"Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder

Joseph Brackett Joseph Brackett Jr. (May 6, 1797 – July 4, 1882) was an American songwriter, author, and elder of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers. The most famous song attributed to Brackett, "Simp ...

from Alfred Shaker Village. It became widely known when

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

used its melody for the score of

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

's ballet ''

Appalachian Spring ''Appalachian Spring'' is an American ballet created by the choreographer Martha Graham and the composer Aaron Copland, later arranged as an orchestral work. Commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Copland composed the ballet music for Gra ...

'', which premiered in 1944.

Background and composition

The tune and lyrics were written by Elder Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) of the Alfred, Maine Shaker community, although there is some disagreement as to which community Elder Joseph belonged to when the song was written. Elder Joseph resided with the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine community before he was called to serve in the Ministry in 1848. For the next decade, he served the Community in Alfred, later returning to New Gloucester. However, the Alfred community's history makes no reference to "Simple Gifts", although there are several mentions of Elder Joseph. The first known reference to "Simple Gifts" is an advertisement for a concert in October 1848 by the Shaker Family from the Society of Shakers of New Gloucester, Maine.

Resurgence and enduring popularity

The song was largely unknown outside Shaker communities until

used its melody for the score of

's ballet, ''

'', first performed in 1944. (Shakers once worshipped on Holy Mount, in the Massachusetts portion of the Appalachians). Copland used "Simple Gifts" a second time in 1950 in his first set of ''

Old American Songs ''Old American Songs'' are two sets of songs arranged by Aaron Copland in 1950 and 1952 respectively, after research in the Sheet Music Collection of the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays, in the John Hay Library at Brown Universit ...

'' for voice and piano, which was later orchestrated.

Lyrics

Copland used Brackett's original verse for the lyrics to his one-verse song: Several Shaker manuscripts indicate that this is a "dancing song" or a "quick dance". "Turning" is a common theme in Christian theology, but the references to "turning" in the last two lines have also been identified as dance instructions. When the traditional dance is performed properly, each dancer ends up where they started, "come 'round right".

Tune

A manuscript of Mary Hazzard of the

New Lebanon, New York New Lebanon is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Columbia County, New York, United States, southeast of Albany, New York, Albany. The population was 2,514 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 census, New Lebanon town, Col ...

Shaker community records this original version of the melody. The song resembles, to a slight extent, several repetitions of the opening measures of

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

's renaissance composition, "The Barley Break", which Byrd intended to imitate country children playing a folk game. Similarly, Brackett is claimed to have come up with the song as an imitation of what folk music sounds like. A somewhat similar musical theme arises also in a brass ensemble work, '' Canzon per sonare no. 2'', by

Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School (music), Venetian School, at the t ...

(c.1555–1612).

"Lord of the Dance"

English songwriter Sydney Carter adapted the original American Shaker tune and lyrics for his hymn " Lord of the Dance" published and copyrighted in 1963. The Carter hymn is also titled "I Am the Lord of the Dance" and "I Danced in the Morning". In 1996, the Carter hymn was adapted without authorization or acknowledgments of the origins of the tune or Carter's lyrics by Ronan Hardiman for Michael Flatley's dance musical, '' Lord of the Dance''. The melody is used at various points throughout the show, including the piece entitled "Lord of the Dance". The musical's title and version of the " Lord of the Dance" have led to some confusion that the song and lyrics are Celtic; however they are of American and English origin.

Subsequent usage

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...

included the song on her 1970 album, '' Whales & Nightingales''. *

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

used this song to open their song, "I Believe" during the last half of their Work Tour in 1987. *The song is incorporated into both the opening and closing tracks of the 1990 album ''Simple Gifts: Instrumental Arrangements of Shaker Melodies'' by William Coulter and Barry Phillips. *

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

recorded a duet with singer/songwriter

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

, originally released on his 2001 album ''Classic Yo-Yo'', re-released on the 2005 album ''Essential Yo-Yo Ma,'' and later included in

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

's compilation, ''Yo-Yo Ma Essentials''. *An instrumental rendition of "Simple Gifts" was played as the

Olympic Flag The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme as well as those u ...

entered

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during the opening ceremony of the

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. *John P. Zdechlik used "Simple Gifts" in " Chorale ′and Shaker Dance", a 1972 composition for concert band. In 2004, Robert Steadman arranged the tune for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

featuring an off-stage

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and a thumping, dance-music influenced finale. *

Frank Ticheli Frank Ticheli ( ; born January 21, 1958) is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of Southern Califo ...

composed a variation of "Simple Gifts", presented in ''Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs''. *The 1967 album '' Happy Together'' by

The Turtles The Turtles are an America, American Band (rock and pop), rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby (song), ...

includes the song "Too Young to Be One", which Eric Eisner adapted from "Simple Gifts." *The central melody of "Simple Gifts" is used in the 2009 song The Sound Above My Hair by German electronic music group Scooter, which utilises bagpipes in the composition. *The 2008 song " The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" by

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makes extensive use of the "Simple Gifts" melody throughout. *The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps made use of the "Simple Gifts" melody throughout their 2009 production, "Ballet for Martha". * The Pride of West Virginia has included the song in its pregame show for every game the band is at since 1973.

In popular culture

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

composed a variation for cello, violin, clarinet, and piano titled ''

Air and Simple Gifts ''Air and Simple Gifts'' is a quartet composed and arranged by United States, American composer John Williams for the January 20, 2009, Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration, inauguration of Barack Obama as the List of presidents of the Uni ...

''. The variation was written specifically for Barack Obama's

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on January 20, 2009. It was performed by

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, and Gabriela Montero. *Icelandic singer Jónsi covered the song for the 2017 film, '' The Circle''. *Several arrangements by composer Rick Krizman were composed for the tabloid news series, '' American Journal''. *For many years, an excerpt was used as the opening theme for the

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

television documentary series, '' CBS Reports'' *It was used in the 1963 Boulting Brothers' film, '' Heavens Above!''. *Hannibal Heyes ( Pete Duel) sings the song in ''

Alias Smith and Jones ''Alias Smith and Jones'' is an American Western television series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973. The show initially starred Pete Duel (and, after Duel's death, Roger Davis) as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy ...

'' in the 1971 (second season) episode, "The Posse That Wouldn't Quit". *The song is used at end of a 1989 episode of "Just the 10 of Us", in which Elizabeth attempts to put together a church choir. *The song is performed in the 1990 '' Shining Time Station'' Christmas episode '''Tis a Gift''. *The melody appears prominently in the score of the 2023 '' Bluey'' episode ''Relax''."'Relax." '' Bluey''. Season 3. (1990)

Additional verses

Three additional, later non-Shaker verses exist for the song, as follows: And an additional alternative: Another alternate verse: A Version Broadcast During Music and the Spoken Word:

References

External links

Joseph Brackett's 'Simple Gifts'
with audio files
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village

sheet music arranged for the

Native American Flute The Native American flute is a musical instrument and flute that is held in front of the player, has open finger holes, and has two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound. The player breat ...

Simple Gifts
performed by the

King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella Choir, vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College, Cambridge, King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six Choir of King's College, Cambridge, chor ...

in Hour of Power (a YouTube video)
Listen to 'Simple Gifts'on You Tube
* {{Authority control 1848 songs Hymn tunes American folk songs Shaker music