Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals
List Price:
Our Price: $11.01
You Save: $5.98 (35%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.73 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Edition: Music CDCD Release Date: 1995-09-05
Music Label: Erato
Soundtracks:
- Come Life Shaker Life
- In Yonder Valley
- Virgins Clothed in a Clean White Garment
- Mother
- Father James' Song
- Followers of the Lamb
- Mother Ann's Song
- I Have a Soul to Be Saved or Lost
- Heavenly Comfort
- Companion to Stiff
- Pinch'd Up Nip'd Up
- I Will Fight and Never Slack
- Celestial Choir
- Holy Angel
- Lark
- Nightingale'ssopng
- Holy Order Song
- Learned of Angel
- Laughing John's Intterogatory
- I'll Beat My Drum as I March Along
- Mother's Warning
- Solemn Bell
- Mother's Cup of Tribulation
- Sad Days
- Encouragement
- Verdant Valley
- In Yonder Valley
- Solemn Song
- Turn to the Right
- O Will You Sing Another Song
- Spiritual Sailor
- Mother Has Conme
- Holy Mother's Protecting Chain
- Simple Gifts
Music reviews of Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals
Music Review: Shaken *and* stirred
Rating: 5 Stars
My interest in seeking Shaker music was professional - I wanted something to use for my church choir's next big performance. What I found in this collection of Shaker music was that, but much more.
Without their music, the Shakers can seem quaint and faintly silly - the odd maiden aunts and uncles with peculiar hobbies (making chairs and living without modern conveniences) and -- nutty bears, indeed! -- living in celibate, and therefore non-regenerative communities.
But their music is something else --earnest, longing, full of commitment and a sense of their own story. And tuneful! You don't have to be a Shaker to appreciate the visual poetry of "Virgins cloth'd in a clean white garment," or hear the deep commitment to resist sin in "I will fight, fight, and never slack until I overcome the enemy," or the desperate longing for eternal life evoked by "In yonder valley there flows sweet union." These are songs written for and performed by people who lived a most austere form of spirituality.
There are those who criticize Joel Cohen for having embellished some pieces by adding, for instance, a drone that is not attested in the literature. By I certainly praise Cohen and the Boston Camarata for having brought these wonderful pieces to my attention. It is icing on the cake that a few of the remaining Shakers of the Sabbathday Lake, Maine community chose to join their voices to this effort. To sing is to pray twice, and this CD certainly delivers on that promise, plus providing insights into an obscure but enduring corner of the American religious landscape.
Description of Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals
Joel Cohen spent countless days in the library at the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, transcribing dozens of tunes from among thousands of archived chants and spirituals. Many more of these wonderful tunes were recalled from memory by the community's few resident Shakers--and Cohen and his ensemble, joined by several Shaker singers, made this recording, which deserves to be heard by everyone who loves songs and singing. --David VernierGeneral CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in General CDs
Andrea Bocelli - The Best of Andrea Bocelli: VivereAndrea; Release date: 2007-10-30; Music CD
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Feinstein - The Power of TwoRelease date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $10.96
Price in other shops:
Il Divo - The PromiseSony; Release date: 2008-11-18; Music CD
Best price: $2.29
Price in other shops:
Cecilia Bartoli - Cecilia Bartoli: SacrificiumRelease date: 2009-10-26; Music CD
Best price: $15.81
Price in other shops:
Joshua Bell - At Home With FriendsBell; Release date: 2009-09-29; Music CD
Best price: $10.28
Price in other shops:
Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas: Deluxe Edition CD & DVDAndrea; Release date: 2009-11-23; Music CD
Best price: $16.89
Price in other shops:
Il Divo - The Christmas CollectionSony; Release date: 2005-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
The Priests - HarmonyRelease date: 2009-11-23; Music CD
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
Il Divo - An Evening With Il Divo-Live In Barcelona (CD/ DVD)Release date: 2009-12-01; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Andrea Bocelli - My ChristmasAndrea; Release date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $11.70
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Ann the Word : The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakersby Richard Francis
Arcade Publishing; Published: 2001-05-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops:
Word of Mouth Chorus - Rivers of Delight (American Folk Hymns From the Sacred Harp Tradition)Release date: 1992-05-07; Music CD
Best price: $9.26
Price in other shops:
New Britain: The Roots of American FolksongRelease date: 1991-06-25; Music CD
Best price: $18.99
Let Zion Move: Music Of The ShakersRelease date: 1999-10-26; Music CD
Best price: $19.69
Price in other shops:
Early Shaker SpiritualsRelease date: 1996-06-04; Music CD
Best price: $37.25
Trav'ling Home - American Spirituals 1770-1870Release date: 1996-07-30; Music CD
Best price: $34.99
Simple GiftsRelease date: 2001-08-14; Music CD
Best price: $8.72
Price in other shops:
Simple Gifts: Lessons in Living from a Shaker Villageby June Sprigg
Vintage; Published: 1999-06-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops:
Ken Burns' America: The ShakersParamount; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $10.86
Price in other shops:
Gentle Words: Shaker SongsRelease date: 2001-06-05; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: