Hi,
Could someone please give me an ABC format of “Lord Of The Dance” in the key of “D”?
Simple notation would be very appreciated.
If you just type/copy it into a reply that would be just fine.
TY
Ania
Lots of ABC’s right here:
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/findtune?P=Lord+of+the+Dance
Hope this helps!
Richard
I was surprised to find it at JCs. I looked it up under the name Simple Gifts which I believe is the original title of the tune.
Steve
It is “Simple Gifts”, which BTW is not Irish but a Shaker worship tune. Flatley, or whoever did the arranging for LOTD, adapted it, beautifully in my opinion. Another lovely arrangement is that of Aaron Copeland in Appalachian Spring. The simple folk who first composed it would be amazed.
What seems funny is that I learned it long before I ever picked up a whistle, it being one of the roots of American traditional music.
Funny, isn’t it, how music can become a circle, with no beginning and no end.
It is my understanding that the person who wrote “Simple Gifts” (don’t remember the name) was from the Pittsfield, MA area. A local pipe band out there, the Berkshire Highlanders, uses it as their signature tune. It always delighted me to hear a bunch of bands march by piping out martial tunes and then here comes this one band gloriously blaring out one with pacifist origins 
Cheers,
David
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2002-03-16 12:07 ]
My information is that the song was composed in the 1840s – by the Shakers, as was previously posted. It is an interesting hymn, in that the name of God never appears.
'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free,
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be.
And when we find ourselves in a place just right,
It will be in a valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed.
To turn, to turn, will be our delight,
And by turning, turning, we’ll come down right.
Actually, the part adapted for Lord of the Dance was the second part; “When true simplicity …”
I found this information at:
http://www.contemplator.com/folk3/simple.html
“Simple Gifts was written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. in 1848. It was first published in The Gift to be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs.
Simple Gifts was a work song sung by the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (more commonly called the Shakers), whose last community in America (Hancock Village) died in 1960. It is now a museum.”
This site has lots of good information on folk tunes including many Irish tunes. It also has downloadable midi files.
best regards,
Brian
On 2002-03-16 12:52, Chuck_Clark wrote:
Actually, the part adapted for Lord of the Dance was the second part; “When true simplicity …”
Well as a musician who played this along with a chorus for a mid-winter show many years in a row, I feel the need to correct you here Chuck. The second part you mention parallels the chorus but the verses to Lord of the Dance match up with the first part of Simple Gifts.
The melody for “Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free” = “I danced in the morning when the world was begun”. There are minor varitions in the Lord of the Dance melody but it is basically the same tune.
“Simple Gifts was written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. in 1848. It was first published in The Gift to be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs.
Simple Gifts was a work song sung by the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (more commonly called the Shakers), whose last community in America (Hancock Village) died in 1960. It is now a museum.”
And that museum is in or near Pittsfield, MA. Thanks for the footwork Brian! I discovered that the Berkshire Highlanders actually did the tune on A Prarie Home Companion and it has been archived on the web. If you have RealPlayer (or RealOne Player) you can give a listen if you click here.
Cheers,
David
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2002-03-16 13:20 ]
If this is the song that goes “Dance, dance, wherever you may be…” I have it on a vinyl recording by The Corries, a Scottish group from the 70’s. The start out with the melody played on flute as a reel. You can hear the song melody, but it has the extra notes of a reel. Sounds cool. If it’s useful, I could do an abc of it.
Tony
‘The Lord of the Dance’ was written by the British hymn writer Sydney Carter in, I think, 1963. The tune is very slightly adapted from ‘Simple Gifts’. I’m almost certain that Carter was a Quaker, or at least had Quaker leanings. It’s interesting (imho!) that Carter intended his hymns to have as little accompaniment as possible - he would either chant them unaccompanied or else use a tabor.
In the hymn, the ‘Lord of the Dance’ is of course Jesus - and I suspect he’ll be LotD long after Michael Flattley has been forgotten
On 2002-03-16 14:02, thewesleyan wrote:
In the hymn, the ‘Lord of the Dance’ is of course Jesus - and I suspect he’ll be LotD long after Michael Flattley has been forgotten >
Boy, do I eagerly await that day…
If any of you are interested, there is a beautiful and fascinating documentary on the Hanckock village. I saw on video, and I think it was done by PBS. Touching and gorgeous, they talk about the role of music in their lives, too.
