Andrew Law (1749–1821) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

and singing teacher. He was born in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the Vill ...

. Law wrote mostly simple

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

s and arranged tunes of other composers. In 1781, he was granted the first authorial copyright in the United States, though there is some debate about which work the grant applied to. His works include ''Select Harmony'' (1778), a ''Collection of Best Tunes and Anthems'' (1779), and ''The Art of Singing'' ''in Three Parts'' (1792–96). He was among the first American composers to put the melody in the soprano instead of the tenor part, and was also one of the first Americans to write about music. Andrew Law was a pioneer of the FASOLA (

Shape note Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and Sing-along, social singing. The notation became a popular teaching device in American singing schools during the 19th century. Shapes were added to the noteheads in ...

) system of musical notation which simplified lessons in reading music during the Singing School era of New England music. FASOLA singing is also known as "Shape Note Singing". He published ''Essays on Music'' in 1814. Andrew Law died in 1821.

References

External links

Andrew Law Papers, 1775-1840
(William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan) 1749 births 1821 deaths American male composers American composers Shape note People from Milford, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut Songwriters from Connecticut American male songwriters {{US-songwriter-stub