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American Hymns &Spirituals
There is no part of my conscious memory that does not include the spiritual. For me, it embodies a way of life, a road map for existence. For as long as I can remember, it has served as my “balm in Gilead.” This CD represents our continuing effort to preserve the great legacy of American spirituals and hymns.
Hymns begin in uncertainty. The throat-clearings, the fumbling in the hymnals for the right page, the mismatched voices struggling for the proper key and hunting through the first verse for the tune -- in most places of worship, hymn-singing begins with these. Western movies sometimes show small congregations singing a hymn outdoors, where the vastness of the sky and scenery gives a heightened sense of frailty to the song. But the very act of composing hymns, the determination to sing a song of praise to God, exists against a larger background of doubt and un-belief and darkness. At their essence, all hymns have a quality of whistling in the dark.
Most of the hymns on this recording were written in the 19th century or before, when Americans in general thought more about God than they do today. In small towns all across the country, this was how you spent your Sundays: you went to church in the morning, you came home and read the Bible or prayed, and you went to church again in the afternoon. A Midwestern county history I read describes the county's founders as people “mighty in prayer and exhortation.” When I stand in church to sing a hymn, I'm always encouraged to see at the bottom of the page the name of Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley or John Newton, or someone else from that serious and devotional era of faith. When I sing, “Shall we gather at the river/Where bright angel feet have trod,” I think of the spiritual concentration — not just of the writer, but of a whole culture -- that it took to envision those bright feet.
Our minds nowadays are occupied with other subjects. And yet, surprisingly, our greater familiarity with doubt may help us to hear these hymns more clearly than people in former times could have done. To us a hymn may stand out more vividly against the immensity of the surrounding doubt-filled silence. Faith is not something you have, it's something you do; the same can be said of art. As an act of faith or a work of art, a hymn exists in that uncertain moment between giving up and going on. A hymn is an inspired decision to go on. It fulfills the decision note by note and word by word. Its conviction builds. Suddenly it is greater than the darkness, and it rises up all the stronger for the doubt that went before. If the voices begin hesitatingly, by the final verse they are almost always full and confident and in unison; acting on faith, the hymn has somehow caused faith to be. The hymns and spirituals on this recording are among the great discoveries faith has made about itself, through words and music that now belong to us all.
Ian Frazier is the author of “Great Plains,” “Family,” “On the Rez,” and other works of nonfiction and humor.
For a period of about 250 years, from the arrival of the Puritans in the early 1600's to nearly the end of the 19th century, the most pervasive musical form in America was the hymn. Whether it was the early, single line melodies in psalters brought by the first European settlers, the fuging tunes of the Yankee tunesmiths of the late 1700's, or the hymns and Negro spirituals of the 19th century, “songs embodying the praise of God” (as St. Augustine defined the hymn) dominated America's musical life.
Before Revolutionary times, the colonists mostly sang and played music they had either brought with them or imported from Europe. It was not until William Billings (1746-1800) and his contemporaries began composing their own works — usually sung to English psalm and hymn texts —that a distinctive American musical character was born. These men helped open the door for the great number of hymns (both music and texts) created throughout the 19th century.
In New England, one reason for the profusion of hymn writing after 1800 was due, ironically, to a backlash against the musical style of Billings and his fellow Yankee tunesmiths. It was felt that their work was musically incorrect, unsophisticated and harsh-sounding, and a full-fledged reform movement, spearheaded by Lowell Mason (1792-1872) and Thomas Hastings (1784-1872), encouraged hymn-writing based on more refined European models. This movement gave rise to the writing of many new hymn tunes in the early 19th century, and while these may have been musically more “correct” than those of the Yankee tunesmiths, they often lacked the character and originality of the earlier music. An exception to this was Lowell Mason himself, who wrote a number of truly great hymns, many of them still part of the core of today's congregational hymnody.
Throughout the South and Midwest, hymn singing was also an integral part of people's religious expression. Camp meetings, revivals and “all-day singings” brought about an outpouring of folk hymns. Folk hymns were frequently based on secular folk tunes, and the melodies were usually composed in one of the ancient modal scales, giving the music a stark and mournful quality. Because of widespread illiteracy and a dearth of tune books, the hymns were often performed by congregations in a manner known as “call-and-response.” In this practice, a minister would “line-out” the hymn, singing one or two lines at a time with the congregation responding in turn. Many folk hymns were collected into tune books such as the Kentucky Harmony, The Sacred Harp and Missouri Harmony. The settings of the hymns in the earliest tune books, like The Southern Harmony, were usually for three parts (soprano, tenor and bass), but gradually the four-voice arrangement, with the alto part added, became the norm. In most folk hymns from this time, the melody was given to the tenor part, though some sopranos might also sing the tune to create a five-voice texture. In the performances on this recording, some of the folk hymns are sung in a variety of textures, sometimes with the entire chorus on the tune for one verse and different parts being added in subsequent verses.
