of life. Central to the life has been the act of worship. Of all the various "gifts" received by the Brothers and Sisters, songs and singing have remained a constant. Sister Mildred Barker was often quoted as saying, "there is a Shaker song for every occasion." It would be hard to argue with Sister Mildred in that there are over ten thousand songs extant. Songs are sung during the various worship services each day, and continue to be handed down to the newer members by the older ones. This has been our way for over two hundred years. Today, only the place we call Chosen Land is still a functioning Community. We might be few in number, but we look with hope to the future knowing that God will provide; She always has. The Sabbathday Lake Shakers Poland Spring, Maine II. A approach to Shaker song Shaker song, despite growing interest in the Shaker movement, remains virtually unknown to the general public. Reductionistically, one tune (admittedly, a beautiful one) has too often come to symbolise all of Shakerdom. Even that tune, Simple Gifts, is most often heard in reworkings, ranging in context and quality from the brilliant (Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring) to the downright tacky (television commercials for expensive automobiles). And yet, Shaker music is so very much more! The large, mainly unpublished body of Shaker song contains untold treasures; it is important as music, as spiritual testimony, and as American cultural history. The repertoire fairly cries out to be heard on its own terms, in a simple, non-exploitative context. We can never know exactly how the nineteenth-century Shakers performed their music. Some aspects of their style have surely been lost to later generations. But the musicians of this recording, both Shaker and non-Shaker, have aimed to shape their performances along traditional lines, according to the precepts and the spirit of Shaker practice. Early Shaker song, like medieval Gregorian chant, was to be done in unison, by voices only, without instrumental accompaniment. Shaker melodies of the early period are noticeably "archaic;" they can and do sound "older" than their dates of composition would appear to indicate. The influence of English folksong is immediately evident, and there are even reminiscences within the Shaker repertoire of medieval and Renaissance song style. Many songs were composed by, or "given to," specific individuals in the community. Some, like the dance tunes, were sung by small groups of singers during the worship service, as the main body of believers joined in the dance. Others were meant for performance by the whole community. While the elements of inspiration and sponaneity are crucial to Shaker spiritualirt, more rehearsed and polished musical renditions are also part of the historical record of Shakerism, as are public performances and even concert-like appearances later in the nineteenth century. We have attempted to form a coherent program, and to vary the dispositions and groupings of voices across this recorded program, without departing from the basic tenets of Shaker performance practice. The Shakers carefully preserved thousands of their songs in various kinds of special musical notation ("normal" staff notation, along with part-singing and instrumental playing, did not come into general use until after 1870). The library of the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, contains extensive music holdings, including some important manuscripts by Elder Otis Sawyer, a key figure in the history of Maine Shakerdom and a fine musician. Many of the songs we perform here have been transcribed over a period of several years from original Shaker manuscript and printed sources; a large number of these from Elder Otis' lovingly preserved copy books. This scribe/editor, remembers first working on song transcriptions in Maine for a number of happy days in the spring of 1994 as Elder Otis' framed photographic portrait looked down at him from a facing wall in the Shaker library. It seemed then that the beautiful inspirations of Elder Otis and the early Shakers were preparing to speak to the world once again.... In fact, those songs did speak, and the success of that first recording has impelled us to go further still into the Shaker archives. The frustrating news is that this new recording represents only a few of the many superb songs still reposing there, unpublished. The good news is that there are indeed many other works of extraordinary beauty, available to us and to the world for some future enterprise. But the library archives do not tell the whole story. Shakerism is also a living religion, with a continuous musical tradition. Although the early Shaker "letteral" notation was abandoned over a century ago, many older Shaker songs have been preserved in communal memory at Sabbathday Lake, and are still being sung by the Shakers of today. As they did in 1994-95, my deepest thanks go to the members of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community, for warm hospitality, good advice, unstinting project support, and musical inspiration. Joel Cohen, 1995-2000