Shaker Songs: A Musical Celebration of Peace, Harmony and Simplicity

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Shaker Book
Review: "Shaker Songs" is a beautifully produced, meticulously researched, and creatively conceived volume that combines the most appealing aspects of musical collection, descriptive text, and artwork.

As you'd expect from the curator of Hancock Shaker Village, the body of work as a collection of Shaker music is informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Short textual introductions give context and insight into how these selections fit into the greater body of Shaker music and society generally. It's all very nicely crafted, but this is to be expected, in such a volume. The CD, touched by the genius of the great Joel Cohen, is a recording to be cherished, and a delightful extra-special added bonus that brings this volume to a new level. But again, this is all to be expected in a book about Shaker music with this pedigree.

The real surprise in this book is the extraordinary quality of the artwork that decorates its pages. These are some of the best reproductions of Shaker photographs, gift drawings, and various other pieces, that I've seen published. So, when you're not using this book to learn about Shaker music, it is a perfect art object, for just a quick look at something beautiful and Shaker, when you have a spare moment. It's relatively small, as coffee-table books go, so it's easy to handle.

I'd say, whether you're a Shaker music buff or just a general Shaker buff, I think that you'll find this book to be a delight, through and through. I received it as a gift, and truly, in this price range, I can think of no better gift for a Shaker enthusiast.

--ZootJS