And Other Early American Composers

 

William Billings (1746-1800), is considered by many to be the foremost representative of early American music. Billings was born in Boston on October 7, 1746. Largely self-trained in music, he was a tanner by trade and a friend of such figures of the American Revolution as Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Billings's New England Psalm-Singer (1770), engraved by Revere, was the first collection of music entirely by an American. (The image above is the frontispiece engraving for New England Psalm-Singer by Paul Revere) Especially known among his compositions are his canon (round) "When Jesus Wept," the anthem "David's Lamentation," and the hymn "Chester," written to his own patriotic text and unofficially the national hymn of the American Revolution. Billings died in Boston on September 26, 1800. (Excerpts from an article on William Billings by John H. Lienhard, University of Houston) Anyone who's done much choral singing has sung William Billings's music. Ask what music came out of Colonial America: we get Billings and little more. Few sophisticated musicians think much of him -- I love his stuff. Historians have made little effort to know Billings. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians runs to almost 20,000 pages and it gives Billings only a page and a half. Billings was born in Boston in 1747. He was poor and uneducated -- he supported himself much of the time as a tanner. But he also took up music when he was young and was teaching choral singing by the age of 22. Biographers call him a gargoyle. He was blind in one eye with a short leg and a withered arm. But that's only the beginning. He practiced what a contemporary called "an uncommon negligence of person," and he was hopelessly addicted to tobacco -- constantly inhaling handfuls of snuff. That may explain why he only lived to the age of 54. He had a stentorian, tobacco-damaged bass voice and he seemed uninterested in any easy beauty of sound. At 24, Billings published his first book of choral pieces. He called it The New-England Psalm-Singer, and Paul Revere engraved the frontispiece for it. He published five more volumes and several pieces of sheet music. The New-England Psalm-Singer was the first book of American music. It began a tradition of musical grass-roots choral singing in America and Billings knew what he'd done. He delayed publication over a year -- until he could print it on paper made in the Colonies. No English imports for Billings. The book included his song Chester, which rivaled Yankee Doodle as an anthem of revolution: Let tyrants Shake their Iron rod And slav'ry Clank her galling Chains we fear them not we trust in god New England's god for ever reigns. Ben Franklin had said art would flow to the west -- to the new American Athens. What he got was Billings's grand idiosyncratic music -- no cultural continuity with anything. Billings's music emerged in the classical, rationalist age, with no trace of classical elegance. It's an artistic declaration of independence. To know Billings, one should do more than just hear him; one should sing him -- four-square, almost-medieval harmonies, elaborate fugues, experiments with dissonance that foreshadow Charles Ives. He plays musical jokes, praises God, and dances into the erotic wonder of the Song of Solomon. Then he turns around and leaves us with one of the most exquisite short canons we've ever heard, When Jesus wept, the falling tear in mercy flowed beyond all bound .. The essential genius of America, and of Billings, was recognizing that full independence of Europe would eventually be gained only after we'd formed our own cultural roots. From the writings of William Billings: Perhaps it may be expected that I should say something concerning rules of composition; to those I answer that Nature is the best dictator, for not all the hard, dry, studied rules that ever was prescribed, will not enable any person to form an air.. It must be Nature, Nature who must lay the foundation. Nature must inspire the thought.. For my own part, as I don't think myself confined to any rules of composition, laid down by any that went before me, neither should I think (were I to pretend to lay down rules) that any one who came after me were in any ways obligated to adhere to them, any further than they should think proper; so in fact I think it best for every composer to be his own carver. Perhaps some may think that I mean and intend to throw Art entirely out of the question. I answer, by no means, for the more art is displayed, the more Nature is decorated. And in some sorts of composition there is dry study required, and art very requisite. For instance, in a fuge, where the parts come in after each other with the same notes, but even here, art is subservient to genius, for fancy goes first and strikes out the work roughly, and art comes after and polishes it over. Suppose a company of forty people, twenty of them should sing the bass, and the other twenty should be divided according to the discretion of the company into the upper parts. Six or seven voices should sing the ground bass, which sung together with the upper parts, is most majestic, and so exceeding grand as to cause the floor to tremble, as I myself have often experienced .. Much caution should also be used in singing a solo (sic); in my opinion 2 or 3 at most are enough to sing it well. It should be sung as an echo, in order to keep the hearers in agreeable suspense till all the parts join together in a full chorus, as sweet and strong as possible. Excerpt from an article published in The New England magazine. / (Volume 17, Issue 5, January 1895) by Francis H. Jenks "It was about 1770 that the Billings craze began. William Billings was a remarkable man in many re-spects; and the peculiar fever of which he was the cause was largely due to his strong personality. He stands in our musical history as he first self-taught native composer. A collection published at