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Special Collections in Performing Arts Acquires Early Nineteenth Century Shape-Note Manuscript
August 18th, 2011 by vnovara
In July 2011, Robert Fuller (BA 1985, MA 1988) and Lynda Fuller Clendenning (MA 1989, MLS 1989, and former librarian at UMD) purchased at a Red Cross book sale in Bloomington, Indiana, an interesting manuscript tunebook that originated in Maryland. They promptly offered to donate the item to the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, where it was placed with Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA). This fascinating tunebook is described below by SCPA student assistant, Joshua Barnett (graduate student in Musicology, expected graduation May 2013).
The tunebook is available for study by appointment with Vincent J. Novara, Curator for Special Collections in Performing Arts (vnovara@umd.edu, 301.405.9220)
Maria Brandstetter’s Melodie und Sing-Buch in Washington County, Maryland is an early American tunebook of sacred hymns. The date on the title page of the book is 1820. The tunebook is of the usual oblong shape, but is smaller, measuring approximately 18.75cm x 10cm. All of the text and notation is handwritten in an elegant and seemingly professional script. Furthermore, the notation employs the four-shape shape-note system, where the solfege syllables of the tunes are indicated by the particular shapes of the noteheads. The texture of the music varies between two and three-part voice writing. The texts for the tunes are written below the staves, with the verses spread out among the voices to insure enough room is left for every verse to be written. The language used in the tunebook varies between German and English. The title page is written entirely in German and some of the tunes are given German texts only. Many of the tunes, however, provide the initial English lyrics of the songs with additional verses in German written below the bass staff.
Several of the tunes contained within the book are known to the shape-note singing tradition, with a number of them being popular tunes printed in numerous tunebooks from regions throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Where tune names are given, a number is written next to the title which likely corresponds to a printed tunebook used by the larger community, as the numbers do not correlate to any order or pagination system within Ms. Brandstetter’s tunebook. At this point, which tunebook(s) used by the community to which these numbers correspond is unknown. Along with the indicated tunes, there are a number of untitled songs with German texts only within the book. No compilers, composers or arrangers are indicated anywhere in the book.
These facts above suggest that the book is likely a personal collection of preferred tunes and possibly original tunes, the untitled German melodies would need to be more thoroughly analyzed. Whether the book was commissioned or created by its owner, or made as a gift is unknown.
An intriguing question concerning the source is which tunebook or books were used by the community and as sources for compiling Ms. Brandstetter’s book. As a part of the Mid-Atlantic region, Washington County may have had exposure to some of the tunebooks coming out of the Northern Shenandoah Valley, with Ananias Davisson’s Kentucky Harmony being the most popular and receiving its first three printings in 1816, 1817, and 1819 along with a supplement printed in 1820. The German influence may indicate a Pennsylvania influence, with Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music (1811 and 1813) being one of the most popular and widely used of its time. Combining these ideas, one may look to Joseph Funk’s German shape-note publication, Die allgemein nützliche Choral-Music (1816), which came out of Harrisonburg, VA – possibly printed by Davisson. Along with Funk’s German printing are two German shape-note tunebooks compiled by Joseph Doll – Leichter Unterricht In der Vocal Musik (1810) and Leichter unterricht in der vocal musik II (1815) – which were both printed by John Wyeth.
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