Story Behind the Song
First of all, my enormous gratitude to Deborah Leath Rentz for the source material: "Songs and the Spirit: Hancock Shaker Village's Musical Legacy, Volume I. Transcriptions of Hancock Hymnal : 1850." In 1997, Mark Ludwig commissioned me to write a work based on a Shaker song. Ms. Rentz provided me with a lovely song, "Grateful Remembrance," from her collection. The result was "SEPTET: Variations on a Shaker Tune."
"Hancock Shaker Village" is in many ways also a set of variations. It begins with a Prelude of my own devising. For the rest of the work I chose five songs from Ms. Rentz's book which provide a glimpse of a typical day for the inhabitants of this religious community. The first song, Pillar of Fire, greets the dawn and the rising sun. The second song, Glean with Care, is about the orchards and the gardens. The third, Sweet Home, is about the religious life and home. The fourth, Quick, a lively dance number, prays for God's power and grace. The last song, Farewell Dear Crossbearers, is for the dearly departed.
The work is played continuously without pause between movements and is dedicated to Mark Ludwig, Deborah Leath Rentz and the Hancock Shaker Village.
Lyrics
I. Pillar of Fire, anonymous
O hail the bright morning whose heavenly rays,
On earth are beginning to shine,
In songs of thanksgiving, O God we will praise,
Thy name for thy glory divine.
Bright emblem of heaven, O let thy pure beams,
Our souls with new vigor inspire,
To follow thy brightness as Israel did,
When led by the Pillar of Fire.
Blest morning divine may thy rays still increase,
Encircling the Universe round,
Till Nations shall bow to that sceptre of peace,
Which now in Mount Zion is found.
May they by thy brightness begin to discern,
The Kingdom of Christ the Messiah,
Whose subjects at all times by night and by day,
Are led by the Pillar of Fire.
Thy Sun has arisen with joy in its beams,
In glory efulgent and bright,
And thousands of souls now at ease in their dreams
Must bring themselves into the light.
[For by a just sentence all sin must be slain!
With every self-pleasing desire.]
For nothing can stand that is vile or unclean
Before this bright Pillar of Fire.
We welcome thy dawning, O morning Divine,
Blest Harbinger of that great day ...
II. All Glean with Care, anonymous
Glean your orchards, glean your gardens,
Glean, O glean in Godly fear,
With a prudent careful spirit,
Save some for the coming year.
For my hand with the Almighty,
I shall wave from pole to pole,
Know ye that the time is coming,
You'll have need to save the whole.
Yet my judgment those most awful,
I withhold by my right hand.
That my people may take warning,
Tho' I send forth no command.
Still my hand saith the Almighty,
I shall wave from pole to pole,
O my Zion do take warn-ing,
Be ye prudent, save the whole.
Fill your garners, barns and cellars,
Let no place be empty found;
While I send forth my rich blessings,
On your fruits and fertile ground.
For my hand saith the Almighty,
I shall wave from pole to pole,
Then the earth will yield but scanty,
Be ye wise and save the whole.
III. Sweet Home, anonymous
I love my sweet home with my gospel relation.
And here I'll abide when afflictions do roll.
O blessed abode a most sure habitation.
Here peace like a river does fill every soul.
The world I've de-nied which is all imperfection.
For glories more bright than the Sun at noon day,
Encircled I am, with that gospel affection,
Unlike fading flowers can never die away.
IV. Quick, anonymous
Flow down mighty power,
Flow, flow thro' each soul,
Sweep like a flaming fire,
never cease to roll.
Lo lodle lodle lo,
Lo lodle lodle lo,
Lodle lodle lodle lo,
Lodle lodle lodle lo,
Lodle lo lodle lo.
V. Farewell Dear Crossbearers, anonymous
Farewell dear Crossbearers, the time has now come,
For us to be parted and go to our Home.
We thank you most kindly for this interview,
and when we are parted we will pray for you.
But O what a meeting we view on before,
Where parting will never be known any more!
We give you our hands and we freely declare,
That we will be faithful and all meet you there.
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