Roger Lee Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Music Preservationist


Besides his many other achievements, Roger has spent considerable time working to preserve neglected American music, especially vocal music.

His preservation work includes researching, editing, publishing, performing and recording the music.

The most extensive projects have involved music from two of the oldest singing traditions in the USA:

Music in Stoughton

Mr. Hall has received several Massachusetts Arts Council grants for this project which involved researching and writing about music and composers in Stoughton during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

This town has the oldest surviving choral society in the United States, founded on November 7, 1786. Originally called The Stoughton Musical Society, it also has the oldest constitution of any performing musical organization, written in 1787 just a few weeks after the United States Constitution.

His largest project was compiling a detailed listing of singing meetings and concerts by the two local musical societies, available on a multimedia DVD-ROM titled,

"DEDICATION" - Singing in Stoughton, 1762-1992

Also a multimedia disc about Stoughton's best known composer of the 19th century, Edwin Arthur Jones (1853-1911).

 

Music of the Shakers

The second major project involved collecting research about this religious communal society, the oldest surviving one in the United States.

The Shakers originated in the Manchester area in the UK. Their spiritual leader, Mother Ann Lee, and eight of her followers arrived in New York City on August 6, 1774. This is the date celebrated by the Shakers as the beginning of their church in America.

Their first settlement was at Niskayuna (later Watervliet) New York in 1776, and their first community was established in 1787 at New Lebanon, New York.

Mr. Hall is one of the foremost experts on Shaker music and has written extensively about it for over forty years.

Also, he was the first student to write a Master's Thesis dealing with Shaker music titled,


The Shaker Letteral System: A Practical Approach to Music Notation
(Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 1972)

Since then he has researched and uncovered hundreds of Shaker spirituals, performed them in concerts, and recorded many of them as well. He has also edited and arranged over 200 Shaker tunes and written about Shaker music in numerous publications.

He has written an authoritative study of the best known Shaker song, "Simple Gifts" (aka: 'Tis the gift to be simple).

 

In addition, he has compiled these music collections:

Roger has worked on these recordings as singer, consultant, or editor:

 

Two of the Shaker recordings are described here:

Let Zion Move:
Music of the Shakers

2 CD set featuring commentary and 40 Shaker spirituals performed by the Shakers from Canterbury, New Hampshire and Sabbathday Lake, Maine. The recordings and interviews were made between 1960 and 1980. Also included is a 72 page illustrated booklet with all the words for the music and extensive notes by Roger Hall. This is the most extensive historical recording ever compiled of the Shakers speaking about their heritage and performing their music. Much of it was recorded by Bill Randle, the Cleveland disc jockey who helped promote Elvis Presley in the 1950s.

 

 

Love is Little:
A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals

CD released from Sampler Records containing 36 Shaker spirituals from all the major Shaker communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio and Kentucky. Also available is an accompanying songbook with all the music and extensive notes and a music chronology.