Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
The Methodist Church South sired Pentecostal denominations when it renounced the Holiness movement in 1894. [1] The United Methodist Church was more circumspect with the Charismatic Movement, if for no other reason than its membership had begun to drop in 1964. [2] Of those who remained, 18% “identified” with the movement in 1972. [3]
That year, 1972, the General Conference appointed a commission to investigate speaking in tongues. Its 1976 report distinguished between Methodist and Pentecostal theology, and said charismatic manifestations were acceptable, so long as they fell within the Wesleyan framework. Specifically, the authors condemned substituting “experience for doctrine.” [4]
The commission noted that at the time Pentecostalism arose in the Azusa Street revival, some northern Methodist churches were promoting the Social Gospel. [5] The erosion of membership in the 1960s coincided with the Civil Rights movement and the withdrawal of people into churches that operated segregated, private, Christian schools.
The two impulses, the one toward social activism and the other toward a religion of personal experience, led to two different responses by the Methodist-Presbyterian Hope Publishing company [6] in 1973.
Carlton Young’s Genesis Songbook contained a number of secular songs suitable for youth meetings and coffeehouses, while John Wilson only used songs with religious themes. [7] Wilson’s Folk Encounter was subtitled “the Now hymnal,” while Young described his as “songs for getting it all together.” [8]
Both used material from Presbyterian and Roman Catholic liturgical reform composers like Richard Avery, David Marsh, [9] and Ray Repp, [10] and both reprinted the versions of “Kum Ba Yah” they had used in earlier publications. [11]
The counterculture that appeared in San Francisco in 1967 was not interested in Civil Rights or the war in Vietnam. Individuals were protesting the emptiness of middle-class expectations for good grades and good jobs that demanded delayed gratification. The Now Generation got its name from wanting some pleasures immediately.
The Genesis Songbook included Malvina Reynolds’ “Little Boxes” [12] and six songs recorded by Simon and Garfunkle. [13] In addition, Young included two songs by Bob Dylan, [14] two by the Beatles, [15] and two religious songs popularized by commercial folk-music revival singers: Judy Collins’ “Amazing Grace” [16] and Cat Stevens’ “Morning Has Broken.” [17]
Wilson used two songs from the Jesus Movement, Larry Norman’s “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” [18] and Marsha Stevens’ “For Those Tears I Died. [19] He used nine songs from Word composers Ralph Carmichael, Kurt Kaiser, and Sonny Salsbury, mentioned in the post for 13 December 2020. In addition he published “Put Your Hand in the Hand” [20] and “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” [21]
This was as far as Hope would go. [22] Genesis was the last songbook Young published for youth under the agápe imprint he had established to reach that group. [23] His Exodus Songbook of 1976 was for adults with easy listening tastes. [24]
When Jesus music began using electric instruments and techniques borrowed from acid rock, agápe turned to the British hymnody revival that began in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1962. It was a reaction against contemporary hymns that used tunes influenced by popular music, but with texts and imagery that did not reflect changes introduced by Dunblane’s 1961 translation of the New Testament. [25]
The group’s secretary had served as a “minister of Congregational and reformed churches in England and Scotland.” [26] Erik Routley believed songs should advance theological goals. He criticized Charles Wesley for focusing “hymn writing too narrowly on the ‘evangelical’ themes of personal salvation.” [27]
The emphasis on theology over experience anticipated UMC’s pronouncements on speaking in tongues. In 1974, agápe published a work by Routley [28] and a setting of two Charles Wesley communion anthems by Young. [29]
Routley moved to Princeton, New Jersey in 1975. [30] Two years later agápe introduced many of the British songs to the United States in the Ecumenical Songbook. [31] Fourteen hymns used the word “Christ” in their titles, but only two used “Jesus.” Another three used “Jesus Christ.”
Young became less active with agápe. Two of his last releases were choir songs accompanied by handbells. [32] Eventually, the label only published handbell arrangements [33] like the version of “Kumbaya” by Wilson that is discussed in the post for 16 December 2018.
Young’s next project was editing the next release of the Methodist hymnal. As mentioned in the post for 14 February 2019, it included “Kumbaya.” He also included five works by Routley and one by Sydney Carter, who influenced the Dunblane group. [34]
The hymnal included Collins’ “Amazing Grace,” but “Simple Gifts” appeared as the tune for Carter’s “Lord of the Dance.” [35] Young only included one song by Avery and Marsh, “We Are the Church,” [36] and one song from the religious repertoire that immediately preceded Jesus music, Kurt Kaiser’s “Pass It On.” [27]
Presbyterians retreated from the worship innovations of Avery and March. The 1990 hymnal, which included “Kum ba Yah,” used their “Gloria Patria” and rhythmic “Doxology,” but did not list them in its index of composers. The collection also used “Amazing Grace,” “Morning Has Broken,” and two works with Routley’s name. [38]
The 2012 revision replaced both their works with others, and added five more songs composed, arranged, or translated by Routley. It retained “Kum ba Yah,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Morning Has Broken.”
Performers
Same as post for 9 August 2020
Credits
Same as post for 9 August 2020
Notes on Lyrics
Same as post for 9 August 2020
Notes on Music
Same as post for 9 August 2020
Notes on Performance
Hope produced albums to accompany the songbooks that exploited stereophonic technology: one track contained the vocal part, the other the instrumental. The liner notes gave instructions on manipulating phonographs to hear just one track. It also indicated the length of the instrumental introductions and the verses recorded. [39]
Neither included “Kumbaya,” but the instrumental styles for other songs suggest the aesthetics of the collections. Genesis [40] used simple unison vocal arrangements, while Encounter [41] illustrated settings suitable for young choirs. They included male and female parts, variations in dynamics, and changes in key.
Both albums relied primarily on piano accompaniments, supplemented with guitars, drums, and electric guitars and bases. Wilson’s arrangements on Encounter were more influenced by Easy Listening music than either the commercial folk-music revival or Jesus music. Wilson’s concern was with the reactions of adults in an audience.
Young hired Fred Bock to produce the Genesis record. He was then on the music staff at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, [42] where the pastor had been one of the first to allow charismatic manifestations among his congregation. [43] Many of the piano accompaniments used techniques borrowed from Southern Gospel music. [44] Both the vocal and instrumental parts were syncopated, while only Wilson’s accompaniments were rhythmic. Bock wished to engage the interests of participants.
Notes on Performers
Wilson was featured in the posts for 16 December 2018 and 19 December 2018. Young is mentioned in the post for 14 February 2019.
Bock’s early career with Word Records is mentioned in the post for 12 July 2020. He left Word in 1971 to work as a freelance arranger and editor. In 1973, he had works published by the Nazarenes, Baptists, and Singspiration. [45] He also was working closely with Benson Publishing and Bill Gaither, who is discussed in the post for 17 December 2017.
He later moved to Hollywood Presbyterian, under the pastor who replaced the one who supported the coffee houses. [46] Lloyd Ogilvie was more restrained about speaking in tongues. Bock died in 1993. His widow established a music institute in his name at Fuller Seminary. [47]
Availability
Book: “Kum Ba Yah.” The Genesis Songbook. Edited by Carlton R. Young. Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1973. 46.
Book: “Kum Ba Yah.” Folk Encounter. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1973. 34.
End Notes
1. For more on the reaction of Methodist hierarchies to Phoebe Palmer’s theory of Holiness, see the post for 9 February 2020.
2. “The Methodist Church: Recent Membership Trends.” True Discipleship website. It absorbed the Evangelical Brethren Church in 1968, which broadened its theological heritage. The church also may have realized that, because of all those missionary drives, the church had members in Africa and the Philippines who had very different interpretations of the Holy Spirit.
3. Gallop poll cited by Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. T & T Clark Companion to Methodism. London: T and T Clark, 2010. 286.
4. “The Charismatic Movement: Its Historical Base and Wesleyan Framework.” The UMC revised its guidelines in 2004. Seeking 4 Truth website claimed it was posting the 1976 version in its post “Guidelines: The United Methodist Church and the Charismatic Movement.”
5. Seeking 4 Truth.
6. Hope Publishing is discussed in the post for 9 August 2020.
7. Wilson didn’t mention the Jesus movement. On the inside front cover, he wrote “The emergence of a new song, as well as an increase appreciation of our musical heritage, has resulted in ‘New Music’ for Christians.”
8. The National Conference of Christians and Jews had used the Youngbloods’ version of “Get Together” [48] in 1969 “in a radio public service announcement as a call for brotherhood.” [49]
9. Avery and March are discussed in the post for 9 August 2020.
10. Repp is discussed in the post for 16 August 2020.
11. See the post for 9 August 2020.
12. Malvina Reynolds. “Little Boxes.” Copyrighted by Schroeder Music Company in 1962. Pete Seeger popularized it on We Shall Overcome. Columbia CS 8901. Recorded 8 June 1963; released 1965. [Discogs entry.]
13. They only printed lyrics for three.
14. “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’!”
15. “Imagine” and “Let It Be.”
16. Details are provided in the post for 13 December 2020.
17. Cat Stevens. “Morning Has Broken.” Teaser and The Firecat. A&M Records 8T-4313. 1971. Camp Songs, Folk Songs traced the history of the tune used for Eleanor Farjeon’s words in 1931.