In America's urban centers, a new style of hymnody called the gospel hymn came about during the last half of the 19th century. During this period, the Sunday school developed as a means of spreading the gospel to children, and composers such as William B. Bradbury began writing and collecting hymns specifically for use in Sunday schools. Around 1870, the evangelist Dwight Moody and the musician Ira D. Sankey began leading revival campaigns throughout the United States, and later Great Britain, and made the gospel hymn an important feature of their meetings. Gospel hymns were usually quite tuneful and uncomplicated, utilizing relatively simple harmonies, “echo” choruses and often a marchlike movement. Unlike camp meeting and folk hymns, which were often the work of anonymous singers and developed over time, gospel hymns were created by individual composers and writers. Also, unlike the long-standing tradition of hymn texts and music being written separately, with different texts sung to different tunes in the same meter, the music and words of gospel hymns were written to be sung together in the manner of popular songs of the day.
Concurrent with the development of traditional, folk and gospel hymns, there was another type of song which “embodied the praise of God”: the Negro spiritual. The first spirituals were not documented until the Civil War period when a volume entitled Slave Songs of the United States was published by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy McKim Garrison. This collection, containing 136 tunes transcribed by the authors at different plantations throughout the South, brought to light a small fraction of a body of folksong that would soon be recognized as one of the most remarkable in history.
The Negro spiritual, as described by Christ-Janer, Hughes and Smith in American Hymns Old and New, was “the expression of a people torn violently from one tradition and thrust against their will into another.” While the slaves brought with them from Africa a tremendous musical aptitude and tradition, their indoctrination into Christianity included exposure to the music and texts of the psalms and hymns of their white owners. Some spirituals were the result of slaves hearing these hymn tunes and texts and transforming them into new songs; others were completely original works of art.
The singing of spirituals was not confined to the church or other religious gatherings, but was also part of the daily routine of the slaves, especially in field work and at tasks like rowing. The songs were marked by improvisation and an independence of vocal line that was constantly evolving. The same spiritual could frequently be heard as an almost totally different work from one plantation to the next.
The development of black colleges in America after the Civil War gave birth to the spiritual as a concert work. In 1871, the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville began performing spirituals, arranged in three or four parts, as part of their programs, awakening a new interest in the form. The group toured throughout the United States and Europe, raising tens of thousands of dollars for Fisk University and bringing the spiritual to a large new audience. The Jubilee Singers and other groups such as those from the Hampton Institute in Virginia inspired many musicians to publish their own spiritual arrangements, and today there are many versions by R. Nathaniel Dett, Harry T. Burleigh, John W. Work and others.
While Protestant hymns and Negro spirituals were certainly the predominant hymnody in America throughout this time, other denominational hymns were written and sung as well. The Reform movement in Judaism began in Germany, and the first Reform temple in the United States was established in 1841 by Congregation Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina. The first hymnbook for this congregation was compiled in 1843 by Penina Moise. Other hymnals followed, leading to the Union Hymnal, published in 1897 by Central Conference of American Rabbis and now in its third edition. The religious songs of the Shakers are some of the most beautiful and interesting that have been written in America. Seeking a place to freely practice their religious beliefs, the Shakers came to America in 1774 from Manchester, England. The sect settled near Albany, New York, and established the foundation for a unique communitarian society which has endured for more than 220 years.
The influence of hymns and spirituals on the classical and popular American music of the 20th century has been profound. Charles Ives was one of the first composers to integrate hymn tunes into his work and was later followed in this by Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and many others. The music of the great African American composers, including William Grant Still and Ulysses Kay, has been deeply influenced by the Negro spiritual. The jazz, folk, popular, and gospel musics of the 20th century were, to varying degrees, a direct outgrowth of both the hymn and the spiritual. Today, traditional hymns are kept alive through the church, folk hymns are sung by hundreds of Sacred Harp groups throughout the country, and the spiritual is still an integral part of the African American church and the music of gospel and jazz musicians.
