These Simple Gifts

Shall we dance?

My experience at the Dave Matthews band concert a few evenings ago has inspired this post. The band has a logo of a nymph dancing. It could be an angel. As is everything, it is up to our interpretation. It could be reflection on one of his compositions....maybe a Dancing Nancy?

I am a big fan of  Aaron Copeland, an American classical composer. (See post: "American Treasure" 10/15). His ballet "Appalachian Spring" brought Joseph Brackett's 1848 Shaker spiritual "Simple Gifts" to mainstream American culture in 1944, a time of World War angst.  Then in 1963 Sydney Carter used the Shaker tune to write a popular Christian Hymn known in choir lofts and Church pews worldwide as "Lord of the Dance".

“Simple Gifts” by Joseph Brackett

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.^[5

On his "Lord of the Dance" inspiration Mr. Carter wrote:

"I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in other times and places, other planets, there may be other Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words of Jesus.

Whether Jesus ever leaped in Galilee to the rhythm of a pipe or drum I do not know. We are told that David danced (and as an act of worship too), so it is not impossible. The fact that many Christians have regarded dancing as a bit ungodly (in a church, at any rate) does not mean that Jesus did.

The Shakers didn't. This sect flourished in the United States in the nineteenth century, but the first Shakers came from Manchester in England, where they were sometimes called the "Shaking Quakers". They hived off to America in 1774, under the leadership of Mother Anne. They established celibate communities - men at one end, women at the other; though they met for work and worship. Dancing, for them, was a spiritual activity. They also made furniture of a functional, lyrical simplicity. Even the cloaks and bonnets that the women wore were distinctly stylish, in a sober and forbidding way.

Their hymns were odd, but sometimes of great beauty: from one of these (Simple Gifts) I adapted this melody. I could have written another for the words of 'Lord of the Dance' (some people have), but this was so appropriate that it seemed a waste of time to do so. Also, I wanted to salute the Shakers.

Sometimes, for a change I sing the whole song in the present tense. 'I dance in the morning when the world is begun...'. It's worth a try."^[4]

Here is one rendition:

I know a lady, a dear friend who I love deeply. She has told me that she would like "Lord of the Dance" played and performed at her wake. May we all will be dancing the tune as we enter the eternal gates of heaven.

Amen Sister

Bradford Bosworth
Memorial Day 2016

How about an encore from Copeland's Appalachian Spring?