Music in New England

1
Music in New England

• A presentation by Peter Lehner

2
Music in England During the Time of the Colonists

• Church music composed by Thomas Tallis, William
  Byrd, and Orlando Gibbons was popular.
• Lute music made by John Dowland was also
  popular.
• Keyboard music of John Bull was also enjoyed.
• The madrigals composed by Thomas Morley were
  very popular.

John Dowland playing a lute.
3
Madrigals

• To be a proper gentleman in English society men
  were expected to know how to sing madrigals.
• Madrigals were normally not religious songs.
• Thomas Morley who was known for composing
  madrigals wrote a book on how to sing madrigals.
• The book was called A Plaine and Easie
  Introduction to Practicall Musicke (A Plain and
  Easy Introduction to Practical Music)

Thomas Morleys book
4
The Pilgrims Psalter

• As we know, the Pilgrims left for religious
  freedom.
• They also left music like the madrigals, which
  were not very religious.
• Instead they brought a book of Psalms written by
  Henry Ainsworth to the New World. He took the
  popular English book of Psalms and modified the
  words to fit the needs of the Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims psalter
5
The Puritans Music

• Psalms were also important to the Puritans.
• The first book printed in the United States was a
  newly metered and rhymed version of the Psalms.
  It was called the Bay Psalm Book.
• It contained no musical notation so sometimes it
  felt more like poetry instead of a song.

The Bay Psalm book used by the Puritans.
6
Dont Forget the Music!!!

• Over the years as more people came to
  Massachusetts they didnt know the melodies of
  the Psalms. The ability to read music and to sing
  declined.
• One solution was not to sing the whole Psalm but
  have the deacon chant out a line and have the
  people sing in response.
• This ended up slowing down the service. People
  also didnt know what the melody was so they sang
  it the way they thought it should be sung. This
  meant no one was singing the same melody.

7
Revised Bay Psalm Book

• The ninth edition, which came out in 1698, was
  the first edition to contain printed music.
• The book gave 13 melodies and directions on how
  to match with the Psalms.

A page from the 1698 Bay Psalm Book
8
Maintaining Tradition

• The leaders of Massachusetts wanted to maintain
  tradition in all aspects of life. One of these
  aspects was music.
• Over time singing of Psalms declined.
• The leaders wanted educate the population on how
  to sing the Psalms properly.
• To do this they created singing schools.

A New England meeting house.
9
Singing Schools

• It was a challenge to get the first schools
  started.
• Too few of the settlers knew how to read musical
  notation and many of them were not interested in
  learning about music.
• People did not like the idea of singing schools.
• Many of the old timers liked singing the Psalms
  their own way and felt they should be able to
  worship the way they pleased.

10
Singing School Advocacy

• Thomas Symmes thought that every man singing for
  himself in church was a bad idea.
• He said The singing of Psalms could be promoted
  if singing schools were promoted.
• The schools were instituted and with the urging
  of the ministers they were made to thrive.
• These singing schools also had consequences for
  the church.

11
The Consequences

• Some people had musical activity outside the
  churches authority.
• They did not have many actual singing teachers.
  Some people who knew something about music would
  go from settlement to settlement and teach
  lessons at night. They would actually make a good
  amount of money teaching those classes.

12
The Solution

• Thomas Walter wrote a book in 1721 on how to sing
  the Psalms.
• He assured his readers that anyone who mastered
  the rules that he wrote could sing any Psalm they
  wanted to.
• There was also another author who wrote a book
  about psalms. His name was John Tufts.

Thomas Walters book.
13
The Solution (continued)

• John Tufts had an idea to avoid the problem of
  musical notes. He used an original method of
  singing by letters instead of notes.
• This was the first time someone tried to make
  music simpler.
• Later other New England singers would have
  greater success in making music simpler than he
  did.

John Tufts book.
14
Singing Schools Again

• Singing schools eventually caught on. Before the
  Revolution they had spread out to many of the 13
  colonies.
• As the schools grew in number, teachers started
  making songbooks.
• These books had hymns in them and also had
  secular tunes.
• The singing schools ended up failing in leading
  the population back to Psalms.

15
Early American Composers

• Josiah Flagg made a collection of the best Psalm
  tunes.
• James Lyon made the first collection of Native
  American hymns.
• One of the best known singing teachers was
  William Billings, who produced a collection of
  Psalms and anthems. He was a self-taught musician
  who grew up in Boston.

A portrait of William Billings
16
Glossary

• Lute- A stringed instrument, consisting of a long
  fingerboard with frets and gut strings, and a
  body shaped like a sliced pear.
• Madrigals- A part-song for several voices,
  typically without instrumental accompaniment.
• Secular- Things that are not related to religion.

17
Sources

• Kingman, Daniel. American Music A Panorama. New
  York Schirmer Books, 1979.
• Pratt, Waldo Selden. The Music of the Pilgrims.
  New York Russell and Russell, 1971.
• Sablonsky, Irving. American Music. Chicago
  University of Chicago Press, 1969.
• http//www.singers.com/people/images/WilliamBillin
  gs.jpg
• http//people.bethel.edu/rhomar/HymnalPages/Intro
  Tufts.html
• http//people.bethel.edu/rhomar/HymnalPages/Groun
  dsWalterTitle.html
• http//userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/28097567/John
  DowlandWeigandDowlandPainting.gif
• http//www.fulltable.com/vts/t/tp/art/164.jpg

18
Quiz
Go to next slide for answers
In what year did Thomas Walter write his book?
Who was known for composing Madrigals?
A Eminem
A 2005
B 1668
B Thomas Morley
C 1751
C Mozart
D 1721
D William Billings
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Answers

• In what year did Thomas Walter write his book?
• D 1721
• Who was known for composing madrigals?
• B Thomas Marley