An Anthology of American Organ Music, Vol. 1: The 18th Century – Janice Beck, organ

Description

During the 18th century, little music was written in America specifically for organ. It is clear, nevertheless, that most keyboard music was intended to be played on any keyboard instrument. Even 3 and 4 part hymns and anthems, although written for voice, were often accompanied by the organ, duplicating the voice parts.

Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791), James Lyon (1735-1794) and William Billings (1746-1800) were America’s first native born composers. Each was self-trained in music which was, at least initially, only an avocation. Hopkinson, a friend of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, may have composed the first piece of music in the American colonies (My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free). His Seven Songs for Harpsichord was dedicated to Washington and a copy sent to Jefferson Two pieces from this work, “Beneath a Weeping Willows Shade and “Come Fair Rosina, Come Away, are included in this recording.

Lyon and Billings, and nearly all other native-born American composers of the 18th century, wrote, primarily, hymns, fuguing tunes, and anthems for the church service. Whereas the music of Hopkinson is primarily of historical interest, that of Lyon, and especially Billings, is of greater importance because of the influence it has had on later American composers. Since neither Lyon nor Billings had any formal musical training, they were