Quaker music

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In the early days of Quakerism, music was rejected as a non-spontaneous part of worship. As the early Quakers tried to distance themselves from the practices of the English Church at the time, they also distanced themselves from the church traditions of singing music, even Psalms, together. Absolute honesty and integrity was important to them, and people singing words together were often expressing thoughts that even if they were spiritually profound were not actually expressing true experience and profound beliefs of the singers, who were often merely parroting them. Music was at times also viewed as frivolous, and not in line with the value of Simplicity, in other words a distraction from what was really important in life. However, they did approve of "singing in the spirit," [1] when the act of singing and making music was a natural and organic method of expressing belief. [2]

Contents

19th and 20th centuries

During the 19th century there was a split within Quakerism, with one branch wanting to return to some of the ways of Protestant churches, with a programmed service including hymns, and the other wishing to retain the traditional service of silent worship punctuated by spontaneous ministry. Although non-programmed Quaker Meetings for Worship remained silent, for the most part, with music rarely used, the attitudes towards music began to shift towards a more relaxed view in the mid-nineteenth century. In particular, many of the poems of John Greenleaf Whittier were set to music and well received.

The hymn "How Can I Keep from Singing?," first published in 1868 by Robert Lowry, was adopted by twentieth century Quakers. The lyrics to the first verse are as follows:

My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth's lamentation,
I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
That hails a new creation;
Thro' all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?

One of the most notable versions was created and performed by Peter Seeger, who was told it was a Quaker song. [3] The song was, and continues to be, such a favorite of the Quaker community that is often wrongly attributed to Quaker or Shaker origins.

20th century English Quaker songwriters include Donald Swann of Flanders & Swann, and Sydney Carter, whose best-known song is "Lord of the Dance".

Contemporary British Quaker choral music

Historically, British Quakers had been especially reluctant to include music in their Meetings. [4] However, London Quaker youth arts group, The Leaveners, was founded in 1978 and have since brought organized music to the Quaker community. They have commissioned and performed multiple pieces, and developed the Quaker Festival Chorus.

Contemporary American Quaker musicians

Carrie Newcomer, Annie Patterson, Peter Blood, David Wilcox, Joan Baez

Jon Watts is a Quaker musician, poet, and filmmaker. He has created and released six musical albums, combining spoken word, rap, hip hop, and folk styles. Specifically, he practices Liberal Quakerism, and uses his music to speak about the Liberal Quaker experience and ideals. [5] He currently travels and performs his music, and speaks about his life in the Society of Friends. He is also the director of “QuakerSpeak,” a YouTube channel which focuses on interviews with Quakers of different backgrounds. [6]

Watts graduated from the Quaker Leadership Scholarship Program at Guilford College in 2006. It was for his senior project at Guilford that Watts created the album A Few Songs Occasioned, composed of songs about the beginnings of the Quaker movement. This work inspired him to pursue a career creating “Spirit-led music.” [7] His most popular, and most controversial, song to date is "Friend Speaks My Mind," for which he created a YouTube video entitled "Dance Party Erupts During Quaker Meeting for Worship." [8]

Susan Stark is a Quaker singer and songwriter [9] [10] with a number of songs on YouTube. [11] Her cassette Child of The Nuclear Age contained track "Live Up to the Light", [12] setting to music the words of Caroline Fox describing a moment of profound spiritual experience in 1841. [13]

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymn</span> Religious song for the purpose of adoration or prayer

A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος (hymnos), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymnal</span> Collection or book of religious hymns

A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook. They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts ; written melodies are extra, and more recently harmony parts have also been provided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Watts</span> English hymnwriter and theologian (1674–1748)

Isaac Watts was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", "Joy to the World", and "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past". He is recognised as the "Godfather of English Hymnody"; many of his hymns remain in use today and have been translated into numerous languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invocation</span> Supplication to a supernatural being

In Western ritual magic, invocations are a field involving communicating or interacting with certain incorporeal, supernatural spirits. Invocation may take the form of:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contemporary worship music</span> Modern genre of music sung in many churches

Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are frequently referred to as "praise songs" or "worship songs" and are typically led by a "worship band" or "praise team", with either a guitarist or pianist leading. It has become a common genre of music sung in many churches, particularly in charismatic or non-denominational Protestant churches with some Roman Catholic congregations incorporating it into the Mass as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian music</span> Music expressing Christian life and faith

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its forms vary widely around the world. Church music, hymnals, gospel and worship music are a part of Christian media and also include contemporary Christian music which itself supports numerous Christian styles of music, including hip hop, rock, contemporary worship and urban contemporary gospel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earlham College</span> Private college in Richmond, Indiana, US

Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social justice, mutual respect, and community decision-making. It offers a Master of Arts in Teaching and has an affiliated graduate seminary, the Earlham School of Religion, which offers three master's degrees: Master of Divinity, Master of Ministry, and Master of Arts in Religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metrical psalter</span> Kind of Bible translation

A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a verse translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonisations. The composition of metrical psalters was a large enterprise of the Protestant Reformation, especially in its Calvinist manifestation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church music</span> Christian music written for performance in church

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Quakers</span> History of the Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends began as a proto-evangelical Christian movement in England in the mid-17th century in Ulverston. Members are informally known as Quakers, as they were said "to tremble in the way of the Lord". The movement in its early days faced strong opposition and persecution, but it continued to expand across the British Isles and then in the Americas and Africa.

