Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

An industrious and orderly people; economical in their livings, andfrugal in their expenses, but very liberal when called for valuable purposes,or by brethren in distress. They are well informed in general;fond of reading, punctual in their observance of the laws … jealousand watchful over their liberties; almost every individual pursuingsome gainful and useful calling. They are humane and friendly,wishing well to the human race. They are plain and simple in theirmanners, and on the whole, they form perhaps the most pleasingand happy society in the world.Such a unity of people, place and culture evokes the working of a folksoul. Deeply rooted in the New England experience, and spread out acrossthe continent by the massive emigration that took place in the 19th century,were many impulses that were to have great significance in the shapingof America’s destiny. These included the strong emphasis on self-reliance,self-government, and individual liberty; the concern for education; the famous—andinfamous—Puritan work ethic; and perhaps a moral approachto life that can too easily become moralistic.The earnest and pragmatic nature of the New England soul did notencourage an early or easy blossoming of nonutilitarian culture. The Transcendentalistsand other related 19th-century movements, the high point ofNew England culture, were two hundrd years in gestation. However, theunifying religious and recreational roles that music played in a communitygave earlier rise to the music that we are to consider.The church-singing tradition that the Puritans brought with themfrom England had become all but moribund at the time of a resurgence ofchoral singing in New England in the second half of the 18th century. Fosteringthis resurgence were the “singing schools” across the region. Singingschools were set up in villages and towns usually during the winter monthswhen the pace of farm life had slackened. In these schools, the studentslearned the rudiments of sight-singing and a number of sacred choral pieces,mostly by now-forgotten 18th century English composers. The schools wereoften led by peripatetic singing masters, mostly self-taught, who pursuedthis avocation as a sideline to another profession.In their enthusiasm for their craft, some of these singing masterswrote their own compositions, undeterred by their formidable lack of musictraining. No need to be restrained by an almost complete absence of training!They were in the New World, where all things were possible to theenterprising. The greatest of these singing masters, William Billings, wrote83