Tune (Composer or Arranger)
The tune “Liberty Hall” is an anonymous Southern tune which appeared in a number of tunebooks in the early 1800's. The version here is from Missouri Harmony of 1820, said to be the tunebook from which the young Abraham Lincoln sang. The hymn text was written by Jesse L. Holman, a judge and minister from Kentucky, and was first published in 1825 in Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs.
Lord, in thy presence here we meet,
O make the place divinely sweet,
With harmony and union bless,
How good, how sweet, how pleasant 'tis
May Zion's good be kept in view,
And bless our feeble aim,
That all we undertake to do,
Work in us by thy gracious sway,
And make thy work appear,
That all may feel, and all may say,
2. Rise, Shine, for Thy Light Is A-Comin'
This call-and-response spiritual is the first piece in John W. Work's collection American Negro Songs and Spirituals, published in 1940.
O 'rise! shine! for thy light is a-comin',
'Rise! shine! for thy light is a-comin',
O 'rise! shine! for thy light is a-comin',
My Lord says he's comin' bye 'n' bye.
This is the year of Jubilee,
My Lord says he's comin' bye 'n' bye,
My Lord has set his people free,
My Lord says he's comin' bye 'n' bye.
I'ntend to shout an' never stop,
My Lord says he's comin' bye 'n' bye,
Until I reach the mountaintop,
My Lord says he's comin' bye 'n' bye.
John Greenleaf Whittier, 1848
In 1902, the Englishman Alfred Scott-Gatty composed the tune “Welwyn” to “O Brother Man,” a hymn by the Massachusetts poet and activist John Greenleaf Whittier. Whittier was a Quaker and the most outspoken abolitionist among the poets of his generation.
O brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother!
Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there;
To worship rightly is to love each other,
Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.
Follow with reverent steps the great example
Of him whose holy work was doing good;
So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple,
Each loving life a psalm of gratitude.
Then shall all shackles fall; the stormy clangor
Of wild war music o'er the earth shall cease;
Love shall tread out the baleful fire of anger,
And in its ashes plant the tree of peace.
This text is a version of the 23rd Psalm and is sung to a tune which originally appeared in Missouri Harmony of 1820. Nothing is known about “Pisgah's” attributed composer, J.C. Lowry, but this was one of a number of early 19th century American tunes which made its way overseas and became popular in the British Isles.
The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want,
In pastures green; he leadeth me
My soul he doth restore again,
Into the paths of righteousness,
Even for his own name's sake.
Yet though I walk in death's dark vale,
Yet will I fear none ill;
For thou art with me, and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
My table thou hast furnished
My head thou dost with oil annoint,
Goodness and mercy all my life
And in God's house forevermore
My dwelling-place shall be.
Goodness and mercy all my life
And in God's house forevermore
My dwelling-place shall be.
The beautiful lament “Poor Rosy” is a tune from the landmark 1867 collection Slave Songs of the United States. Lucy McKim Garrison, one of the book's compilers, quotes a house servant from the Port Royal Islands who said “I likes 'Poor Rosy' better dan all de songs, but it can't be sung widout a full heart and a troubled sperrit.”
Rosy break my poor heart,
Heav'n shall-a be my home.
I cannot stay in hell one day,
Heav'n shall-a be my home;
I'll sing and pray my soul away,
Heav'n shall-a be my home.
O when I walk, I walk wid God,
Heav'n shall-a be my home;
O when I talk, I talk wid God,
Heav'n shall-a be my home.
Rosy break my poor heart,
Heav'n shall-a be my home.
6. I've Just Come from the Fountain
Another arrangement from American Negro Songs and Spirituals, this text is based on the story of the sinful Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob's Well and was offered salvation.
I've just come from the fountain,
I've just come from the fountain, Lord,
I've just come from the fountain,
Been drinking from the fountain,
Been drinking from the fountain,
Been drinking from the fountain,
7. Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler
arr. Harry T. Burleigh, 1924
The arranger of this spiritual, Harry T. Burleigh, was also a gifted singer and a protegé of Antonin Dvorak. A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Burleigh's arrangements for solo voice and piano created a wide new audience for spirituals in the early 20th century.
Let us cheer the weary traveler,
Cheer the weary traveler,
Let us cheer the weary traveler,
I'll take my gospel trumpet
And if my Saviour helps me
And if you meet with crosses
Just keep your trust in Jesus,
And don't forget to pray.
