About this item

Compiled, edited, and with extensive historical and performance information by Nym Cooke, this anthology seeks to present the very best pieces in the shape-note tradition, from 1770 to the present day. In making his selections, Cooke--a leading scholar of this music and a seasoned conductor of it as well--examined every one of the ca. 5,000 pieces printed in American tunebooks through 1810, and thousands of additional tunes printed in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. He has selected 176 tunes and anthems, the cream of a rich crop, for this book. The music is printed in shape notation, with many verses of text underlaid, and is followed by a detailed critical commentary, over 100 pages of information on the composers and arrangers (the most comprehensive collection of biographical information on these men yet published) , suggestions for performance, and six indices.