Philadelphia in 1761, entitled Urania, had furnished him with models for composition, and working from these he prepared a host of fugueing tunes, which through their very freshness, quickly commanded attention. Church music had acquired a dolefullness due to the slow pace that had become the fashion. Billings commanded liveliness, and his fugues favored greater animation than had seemed proper for the plain harmonies and steady rythmns of the older tunes. The head of the new school, a tanner by trade, was somewhat deformed with legs of different lengths, a slightly withered arm and a blind eye. He had a voice of tremendous power and a manner that brooked no opposition. There was no one to criticise his tunes or to controvert his theories, some of which were really shrewd and sound; and so long as he lived, which was until the century had nearly expired, he had hosts of followers." Excerpt from an article published in The Atlantic monthly - Our Dark Age in Music - Volume 50, Issue 302, December 1882 "It was about this time (1774) that that eccentric genius, William Billings (born in Boston, October 7, 1747, died September 26, 1800), taught a singing-school in Stoughton, with forty-eight members, the best school then known. That genuine old New England institution, the singing-school, began about 1720. It was the chief form of social intercourse shall we say society? In all the country villages; and in it psalmody, and gossip, and flirtation, we may well conceive, were learned together, or practiced without learning. Billings invented a new way of setting hymns and anthems, which was called the fuguing style. It became extremely popular because of its vivacity, the voice parts moving in a sort of mutual imitation (not fugue properly), in quick time, chasing one another round. O Mather! 0 Judge Sewall! The grave old heavy psalmody was startled and danced out of its sobriety. Here was a music that was found exciting; a lively rhythmical protest (for men had been drinking of the new wine of liberty) against the dry and dreary old music; a music flattering to the sense and a relief to the imprisoned spirit. Whether it appealed to any deep religious sentiment or not, it set the singers in good humor, and responsive to the exhortation that we make a joyful noise. Billings was exceedingly prolific in this kind of composition, and had imitators, some of whom out-heroded Herod in their ventures on the sea of bold originality and native inspiration. His music had a flavor of its own, and showed a certain rude native talent and invention. Fugue it was not in any right artistic sense; of all that he was ignorant. What a god-send it would have been to him, what would he not have thought, what possibly have done, had there, by any chance, fallen into his hands some fugues or other compositions, some harmonized chorals even, of Sebastian Bach or Handel! See how he rhapsodized, in one of his spread-eagle prefaces, about his new music: It has more than twenty times the power of the old slow tunes; each part straining for mastery and victory, the audience entertained and delighted, their minds surprisingly agitated and extremely fluctuated; sometimes declaring for one part and sometimes another. Now the solemn bass demands their attention, next the manly tenor; now the lofty counter, now the volatile treble. Now here, now there, now here again. Oh, ecstatic! Rush on, ye sons of harmony! Indeed, it seems to have been a sort of musical horse-race. But there was this gain at all events: music was at last listened to as music, and not alone as ritual; it was thought worth the while in itself; there was a chance that it might come to something really musical in course of time. It was essentially a secular reaction against plain, solemn psalmody; but all within the house of worship, the choristers, drunk with the new wine, setting themselves up on their own account to do their part in the public service; no strait jacket any longer, but a general sunburst, and a breaking loose of the imprisoned school-boys." Excerpt from Songs and Ballads of the Revolution. [The New England magazine. / Volume 19, Issue 4, Dec 1895] Written by Lydia Bolles Newcomb About the middle of the last century there was born a man who may be called the father of church music in America, the promoter of choirs and singing-schools, and destined to become famous in his line, William Billings, a tanner of Boston, odd in appearance, eccentric in speech and manner, independent in thought and action, but with a soul filled with music. He calls himself a musical enthusiast, and says: I have often heard of a poetical license; I dont see why with the same propriety there may not be a musical license. He spurned the rules of art, such as there were, and sung out of the abundance of his heart, using, it is said, the boards of his tannery and the sides of leather, upon which he chalked the melodies as they floated to his ears. He published five or six books of psalmody and harmony; and some of the tunes he wrote are still to be found in old collections of church music. He was a stanch patriot, and wrote the stir- ring semi-martial air, Chester, which attained great popularity during the war. Among the stanch friends and admirers of Billings were Samuel Adams and Dr. Pierce of Brookline. In the church choir these two men stood side by side with the old tanner, a trio of voice and patriotic fervor which one can imagine made the edifice ring with the words and music here given. Billings had a special fondness for anthems and fugues. Of the latter he says: "It has more than twenty times the power of the slow tunes, each straining for mas- tery and victory, the audience meanwhile entertained and delighted, the minds surpassingly agitated and extremely fluctuated, sometimes declaring for one part, and sometimes for another. Now the solemn bass demands the attention, next the manly tenor, now the lofty counter, now the volatile treble now here, now there, now here again."

