Shaker Music

I've always been a fan of Shaker Music. So I was very impressed to hear the hymn "In Yonder Valley" while watching a TV show "The Unit" (a recent fixation of mine). "In Yonder Valley" is the oldest recorded Shaker Song we have--it was written by Father James Whittaker and is a paraphrase of the Song of Songs.

In yonder valley there flows sweet union
Let us arise and drink our fill
The winter's passed and the spring appears
The turtle dove is in our land
In yonder valley there flows sweet union
Let us arise and drink our fill

One blogger about music pointed out that "In Yonder Valley" has a striking similarity to "the plainsong Salve, Regina as it is sung in the ton simple" (source). The same blogger also recommends the Boston Camerata's CD of Shaker music that was grounded in both research and the cooperation of the existing Shaker community.

Take a look at this picture of the remaining Shakers:
(Sister Marie, Anne Azéma, Sister Frances, Sister June, November 1999 (source))

Don't these ladies look like nuns? There is something about men and women that like celibate lives dedicated to prayer in religious community that radiates. I'm glad to know there are a still a few people living this particularly American form of Protestant Monasticism. I wonder how they would feel about that label?

I really think that a lot of the future of Congregational Hymnody is to be found in these earlier form of music like Gregorian Chant and Shaker Music (not to mention Shape Note and other early music forms). This stuff is incredibly rich soil in which to dig for seeds long dormant.

-t