18. Larry Norman is discussed in the post for 4 October 2020.
19. Marsha Stevens is discussed in the post for 4 October 2020.
20. Details are provided in the post for 13 December 2020.
21. Details are provided in the post for 2 August 2020.
22. Generalizations on agápe are based on a WorldCat search conducted 7 June 2020 with the keywords “Agape” and “Young.”
23. For more on the origins of Hope’s agápe imprint, see the post for 9 August 2020.
24. Carlton R Young. Exodus Songbook. Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1976. For example, it included “Alfie,” “Mack the Knife,” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.”
25. Robin A. Leaver. “British Hymnody Since 1950.” 555–599 in The Hymnal 1982 Companion. Edited by Raymond F. Glover. New York: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1990. 1:567–568. The translation was done by the Joint Committee on the New Translation of the Bible. The New English Bible. Cambridge, England: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, 1961.
26. “Routley, Erik.” An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church. Edited by Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum. New York: Church Publishing, 2000. Republished on the Episcopal Church website.
27. Erik Routley. “The Case Against Charles Wesley.” Bulletin of the Hymn Society. 88:252–259:1960. 257. Quoted by Margaret Anne Leask. “The Development of English-Language Hymnody and Its Use in Worship: 1960-1995.” PhD dissertation. University of Durham, 2000. 10.
28. Carlton R Young and Erik Routley. “New Songs of Celebration: Concertato for Two Part Mixed Choir, Congregation, Brass and Organ.” Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1974. [WorldCat entry.]
29. Carlton R Young and Charles Wesley. “Two Communion Anthems.” Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1974. [WorldCat entry.]
30. Wikipedia. “Erik Routley.”
31. Carlton R. Young. Ecumenical Praise. Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1977. [WorldCat entry.]
32. Carlton R Young and Christian H Bateman. “Ring and Sing Alleluia: Two Part Mixed Voices and Handbells.” Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1977. [WorldCat entry.]
Samuel Sebastian Wesley and Carlton R Young. “Lead me Lord: For SA(T)B Voices with Handbells and Optional Accompaniment.” Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1978. [WorldCat entry.]
33. “Hope Publishing Company History.” Its website.
34. Carter talked at the Dunblane meeting in 1964. [50]
35. Sydney Carter. “Lord of the Dance.” Copyrighted by Galliard in 1963. The tune was identified as a “19th cent. Shaker tune; adapt. By Sydney Carter, 1963. The post for 13 December 2020 has more details.
36. Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh. “We Are the Church.” Copyrighted by Hope Publishing in 1972. This became their most popular song. [51]
37. “Pass It On” is discussed in the posts for 4 October 2020 and 13 December 2020.
38. The Presbyterian hymnals are discussed in the post for 17 December 2019.
39. As mentioned in the post for 13 August 2020, Word used this technique in 1972.
40. The Genesis Singalong. agápe Records ARS-1013. 1973. Produced by Fred Bock.
41. Folk Encounter Singalong. Hope Recordings HCP-2030. 1973. Produced by John F. Wilson.
42. Notice about Easter service. Van Nuys Valley News And Green Sheet [Los Angeles, California]. 9 April 1971. 91 “Music will be by the combined children’s and Chancel choirs under the direction of Dr. Keith Clark with Fred Bock at the organ.”
“Indianapolis Nov. Gospel Site.” Billboard 87:56:6 September 1975. “Fred Bock, minister of music at Bel Air Presbyterian Church.”
43. Louis Evans, Jr, is discussed in the post for 27 September 2020.
44. The album liner notes did not list musicians, but Bock was an accomplished piano and organ player. I suspect he was the pianist, if, for no other reasons, than to save money. The album was recorded by Toby Foster at Whitney Studios. That studio was established to support Loren Whiney and the Haven of Rest Quartet. [52]
Wilson used the Sound Studios in Chicago. The engineer, Stu Black, previously had worked with Chess Records and knew local blues musicians. [53]
45. This is based on a search of works by Fred Bock in WorldCat conducted 18 June 2020. He also had arrangements distributed by Theodore Presser.
46. Lloyd John Ogilvie replaced Raymond Lindquist in 1972. I suspect Bock moved when Ogilvie began a weekly television program in 1978. [54]
47. Post about Fred Bock Institute of Music on Fuller Theological Seminary Facebook page. 2 January 2017.
48. The Youngbloods. “Get Together.” The Youngbloods. RCA Victor LSP-3724. 1967. It was reissued as a single on RCA Victor 47-9752 in June 1969. [Discogs entries.]
49. Wikipedia. “Get Together (Youngbloods Song).”
50. Leask. 106.
51. “Presbyterian Pastor, Songwriter Richard Avery Dies.” Presbyterian Church of USA, Presbytery Mission Agency website. 23 March 2020.
52. “Whitney Recording Studios.” Discogs website. The Haven of Rest Quartet is mentioned in the posts for 27 November 2017 and 21 October 2018.
53. Bruce Iglauer and Patrick A. Roberts. Bitten by the Blues. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018. 45.
54. “Our History.” First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood website.
Showing posts with label Wilson John F.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wilson John F.. Show all posts
Sunday, December 27, 2020
agápe - Kum Ba Yah~
Sunday, August 9, 2020
Hope - Kum Ba Yah (Come by Here)
Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
Methodists were the first to laud "a new generation," and the last to recognize the Now Generation. Like with the Baptists, [1] Lutherans, [2] and Nazarenes, [3] it wasn’t the denomination that acted, but an independent publisher with informal ties to the church hierarchy. [4]
Hope Publishing was founded in 1892 by Henry Date. [5] He had attended the 1889 meeting that organized the Epworth League, [6] and needed material for his Methodist youth group meetings. He began with a 64 page pamphlet of songs that attracted the interest of Holiness song writers like Elisha Hoffman, who had written "Are You Washed in the Blood?" [7] and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." [8]
Sales of Date’s preliminary songbook financed the publication of Pentecostal Hymns in 1894. [9] By coincidence, that was the year the Southern Methodist church formally denied the legitimacy of the Holiness doctrine. [10] The music editors included a Presbyterian [11] and a Congregationalist. [12]
Hope continued to produce hymnals and Sunday school materials for evangelistic churches for generations. It changed its focus in 1964 when Dent’s partner’s son, Herbert Shorney, took over, and brought in his sons. [13] They made John Wilson the company’s first full-time music editor in 1966. [14] A year later Wilson produced a songbook with a guitar on the cover.
A Time To Sing was in the tradition of the Cooperative Recreation Service booklets created for youth groups and camps. It even used the same stapled 3.5" x 8.75" format. Lynn Rohrbough had sold his company in 1967, [15] and this may have been an attempt to fill the vacuum created by that transfer.
A quarter of the songs were identified as spirituals, and 18% were used in camps. One of the graces, "Hark to the Chimes," [16] was from a 1929 Girl Scout Song Book. The rest were religious songs, including a few hymns and psalms. Most were recently composed.
Date may have been a Methodist, but the Shorneys were Presbyterians. [17] That denomination began to hear about the "Now Generation" in January 1969 when the John Knox Press released a book by Dennis Benson that analyzed the lyrics of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkle within the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. [18] He suggested ways congregations could find common ground between generations.
Hope responded in two ways. In 1970, it introduced a new division named agápe. [19] The word had been reintroduced in 1960 by C. S. Lewis [20] and become a way to comprehend the Hippies’ 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco. [21] The term especially was popular in the coffee houses sponsored by churches near college campuses.
Carlton Young edited a Songbook for Saints and Sinners in 1971 for what he called the "young Christian" who "as he has always done, is singing a New Song." It was in the CRS format, but with a glossier cover.
Later that year, [22] Wilson issued A New Now under the Hope imprint. It promised to present "only the best of the standard favorites plus many carefully screened new offerings."
Wilson realized summer camps were passé. The CRS songster had been designed for hikers to put in their knapsacks. Backpacks had become the norm, and people sang around camp fires. They needed books that laid flat while they were playing their guitars. A New Now used the spiral binding introduced by Singspiration. [23]
The only camp songs were rounds with peace as a theme: "Dona Nobis Pacem" and "Shalom Chaverim." It also included "Jesus, Jesus," which was being sung in camps with the verse "Peace, Peace." It was based on a song introduced to Girl Scouts by Janet Tobitt in 1939. [24]
Both 1971 Hope songbooks were intended to accompany worship services. Saints had sections devoted to "Songs for the Liturgy" and "Quick Christian Year." Now was subtitled: "A Youth Folk Hymnal." Each contained "Kumbaya."
Saints still was influenced by the folk masses of the Roman Catholic church. It included six songs by Ray Repp. It also included eleven by Richard Avery and Donald March. They were leading workshops on alternative forms of worship for Presbyterians, and were publishing their songs through Hope.
Now had fewer songs from either source. Its definition of folk was like that of Bob MacKenzie. The number of spirituals increased by 15%. They included songs from both Black and white traditions. In addition, the hymnal included old songs rediscovered by folk revival artists like "I Know Where I’m Going" [25] and "Wayfaring Stranger." [26]
Both were more ecumenical than the collections published by companies located in the South. In addition to Catholic and Presbyterian songs, Saints included ones from Baptist [27] and American Lutheran Church sources. [28]
Now reflected the changes in contemporary Christian music. Instead of Baptist songs, it included some published by Word Record’s Sacred Songs, [29] and by the Premillennialist Singspiration. [30]
William G. Shorney had worked as a banker before joining his father and brother in Hope in 1964. [31] The company became more conscious of the importance of copyrights as a source of income. [32] Now had 23% more songs copyrighted by Hope than did Saints, 12% less from the Presbyterians, 11% less from Roman Catholic sources, and 18% less from other contemporary music publishers.