 

 

The Original American National Anthem You would not think that America, after fighting a war of independence against the English, would choose as its National Anthem, a Brit tune written for an English drinking club, right? Well, that's exactly what happened, even though we had our own American Revolutionary War composers! Read about it on our Original National Anthem page. And read about how school children and teachers in America have been contacting their elected officials to ask for official recognition of William Billings and perhaps even a "second national anthem" using his work "Chester". And amazing as it is........ William Billings appears in HBO movie! In the recent HBO miniseries about John Adams (pictured at left), in episode 1, there is a scene where the Boston patriots are meeting and at the end of the meeting, they sing a verse of the anthem Chester by William Billings. This may well be the first widespread recognition of the music of William Billings and the fact that Chester was the original National Anthem. And even better, if you look at the credits of the John Adams series, there is an actor listed as playing the role of William Billings! If you want, you can download and listen to instrumental MP3s of the anthem Chester, and an excerpt from Billings' Lamentation Over Boston, a piece he composed in reaction to the attack on and burning of Boston by the British. Both of these arrangements are from an upcoming CD of instrumental arrangements of the music of Colonial American composers.

 

---

Lowell Mason & The "Better Music" boys - The Case Of Early American Music Censorship Just in case you are wondering exactly why it is that our earliest American composers such as William Billings remain relatively unknown (even amongst many musicians, composers and music university graduates)...... go to our Lowell Mason & the "better music" boys page to find out.

 

Note: All of the following MIDI files are Standard MIDI files. The sound of MIDI files are of course dependent upon the software and sound card you are using. In most cases, these works have multiple verses, but we have sequenced the MIDI files using the music for one verse to give you an example of the music. If you are interested in a higher quality audio recording of early American Choral music, please see our CD collection at the bottom of this page. The Music Of William Billings Chester Washington Wake Every Breath Connection I Am Come Into My Garden Lamentation Over Boston Modern Musik Bethlehem Vermont Emmanuel Boston Funeral Anthem Is Any Afflicted? Suffolk Africa Richmond Phoebus When Jesus Wept Assurance Invocation Majesty Shiloh Judea (A Virgin Unspotted) Hymn for Easter Easter Anthem Rose Of Sharon Chesterfield Union David's Lamentation Amherst Brookfield Lebanon Emmaus

 

If you would like to listen to some actual recordings of Billing's choral music, you can go to this link: Art Of The States -William Billings page

Other Early
American Composers

Daniel Read Daniel Read was born in Attleborough, Massachusetts, 16 November, 1757; died in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1841. He was a manufacturer of combs in New Haven, but at the same time composed music, and published in 1791 "The American Singing-Book, or a New and Easy Guide to the Art of Psalmody," and in 1793 "Columbian Harmony," a collection of devotional music. Subsequently he published a "New Collection of Psalm-Tunes," which came to be known as the "Litchfield Collection," containing many tunes of his own composition (Dedham, 1805). " Windham," "Greenwich," "Sherburne," "Russia," "Stafford," and others of Read's hymn-tunes are still in general use in American churches. Sherburn Greenwich Windham Winter Stafford Mortality Russia Amity Broad Is The Road Lisbon Judgement Salem

Abraham Wood Abraham Wood (1752-1804) was a native of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a drummer during the Revolutionary War. He was a prominent composer in early America and apparently was associated with William Billings. "Warren," by Abraham Wood is a memorial for the patriot leader Joseph Warren (1741-1775), an army officer who died courageously at age thirty-four in the Battle of Bunker Hill. "A Hymn on Peace" by Abraham Wood appeared in 1784, the year after the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War. The poem, unattributed and of unknown authorship, had been published earlier in Andrew Law's Collection of Hymns (Cheshire, Conn., 1783), where is was designated to be sung to Wood's psalm tune "Worchester." "A Hymn on Peace" circulated in a rather unusual way - not, as was the most common, as part of a larger collection of sacred pieces, but as a single pamphlet. The Boston Independent Chronicle, May 6, 1784, advertised it as "just published" and stated it would be sold by Wood in Northboro, and interestingly - ".. by William Billings, near Liberty Pole, Boston. " This advertisement reveals the the only known connection between two of early America's leading composers. Worcester Marlborough Warren

 

