William Billings
Along with the colonists who immigrated to the Americas came traditions of European art and music. Many early American composers continued to emulate European models while others drew from homegrown traditions, developing an entirely distinctive style.
Of these, Bostonian William Billings is perhaps the most widely known. Plenty of William Billings' music is represented on Quire Cleveland's recent recording titled The Land of Harmony. A favorite on the CD, though admittedly gimmicky and a little too cute, is Billings' Modern Music of 1781 which is rife with text painting.
Besides Billings, Quire's director Ross Duffin has curated a program of American composers that extend as far back as the first book ever printed in North America, through the Civil War, to as late as 20th-century composer Amy Beach.
Included in the mix is a choral setting of The Star Spangled Banner (all four verses of it) and a little Stephen Foster for good measure, along with several other unfamiliar composers like James Lyon.
James Lyon
New Jersey native James Lyon published his tune book compilation Urania in 1761. Lyon was more a preacher than musician, known to have composed only a total of nine pieces. Nonetheless, Urania was significant in American psalmody as it not only printed settings borrowed from English publications (a very commonplace practice) but also included several entirely American works as well.
Lyon's "The Lord descended from above" is a wonderful example of an early American choral piece.
The 1869 National Peace Jubilee
A piece with an interesting history is the Hymn of Peace written in commemoration of the end of the Civil War at the 1869 National Peace Jubilee. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the text which was set to music composed by Matthias Keller. It must have been a rousing performance; at its premiere the Hymn of Peace was performed by a 1,000 piece orchestra and a choir of 10,000 singers. Quire Cleveland gives a chamber version of the piece.