Performers
A Time To Sing, Saints
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
A New Now
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
vVocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano, guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
African (Angola)
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
A Time To Sing, Saints
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
A New Now
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
All three
Tempo: not provided
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
A New Now
Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: Piano chords struck at beginnings of measures and "kumbaya" phrases. Guitar chords on first and last notes of "kumbaya."
All Three
Ending: guitar chords on every note of final line
Notes on Performance
A Time To Sing
"The key to the effectiveness of what is often called ‘sacred folk music’ is its simplicity. It can be sung informally, understood clearly and accompanied easily, perhaps with guitar, banjo, ukelele or autoharp."
A New Now
"We encourage you to improvise from these basic settings. Choirs or small combos with various rhythm styles may be used—folk, folk rock, jazz, straight or whatever."
Notes on Audience
Hope said A Time to Sing "sold over one million copies." [33]
Notes on Performers
Wilson was featured in the posts for 16 December 2018 and 19 December 2018. Young was mentioned in the post for 14 February 2019.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." A Time to Sing. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1967. 37.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Come by Here)." Songbook for Saints and Sinners. Edited by Carlton R. Young. Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1971. 19.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Com by Here)." A New Now. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1971. 38.
End Notes
1. Baptists were discussed in the posts for 5 July 2020 and 12 July 2020.
2. Lutherans were discussed in the posts for 21 June 2020 and 28 June 2020.
3. Nazarenes were discussed in the posts for 19 July 2020 and 26 July 2020
4. George Shorney said: "Methodists, I think, in their most recent hymnbook must have said, ‘We’re tired of having Hope sell books to our people’." [34]
5. "Hope Publishing Company History." Company website.
6. "Founders of the Epworth League." 8–9 in The Epworth League Year-Book. Cincinnati: Jennings and Pye, 1903 edition. 8.
7. E. A. Hoffman. "Are You Washed in the Blood?" In Spiritual Songs for Gospel Meetings and the Sunday School. Edited by Elisha A. Hoffman and J. H. Tenney. Cleveland, Ohio: Barker and Smellie, 1878. [35]
8. Anthony J. Showalter and Elisha Hoffman. "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." In The Glad Evangel. Edited by A. J. Showalter, L. M. Evilsizer, and S. J. Perry. Dalton, Georgia: A. J. Showalter Company, 1887. [37]
9. The earliest citation by WorldCat is: Henry Date, Elisha A. Hoffman and J. H. Tenney. Pentecostal Hymns: For Evangelistic Services, Young People’s Societies and Sunday Schools. Chicago: Hope Publishing Company.
10. For more on the reaction of Methodist hierarchies to Phoebe Palmer’s theory of Holiness, see the post for 9 February 2020.
11. Elisha Albright Hoffman was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1873. In addition to serving congregations, he worked for the Evangelical Association in Cleveland. [38]
12. John Harrison Tenney was a deacon in a Congregation church in Limebrook, Massachusetts. Before working with Date, he co-edited collections with Hoffman. [39]
13. Date worked with George Henry Shorney and Francis G. Kingsbury. Shorney, who was a childhood friend and distant relative, took over when Date died in 1915. Kingsbury was Date’s cousin. He became president with Shorney died in 1919. Kingsbury retired in 1926, and George’s son, Gordon D. Shorney rose. George Herbert Shorney was Gordon’s brother. [40]
14. "Hope Publishing Company History." The existing music editor was part-time. Donald P. Hustad had been with the company since 1950, and was getting more involved with the Billy Graham organization.
15. H. Smith. "Pocket Song Book Publishing Moved, Revitalized." [Yellow Springs, Ohio] Community Service Newsletter. January–February 1977. 1–2.
16. George Newell. Girl Scout Song Book. New York: Girl Scouts, 1929.
17. Bob Goldsborough. "George H. Shorney, 1931-2012." Chicago Tribune. 11 April 2012. His father, Gordon Shorney, had been a Baptist, [41] who sent his sons to Denison College, then associated with the Northern Baptist Convention. [42]
18. Dennis C. Benson. The Now Generation. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1969. He also looked at lyrics by Arlo Guthrie and Janis Ian.
19. "Hope Publishing Company History."
20. C. S. Lewis. The Four Loves. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960. It was published the same year in Orlando, Florida by Harcourt.
21. Wikipedia. "Summer of Love."
22. Both songbooks carried the date 1971. Now contained David Wo’s "Sing, My People" that was introduced by Saints.
23. Singspiration’s spiral-bound Folk Hymnal was discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.
24. Janet Tobitt. "Rose, Rose." Yours for a Song. New York: 1939. Tobitt included Song in her anthology, The Ditty Bay, which she self-published in 1946. "Rose, Rose" was a case study in Camp Songs, 447–454.
25. "I Know Where I’m Going" was recorded in 1944 by Burl Ives, [46] and again by The Weavers in 1957. [47] The post for 2 August 2020 also mentioned this song.
26. Burl Ives recorded "Wayfaring Stranger" in 1944. [48] David Warren Steel and Richard Hulan [49] found a version in Joseph Bever’s The Christian Songster, which was published by the United Brethren in Christ of Dayton in 1858. Robert Waltz and David Engle [50] located an earlier, 1816, version in Kentucky Harmony that was published by Ananias Davisson in Lexington, Kentucky.
27. Five were published by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Broadman Press.
28. Ewald J. Bash. "Jonah." In Songs for Today. Edited by Bash and John Ylvisaker. Minneapolis, Minnesota: The American Lutheran Church, Youth Department, 1964. Hope identified the melody as a "sea chantey," rather than admitting the tune was "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor." [51]
29. The four songs from Sacred Songs, included ones by Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser. They were discussed in the posts for 15 December 2017 and 5 July 2020. The most popular was Sonny Salsbury’s "Psalm 19."
30. The three songs from Singspiration included Jack and Don Wyrtzen’s "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." Grand Rapids, Michigan: Singspiration, 1966. Pat Zondervan was a strong Premillennialist, and determined the publishing company would also support that view. [52]
31. Music and "Hope Publishing Company History."
32. Nancy Luebke. "Hymn Publisher’s 110-year History Started with Hope." Arlington Heights [Illinois] Daily Herald. 16 March 2002. 169. George Shorney told her: "As a publisher, there’s value in owning copyrights, and the owners of the company recognized that acquiring copyrights would be a good way to position the company. Today the strategy of publishers in the music industry is to own copyrights to generate income."
33. "Hope Publishing Company History."
34. David W. Music. "An Interview with George Shorney." The Hymn 44:6-10:January 1992. 7.
35. Diana Leagh Matthews. "Behind the Hymn: Are you washed in the Blood." Her website. 9 April 2017. She said it was republished by Ira Sankey in an 1881 edition of Sacred Songs and Solos. This went through many editions (and, no doubt, revisions); the Library of Congress lists one from 1877. [36]
36. "Sacred Songs and Solos." Library of Congress website. Ira D. Sankey. London: Morgan and Scott, 1877.
37. Tiffany Shomsky. "Leaning on the everlasting arms." Hymnary website.
38. Wikipedia. "Elisha Hoffman."
39. J. H. Hall. "J. H. Tenney." 219–222 in Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914.
40. "Hope Publishing Company History."
41. Gordon D. Shorney. Obituary. Chicago Tribune. 22 October 1964. 69.
432. Denison was founded by the Ohio Baptist Education Society in 1831. [44] At the time the Shorneys began attending, it was associated with the Ohio Baptist Convention, which, in turn, was affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention. [45] Denison became a "non-sectarian institution independent of any denominational affiliation" in the 1960s. [46]
43. "Denison University." Ohio History Central website.
44. Richard Hunter Clossman. "A History of the Organization and Development of the Baptist Churches in Ohio from 1789 to 1907, With Particular Reference to the Ohio Baptist Convention." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1971.
45. "Our History." Denison University website
46. Burl Ives. "I Know Where I’m Going." The Wayfaring Stranger. Columbia C-103. 1944. [Discogs entry]
47. The Weavers. The Weavers At Carnegie Hall. Vanguard VRS-9010. 1957. [Discogs entry]
48. Burl Ives. The Wayfaring Stranger. Stinson Records A 345. 1944. [Discogs entry]
49. David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan. The Makers of the Sacred Harp. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2010. 234. Cited by Wikipedia. "The Wayfaring Stranger (Song)."
50. "Wayfaring Stranger." The Traditional Ballad Index. California State University-Fresno website. Version 4.5.
51. Bsondahl. "Jonah song/Drunken Sailor tune." Mudcat Café website. 9 March 2002.
52. James E. Ruark. The House of Zondervan. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. 27.
Methodists were the first to laud "a new generation," and the last to recognize the Now Generation. Like with the Baptists, [1] Lutherans, [2] and Nazarenes, [3] it wasn’t the denomination that acted, but an independent publisher with informal ties to the church hierarchy. [4]
Hope Publishing was founded in 1892 by Henry Date. [5] He had attended the 1889 meeting that organized the Epworth League, [6] and needed material for his Methodist youth group meetings. He began with a 64 page pamphlet of songs that attracted the interest of Holiness song writers like Elisha Hoffman, who had written "Are You Washed in the Blood?" [7] and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." [8]
Sales of Date’s preliminary songbook financed the publication of Pentecostal Hymns in 1894. [9] By coincidence, that was the year the Southern Methodist church formally denied the legitimacy of the Holiness doctrine. [10] The music editors included a Presbyterian [11] and a Congregationalist. [12]
Hope continued to produce hymnals and Sunday school materials for evangelistic churches for generations. It changed its focus in 1964 when Dent’s partner’s son, Herbert Shorney, took over, and brought in his sons. [13] They made John Wilson the company’s first full-time music editor in 1966. [14] A year later Wilson produced a songbook with a guitar on the cover.
