I Am Filled with Heavenly Treasures

Shaker Traditional (Composer), Otis Sawyer (Composer), Mary Ann Gillespie (Composer), Lucy Willard (Composer), D.A. Buckingham (Composer), Cynthia Annis (Composer), Chase Allard (Composer), Abraham Perkins (Composer), Leslie Dustin (Performer), Calli Guion (Performer), Jamie Jukowsky (Performer), Krysta Frye (Performer), Anna Shultz (Performer), Charlie DePuy (Performer), Mary Ann Haagen (Performer), Sonya Carter (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Leslie Dustin, Calli Guion, Jamie Jukowsky, Krysta Frye, Anna Shultz, et al.
• Composer: Shaker Traditional, Otis Sawyer, Mary Ann Gillespie, Lucy Willard, D.A. Buckingham, et al.
• Audio CD (August 31, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: New World Records
• ASIN: B0002NY90W
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,217 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Shaker music is a unique body of American sacred folk music, created by eighteen American Shaker communities over a period of one hundred and forty years (1780–1920). This rich tradition of song continues to serve the Shaker community in the twenty-first century because it embodies their history, records the testimony of Shakers "who have gone before," articulates the religious principles on which Shakerism is founded, and reflects the faith of the contemporary community. Shaker music was created and nurtured in communities that prized isolation from worldly ways. Shaker melodies, although related to the larger tradition of Anglo-American folk songs, are not bound by their form, tonality, melodic or rhythmic structure.

The Enfield Shaker singers are a vocal ensemble of adults and children devoted to the study and performance of Shaker music. The group is open to all without audition, and is made up of both trained musicians and amateur singers. We draw heavily on the repertoire received or composed in the two societies that were the New Hampshire Bishopric—Canterbury and Enfield. Since the New Hampshire societies enriched their repertoire with songs from all the other Shaker communities, they also sing songs of the New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and Kentucky Shakers.

The Enfield Shaker Singers are drawn to Shaker spirituals that illuminate Shaker communal values and broaden our definitions of the sacred. The songs included on this recording illustrate some of the many ways music served Shaker communities. Most Shaker song texts are theologically direct, emotionally honest, and expressive of our shared humanity.

On this recording we offer thirty-nine songs we have come to love. Some have special meaning for individuals. We associate others with a particular singer in the group, or an occasion when it was sung. Each song offers us slightly different insights into Shaker aspiration, and Shaker faith. We hope that, through this recording, others will also come to love and sing them too. —Mary Ann Haagen, from the liner notes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful listening treat, January 10, 2005

By 

Toby W. (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Am Filled with Heavenly Treasures (Audio CD)

This CD is a delight! The simple melodies, surprising harmonies, and clarity of the voices makes you want to sing along. Listening makes one smile, regardless of one's religious persuasion. Thank you for giving us these songs and preserving the tradition of this music.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Recording - Unique Musical Style Reflective of The Shakers Unique Spirituality, October 5, 2011

By 

Pastor Rob (Saint Louis, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: I Am Filled With Heavenly Treasures (MP3 Download)

This recording reflects the authentic "Shaker" sound which developed from the religious sect's unique spiritual practices. Unlike symphonic renditions of some of these unique spiritual hymns, this recording features the raw beauty of human voices without instrumental accompaniment reflecting a more authentic experience. For anyone who is interested in Shaker music and spirituality, this album is a "must add" along with Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals, Music of the Shakers recorded by University of Kentucky Choristers on vinyl, out-of-print), Golden Harvest: 38 Shaker Chants & Spiritualsand Early Shaker Spirituals [Vinyl] also found in mp3 format, Early Shaker Spirituals.

4.0 out of 5 stars Religious music from the 19th century, July 6, 2007

By 

Walter F. Billings - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Am Filled with Heavenly Treasures (Audio CD)

If one likes the songs of the Shakers written in the late 18th and early 19 century that were without musical instruments, then you may like this CD. I found 8 songs out of the 30 or more on the CD that I liked, the others I did not care for much. This is no fault of the creators of the Cd, it is simply the style of the Shakers of the past.