On 2002-03-16 14:02, thewesleyan wrote:
‘The Lord of the Dance’ was written by the British hymn writer Sydney Carter in, I think, 1963. The tune is very slightly adapted from ‘Simple Gifts’. I’m almost certain that Carter was a Quaker, or at least had Quaker leanings.
You can find some more information about the song here:
http://www.stainer.co.uk/lotd.html
Another page on that site described Carter as a regular comunicant at an Anglican church. Historically, Quakers eschewed all music and dance. I don’t know what the situation is in England now. I assume that there is music in Quaker churches in the US but don’t know that for sure. The song How Can I Keep From Singing is described on some album notes as being a Quaker song. I was surprised when I read that.
Steve
I was very pleased to read these postings. Yes, Hancock Village is now a major museum on the site of the original Shaker settlement in the town of Hancock, Massachusetts which is to the west and borders on the city of Pittsfield, my home town. I would recommend a visit to the museum especially in the fall when they hold various craft fairs. Back in the mid 50’s before college and when I was working as a telephone lineman I was working near the original village when a car drove in and 3 elderly ladies entered one of the buildings. I later learned they were the last survivors from the original village and were visiting from a settlement in New Hampshire where they were then living. Some time after this the village began to be developed as a museum.
The song “Simple Gifts” also appears in a Dover Edition of “The Gift to be Simple - Songs, Dances and Rituals of the American Shakers” by Edward Deming Andrews.
Best wishes, Tom
Hancock Village is a truly wonderful experience; we stopped there for a day on our way back down from BAr HArbor Maine one year. It was my first taste of exquisite strawberry rhubarb pie. The living quarters and the history and concepts behind them are fascinating and yet simple as is their sturdy handmade furniture. Was the tune in question set to music by them? For example, the AMish do not have musical instruments; they will only sing, as musical instruments do not fit into their religious practice.
I believe the Shaker music was sung without instruments or perhaps with a tambourine to keep time as has been suggested. One account by someone who joined from Pittsfield in 1780 is quoted in the Dover book. “Some will be singing, each one his own tune; some without words, in an Indian tone, some sing jig tunes, some tunes of their own making, in an unknown mutter, which they call new tongues . . .” The music no doubt evolved through the years. There are 79 tunes with words in the Dover book and most seem to have been composed in the various communities and passed from one to the other.
Best wishes, Tom
There is a wonderful version of Simple Gifts on the reissue of Yo Yo Ma’s ‘Classic Yo Yo’. Yo Yo plays and Alison Krauss sings. I put this in my Slowdowner program and found it easy to learn. (And I am one of those newbies!!)
Hi,
Thank YOU for your kind replys. Some
very interesting reads.
Ania
Although my band plays mostly music connected in some way to the British Isles, we also do a number of medleys based on Shaker tunes, such as The Ancients’ Song of Mourning, The Burning Day, Canterbury Solemn Song, etc. They lend themselves beautifully to arrangements containing hammer dulcimers, guitars, violins, and whistles. Audiences react to these medleys in a very positive way.
Shakers flourished for about 70 years in the 19th century, with an ideal of simplicity. After the Civil War their numbers declined, dramatically. A book I read a few years ago noted they were a true example of the the primitive apostolic church - men and women living together in celibate purity.
The Shakers wanted no distinction of ‘them and us’ between musicians and worshippers. At first, no instruments were used. The music was all in unison, with no harmony. After the Civil War, they added instruments and four-part harmony. As a dissenting sect, they did not adopt Protestant hymns…They wrote their own - often in visions and trances. By the late 1800’s, 8,000 to 10,000 songs had been composed - a true lasting testament to their faith.
On our way to Bar Harbor in the late 80’s or early '90’s, we stopped at a Shaker village. We spent a lot of hours combing the grounds - and learning… We were told that one of the last living Shakers still lived there - a very elderly woman who was blind. I have always wished I had been allowed to speak with her…
Cheers to all.
Byll
I’d no idea there were so many of these Shaker hymns and songs. Are there any collections of them on the internet you know of?