A Time To Sing was in the tradition of the Cooperative Recreation Service booklets created for youth groups and camps. It even used the same stapled 3.5" x 8.75" format. Lynn Rohrbough had sold his company in 1967, [15] and this may have been an attempt to fill the vacuum created by that transfer.
A quarter of the songs were identified as spirituals, and 18% were used in camps. One of the graces, "Hark to the Chimes," [16] was from a 1929 Girl Scout Song Book. The rest were religious songs, including a few hymns and psalms. Most were recently composed.
Date may have been a Methodist, but the Shorneys were Presbyterians. [17] That denomination began to hear about the "Now Generation" in January 1969 when the John Knox Press released a book by Dennis Benson that analyzed the lyrics of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkle within the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. [18] He suggested ways congregations could find common ground between generations.
Hope responded in two ways. In 1970, it introduced a new division named agápe. [19] The word had been reintroduced in 1960 by C. S. Lewis [20] and become a way to comprehend the Hippies’ 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco. [21] The term especially was popular in the coffee houses sponsored by churches near college campuses.
Carlton Young edited a Songbook for Saints and Sinners in 1971 for what he called the "young Christian" who "as he has always done, is singing a New Song." It was in the CRS format, but with a glossier cover.
Later that year, [22] Wilson issued A New Now under the Hope imprint. It promised to present "only the best of the standard favorites plus many carefully screened new offerings."
Wilson realized summer camps were passé. The CRS songster had been designed for hikers to put in their knapsacks. Backpacks had become the norm, and people sang around camp fires. They needed books that laid flat while they were playing their guitars. A New Now used the spiral binding introduced by Singspiration. [23]
The only camp songs were rounds with peace as a theme: "Dona Nobis Pacem" and "Shalom Chaverim." It also included "Jesus, Jesus," which was being sung in camps with the verse "Peace, Peace." It was based on a song introduced to Girl Scouts by Janet Tobitt in 1939. [24]
Both 1971 Hope songbooks were intended to accompany worship services. Saints had sections devoted to "Songs for the Liturgy" and "Quick Christian Year." Now was subtitled: "A Youth Folk Hymnal." Each contained "Kumbaya."
Saints still was influenced by the folk masses of the Roman Catholic church. It included six songs by Ray Repp. It also included eleven by Richard Avery and Donald March. They were leading workshops on alternative forms of worship for Presbyterians, and were publishing their songs through Hope.
Now had fewer songs from either source. Its definition of folk was like that of Bob MacKenzie. The number of spirituals increased by 15%. They included songs from both Black and white traditions. In addition, the hymnal included old songs rediscovered by folk revival artists like "I Know Where I’m Going" [25] and "Wayfaring Stranger." [26]
Both were more ecumenical than the collections published by companies located in the South. In addition to Catholic and Presbyterian songs, Saints included ones from Baptist [27] and American Lutheran Church sources. [28]
Now reflected the changes in contemporary Christian music. Instead of Baptist songs, it included some published by Word Record’s Sacred Songs, [29] and by the Premillennialist Singspiration. [30]
William G. Shorney had worked as a banker before joining his father and brother in Hope in 1964. [31] The company became more conscious of the importance of copyrights as a source of income. [32] Now had 23% more songs copyrighted by Hope than did Saints, 12% less from the Presbyterians, 11% less from Roman Catholic sources, and 18% less from other contemporary music publishers.
Performers
A Time To Sing, Saints
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
A New Now
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
vVocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano, guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
African (Angola)
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
A Time To Sing, Saints
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
A New Now
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
All three
Tempo: not provided
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
A New Now
Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: Piano chords struck at beginnings of measures and "kumbaya" phrases. Guitar chords on first and last notes of "kumbaya."
All Three
Ending: guitar chords on every note of final line
Notes on Performance
A Time To Sing
"The key to the effectiveness of what is often called ‘sacred folk music’ is its simplicity. It can be sung informally, understood clearly and accompanied easily, perhaps with guitar, banjo, ukelele or autoharp."
A New Now
"We encourage you to improvise from these basic settings. Choirs or small combos with various rhythm styles may be used—folk, folk rock, jazz, straight or whatever."
Notes on Audience
Hope said A Time to Sing "sold over one million copies." [33]
Notes on Performers
Wilson was featured in the posts for 16 December 2018 and 19 December 2018. Young was mentioned in the post for 14 February 2019.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." A Time to Sing. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1967. 37.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Come by Here)." Songbook for Saints and Sinners. Edited by Carlton R. Young. Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1971. 19.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Com by Here)." A New Now. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1971. 38.
End Notes
1. Baptists were discussed in the posts for 5 July 2020 and 12 July 2020.
2. Lutherans were discussed in the posts for 21 June 2020 and 28 June 2020.
3. Nazarenes were discussed in the posts for 19 July 2020 and 26 July 2020
4. George Shorney said: "Methodists, I think, in their most recent hymnbook must have said, ‘We’re tired of having Hope sell books to our people’." [34]
5. "Hope Publishing Company History." Company website.
6. "Founders of the Epworth League." 8–9 in The Epworth League Year-Book. Cincinnati: Jennings and Pye, 1903 edition. 8.
7. E. A. Hoffman. "Are You Washed in the Blood?" In Spiritual Songs for Gospel Meetings and the Sunday School. Edited by Elisha A. Hoffman and J. H. Tenney. Cleveland, Ohio: Barker and Smellie, 1878. [35]
8. Anthony J. Showalter and Elisha Hoffman. "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." In The Glad Evangel. Edited by A. J. Showalter, L. M. Evilsizer, and S. J. Perry. Dalton, Georgia: A. J. Showalter Company, 1887. [37]
9. The earliest citation by WorldCat is: Henry Date, Elisha A. Hoffman and J. H. Tenney. Pentecostal Hymns: For Evangelistic Services, Young People’s Societies and Sunday Schools. Chicago: Hope Publishing Company.
10. For more on the reaction of Methodist hierarchies to Phoebe Palmer’s theory of Holiness, see the post for 9 February 2020.
11. Elisha Albright Hoffman was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1873. In addition to serving congregations, he worked for the Evangelical Association in Cleveland. [38]
12. John Harrison Tenney was a deacon in a Congregation church in Limebrook, Massachusetts. Before working with Date, he co-edited collections with Hoffman. [39]
13. Date worked with George Henry Shorney and Francis G. Kingsbury. Shorney, who was a childhood friend and distant relative, took over when Date died in 1915. Kingsbury was Date’s cousin. He became president with Shorney died in 1919. Kingsbury retired in 1926, and George’s son, Gordon D. Shorney rose. George Herbert Shorney was Gordon’s brother. [40]
14. "Hope Publishing Company History." The existing music editor was part-time. Donald P. Hustad had been with the company since 1950, and was getting more involved with the Billy Graham organization.
15. H. Smith. "Pocket Song Book Publishing Moved, Revitalized." [Yellow Springs, Ohio] Community Service Newsletter. January–February 1977. 1–2.
16. George Newell. Girl Scout Song Book. New York: Girl Scouts, 1929.
17. Bob Goldsborough. "George H. Shorney, 1931-2012." Chicago Tribune. 11 April 2012. His father, Gordon Shorney, had been a Baptist, [41] who sent his sons to Denison College, then associated with the Northern Baptist Convention. [42]
18. Dennis C. Benson. The Now Generation. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1969. He also looked at lyrics by Arlo Guthrie and Janis Ian.
19. "Hope Publishing Company History."
20. C. S. Lewis. The Four Loves. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960. It was published the same year in Orlando, Florida by Harcourt.
21. Wikipedia. "Summer of Love."
22. Both songbooks carried the date 1971. Now contained David Wo’s "Sing, My People" that was introduced by Saints.
23. Singspiration’s spiral-bound Folk Hymnal was discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.
24. Janet Tobitt. "Rose, Rose." Yours for a Song. New York: 1939. Tobitt included Song in her anthology, The Ditty Bay, which she self-published in 1946. "Rose, Rose" was a case study in Camp Songs, 447–454.
25. "I Know Where I’m Going" was recorded in 1944 by Burl Ives, [46] and again by The Weavers in 1957. [47] The post for 2 August 2020 also mentioned this song.
26. Burl Ives recorded "Wayfaring Stranger" in 1944. [48] David Warren Steel and Richard Hulan [49] found a version in Joseph Bever’s The Christian Songster, which was published by the United Brethren in Christ of Dayton in 1858. Robert Waltz and David Engle [50] located an earlier, 1816, version in Kentucky Harmony that was published by Ananias Davisson in Lexington, Kentucky.
27. Five were published by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Broadman Press.
28. Ewald J. Bash. "Jonah." In Songs for Today. Edited by Bash and John Ylvisaker. Minneapolis, Minnesota: The American Lutheran Church, Youth Department, 1964. Hope identified the melody as a "sea chantey," rather than admitting the tune was "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor." [51]
29. The four songs from Sacred Songs, included ones by Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser. They were discussed in the posts for 15 December 2017 and 5 July 2020. The most popular was Sonny Salsbury’s "Psalm 19."
