SACRED HARMONY, 1806

ASMI 448 

Sacred Harmony. Being a collection of many excellent psalm and hymn tunes. To which is prefixed, a full and complete gamut. Collected from various authors, with the addition of several new pieces. - Philadelphia:-printed and sold by John M'Culloch, No. 1, North Third Street. -1806.

1 p.l., 116 p.14 x 23 cm.

P.L. recto, t-p.; verso blank; p. [1]-[2], 'Index'; p. [2], advertisement; p. [3], 'Preface'; p. [4]-11, 'Rules Of Psalmody'; p. [12]-14, 'Observations On the Foregoing Rules'; p. [15]-16, General Observations On Singing'; p. 17-116, music. Lately Published, The Philadelphia Chorister, containing many excellent tunes, mostly new, from the best masters in Britain.-Also, The Melodist, containing most of the plain psalm tunes now in use, with a concise and easy Gamut. The Pennsylvania Harmony will shortly be published.' (Advertisement in full.) "The editor of this Collection had, at first, no design but for private amusement; but at length, having encreased it to what it now appears, it is presented to the public. [New par.] Only such pieces of music as have been most approved, and those adapted to the different metres sung in churches, are inserted; and the whole is designed to accommodate the several musical and religious societies in the United States. (Extract from Preface.)

          109 compositions, most for 4 voices, a few for 3; full text. Attribs. to Dr. Arne, Badcock, Benham, Billings (9), Brownson (4), Bull (3), Canfield, Carpenter (2), Chandler, Deolph (2), Edson (3), Fisher, French (7), Goff (2), Hall (2), Howes, King, Knop, Portuguese, Reed (12), Shumway (2), Stephenson (3), Stone (4), Strong (2), Swan (7), Tansur (3), Washburn, Weal, West (8), Williams (4), Wood (5). No 1st pr. identified. 88 American compositions, 20 non-American, 1 unidentified [PITTSFIELD] (82 attrib. Amer-icans, 6 traced; 14 attrib. non-Americans, 6 traced [ANGELS HYMN, IRISH, MEAR, OLD 100, TRUMPET, WANTAGE]). 

43 Core Repertory.

          S11314 (PPL). PMA, PPL.

NOTE: Sacred Harmony is an unacknowledged reprint of the first portion of No. 469, Nehemiah Shumway, The American Harmony, 2d ed. (Philadelphia, 1801), also printed by John M'Culloch. P. 3-116 are identical, in verbal and musical content and in typography, to the corresponding pages of the earlier work.

          The advertisement refers to No. 474, Stammers, The Philadelphia Chorister (Philadelphia, 1803), and No. 164, The Cumberland Melodist (Philadelphia, 1804).

ASMI pp. 535.