Captain Supply Belcher From a  Belcher family geneaology web site: Supply Belcher (1751-1836) was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts and, at one time may have sung in the Stoughton Music Society (the first choral organization in America) under composer William Billings. Records that include a muster roll of the Minute Men from Stoughton state that a Private Belcher and Corporal Billings marched on April 19, 1775, upon receiving the alarm from Lexington about an impending armed engagement with the British. Belcher would eventually rise to the rank of Captain under General Washington. After the war ended, he became a tavern keeper. He eventually moved to Maine, and while living in Farmington, Maine he was employed in various occupations including but not limited to- town clerk, selectman, teacher, singer and composer. He was Farmington's first representative to the legislature at a time when Maine was still a part of  the state of Massachusetts. Even while accomplishing all of the above, Belcher managed to compose at least sixty-eight compositions, most of which appeared in "The Harmony of Maine", 1794, published the same year as Billlings' last collection, "The Continental Harmony"." (Note - We found these compositions attributed to Supply Belcher in an old music publication, but we have not been able to verify if Belcher actually wrote these works. We have often found pieces of music erroneously attributed to various early American composers in 19th Century American music publications so we try to verify and double-check. Whatever the case may be, the pieces of music are interesting.) Harmony Conversion Invitation

 

Lewis Edson The early American composer, Lewis Edson (1748-1820), wrote three of the most popular tunes of his time - Bridgewater, Lenox and Green Field. In 1763 Edson began working as a blacksmith, but by 1769 he was also a singing master and eventually became quite well known as a singer. Edson married in 1770 and in 1776 the family moved to the Berkshires in New York, perhaps because they were Tories. It was in New York where Edson began composing. His three well known tunes were published in 1782 in a publication named the "Choristers Companion". After the American revolution, he taught singing in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut. He moved to Woodstock, Connecticut, in 1817. Bridgewater Green Field Lenox

Elisha West We don't have much of anything in the way of information about the life of Vermont composer and arranger of religous music, Elisha West (1752-ca. 1808. But we did uncover this odd story on a genealogy web service. According to the story: "West and his wife were known to be very fond of heavy drinking, which was considered at the time to be a quite unusual given the nature of his music work; and even more unusual when they divorced in 1807 when Elisha was over 50 years of age." We have no idea of the truth of this story, If you have any information about the life of Vermont composer Elisha West, please send it it us. America Edom Sharon

Early American Music CD We are in the process of creating a CD of 2 collections of the choral music of early America. This CD is designed to show examples of the often very beautiful music of early American choirs, composers and cloisters. If you are interested in purchasing a CD, please contact us by e-mail. The Utopian Choirs Of Early America In Early America, there were various religious and communities often connected to teachings related to Rosicrucianism, the concept of a "New Atlantis", and various what would now be called occult teachings. Some of these communities composed and performed beautiful choral music. Johannes Kelpius and his followers arrived in newly-founded Philadelphia from Germany in 1694 and chose the wild and beautiful Wissahickon as the best place to await the millennium. The mystics became known as "the Hermits of the Wissahickon," "The Society of the Woman in the Wilderness" or the "Mystic Brotherhood." Kelpius composed and arranged some unique choral music. The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a religious community, established in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Beissel taught music at the Cloister and wrote hundreds of songs and choral works. Many of the other members of the cloister also devoted themselves to poetry and music. Their choir became widely known. MP3 Samples Sample excerpt of the music of the Ephrata Cloister Sample excerpt of music composed by Kelpius Sounding Joy The Tunesmiths Of Colonial America Many examples of the music of Early American composers such as William Billings, Timothy Swan, Stephen Jenks, Justin Morgan and more......... MP3 Samples Sounding Joy - Justin Morgan Rainbow - Timothy Swan Pleasure - Stephen Jenks When Jesus Wept - William Billings

 

The Power Of Music A CD of music from the notebooks of early American artist, musican, composer and collector of tunes of all kinds, William Sidney Mount. Traditional and original music from the notebooks of early American painter, musician, folk music collector and composer, William Sidney Mount (1808-1868) Arranged for guitar, fiddle and flute. MP3 Samples Miss Betty Forbes Reel - Excerpt Shep Jones Hornpipe - Excerpt If you are interested in purchasing a CD, please contact us by e-mail.

 

Explore the Amaranth Publishing pages.................... Explore - the world's most mysterious book, music composed by a Renaissance alchemist, the Amaranth Publishing CD collection, the oldest song in the world, the world's oldest love song, the music of the Illuminati, unique sheet music, the world's most haunting melodies, the music of the spheres, a way you can become rich if you can solve a historic cipher, a way you can compose music just like Mozart, the 19th Century American X-Files and much more....

If you have any questions you can contact us by e-mail, (sometimes our spam filter overreacts and rejects valid e-mails, so, if you get an e-mail rejection notice, please try again later), or if you prefer by telephone at 817.921.3670.

 

Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java(tm).

Amaranth Publishing Home Page

© Copyright 2007 - Amaranth Publishing - All Rights Reserved