Anonymous, early 19th century
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
The Englishman Robert Robinson wrote “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” in 1758 while he was pastor of the Stoneyard Baptist Church in Cambridge, England. The anonymous tune “Nettleton” was originally printed in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, published in 1813 under the title Hallelujah, and was a great favorite at camp meetings and revivals. The tune was named for Asahel Nettleton, one of the most powerful evangelists of the Second Great Awakening.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise;
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it!
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee;
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
arr. James Christopher, early 19th century
What Wondrous Love Is This?
Anonymous, early 19th century
The text for “Wondrous Love” was first published in 1811 in a collection called A General Selection of the Newest and Most Admired Hymns and Spiritual Songs Now in Use. The tune has appeared in numerous hymnals and shape-note books over the years. The version sung here is from The Sacred Harp.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse, for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse, for my soul.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down;
Beneath God's righteous frown
Christ laid aside his crown, for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown, for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing,
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on,
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on,
And when from death I'm free,
Throughout eternity, I'll sing on, I'll sing on,
Throughout eternity I'll sing on.
arr. Theodore F. Seward, 1877
The arrangement of this spiritual is from The Story of the Jubilee Singers, with Their Songs, first published in 1877. Spirituals often had double meanings, and it is believed that Gospel Train was actually code for the Underground Railroad and an encouragement for slaves to break their bonds and flee to “the promised land” of Canada.
The gospel train is coming,
I hear the car wheels moving,
And rumbling thro' the land.
For there's room for many a more.
I hear the bell and whistle,
The coming round the curve;
She's playing all her steam and pow'r
And straining every nerve.
The fare is cheap and all can go,
The rich and poor are there,
No second-class on board the train,
No difference in the fare.
My Days Are Gliding Swiftly By
One of the most prominent American composers and musicians of the 19th century, George F. Root never felt that his tune “Shining Shore” was a particularly good one. Nevertheless, time has proven it to be one of the great gospel hymns. The author of the text, David Nelson, was a surgeon during the War of 1812 and later became a preacher and an educator.
My days are gliding swiftly by,
And I, a pilgrim stranger,
Would not detain them as they fly,
Those hours of toil and danger.
For now we stand on Jordan's strand,
Our friends are passing over,
And just before the shining shore,
Let storms of woe in whirlwinds rise,
Each cord on earth to sever,
There - bright and joyous in the skies,
There - is our home forever.
The Shaker song More Love comes from Canterbury, New Hampshire, where it appeared in Selection of Devotional Melodies in 1876.
The heavens are blessing,
If ye love not each other
In Mercy, Lord, Incline Thine Ear
“In Mercy, Lord, Incline Thine Ear” is taken from the Union Hymnal, originally published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in 1897. The author of the text, Isaac M. Wise, was the first president of the CCAR, and the composer Abraham W. Binder was also musical director of the Free Synagogue in New York City.
In mercy, Lord, incline thine ear
In love and grace our pleadings hear,
Reveal once more celestial light
Dispel the clouds and end the night,
Let truth pervade all lands.
To truth be laid this cornerstone,
Be reared these massive walls;
To thee, Most High, and only One,
Be arched these sacred halls.
Pour down thy grace in sunny rays,
The house of praise to teach thy ways,
Shall We Gather at the River
Perhaps the most famous of all gospel hymns, “Beautiful River” was written during an epidemic in Brooklyn in 1864. Robert Lowry was pastor of a church there and writes that “all around friends and acquaintances were passing away to the spirit land in large numbers. . . Seating myself at the organ simply to give vent to the pent up emotions of the heart, the words and music of the hymn began to flow out, as if by inspiration.” The text is based on Revelations 22:1: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb.”
Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?
Yes, we'll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river,
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.
On the margin of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We shall walk and worship ever,
All the happy, golden day.
Another call-and-response spiritual from John W. Work's American Negro Songs and Spirituals, this tune begins quietly, then opens up in a great outpouring of spirit, all in the space of only 15 bars.
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan,
O yes I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan
Some of these days hallelujah!
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan,
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan
I'm goin' to eat at the welcome table,
O yes I'm goin' to eat at the welcome table
Some of these days hallelujah!
I'm goin' to eat at the welcome table,
I'm goin' to eat at the welcome table
I'm goin' down to the big baptizin',
O yes I'm goin' down to the big baptizin',
Some of these days hallelujah!