30. The three songs from Singspiration included Jack and Don Wyrtzen’s "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." Grand Rapids, Michigan: Singspiration, 1966. Pat Zondervan was a strong Premillennialist, and determined the publishing company would also support that view. [52]
31. Music and "Hope Publishing Company History."
32. Nancy Luebke. "Hymn Publisher’s 110-year History Started with Hope." Arlington Heights [Illinois] Daily Herald. 16 March 2002. 169. George Shorney told her: "As a publisher, there’s value in owning copyrights, and the owners of the company recognized that acquiring copyrights would be a good way to position the company. Today the strategy of publishers in the music industry is to own copyrights to generate income."
33. "Hope Publishing Company History."
34. David W. Music. "An Interview with George Shorney." The Hymn 44:6-10:January 1992. 7.
35. Diana Leagh Matthews. "Behind the Hymn: Are you washed in the Blood." Her website. 9 April 2017. She said it was republished by Ira Sankey in an 1881 edition of Sacred Songs and Solos. This went through many editions (and, no doubt, revisions); the Library of Congress lists one from 1877. [36]
36. "Sacred Songs and Solos." Library of Congress website. Ira D. Sankey. London: Morgan and Scott, 1877.
37. Tiffany Shomsky. "Leaning on the everlasting arms." Hymnary website.
38. Wikipedia. "Elisha Hoffman."
39. J. H. Hall. "J. H. Tenney." 219–222 in Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914.
40. "Hope Publishing Company History."
41. Gordon D. Shorney. Obituary. Chicago Tribune. 22 October 1964. 69.
432. Denison was founded by the Ohio Baptist Education Society in 1831. [44] At the time the Shorneys began attending, it was associated with the Ohio Baptist Convention, which, in turn, was affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention. [45] Denison became a "non-sectarian institution independent of any denominational affiliation" in the 1960s. [46]
43. "Denison University." Ohio History Central website.
44. Richard Hunter Clossman. "A History of the Organization and Development of the Baptist Churches in Ohio from 1789 to 1907, With Particular Reference to the Ohio Baptist Convention." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1971.
45. "Our History." Denison University website
46. Burl Ives. "I Know Where I’m Going." The Wayfaring Stranger. Columbia C-103. 1944. [Discogs entry]
47. The Weavers. The Weavers At Carnegie Hall. Vanguard VRS-9010. 1957. [Discogs entry]
48. Burl Ives. The Wayfaring Stranger. Stinson Records A 345. 1944. [Discogs entry]
49. David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan. The Makers of the Sacred Harp. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2010. 234. Cited by Wikipedia. "The Wayfaring Stranger (Song)."
50. "Wayfaring Stranger." The Traditional Ballad Index. California State University-Fresno website. Version 4.5.
51. Bsondahl. "Jonah song/Drunken Sailor tune." Mudcat Café website. 9 March 2002.
52. James E. Ruark. The House of Zondervan. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. 27.
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Jason W. Krug - Kum Ba Yah
Topic: Instrumental Versions - Handbells
One oddity about the composers of handbell arrangements for "Kumbaya" is that few actually play handbells themselves. Anna Laura Page studied organ and piano, [1] while John Wilson wrote most of his music for piano, organ, and four-part chorus. [2]
As keyboard players, they applied the melody with chordal accompaniment model to their arrangements. And, if there’s anything a bell choir can do, it’s play many more notes simultaneously than is possible by a single pair of hands, or even an orchestra. Page sounded 9 bells together at one point. Wilson scored 15 in several places.
Several arrangers didn’t see handbells as a descendent of the carillon, but as another percussion instrument to be used in rhythm ensembles. Even Wilson, provided instructions for tenor drums, shakers, and marimba-type instruments. However, most churches ignored his suggestion and assigned those percussive parts to bells. [3]
Jason Krug was in the marching band at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [4] where he played trumpet and trumpet in school musicals. [5] When he returned to his native Indianapolis, he joined the bell choir in his family’s Methodist church. [6] His version of "Kumbaya" used a drum and shaker in constant rhythms. [7]
The bells were dominant in a video uploaded by a Fort Lauderdale Methodist church. Most iterations began with a high-pitched bell playing the melody. Several ended with a strong beat from the drum while the ringers put their bells on the table to dampen the sound for a moment of silence.
Krug used progressively more bells at one time, and Christ Church let the overtones die naturally. While the supporting bells often played chords for the melody, in the later repetitions they were rhythmic or long-short rather than the regular strikes on down beats at the beginning.
Performers
Jason Krug
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells, 3-6 octaves
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: djembé, shaker
Christ Church
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: bell choir
Instrumental Accompaniment: sounded like an organ in one place
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum, shaker
Conductor: Chuck Stanley
Credits
Jason Krug
Jason W. Krug
Based on a traditional African-American spiritual
© 2010 Lorenz Publishing Company
Christ Church
arr. Jason W. Krug
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5,
Time Signature: 2/2
Tempo: Lively, quarter note = 116 beats per minute
Key Signature: Begins with no sharps or flats
Basic Structure: melody and rhythmic accompaniment
Notes on Performance
Christ Church
Occasion: Sunday service
Location: Altar, next to the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: white shirts, except one man in yellow; men wore ties; white gloves. The conductor and shaker player wore the blue robes of choir members.
Notes on Movement
Christ Church
The ringers stood in two rows behind tables covered with white clothes. Stanley conducted with his forearms. The older woman playing the shaker made small movements. Music stands were on the table and the ringers turned pages.
Notes on Audience
Christ Church
They applauded at the end.
Notes on Performers
Fort Lauderdale began growing when the navy trained pilots there. [8] It continued expanding in the 1950s when the existing Park Temple Methodist Church organized the new Christ Church congregation in the Coral Ridge neighborhood. The congregation expanded again in 2003 when it merged with the Methodist church in Pompano Beach. [9]
The handbell choir director was then the minister of music at Pompano. Chuck Stanley was raised as a Roman Catholic [10] and began publicly playing organ when he was 14 [11] Armed with a degree in computer science, he worked for the Broward County Schools until he retired. In the evenings and on weekends he played organ and directed choirs in Catholic churches and joined the Nova Singers. [12]
The shaker player probably was Darlene Jones, Christ Church’s pianist. She graduated from the music program at Oklahoma City University, then accompanied "several local theater companies." [13]
The drummer was never shown in the video. Most likely he was sitting to the left of Stanley and was hidden by Stanley’s choir robe. The church’s website indicated Doug Friend was the church’s percussionist. He had played with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra until it folded in 2003. [14]
The Handbell Choir rehearsed once a week to perform once a month. Unlike many churches that said they would train ringers, Christ Church wanted individuals " with experience in bell ringing and an ability to read music." [15]
Availability
Jason Krug
Sheet Music: Dayton: The Lorenz Corporation, 2010.
Christ Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
YouTube: Uploaded by chuckstanleyFL on 31 October 2010.
End Notes
1. For more on Page, see the post for 6 December 2018.
2. "John Floyd Wilson." Hope Publishing website.
3. One exception was the First Congregational Church of Greenville, Michigan. Joy Bells’ director, Trudi Cunningham, used a marimba-like instrument. dreemsnake1 did not credit Wilson when he or she uploaded the video to YouTube on 6 May 2012.
4. "Old Officers." Massachusetts Institute of Technology Marching Band website.
5. MIT Musical Theatre Guild posts on "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1998) and "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum" (1999).
6. "Biography." Jason W. Krug website.
7. Technically, this repetition is termed ostinato.
8. Wikipedia. "Fort Lauderdale, Florida."
9. "Our Story." Christ Church website.
10. "Chuck Stanley. LinkedIn. He graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School.
11. "The Nova Singers Directors." Its website. The Nova Singers recorded "Kumbaya" in 1996 on its New Day CD.
12. About Chuck Stanley. Facebook.
13. "Darlene Jones." LinkedIn.
14. Margo Harakas. "Face The Music." [Fort Lauderdale, Florida] Sun-Sentinel website. 4 June 2003.
15. "Worship Arts." Christ Church website
One oddity about the composers of handbell arrangements for "Kumbaya" is that few actually play handbells themselves. Anna Laura Page studied organ and piano, [1] while John Wilson wrote most of his music for piano, organ, and four-part chorus. [2]
As keyboard players, they applied the melody with chordal accompaniment model to their arrangements. And, if there’s anything a bell choir can do, it’s play many more notes simultaneously than is possible by a single pair of hands, or even an orchestra. Page sounded 9 bells together at one point. Wilson scored 15 in several places.
Several arrangers didn’t see handbells as a descendent of the carillon, but as another percussion instrument to be used in rhythm ensembles. Even Wilson, provided instructions for tenor drums, shakers, and marimba-type instruments. However, most churches ignored his suggestion and assigned those percussive parts to bells. [3]
Jason Krug was in the marching band at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [4] where he played trumpet and trumpet in school musicals. [5] When he returned to his native Indianapolis, he joined the bell choir in his family’s Methodist church. [6] His version of "Kumbaya" used a drum and shaker in constant rhythms. [7]
The bells were dominant in a video uploaded by a Fort Lauderdale Methodist church. Most iterations began with a high-pitched bell playing the melody. Several ended with a strong beat from the drum while the ringers put their bells on the table to dampen the sound for a moment of silence.
Krug used progressively more bells at one time, and Christ Church let the overtones die naturally. While the supporting bells often played chords for the melody, in the later repetitions they were rhythmic or long-short rather than the regular strikes on down beats at the beginning.
