Shaker Suite: Canterbury

SHAKER SUITE: CANTERBURY
It was 2014, and I was researching an opera project, to be set in the great 19th century Amoskeag textile mills of Manchester, NH, and the Shaker community of Canterbury, some thirty miles to the north. As a preliminary study, I thought of writing several short fantasies based on Shaker hymn tunes. And although I had occasionally enjoyed playing the woodwind quintet literature, I had not yet written one. To remedy that lacuna, I wrote Shaker Suite: Canterbury with my colleagues in the Augsburg College resident woodwind quintet in mind.

A Collection of Hymns and Anthems Adapted to Public Worship, compiled by Henry Clay Blinn and originally published by the Shakers of East Canterbury, NH, in 1892 was an excellent resource. The four hymn tunes I chose are each distinctive in tempo and character, and “The Good Samaritan” has the added attraction of being the only hymn in the entire collection to be set in a minor key.

The march-like melody of “Scenes of Glory” is stated twice at the beginning of the movement by the clarinet and oboe, then broken into fragments, never re-appearing in its original form.

The lilting melody of “Purest Blessing” also appears intact at the beginning of the movement, partially stated by the horn, then taken over by the oboe. The original 6/8 time signature has been stretched to 9/8 to make the tempo flow more easily. After a short development section, the original tune reappears in slightly telescoped form.

“Ministration” is built on the downward scale of the hymn’s first phrase, but the entire melody doesn’t appear until twenty bars from the end, in a simple four-part hymn texture. After an eight-bar introduction,

“The Good Samaritan” melody is heard in the oboe. As with all these settings, the fun begins when the tune is broken up to be tossed back and forth between the instruments, creating interesting textures and contrasting moods. This is another marching tune, and owes the sprightliness of its setting to the influence of Malcolm Arnold’s Sea Shanties for Wind Quintet.

Other stylistic influences include Samuel Barber’s Summer Music, and Irving Fine’s Partita for Wind Quintet as well as his lovely choral suite The Hour-Glass.

— Carol Barnett