I'm goin' down to the big baptizin',
I'm goin' down to the big baptizin'
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan,
O yes I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan
Some of these days hallelujah!
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan,
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan
Like the sweet chariot and the gospel train, the ship of Zion is one of the classic subjects of folk hymnody. There are many variants of the tune and text, and this version is from Slave Songs of the United States. It was first documented about 1860 on a plantation in Ann Arundel County, Maryland.
What ship is that you're enlisted upon?
'Tis the old ship of Zion, hallelujah!
'Tis the old ship of Zion, hallelujah!
And who is the Captain of the ship that you're on?
My Saviour is the Captain, hallelujah!
My Saviour is the Captain, hallelujah!
In Christ There Is No East or West
This hymn actually has both words and music by Englishmen, although Alexander Reinagle was an uncle of the American composer of the same name. The author of the text is William Arthur Dunkerly, who took the pseudonym John Oxenham from the popular 19th century novel Westward Ho!
In Christ there is no East or West,
In him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord
Close binding all mankind.
Join hands, then, brothers of the faith,
Whate'er your race may be.
Who serves my Father as a son
In Christ now meet both East and West,
In him meet South and North;
All Christly souls are one in him
Throughout the whole wide earth.
Born in Saxony, Charles Zeuner moved to America and was a prominent musician in Boston and Philadelphia where he composed many works and served as church organist. Charles Ives based the “Alcotts” movement of his Concord Sonata on the tune “Missionary Chant.” The text used here is by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), considered the father of English hymnody. As a youth, Watts criticized the language of the psalms being sung in church, and his father challenged him to write his own. He went on to write over 750 hymns, most of them in a remarkable burst of creativity between the ages of 20-22. Among his most famous are “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” and “There is a Land of Pure Delight.”
Awake, our souls; away, our fears,
Let ev'ry trembling thought begone;
Awake, and run the heav'nly race,
And put a cheerful courage on.
Thee, mighty God! whose matchless power
Is ever new and ever young,
And firm endures, while endless years
Their everlasting circles run.
Swift as an eagle cuts the air,
We'll mount aloft to thine abode;
On wings of love our souls shall fly,
Nor tire amidst the heav'nly road.
arr. Thomas W. Carter, 1844
Samuel Hauser (?), c. 1800
This is another version of the Ship of Zion. The tune here is in three parts and comes from The Sacred Harp of 1844; the text is attributed to the Rev. Samuel Hauser and is believed to have been written around 1800.
What ship is this that will take us all home,
And safely land us on Canaan's bright shore?
`Tis the old ship of Zion, hallelu, hallelu,
`Tis the old ship of Zion, hallelujah.
The winds may blow and the billows may foam,
But she is able to land us all home,
If I arrive there, then, before you do,
I'll tell them that you are coming up, too,
J. Rosamond Johnson, 1925
The melody of this remarkable spiritual is made up of only three different pitches and encompasses a total of a major third (about a musical inch?). This arrangement is derived from John W. Work's in American Negro Songs and Spirituals and J. Rosamond Johnson's in The Book of American Negro Spirituals. Work's version is heard first and uses very simple, straightforward harmonies, while Johnson brings an almost barbershop-quartet quality to his.
Jesus will come by-and-by.
Jesus will come by-and-by.
It was inch by inch that I sought the Lord,
Jesus will come by-and-by,
It was inch by inch that He saved my soul,
Jesus will come by-and-by.
O trials and troubles on the way,
Jesus will come by-and-by,
But we must watch as well as pray,
Jesus will come by-and-by.
We'll inch and inch and inch along,
Jesus will come by-and-by,
And inch by inch till we get home,
Jesus will come by-and-by.
Watchman, Tell Us of the Night
Along with “Bethany,” “Missionary Hymn,” and “Cleansing Fountain,” “Watchman” is one of Lowell Mason's finest hymns. The text, written in 1825 by Sir John Bowring, was originally intended as a poem rather than a hymn. Bowring was himself a remarkable man, known as a brilliant linguist, statesman, prolific author, and inventor of the English florin.
Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveller, o'er yon mountain's height
See that glory-beaming star.
Watchman, doth its beauteous ray
Aught of hope or joy foretell?
Traveller, yes, it brings the day,
Watchman, tell us of the night,
Higher yet that star ascends.
Traveller, blessedness and light,
Peace and truth its course portends.