Performers
Jason Krug
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells, 3-6 octaves
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: djembé, shaker
Christ Church
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: bell choir
Instrumental Accompaniment: sounded like an organ in one place
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum, shaker
Conductor: Chuck Stanley
Credits
Jason Krug
Jason W. Krug
Based on a traditional African-American spiritual
© 2010 Lorenz Publishing Company
Christ Church
arr. Jason W. Krug
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5,
Time Signature: 2/2
Tempo: Lively, quarter note = 116 beats per minute
Key Signature: Begins with no sharps or flats
Basic Structure: melody and rhythmic accompaniment
Notes on Performance
Christ Church
Occasion: Sunday service
Location: Altar, next to the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: white shirts, except one man in yellow; men wore ties; white gloves. The conductor and shaker player wore the blue robes of choir members.
Notes on Movement
Christ Church
The ringers stood in two rows behind tables covered with white clothes. Stanley conducted with his forearms. The older woman playing the shaker made small movements. Music stands were on the table and the ringers turned pages.
Notes on Audience
Christ Church
They applauded at the end.
Notes on Performers
Fort Lauderdale began growing when the navy trained pilots there. [8] It continued expanding in the 1950s when the existing Park Temple Methodist Church organized the new Christ Church congregation in the Coral Ridge neighborhood. The congregation expanded again in 2003 when it merged with the Methodist church in Pompano Beach. [9]
The handbell choir director was then the minister of music at Pompano. Chuck Stanley was raised as a Roman Catholic [10] and began publicly playing organ when he was 14 [11] Armed with a degree in computer science, he worked for the Broward County Schools until he retired. In the evenings and on weekends he played organ and directed choirs in Catholic churches and joined the Nova Singers. [12]
The shaker player probably was Darlene Jones, Christ Church’s pianist. She graduated from the music program at Oklahoma City University, then accompanied "several local theater companies." [13]
The drummer was never shown in the video. Most likely he was sitting to the left of Stanley and was hidden by Stanley’s choir robe. The church’s website indicated Doug Friend was the church’s percussionist. He had played with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra until it folded in 2003. [14]
The Handbell Choir rehearsed once a week to perform once a month. Unlike many churches that said they would train ringers, Christ Church wanted individuals " with experience in bell ringing and an ability to read music." [15]
Availability
Jason Krug
Sheet Music: Dayton: The Lorenz Corporation, 2010.
Christ Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
YouTube: Uploaded by chuckstanleyFL on 31 October 2010.
End Notes
1. For more on Page, see the post for 6 December 2018.
2. "John Floyd Wilson." Hope Publishing website.
3. One exception was the First Congregational Church of Greenville, Michigan. Joy Bells’ director, Trudi Cunningham, used a marimba-like instrument. dreemsnake1 did not credit Wilson when he or she uploaded the video to YouTube on 6 May 2012.
4. "Old Officers." Massachusetts Institute of Technology Marching Band website.
5. MIT Musical Theatre Guild posts on "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1998) and "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum" (1999).
6. "Biography." Jason W. Krug website.
7. Technically, this repetition is termed ostinato.
8. Wikipedia. "Fort Lauderdale, Florida."
9. "Our Story." Christ Church website.
10. "Chuck Stanley. LinkedIn. He graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School.
11. "The Nova Singers Directors." Its website. The Nova Singers recorded "Kumbaya" in 1996 on its New Day CD.
12. About Chuck Stanley. Facebook.
13. "Darlene Jones." LinkedIn.
14. Margo Harakas. "Face The Music." [Fort Lauderdale, Florida] Sun-Sentinel website. 4 June 2003.
15. "Worship Arts." Christ Church website
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
John Wilson - Kum Ba Yah (continued)
Topic: Instrumental Versions - Handbells
Continued from previous post dated 16 December 2018.
Notes on Movement
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Six people stood along the table facing the pews, with two at abutting tables to the left and right. The director stood with the ringers at stage right. Music stands were set on the tables covered with red cloths.
Christ Church
Two women and a man stood behind a table facing the director; two men were at the table to his left; a man and a woman were a table to his right. He used his forearms to direct, bent upwards from the elbows. Music stands were set on the tables covered with black cloths.
Grace Lutheran Church
The Joy Ringers were arrayed in a single line along the back of the choir. The female director stood in front of them in the center. Music stands were set on the tables.
Notes on Audience
The congregations applauded at the end of all three performances.
Audience Perceptions
Calvin Institute of Christian Worship recommended this arrangement as an offertory, [1] while the James River Ringers of Mechanicsville, Virginia, included it in the repertoire for a 2-3 Octave Festival in 2010. They warned participants about a "tricky page turn between m.74 and m.75" and that
"a few mixed meter measures pushes this piece to a Level 3 rating, but it’s not out of reach for most choirs." [2]
Other churches that performed Wilson’s arrangement according to their church bulletins were, in chronological order:
First Presbyterian Church. Rochester, Minnesota. Nothing But Angels Handbell Choir. Prelude. 17 March 2008.
Duke University Chapel (United Methodist Church). Durham, North Carolina. Prelude. 5 December 2010.
Grace United Methodist Church. Moorhead, Minnesota. Hand Bell Choir, directed by Sharon Fangsrud. Prelude. 26 March 2015.
Central United Methodist Church. Muskegon, Michigan. Joy Bells. Before scripture lesson. 24 April 2016.
The Church at Litchfield Park. Litchfield Park, Arizona. Heavenly Handbells, directed by Marilyn Chandler. Before scripture reading. 15 May 2016.
First Unitarian Universalist Society. San Francisco, California. Bell Choir, directed by Reiko Oda Lane. 5 March 2017 and 6 December 2017.
Urbandale United Church of Christ. Urbandale, Iowa. Adult Handbells, directed by Bobby Stinnett. Prelude. 11 February 2018.
First Congregational Church. Bloomfield, Connecticut. The Accidentals Handbell Ensemble. Between prayer and first lesson. 18 February 2018.
Community United Methodist Church. Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Before children’s time. 22 April 2018.
Notes on Performers
John Floyd Wilson was born in Youngstown, Ohio, [3] and earned his music degrees from the American Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. [4] The Moody Bible Institute, where he taught, published his Introduction to Church Music in 1965. In turn, he organized the music and drama camp [5] for Cedar Lake Ministries, which the Moody Church founded in 1914. [6]
Hudson, Ohio, was part of the western extension of Connecticut before the American Revolution, and sold to speculators in 1796. Hudson, itself, was founded in 1799. [7] The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was associated with a group that broke away from the Presbyterian Church in 1981 after it disciplined individuals with dissenting views that did not contradict the Westminster Confession. [8] Donald Fortson said the denomination was in the tradition of the evangelists who broke with the church during the First Great Awakening. [9]
The church had three octaves of Malmark bells. [10] Its handbell choir director was from Evansville, Indiana, where her mother taught instrumental music in the elementary schools. Sarah Norman’s own degrees were in photography and law. [11]
Des Plaines was much like Tinley Park, discussed in the post for 13 December 2018. Its growth in the 1850s was fueled by a railroad, this one on the northwest side to Janesville, Wisconsin, and by German-speaking immigrants. [12] Deutsche Evangelische Christus Gemeinde was established in 1892. It received its first pipe organ and church bell in 1893, and the first "choir was organized in 1894." [13] Christ Church became affiliated with the United Church of Christ in 1957 when the Congregational Church absorbed the Evangelical and Reformed Church. [14]
The Handbell Ensemble rehearsed once a week. Bob Schumm began singing with the church as soon as he was confirmed and remained active for 41 years. [15] He moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where he died a few months ago when he was 55 years old. [16]
Grace Lutheran Church was organized in Tampa, Florida, in 1970 as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran synod. Laurie Sweigart began directing the Joy Ringers in 2016, and was also a member of the church’s praise band. [17] She earned an accounting degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. [18]
Availability
John Wilson, 2-3 octave
Sheet Music: Carol Stream, Illinois: Agape, 1993
3-5 octave
Sheet Music: Carol Stream, Illinois, Agape, 2001
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Hudson, Ohio
YouTube: three-octave version uploaded by SGNorman on 6 May 2012.
Christ Church, Des Plaines, Illinois
YouTube: uploaded by fozzy1962 on 30 January 2014.
Grace Lutheran Church, Tampa, Florida
YouTube: uploaded by Alison Tietz on 20 February 2018.
End Notes
1. Calvin Institute of Christian Worship website
2. James River Ringers 2-3 Octave Festival brochure, sponsored by Mechanicsville Church of Christ. My copy of the score did not have a page break between the indicated measures.
3. "John Floyd Wilson." Hope Publishing website.
4. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014.
5. Northwestern University commencement program, 13 June 1960.
6. Doug Ross. "From Profane Park to Sacred Ground." NWI Times [Munster, Indiana] website.
7. Wikipedia. "Connecticut Western Reserve."
8. Wikipedia. "Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)."
9. S. Donald Fortson. The Presbyterian Creed: A Confessional Tradition in America. Milton Keynes, England: Paternoster Press, 2008. Cited by Wikipedia, EPC.
10. Sarah Norman. Notes for "Hudson Presbyterian EPC: ‘A Mighty fortress is our God’." Uploaded to YouTube by SGNorman of 5 November 2017.
11. Sarah Norman. "About Me: Who I Am and What I Have Done." 12 September 2011. Facebook.
12. Wikipedia. "Des Plaines, Illinois."
13. Denise Fleischer. "Christ Church Celebrates 125th Anniversary." Journal & Topics Online [Des Plaines, Illinois] website. 15 September 2017.
