Canasg Choral Music Publishing

Canasg Music

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  SA5004 

 
Lay me low


Shaker song

 
arranged by Sheena Phillips

for soprano, alto, tenor and bass unaccompanied chorus 


SATB spacer performance time approx  0m 45s (sung once through)











Arranger's note



This beautiful melody comes from the 19th century Shaker community of New Lebanon in New York state.  Frequently, Shakers felt their songs to be not the creations of individual people but, in essence, gifts from the spiritual world; this song is a 'gift song' received by Addah Z Potter in 1838.  


Traditionally nearly all the Shaker songs were sung in unison but they come alive in a different way when harmonised.  'Lay me low' works well sung first by a quartet of soloists and then by a larger group.  Sequences of different Shaker tunes can also work well in performance.  Other harmonised Shaker tunes published by Canasg include Mother Ann's song, Simple gifts, Star of purity and Turning shuffle tune.   















 Music

See a sample of the music 
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Hear a  MIDI  file of the song 








 Words 


Lay me low


Lay me low, 

Lay me low,

Lay me low, low

Where Mother can find me,

Where Mother can own me,

Where Mother can bless me.



Shaker song received by Addah Z Potter







The 'Mother' referred to in the song is Ann Lee who was a leader of the Shaker movement. She was viewed virtually as a female deity and many Shaker songs are attributed to her inspiration or refer warmly to her.  



Our transcription of these words and the tune is taken from Edward Deming Andrews' book The Gift to be Simple: songs, dances and rituals of the American Shakers  published by Dover Publications, New York (and on the web at www.doverpublications.com). 

 










Lay me low




Price


The price of this piece depends on the number of singers in your group. This is a single payment for a licence to make as many copies as you need for your group to rehearse and perform the song as often as you wish.  Copies of the song must not be given, lent or sold to any other group.  








Number of singers in your group

up to 12 singers13 to 24 singers25 singers or more

£3 (approx US$5.00)



















£6 (approx US$10)



















£9 (approx US$15)



















  Please note that your Paypal transaction will be in sterling but it should automatically 
be converted if your credit card draws on a different currency.















Companion pieces

Browse the 'Sacred music' section of the Canasg catalogue for more songs like this one.  To go there now, click on the 'catalogue' box to the right.
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Canasg Choral Music Publishing 	


Canasg Music









16 Morningside Park Edinburgh Scotland EH10 5HB  

475 Walhalla Road Columbus Ohio OH 43202 











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Page updated by  Peter Hill January 2006