Watchman, will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveller, ages are its own,
See! it bursts o'er all the earth.
Watchman, tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn.
Traveller, darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.
Watchman, let thy wanderings cease,
Hie thee to thy quiet home.
Traveller, lo! the Prince of Peace,
Lo! the Son of God is come!
22. Hurry On, My Weary Soul
arr. American Hymns Old and New, 1980
This spiritual is from Slave Songs of the United States and was first heard on the Port Royal Islands of South Carolina. The arrangement sung here is from American Hymns Old and New.
And I heard from heaven today,
And I heard from heaven today.
My sin is forgiven and my soul set free,
And I heard from heaven today.
De trumpet sound in de oder bright land,
And I heard from heaven today.
Like “Wondrous Love”, this is one of the most popular of all American folk hymns, appearing in numerous tunebooks from the mid-19th century including The Southern Harmony, The Harp of Columbia and The Social Harp. The arrangement here is taken from The Sacred Harp.
O when shall I see Jesus,
And reign with Him above,
And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning?
And from the flowing fountain,
And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning?
Shout, O glory! for I shall mount above the skies,
When I hear the trumpet sound in that morning.
When shall I be delivered
From this vain world of sin,
And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning?
And with my blessed Jesus,
Drink endless pleasures in,
And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning?
My Captain's gone before;
And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning?
And bids me ne'er give o'er;
And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning?
24. He's a Mighty Good Leader
From American Negro Songs and Spirituals, this is a true “rhythm” spiritual with a powerful, compelling beat, and may well have been used as a work song. Like “Some of These Days,” it has an irregular form — in this case 17 measures instead of the usual 16, with the repetition of “God's Son” in bar 9 being the additional measure.
He's a mighty good leader,
He's a mighty good leader,
He's a mighty good leader,
Jesus Christ, God's Son, God's Son, God's Son.
He's a mighty good leader,
Jesus Christ, God's Son, God's Son, God's Son.
He's a mighty good leader,
Jesus Christ, God's Son, God's Son, God's Son.
arr. William Appling/William McClelland, 1999
The image of the “gospel plow” may have come from Luke 9:62 where Jesus said “No one, after putting his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” For an enslaved people, this image would have been a great impetus to persevere in their struggle for freedom and salvation, and it inspired one of the most powerful of all spirituals.
Keep-a your hand on the plow, hold on.
Noah, Noah let me come in,
Doors all fastened and the windows pinned.
Keep-a your hand on the plow, hold on.
Noah said you done lost your track,
Can't plow straight and keep-a lookin' back.
Keep-a your hand on the plow, hold on.
Keep-a your hand on the plow, hold on.
Mary wore a golden chain,
Ev'ry link was my Jesus's name.
Keep-a your hand on the plow, hold on.
Keep on plowin' and don't you tire,
Every rung goes higher and higher.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
Want to get to heaven I'll tell you how,
Just keep your hand on the gospel plow.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
If that plow stays in your hand,
Land you straight in the promised land.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
Isaac Watt's paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm is set to a tune which first appeared in William Walker's The Southern Harmony of 1835, the most popular of all the shape-note tunebooks of the 19th century. In this version the last verse is sung as a four-part canon.
My Shepherd will supply my need,
In pastures fresh he makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wand'ring spirit back
And leads me, for his mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.
When I walk through the shades of death,
One word of thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.
The sure provisions of my God
O may thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, or a guest,
But like a child at home.
27. We Shall Walk Through the Valley
arr. William Appling, 1965
This great spiritual was also inspired by the 23rd Psalm.
We shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
We shall walk through the valley in peace,
And if Jesus Himself shall be our leader,
We shall walk through the valley in peace.
There will be no sorrowing there,
There will be no sorrowing there,
And if Jesus Himself shall be our leader,
We shall walk through the valley in peace.
Allen, William Francis, Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy Kim Garrison, comps. Slave Songs of the United States. New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867; reprinted New York: Dover, 1995.
Andrews, Edward Deming. The Gift to be Simple: Songs, Dances and Rituals of the American Shakers. New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1940; reprinted New York: Dover, 1962.
Bradbury, William B. and George F. Root, comps. The Shawm; A Library of Church Music. New York: Mason Brothers, 1853.