14. Wikipedia. "United Church of Christ."
15. Holly Schmidt. "Handbell Ensemble Director at Christ Church Retires." Chicago Suburban Daily Herald website. 24 June 2015.
16. Obituary for Robert A. Schumm. Chicago Suburban Daily Herald website. 6 July 2018.
17. "Laurie Sweigart." Grace Lutheran website.
18. "Laurie Sweigart." LinkedIn.
Continued from previous post dated 16 December 2018.
Notes on Movement
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Six people stood along the table facing the pews, with two at abutting tables to the left and right. The director stood with the ringers at stage right. Music stands were set on the tables covered with red cloths.
Christ Church
Two women and a man stood behind a table facing the director; two men were at the table to his left; a man and a woman were a table to his right. He used his forearms to direct, bent upwards from the elbows. Music stands were set on the tables covered with black cloths.
Grace Lutheran Church
The Joy Ringers were arrayed in a single line along the back of the choir. The female director stood in front of them in the center. Music stands were set on the tables.
Notes on Audience
The congregations applauded at the end of all three performances.
Audience Perceptions
Calvin Institute of Christian Worship recommended this arrangement as an offertory, [1] while the James River Ringers of Mechanicsville, Virginia, included it in the repertoire for a 2-3 Octave Festival in 2010. They warned participants about a "tricky page turn between m.74 and m.75" and that
"a few mixed meter measures pushes this piece to a Level 3 rating, but it’s not out of reach for most choirs." [2]
Other churches that performed Wilson’s arrangement according to their church bulletins were, in chronological order:
First Presbyterian Church. Rochester, Minnesota. Nothing But Angels Handbell Choir. Prelude. 17 March 2008.
Duke University Chapel (United Methodist Church). Durham, North Carolina. Prelude. 5 December 2010.
Grace United Methodist Church. Moorhead, Minnesota. Hand Bell Choir, directed by Sharon Fangsrud. Prelude. 26 March 2015.
Central United Methodist Church. Muskegon, Michigan. Joy Bells. Before scripture lesson. 24 April 2016.
The Church at Litchfield Park. Litchfield Park, Arizona. Heavenly Handbells, directed by Marilyn Chandler. Before scripture reading. 15 May 2016.
First Unitarian Universalist Society. San Francisco, California. Bell Choir, directed by Reiko Oda Lane. 5 March 2017 and 6 December 2017.
Urbandale United Church of Christ. Urbandale, Iowa. Adult Handbells, directed by Bobby Stinnett. Prelude. 11 February 2018.
First Congregational Church. Bloomfield, Connecticut. The Accidentals Handbell Ensemble. Between prayer and first lesson. 18 February 2018.
Community United Methodist Church. Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Before children’s time. 22 April 2018.
Notes on Performers
John Floyd Wilson was born in Youngstown, Ohio, [3] and earned his music degrees from the American Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. [4] The Moody Bible Institute, where he taught, published his Introduction to Church Music in 1965. In turn, he organized the music and drama camp [5] for Cedar Lake Ministries, which the Moody Church founded in 1914. [6]
Hudson, Ohio, was part of the western extension of Connecticut before the American Revolution, and sold to speculators in 1796. Hudson, itself, was founded in 1799. [7] The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was associated with a group that broke away from the Presbyterian Church in 1981 after it disciplined individuals with dissenting views that did not contradict the Westminster Confession. [8] Donald Fortson said the denomination was in the tradition of the evangelists who broke with the church during the First Great Awakening. [9]
The church had three octaves of Malmark bells. [10] Its handbell choir director was from Evansville, Indiana, where her mother taught instrumental music in the elementary schools. Sarah Norman’s own degrees were in photography and law. [11]
Des Plaines was much like Tinley Park, discussed in the post for 13 December 2018. Its growth in the 1850s was fueled by a railroad, this one on the northwest side to Janesville, Wisconsin, and by German-speaking immigrants. [12] Deutsche Evangelische Christus Gemeinde was established in 1892. It received its first pipe organ and church bell in 1893, and the first "choir was organized in 1894." [13] Christ Church became affiliated with the United Church of Christ in 1957 when the Congregational Church absorbed the Evangelical and Reformed Church. [14]
The Handbell Ensemble rehearsed once a week. Bob Schumm began singing with the church as soon as he was confirmed and remained active for 41 years. [15] He moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where he died a few months ago when he was 55 years old. [16]
Grace Lutheran Church was organized in Tampa, Florida, in 1970 as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran synod. Laurie Sweigart began directing the Joy Ringers in 2016, and was also a member of the church’s praise band. [17] She earned an accounting degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. [18]
Availability
John Wilson, 2-3 octave
Sheet Music: Carol Stream, Illinois: Agape, 1993
3-5 octave
Sheet Music: Carol Stream, Illinois, Agape, 2001
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Hudson, Ohio
YouTube: three-octave version uploaded by SGNorman on 6 May 2012.
Christ Church, Des Plaines, Illinois
YouTube: uploaded by fozzy1962 on 30 January 2014.
Grace Lutheran Church, Tampa, Florida
YouTube: uploaded by Alison Tietz on 20 February 2018.
End Notes
1. Calvin Institute of Christian Worship website
2. James River Ringers 2-3 Octave Festival brochure, sponsored by Mechanicsville Church of Christ. My copy of the score did not have a page break between the indicated measures.
3. "John Floyd Wilson." Hope Publishing website.
4. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014.
5. Northwestern University commencement program, 13 June 1960.
6. Doug Ross. "From Profane Park to Sacred Ground." NWI Times [Munster, Indiana] website.
7. Wikipedia. "Connecticut Western Reserve."
8. Wikipedia. "Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)."
9. S. Donald Fortson. The Presbyterian Creed: A Confessional Tradition in America. Milton Keynes, England: Paternoster Press, 2008. Cited by Wikipedia, EPC.
10. Sarah Norman. Notes for "Hudson Presbyterian EPC: ‘A Mighty fortress is our God’." Uploaded to YouTube by SGNorman of 5 November 2017.
11. Sarah Norman. "About Me: Who I Am and What I Have Done." 12 September 2011. Facebook.
12. Wikipedia. "Des Plaines, Illinois."
13. Denise Fleischer. "Christ Church Celebrates 125th Anniversary." Journal & Topics Online [Des Plaines, Illinois] website. 15 September 2017.
14. Wikipedia. "United Church of Christ."
15. Holly Schmidt. "Handbell Ensemble Director at Christ Church Retires." Chicago Suburban Daily Herald website. 24 June 2015.
16. Obituary for Robert A. Schumm. Chicago Suburban Daily Herald website. 6 July 2018.
17. "Laurie Sweigart." Grace Lutheran website.
18. "Laurie Sweigart." LinkedIn.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
John Wilson - Kum Ba Yah
Topic: Instrumental Versions - Handbells
Change ringers in England, who were mentioned in the post for 9 December 2018, learned they produced the loudest tones when the bells began facing upward and sung in a full circle. From there, they made technological changes to the bells’ superstructures so they could make the clappers connect to the bells at predictable times. [1]
The English, however, did not move beyond playing permutations to performing recognizable tunes. That step was taken in the Netherlands where carillons were developed. Today, a distinction is made between a carillon that has at least 23 bells and a chime that has fewer, but then the term was still generic. They were played with keys, levers, and/or pedals connected by wires to the bells. [2]
Jacob van Eyck isolated the overtones produced by bells so they could be forged to sound in harmony. Then, in 1645, he began working with Pieter and François Hémony who, independently, had cast a tuned set of bells the prior year. [3] This was the height of the Dutch East India trade and the newly "rich mercantile towns of the lowlands exhibited their status by installing fine carillons in their church towers." [4]
The Hémonys had no successors and their casting secrets died with them in 1680. Interest in bells themselves waned with the French Revolution, [5] only to be revived by wealthy Americans at the end of the nineteenth century. In Hudson, Ohio, a man who made his money from coal mines paid for a clock tower with four chimes in 1912. [6]
The development of handbells paralleled that of carillons. Van Eyck had a small keyboard with 30 bells installed in his home for practice and teaching students in 1631. [7] Nicolas Jullien established what became the Petit and Fritsen bell foundry in the Netherlands in 1690. Since this was before Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, it used the overtones of the time, which differed from those that would develop in England after William of Orange ascended the British throne in 1689. [8]
Like carillons, handbells are held in an upright position to produce the maximum sound. Instead of a superstructure controlling the motion, handbells have internal mechanisms that direct clappers to the optimal strike points. [9] Unlike tower bells, the duration of the sound can be limited by "damping the bell with a hand or on the body or a padded surface." [10]
The Encyclopædia Britannica noted the music that adapted the best to carillons was from the period when they first were developed, the Baroque. Romantic music that developed after the French Revolution had to "be chosen selectively." However, it said improvisations on "folk songs and other familiar themes" also worked. [11]
The most popular handbell arrangement of "Kumbaya" was published in 1993 by John Wilson for two or three octaves. He was the executive editor of Hope, a Chicago religious publisher closely associated with Methodists. Its founder, Henry Sheperd Date, had attended the organizational meeting of the Epworth League in 1889. [12]
By the end of the twentieth century, Hope and its Agape subsidiary had expanded their marketing to meet demands from other denominations. Wilson himself had worked for Methodists, Anabaptists, and the Moody Church. [13] He reissued his version of "Kumbaya" for three to five octaves in 2001.
