Scan 185
The American history and encyclopedia of music .., 1908
10 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 153. See the scan on archive.org.
1hitherto sat in the front seats in said gallery, have a right to sit in the front and second seats below, and that said singers have said seats appropriated to said use." "Voted, that said singers be requested to take said seats and carry on the singing in public worship."
3"Voted, that the mode of singing in the congregation here be without reading the psalms line by line to be sung."
5"The Sabbath after the adoption of these votes, after the hymn had been read by the minister, the aged and venerable Deacon Chamberlain, unwilling to desert the custom of his fathers, rose and read the first line according to the usual practise. The singers, prepared to carry the alteration into effect, proceeded without pausing at the conclusion. The white haired officer of the church with full power of his voice read on till the louder notes of the collected body overpowered the attempts to resist the progress of the improvement and the deacon, deeply mortified at the triumph of the musical reformation, seized his hat and retired from the meeting house in tears. His conduct was censured by the church and he was for a time deprived of its communion for absenting himself from the public services of the Sabbath."
7Singing schools, or something akin to them, were organized early in the Eighteenth Century at the time when the New England churches were in such turmoil over the matter of congregational singing. In a tract written by Rev. Thomas Symmes in 1723 in favor of better singing in the churches he makes reply to his opponents who denounced those who were "spending too much time in singing" and "staying out at nights disorderly." From this it is seen that concerted efforts then were being made to learn to sing. In the announcement of one of the early singing masters he states that he is prepared to teach "the new version of the psalms with all the tunes, both of particular and common measure."
9The efforts of the first singing masters in America undoubtedly were directed toward instruction in psalmody.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.