Carden, Allen D., comp. Missouri Harmony, 18th ed. Cincinnati: Philips and Reynolds, 1846; reprinted Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
Central Conference of American Rabbis. Union Hymnal: Songs and Prayers for Jewish Worship. 3d ed. Pennsylvania, 1957.
Chase, Gilbert. America's Music: from the Pilgrims to the Present, Revised 3d ed. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.
Christ-Janer, Albert, Charles W. Hughes, and Carleton Sprague Smith, eds. American Hymns Old and New (two volumes). New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.
Davisson, Ananias. Kentucky Harmony. Harrisonburg, VA, 1816; reprinted Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publisher, 1976.
Gould, Nathaniel D. History of Church Music in America. Boston: A.N. Johnson, 1853; reprinted New York: AMS, 1972.
Jackson, George Pullen. White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933; reprinted New York: Dover, 1965.
Johnson, James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson, eds. The Book of American Negro Spirituals. New York: Viking, 1925; reprinted Cambridge, MA: DaCapo Press, 1988.
Jones, LeRoi (Amiri Bakara). Blues People. New York: William Morrow, 1983.
McKay, David P. and Richard Crawford. William Billings of Boston. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975.
Marracco, W. Thomas and Harold Gleason. Music in America. New York: Norton, 1964.
Marsh, J.B.T. The Story of the Jubilee Singers, with Their Songs. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1877; reprinted New York: AMS Press, 1980.
Mason, Lowell, comp. Carmina Sacra: Boston Collection of Church Music. Cincinnati: Jewett and Mason, 1844.
Sankey, Ira D., et al. Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete. 1895; reprinted, with a new introduction by H. Wiley Hitchcock. Earlier American Music, no. 5. New York: Da Capo Press, 1972.
Southern, Eileen. Music of Black Americans, 3d edition. New York: Norton, 1997.
Stevenson, Robert. Protestant Church Music in America. New York: Norton, 1966.
Walker, William, comp. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Spartansburg, SC, 1835; reprinted Lexington, KT: The University of Kentucky Press, 1987.
Watts, Isaac. The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1997.
White, B.F. and E.J. King, comp. The Sacred Harp, 1991 Edition. Sacred Harp Publishing Co., c/o Hugh McGraw, 1010 Waddell St., Bremen, GA 30110.
Work, John Wesley, ed. American Negro Songs and Spirituals. New York: Crown Publishers, 1940; reprinted New York: Dover, 1998.
Work, John Wesley. Folk Songs of the American Negro. Nashville, TN: Fisk University Press, 1915.; reprinted Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1974.
Wyeth, John. Repository of Sacred Music and Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second. 5th Ed. 1820; reprinted with a new introduction by Irving Lowens. New York: Da Capo Press, 1975.
(CDs unless otherwise noted)
Amazing Grace - American Hymns and Spirituals. Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Telarc CD 80325.
The American Vocalist. The Boston Camerata, Joel Cohen, director. Erato ZK 458181.
Aretha Franklin: Amazing Grace. Rhino Records 75627
The Clara Ward Singers: Meetin' Tonight. Vanguard 145/46.
The Colored Sacred Harp. Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers led by Dewey Williams. New World Records 80433-2.
Early American Vocal Music: New England Anthems and Southern Folk Hymns. The Western Wind. Elektra/Nonesuch 71276-4.
Fisk Jubilee Singers, Vol. 1, 1909-1911. Document 5533.
Georgia Sea Island Songs. Georgia Sea Island Singers. New World Records 80278-2.
The Gospel Ship. Baptist Hymns and White Spirituals from the Southern Mountains. New World Records 80294-2.
Great American Spirituals: Kathleen Battle, Barbara Hendricks, Florence Quivar. EMI Angel CDM 64669.
The Happy Journey: Early American Vocal Music, Vol. II. The Western Wind. Western Wind Records.
John Alexander's Sterling Jubilee Singers: Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb. New World Records, 80513-2.
Make a Joyful Noise: American Psalmody 1770-1840. The Oregon State University Choir, Ron Jeffers, cond. New World Records 80255-2.
Mahalia Jackson: Gospels, Spirituals and Hymns. Legacy Records 65594.
New Britain: The Roots of American Folk Song. The Boston Camerata, Joel Cohen, director. Erato 2292-45474-2.
The New England Harmony. The Old Sturbridge Singers, directed by Floyd Corson. Folkways FA 2377 (LP).
Paul Robeson: Live at Carnegie Hall, 1958. Vanguard 72020.