Wilson emphasized the melody throughout, usually scoring it in octaves. The other instruments played chords like a piano accompaniment that required precision attacks by the players. Toward the end, the higher bells had a descant, but the sheet music advised players to "bring out melody."
The time signature varied, but the bell choirs played every melodic section slowly enough that the overtones dissipated between strokes. The clamor of Middletown’s Congregational Church [14] was eschewed, either by structural acoustics or technique.
One of the groups who uploaded a video to YouTube was in Hudson, Ohio, and the other two had origins in German churches. Two played "Kumbaya" during the collection.
Four who mentioned the arrangement in church bulletins indicated it was a prelude, and three that it was played before a scripture reading. Only one perceived it as a children’s song to be scheduled before their segment of the service. [15]
Performers
John Wilson
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells
Rhythm Accompaniment: TD/PI/Mallet; Sk; RT
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Instrumental Group: Bell Choir, 10 ringers
Conductor: Sarah Norman
Christ Church
Instrumental Group: Handbell Ensemble, 7 ringers, 3 women, 4 men
Conductor: Robert Schumm
Grace Lutheran Church
Instrumental Group: Joy Ringers Handbell
Conductor: Laurie Sweigart
Credits
John Wilson, 2-3 octaves
African American Spiritual
Arranged by John F. Wilson
Copyright © 1993 by Agape
3-5 octaves
Copyright © 1993 and this Arr. 2001 by Agape
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
John Wilson
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: Slowly and expressively, quarter note = c.80 beats per minute; changes to rhythmically, quarter notes = 126
Key Signature: 1 sharp, changing to no flats or sharps
Notes on Performance
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Occasion: It looked like a rehearsal since few were in the audience, and people moved about while they were playing.
Location: around the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and gloves
Christ Church
Occasion: Collection during service, 26 January 2014
Location: Altar, behind the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and black slacks, black gloves
Grace Lutheran Church
Occasion: Collection during service
Location: Behind the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: The choir wore white robes with maroon stoles; the Joy Ringers wore white shirts and long maroon scarves with white gloves
To be continued in next post
End Notes
1. Ron Johnston. "A Most Public of Musical Performances: The English Art of Change-Ringing." GeoJournal 65:17-31:2006. 18-19. Cited by Robert Adam Hill. "The Reformation of the Bells in Early Modern England." PhD. Simon Fraser University, summer 2012. 175.
2. "Carillon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998; last updated 11 May 2016 by Mic Anderson.
3. Aryeh Oron. "Jacob van Eyck (Composer)." Bach Cantatas website. August 2006.
4. "Carillon History." Guild of Carillonneurs in North America website. 30 March 2012.
5. Guild.
6. "History of the Hudson Clock Tower." Hudson, Ohio, website.
7. Oron.
8. Wikipedia. "Handbell."
9. Nancy Kirkner. "Buying Bells: Choosing a Brand." Handbells website. 10 December 2012.
10. Daniel K. Moore "Technique-ly Speaking: The Basic Ringing Stroke/Shoulder Damp." Overtones: The Official Journal of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers 44: 10-11:May-June 1998. Cited by Wikipedia.
11. Britannica.
12. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. 547.
13. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014. He worked for the Anabaptist Mountain View Bible College and Fort Wayne Bible College, as well as the Moody Bible Institute and Indiana Wesleyan University.
14. The Middletown Church bell ringers were discussed in the post for 6 December 2018.
15. For more on my source for church bulletins, see the post for 6 December 2018.
Change ringers in England, who were mentioned in the post for 9 December 2018, learned they produced the loudest tones when the bells began facing upward and sung in a full circle. From there, they made technological changes to the bells’ superstructures so they could make the clappers connect to the bells at predictable times. [1]
The English, however, did not move beyond playing permutations to performing recognizable tunes. That step was taken in the Netherlands where carillons were developed. Today, a distinction is made between a carillon that has at least 23 bells and a chime that has fewer, but then the term was still generic. They were played with keys, levers, and/or pedals connected by wires to the bells. [2]
Jacob van Eyck isolated the overtones produced by bells so they could be forged to sound in harmony. Then, in 1645, he began working with Pieter and François Hémony who, independently, had cast a tuned set of bells the prior year. [3] This was the height of the Dutch East India trade and the newly "rich mercantile towns of the lowlands exhibited their status by installing fine carillons in their church towers." [4]
The Hémonys had no successors and their casting secrets died with them in 1680. Interest in bells themselves waned with the French Revolution, [5] only to be revived by wealthy Americans at the end of the nineteenth century. In Hudson, Ohio, a man who made his money from coal mines paid for a clock tower with four chimes in 1912. [6]
The development of handbells paralleled that of carillons. Van Eyck had a small keyboard with 30 bells installed in his home for practice and teaching students in 1631. [7] Nicolas Jullien established what became the Petit and Fritsen bell foundry in the Netherlands in 1690. Since this was before Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, it used the overtones of the time, which differed from those that would develop in England after William of Orange ascended the British throne in 1689. [8]
Like carillons, handbells are held in an upright position to produce the maximum sound. Instead of a superstructure controlling the motion, handbells have internal mechanisms that direct clappers to the optimal strike points. [9] Unlike tower bells, the duration of the sound can be limited by "damping the bell with a hand or on the body or a padded surface." [10]
The Encyclopædia Britannica noted the music that adapted the best to carillons was from the period when they first were developed, the Baroque. Romantic music that developed after the French Revolution had to "be chosen selectively." However, it said improvisations on "folk songs and other familiar themes" also worked. [11]
The most popular handbell arrangement of "Kumbaya" was published in 1993 by John Wilson for two or three octaves. He was the executive editor of Hope, a Chicago religious publisher closely associated with Methodists. Its founder, Henry Sheperd Date, had attended the organizational meeting of the Epworth League in 1889. [12]
By the end of the twentieth century, Hope and its Agape subsidiary had expanded their marketing to meet demands from other denominations. Wilson himself had worked for Methodists, Anabaptists, and the Moody Church. [13] He reissued his version of "Kumbaya" for three to five octaves in 2001.
Wilson emphasized the melody throughout, usually scoring it in octaves. The other instruments played chords like a piano accompaniment that required precision attacks by the players. Toward the end, the higher bells had a descant, but the sheet music advised players to "bring out melody."
The time signature varied, but the bell choirs played every melodic section slowly enough that the overtones dissipated between strokes. The clamor of Middletown’s Congregational Church [14] was eschewed, either by structural acoustics or technique.
One of the groups who uploaded a video to YouTube was in Hudson, Ohio, and the other two had origins in German churches. Two played "Kumbaya" during the collection.
Four who mentioned the arrangement in church bulletins indicated it was a prelude, and three that it was played before a scripture reading. Only one perceived it as a children’s song to be scheduled before their segment of the service. [15]
Performers
John Wilson
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells
Rhythm Accompaniment: TD/PI/Mallet; Sk; RT
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Instrumental Group: Bell Choir, 10 ringers
Conductor: Sarah Norman
Christ Church
Instrumental Group: Handbell Ensemble, 7 ringers, 3 women, 4 men
Conductor: Robert Schumm
Grace Lutheran Church
Instrumental Group: Joy Ringers Handbell
Conductor: Laurie Sweigart
Credits
John Wilson, 2-3 octaves
African American Spiritual
Arranged by John F. Wilson
Copyright © 1993 by Agape
3-5 octaves
Copyright © 1993 and this Arr. 2001 by Agape
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
John Wilson
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: Slowly and expressively, quarter note = c.80 beats per minute; changes to rhythmically, quarter notes = 126
Key Signature: 1 sharp, changing to no flats or sharps
Notes on Performance
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Occasion: It looked like a rehearsal since few were in the audience, and people moved about while they were playing.
Location: around the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and gloves
Christ Church
Occasion: Collection during service, 26 January 2014
Location: Altar, behind the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and black slacks, black gloves
Grace Lutheran Church
Occasion: Collection during service
Location: Behind the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: The choir wore white robes with maroon stoles; the Joy Ringers wore white shirts and long maroon scarves with white gloves
To be continued in next post
End Notes
1. Ron Johnston. "A Most Public of Musical Performances: The English Art of Change-Ringing." GeoJournal 65:17-31:2006. 18-19. Cited by Robert Adam Hill. "The Reformation of the Bells in Early Modern England." PhD. Simon Fraser University, summer 2012. 175.
2. "Carillon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998; last updated 11 May 2016 by Mic Anderson.
3. Aryeh Oron. "Jacob van Eyck (Composer)." Bach Cantatas website. August 2006.
4. "Carillon History." Guild of Carillonneurs in North America website. 30 March 2012.
5. Guild.
6. "History of the Hudson Clock Tower." Hudson, Ohio, website.
7. Oron.
8. Wikipedia. "Handbell."
9. Nancy Kirkner. "Buying Bells: Choosing a Brand." Handbells website. 10 December 2012.
10. Daniel K. Moore "Technique-ly Speaking: The Basic Ringing Stroke/Shoulder Damp." Overtones: The Official Journal of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers 44: 10-11:May-June 1998. Cited by Wikipedia.
11. Britannica.
12. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. 547.
13. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014. He worked for the Anabaptist Mountain View Bible College and Fort Wayne Bible College, as well as the Moody Bible Institute and Indiana Wesleyan University.
14. The Middletown Church bell ringers were discussed in the post for 6 December 2018.
15. For more on my source for church bulletins, see the post for 6 December 2018.
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