Today, the Thanksgiving holiday can mean many things to a multitude of people, but this was not necessarily the case for those who celebrated it over two hundred years ago. This hour, we sample some of the music one might have heard at Thanksgiving in early America. From Spanish settlers in Florida to Moravians in North Carolina to the father of American Choral music, we’ll hear songs of thanks and praise. Plus, our featured release showcases music brought to the new world by the passengers on the Mayflower.
PLAYLIST
MUSIC TRACK
William Lawes – Consort Music
Fretwork
Warner Classics 2005/ B013QDBVWS
William Lawes
Tr. 16 Fantasie for 3 Lyra Viols, VdGS No. 573 (4:49)
Segment A:
MUSIC TRACKS
Home to Thanksgiving: Songs of Thanks and Praise
Paul Hillier and various ensembles
HMX 1992/1994/1995/1996/1998 /B000QQWFYC
[His Majestie’s Clerkes; Goostly Psalmes/Anglo-American Psalmody 1550-1800]
Tr. 1: Rainbow / ’Tis by thy strength the mountains stand – Timothy Swan (2:00)
Tr. 2: Colchester / O ‘twas a joyful sound to hear – William Tans’ur (1:30)
[Theatre of Voices; Carols from the Old and New Worlds, vol. 1]
Tr. 3: The Apple Tree – Jeremiah Ingalls (2:20)
[His Majestie’s Clerkes; Goostly Psalmes/Anglo-American Psalmody 1550-1800]
Tr. 5: Schenectady / From all that dwells below the skies – Nehemiah Shumway (1:08)
Tr. 12: Worcester / How beauteous are their feet – Abraham Wood (1:57)
[Theatre of Voices; Carols from the Old and New Worlds, vol. 2]
Tr. 17: Give good gifts one to another – Mount Lebanon hymnal, New York, 1893 (1:38)
MUSIC TRACKS
Lost Music of Early America
Music of the Moravians
Boston Baroque/Martin Pearlman
Telarc 1998 / B00000C2HQ
Tr. 20: Hymn Kommt, danket dem Helden (1:14)
Tr. 21: Das ist ein Tag - Christian Gregor (:46)
Tr. 22: Ich will immer harren - Johann Friedrich Peter (1:27)
Tr. 24: Die Frucht des Geistes ist Liebe – Johann Christian Geisler (2:12)
Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal
:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:
MUSIC TRACK
Viva Napoli
Doulce memoire/Denis Raisin-Dadre
Astree 2000 / B00004SZ38
Tr. 18: Bizzaria d’amore, Furioso EXCERPT (2:36)
Segment B:
MUSIC TRACKS
Home to Thanksgiving: Songs of Thanks and Praise
Paul Hillier and various ensembles
HMX 1992/1994/1995/1996/1998 / B000QQWFYC
William Billings
[His Majestie’s Clerkes; “A Land Of Pure Delight,” William Billings]
Tr. 6: Thanksgiving Anthem O praise the Lord of Heaven (4:25)
Tr. 11: Jordan / There is a Land of pure Delight (2:52)
[His Majestie’s Clerkes; Goostly Psalmes/Anglo-American Psalmody 1550-1800]
Tr. 18: Chester / Let the tyrants shake their iron rod (2:15)
MUSIC TRACK
An American Journey: Bound for the Promised Land
The Waverly Consort/Michael Jaffee
Angel 1996 / B000002SLU
Tr. 3: The Promised Land/The Traveller (4:07)
MUSIC TRACK
Home to Thanksgiving: Songs of Thanks and Prai se
Paul Hillier and various ensembles
HMX 1992/1994/1995/1996/1998 / B000QQWFYC
Tr. 19: Evening Hymn The day is past and gone(3:48)
Featured Release:
MUSIC TRACK
They that in Ships to the Sea down go: Music for the Mayflower
Passamezzo
Resonus Classics 2020 / B087C7ZGTX
Anon. (ed. Henry Ainsworth)
Tr. 20 Psalm 107 (3:01)
Tr. 5 The Lamentation (3:51)