Rivers of Delight. Word of Mouth Chorus, Larry Gordon, director. Nonesuch CD71360.
Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals. Boston Camerata, Joel Cohen, director. Erato 98491.
Travelin' Home: American Spirituals 1770-1870. The Boston Camerata, Joel Cohen, director. Erato 12711.
Wake Ev'ry Breath: Music of William Billings. William Appling Singers & Orchestra, William Appling, conductor. New World Records 80539-2.
Where the Sun Will Never Go Down: Spirituals and Traditional Gospel Music. Chanticleer, Joseph Jennings, music director. Chanticleer Records CR-8802.
White Spirituals from the Sacred Harp. Alabama Sacred Harp Convention, 1959. New World Records 80205-2.
William Appling Singers and Orchestra is a select company of professional musicians performing works of all periods and styles, particularly the music of American composers.
Founded in 1979, the ensemble has appeared in many venues including Alice Tully and Severance Halls. Hale Smith, Richard Hundley and Donald Erb are among the many composers whose works have been premiered by the ensemble.
Founder and conductor William Appling is acclaimed as “a remarkable. . . conductor” (The Nation) and for his “decisive podium leadership” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer). the musicians win praise for their “exciting, sensitive performances, technical mastery and sophisticated musicianship,” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer).
WASO's recordings on New World and Albany Records of music by William Billings and Richard Wilson were released in 1998 and 1999.
Prominent conductor, pianist, arranger and music educator, William Appling has received numerous honors including the first Kulas Foundation Fellowship Award for Choral Conducting with The Cleveland Orchestra, during which time he assisted George Szell and Robert Shaw. As solo pianist he has appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Summer Pops Orchestra, and in recital at Severence Hall, New York's Town Hall and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He has played under the batons of French composer Darius Milhaud and Robert Shaw and in recital with internationally known instrumentalists and singers, including Seth McCoy.
William Appling has taught on the faculties of Vassar College, Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Institute of Music and in the Cleveland Public Schools. In 1971 he founded Summer Music Experience, an international six-week program offering intensive music training and performance experience to gifted students of high school age. He also served as musical director of the Hudson Valley Boys Choir.
William Appling, conductor
R.J. Hazeltine-Shedd, bass
Cynthia Richards Wallace, soprano
Recorded live in concert, February 26, 1999
Christ & St. Stephen's Church, New York City
Produced by William McClelland
Recorded, edited and mastered by George Faddoul, The Barn, Ravenna Ohio
Cover photo by John Vachon. Espicopal Church, King William County, Virginia, 1941.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, LC-USF34- 062664-D
Photo of William Appling by Nick Granito
Special thanks to Ian Frazier, Steve Elson and Jean McClelland
William Appling Singers may be found at www.muzen.com.
American Hymns and Spirituals
William Appling, conductor
1 Liberty Hall (Lord, in Thy Presence) [2:07]
2 Rise, Shine, for Thy Light Is A-Comin' [2:38]
Karen Kreuger, mezzo-soprano
Cynthia Richards Wallace, soprano
3 Welwyn (O Brother Man) [2:06]
4 Pisgah (The Lord's My Shepherd) [2:04]
6 I've Just Come from the Fountain [1:13]
7 Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler [2:58]
8 Nettleton (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing) [1:47]
9 Wondrous Love (What Wondrous Love Is This) [2:44]
11 Shining Shore (My Days Are Gliding Swiftly By) [1:38]
13 In Mercy, Lord (In Mercy, Lord, Incline Thine Ear) [2:02]
14 Beautiful River (Shall We Gather at the River) [1:57]
15 Some of These Days [1:39]
Cynthia Richards Wallace, soprano
Thom Baker, tenor • Emily Eyre, mezzo-soprano
16 The Old Ship of Zion [1:11]
17 St. Peter (In Christ There Is No East or West) [1:33]
18 Missionary Chant (Awake, Our Souls) [1:25]
19 Old Ship of Zion (What Ship Is This?) [2:12]
21 Watchman (Watchman, Tell Us of the Night) [2:46]
22 Hurry On, My Weary Soul [2:15]
Jane Gunter McCoy, mezzo-soprano
23 Morning Trumpet (O When Shall I See Jesus) [2:32]
24 He's a Mighty Good Leader [1:41]
26 Resignation (My Shepherd Will Supply My Need) [3:12]
27 We Shall Walk Through the Valley [2:59]
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