Supply Belcher (March 29, 1751 – June 9, 1836) was an American composer, singer, and compiler of tune books. He was one of the so-called
Yankee tunesmiths or First New England School, a group of mostly self-taught composers who created sacred vocal music for local choirs. He was active first in
Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...
, then eventually moved to
Farmington, Maine. Like most of his colleagues, Belcher could not make music his main occupation, and worked as tax assessor, schoolmaster, town clerk, and so on; nevertheless he was considerably well known for his musical activities, and even dubbed 'the
Handell icof Maine' by a local newspaper. Most of his works survive in ''The Harmony of Maine'', a collection Belcher published himself in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in 1794.
Life
Belcher was born in
Stoughton, Massachusetts
Stoughton (official name: Town of Stoughton) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 29,281 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is located approximately from Boston, from Providence, Rh ...
. In the early 1770s he moved to
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to embark on a merchant's career, but returned to Stoughton just a few years later. He was a private during the
Revolutionary War, part of the company of Stoughton
Minutemen that marched to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
on April 19, 1775
[Crawford, Cooke, Grove.] immediately after receiving the alarm from
Lexington. Later, he was promoted to the rank of Captain under
Washington. Around 1778 he bought a farm in
Canton, Massachusetts and established a tavern there; he was known then as "Uncle Ply." It was at his tavern that some of the early singing meetings in the area were held, but contrary to some written accounts, Belcher never joined the
Stoughton Musical Society. Also, he was not a pupil at the Stoughton singingschool, where
William Billings taught in 1774.
After the war, in 1785, he moved first to Hallowell (now
Augusta),
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
with his family, and then six years later they moved to
Farmington, where Belcher remained until his death. He became a prominent citizen, serving as tax assessor, schoolmaster, town clerk,
justice of the peace,
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
, and even representative to the Massachusetts General Court. He was very successful in his musical activities as well: he apparently led Farmington's first choir, and attracted favourable reviews.
When writing about the composer in his diary, Rev. Paul Coffin wrote: "Squire Belcher called his singers together and gave us an evening of sweet music." After the 1796 performance of Belcher's ''Ordination Anthem'', parts of which bear resemblance to
Handel's famous Messiah chorus, a Maine newspaper dubbed the composer 'the Handell of Maine'.
Belcher was also active as violinist and singer. He died in Farmington on June 9, 1836.
Works
Most of Belcher's 75 extant works survive in a volume titled ''The Harmony of Maine'', which the composer published in 1794 in Boston. That collection only includes pieces by Belcher. The music is firmly rooted in the tradition of New England
psalmody and
William Billings in particular, although it also shows other influences (e.g. Handel, as in ''Ordination Anthem''). Most of the pieces are in four voices and based on sacred texts, with a few exceptions—some three-voice pieces and several works with secular texts, frequently with lavishly ornamented melodic lines.
Belcher composed
fuguing tunes rather like those of Billings, but often with more precise performance directions. His voice-leading is considerably smoother and follows the "rules" more frequently than the work of many of his contemporaries, for instance avoiding the parallel perfect
intervals and open fifths which are a common feature of New England psalmody.
''The Harmony of Maine'' was never widely reprinted, and, like all composers of the
First New England School, by mid-19th century Belcher was forgotten everywhere except a few rural areas. His works, like those of his colleagues, were rediscovered in the second half of the 20th century.
[Kroeger, Grove.] A 1978 work by American
avant-garde
In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
composer
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
, ''Some of the "Harmony of Maine"'', is a collection of organ pieces based on compositions from ''The Harmony of Maine''. Cage also adapted a number of Belcher's chorales for use in his ''Apartment House 1776'', and these were subsequently arranged for string quartet by
Irvine Arditti along with Cage's adaptations of works by
William Billings,
Jacob French,
Andrew Law, and
James Lyon as ''44 Harmonies'', and performed by the
Arditti Quartet and issued on CD by
Mode Records.
Editions
* Volume 5. ''Supply Belcher (1751–1836), The Collected Works'', edited by Linda Davenport. 192 pages,
Notes
References
* Butler, Francis Gould. 1885. ''A History of Farmington, Franklin County, Maine'', Farmington, Press of Knowlton, McLeary and Co.
*
* Hall, Roger L. 1997. ''Music in Early Canton: Historical Notes and Music'', Stoughton: PineTree Press.
*
* Marrocco, W. Thomas, and Gleason, Thomas. 1964. ''Music in America, an Anthology from the Landing of the Pilgrims to the Close of the Civil War, 1620–1865''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co.
External links
Supply Belcher – "The Handel of Maine"Stoughton Massachusetts History Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Supply
American male composers
American composers
1751 births
1836 deaths
People from Farmington, Maine
Shape note
People from Hallowell, Maine
People from Stoughton, Massachusetts
Musicians from Massachusetts
Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution
Musicians from Maine
18th-century American composers
18th-century American male composers
18th-century American male musicians
18th-century American musicians