"How Can I Keep From Singing?" is an American folksong originating as a Christian hymn. The author of the lyrics was known only as 'Pauline T', and the original tune was composed by American Baptist minister Robert Lowry. The song is frequently, though erroneously, cited as a traditional Quaker or Shaker hymn. The original composition has now entered into the public domain, and appears in several hymnals and song collections, both in its original form and with a revised text that omits most of the explicitly Christian content and adds a verse about solidarity in the face of oppression. Though it was not originally a Quaker hymn, Quakers adopted it as their own in the twentieth century and use it widely today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quaker views on women</span>

Quaker views on women have always been considered progressive in their own time, and in the late 19th century this tendency bore fruit in the prominence of Quaker women in the American women's rights movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exclusive psalmody</span> Practice of singing only Psalms in worship

Exclusive psalmody is the practice of singing only the biblical Psalms in congregational singing as worship. Today it is practised by several Protestant, especially Reformed denominations. Hymns besides the Psalms have been composed by Christians since the earliest days of the church, but psalms were preferred by the early church and used almost exclusively until the end of the fourth century. During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and many other reformers, including those associated with the Reformed tradition, used hymns as well as psalms, but John Calvin preferred the Psalms and they were the only music allowed for worship in Geneva. This became the norm for the next 200 years of Reformed worship. Hymnody became acceptable again for the Reformed in the middle of the nineteenth century, though several denominations, notably the Reformed Presbyterians, continue the practice of exclusive psalmody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quakers</span> Family of Christian religious movements

Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members of these movements are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to be guided by the inward light, "answering that of God in every one". Friends have traditionally professed a priesthood of all believers inspired by the First Epistle of Peter. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity, as well as Nontheist Quakers. To differing extents, the Friends avoid creeds and hierarchical structures. In 2017, there were an estimated 377,557 adult Quakers, 49% of them in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dear Lord and Father of Mankind</span> Poem

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contemporary worship</span>

Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many which do not subscribe to a charismatic theology. Contemporary worship uses contemporary worship music in an informal setting. Congregational singing typically comprises a greater proportion of the service than in conventional forms of worship. Where contemporary worship is practiced in churches with a liturgical tradition, elements of the liturgy are frequently kept to a minimum. The terms historic worship, traditional worship or liturgical worship are sometimes used to describe conventional worship forms and distinguish them from contemporary worship.

Singing in the Spirit or singing in tongues, in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, is the act of worshiping through glossolalic song. The term is derived from the words of Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 14:15, "I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also".

Hymnody in continental Europe developed from early liturgical music, especially Gregorian chant. Music became more complicated as embellishments and variations were added, along with influences from secular music. Although vernacular leisen and vernacular or mixed-language carols were sung in the Middle Ages, more vernacular hymnody emerged during the Protestant Reformation, although ecclesiastical Latin continued to be used after the Reformation. Since then, developments have shifted between isorhythmic, homorhythmic, and more rounded musical forms with some lilting. Theological underpinnings influenced the narrative point of view used, with Pietism especially encouraging the use of the first person singular. In the last several centuries, many songs from Evangelicalism have been translated from English into German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith & Kristyn Getty</span> Northern Irish Christian duo

Keith & Kristyn Getty are a musical duo from Northern Ireland, focusing on hymns and other Christian music. They are best known for the 2001 hymn “In Christ Alone”, co-written with Stuart Townend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quaker business method</span> Decision-making framework

The Quaker business method or Quaker decision-making is a form of group decision-making and discernment, as well as of direct democracy, used by Quakers, or 'members of the Religious Society of Friends', to organise their religious affairs. It is primarily carried out in meetings for worship for business, which are regular gatherings where minutes are drafted, to record collective decisions.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Carroll, Kenneth (Spring 1984). "Singing in the Spirit in Early Quakerism". Quaker History. 73 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1353/qkh.1984.0014. JSTOR   41947005. S2CID   162288623.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Thomas (Fall 1986). "Richard Farnworth and Thomas Atkinson: The Earliest Quaker Writers on Sacred Music". Quaker History. 75 (2): 83–101. doi:10.1353/qkh.1986.0014. JSTOR   41935204. S2CID   162244007.
  3. ↑ Wells, Robert (2009). Life Flows on in Endless Song: Folk Songs and American History. University of Illinois Press. p. 48.
  4. ↑ Graves, Dan (December 1993). "Singing Out of the Silence: A Survey of Quaker Choral Music". The Choral Journal. 34 (5): 15–24.
  5. ↑ "Music and Ministry Among Friends: An Interview With Jon Watts* | Earlham School of Religion". esr.earlham.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-11-04.
  6. ↑ "About QuakerSpeak, the Quaker YouTube Channel".
  7. ↑ "A Few Songs Occasioned Anniversary Concert". April 2021.
  8. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Dance Party Erupts During Quaker Meeting for Worship. YouTube .
  9. ↑ "Gary Sandman: Common traits of Quaker art".
  10. ↑ "Susan Stark | Rise up and Sing".
  11. ↑ Susan Stark at the FGC Gathering. YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-08.
  12. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Live Up to the Light" -Susan Stark. YouTube .
  13. ↑ Christian faith & practice (4th ed.). London: The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) in Britain. 2009. p. 26.04. ISBN   978-1-907123-01-6.
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