William Billings (October 7, 1746–September 26, 1800), American choral composer, is regarded as the father of American choral music and hymnody. Billings was born, died, and spent his life in Boston, during the exciting years of the American Revolution. Originally a tanner by trade, and lacking formal training in music, Billings created what is now recognized as a uniquely American style. is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Catharine de Ricci (born 1522) canonized. ... is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // ON MAY 5 1853 MR.FADER HAD SEX WITH A MAN NAME MR WIEN THEN THEY HAD SON NAMEDMRS COTURE AND MR MANOOGIAN WENT INTO MRS HASKELLS OFFICE NAKED AND DANCED AROUND AND MASTERBATED ON HER CHEST AND SHE LICKED IT OFF THEN THEY HAD ORAL SEEX WITH NAPLOEAN OF... A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... This article is about making hides into leather. ...

The music

Virtually all of Billings' music was written for four-part chorus, singing a cappella. His many hymns and anthems were published mostly in book-length collections, as follows: This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the vocal technique. ...

• The New-England Psalm-Singer (1770)
• The Singing Master's Assistant (1778)
• Music in Miniature (1779)
• The Psalm-Singer's Amusement (1781)
• The Suffolk Harmony (1786)
• The Continental Harmony (1794)

Sometimes Billings would revise and improve a song, including the new version in his next volume.

Billings' music can be at times forceful and stirring, as in his patriotic song "Chester"; ecstatic, as in his hymn "Africa"; or elaborate and celebratory, as in his "Easter Anthem". The latter sounds rather like a miniature Handelian chorus, sung a cappella. As might be expected from a composer who was very close to his roots in folk music, Billings' music shows a striking purity. His "Jargon," written to a tongue-in-cheek text, contains jarring dissonances that sound more like those of the 20th century than of the 18th century. Among the patriotic anthems sung during the American Revolutionary War, only Yankee Doodle was more popular than William Billingss Chester. ... Africa is a hymn tune composed by William Billings. ... “Handel” redirects here. ... Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including: Traditional music: The original meaning of the term folk music was synonymous with the term Traditional music, also often including World Music and Roots music; the term Traditional music was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the... Sarcasm is the making of remarks intended to mock the person referred to (who is normally the person addressed), a situation or thing. ...

Billings as writer

Billings often wrote the lyrics for his own compositions. Like the notes, the words are occasionally awkward but always forceful and vivid.

As an example, McKay and Crawford (see Books, below) compare Billings' metrical rendering of Luke 2:8-11 with that of Nahum Tate, thought to be the inspiration for Billings' work: The Gospel of Luke (literally, according to Luke; Greek, Κατά Λουκαν, Kata Loukan) is a synoptic Gospel, and the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. ... Cover of Tates version of King Lear Nahum Tate (1652 – 1715) was an Irish Protestant poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became Poet Laureate in 1692. ...

Tate:

While shepherds watched their flocks by night

All seated on the ground,

The angel of the Lord came down,

And glory shone around.

Billings:

As shepherds in Jewry were guarding their sheep,

Promiscusly seated estranged from sleep;

An Angel from heaven presented to view,

And thus he accosted the trembling few

Dispel all your sorrows, and banish your fears,

For Jesus our Saviour in Jewry appears.

Billings also wrote long prefaces to his works in which he explained (often in an endearingly eccentric prose style) the rudiments of music and how his work should be performed. His writings reflect his extensive experience as a singing master, and include advice that would wisely be heeded by choral singers today. A singing school is a school for teaching vocal music. ...

Reception

Billings' work was very popular in its heyday, but it failed to last out the composer's lifetime. The composer's career was hampered by the primitive state of copyright law in America at the time; and by the time the copyright laws had been strengthened, it was too late for Billings: the favorites among his tunes had already been widely reprinted in other people's hymnals, permanently copyright-free.

With changes in the public's musical taste, Billings' fortunes declined. His last tune-book, The Continental Harmony, was published as a project of his friends, in an effort to help support the revered but no longer popular composer. His temporary employment as a Boston street sweeper was probably a project of a similar nature.

Billings died in poverty at age 53, and for a considerable time after his death, his music was almost completely neglected in the American musical mainstream. However, his compositions remained popular for a time in the rural areas of New England, which resisted the newer trends in sacred music. Moreover, a few of Billings' songs were carried southward and westward through America, as a result of their appearance in shape note hymnals. They ultimately resided in the rural South, as part of the Sacred Harp singing tradition. Shape notes are a system of music notation designed to facilitate congregational singing. ... Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that took root in the Southern region of the United States. ...

In the latter part of the twentieth century a Billings revival occurred, and a sumptuous complete scholarly edition of his works was published (see Books, below). Works by Billings are commonly sung by American choral groups today, particularly performers of early music. In addition, the recent spread of Sacred Harp music has acquainted many more people with Billings' music: several of his compositions are among the more frequently sung of the works in the Sacred Harp canon 1. Early music is commonly defined as European classical music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque. ... Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that took root in the Southern region of the United States. ...

The Stoughton Musical Society, formed by former students of Billings, has carried on his tradition for over 200 years, and included twenty-seven Billings tunes in their 1878 music collection, The Stoughton Musical Society's Centennial Collection of Sacred Music. Organized in 1786, this is currently Americas oldest choral society. ...

The modern American composer William Schuman featured Billings' American Revolutionary War anthem "Chester", along with two other of Billings' hymns, in his composition New England Triptych. William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910–February 15, 1992) was an American composer and music administrator. ... This article is about military actions only. ... Among the patriotic anthems sung during the American Revolutionary War, only Yankee Doodle was more popular than William Billingss Chester. ... New England Triptych is a symphonic composition by William Schuman. ...

William Billings was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. ...

Books

• McKay, David P. and Richard Crawford (1975) William Billings of Boston. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09118-8.

• Complete works of William Billings in four volumes, edited by Karl Kroeger:
  • The New England psalm-singer. University Press of Virginia (1981).
  • The Singing Masters Assistant, Music in Miniature. University Press of Virginia (1984). ISBN 0-8139-0839-6.
  • The Psalm-Singer's Amusement. University Press of Virginia (1987). ISBN 0-8139-1130-3.
  • The Continental Harmony. University Press of Virginia (1990). ISBN 1-878528-01-7.

External links

• William Billings at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Art of the States: William Billings
• Choral Public Domain Library - William Billings Sheet Music
• The Music of William Billings
• Singing Stoughton
• William Billings Memorial Tribute