Gentle Words, Kindly Spoken
This summer, the magazine Choir & Organ published a feature article on the musical legacy of the Shakers and my involvement with Shaker music over the past years. I am grateful to Maggie Hamilton, Editor of Choir & Organ, for granting permission to share it below. And many thanks to David Pike, Tonal Director at C. B. Fisk Organ Company, for penning such a lovely article.
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Gentle Words, Kindly Spoken
Choir & Organ, July/August 2016
Many readers will be familiar with ‘Lord of the Dance’, Sydney Carter’s hymn to the Shaker tune ‘Simple Gifts’. Yet how many know that Shaker songs represent the largest body of spiritual folk music in the USA? David Pike meets composer Kevin Siegfried, whose research has led him to seek a revival of the genre.