Shaker Songs: A Musical Celebration of Peace, Harmony and Simplicity
List Price:
Our Price: $11.99
You Save: $3.96 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.40 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Editor: Christian GoodwillieContributor: Joel Cohen
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-09
ISBN: 1579122574
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Book Reviews of Shaker Songs: A Musical Celebration of Peace, Harmony and Simplicity
Book Review: Favorite Shaker Book
Summary: 5 Stars
"Shaker Songs" is a beautifully produced, meticulously researched, and creatively conceived volume that combines the most appealing aspects of musical collection, descriptive text, and artwork.
As you'd expect from the curator of Hancock Shaker Village, the body of work as a collection of Shaker music is informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Short textual introductions give context and insight into how these selections fit into the greater body of Shaker music and society generally. It's all very nicely crafted, but this is to be expected, in such a volume. The CD, touched by the genius of the great Joel Cohen, is a recording to be cherished, and a delightful extra-special added bonus that brings this volume to a new level. But again, this is all to be expected in a book about Shaker music with this pedigree.
The real surprise in this book is the extraordinary quality of the artwork that decorates its pages. These are some of the best reproductions of Shaker photographs, gift drawings, and various other pieces, that I've seen published. So, when you're not using this book to learn about Shaker music, it is a perfect art object, for just a quick look at something beautiful and Shaker, when you have a spare moment. It's relatively small, as coffee-table books go, so it's easy to handle.
I'd say, whether you're a Shaker music buff or just a general Shaker buff, I think that you'll find this book to be a delight, through and through. I received it as a gift, and truly, in this price range, I can think of no better gift for a Shaker enthusiast.
--Jonathan Feist, living in the Harvard Shaker Meetinghouse
Summary of Shaker Songs: A Musical Celebration of Peace, Harmony and Simplicity
'Tis the gift to be simple, and the United Society of Believers, or Shakers, bestow this gift upon us in Shaker Songs, a compendium of radiant, heart-rousing hymns that comes with a beautiful full-length CD. Over the last 200 years, Shaker congregations have been wellsprings of remarkable creativity in many branches of human endeavor, including religion, architecture, agriculture, industry, art, social welfare, education, and, of course, music. Music has long played a central role in Shaker worship--from the early songs that expressed pure, wordless feeling, to the later hymns and anthems, which reflected some of the musical modes of the day.The Shaker sect was founded in 1774 by Ann Lee, a blacksmith's daughter who emigrated to America from England with a handful of followers. This communal, devout group celebrated their love of God in the stirring dance worship that gave the Shakers their popular name. At their peak in the mid-nineteenth century, the Shakers were the largest and most successful religious collective in existence. Some communities lasted for more than 150 years, others for only a few, and one, at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, still exists today. Because of the Shakers' longstanding commitment to the documentation of their songs, their musical tradition is very much alive and well. The Shakers at Sabbathday Lake--who annotated some of the music in this book and can be heard on the accompanying CD--continue to maintain this musical heritage as an important component of their everyday lives.
Shaker Songs contains the distillation of more than two centuries of Shaker music and art--their remarkable power and quiet beauty is a testament to the Shaker vision of simplicity, proportion, and harmony.
Protestantism Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Protestantism Books
Rebuilding Zion: The Religious Reconstruction of the South, 1863-1877by Daniel W. Stowell
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1998-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $100.00
Standing Against the Whirlwind : Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-Century America (Religion in America)by Diana Butler Bass
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1995-08-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $129.95
Price in other shops:
Patterns and Prayers for Christian Worship: Guidebook for Worship LeadersOxford University Press; Published: 1991-05-23; Hardcover; Book
Baptist Praise and Worshipby Psalms & Hymns Trust
Oxford University Press; Published: 1991-10-17; Hardcover; Book
Revelations the Clergy Questionedby Mary Loudon
Penguin Books; Published: 1995-06-29; Paperback; Book
Kierkegaard Pb (Fount Christian Thinkers)by Peter Vardy
Fount; Published: 1996-09; Paperback; Book
Crossfire: Faith and Doubt in an Age of Certaintyby Richard Holloway
HarperCollins Publishers; Published: 1990-02-15; Paperback; Book
The Art of Forgivingby Lewis B. Smedes
Random House, Inc.; Published: 1996-04-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.94
Price in other shops:
Halftime: Moving from Success to Significanceby Bob P. Buford
Zondervan; Published: 2008-12-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops:
Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amishby Sue Bender
HarperOne; Published: 1989-10-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Gentle Words: Shaker Songs Arranged by Kevin SiegfriedRelease date: 2001-06-05; Music CD
Best price: $11.27
Price in other shops: