BALTIMORE by J. Ingalls, 1796
Only two compositions by Ingalls are known to exist outside of what was included in his 1805 publication.
The A-minor double fuging tune PENNSYLVANNIA has come back to the modern shape-note singing tradition through its inclusion in the Northern Harmony, but BALTIMORE in G major, has never appeared in a modern collection until now. So this is the first time it has ever been led at an All-day Singing and the first time it's been sung by this many voices in over a hundred years, a premiere of sorts......
The tune has a modulating fuge duet section that suggests a Carol being sung in a tavern or perhaps a Wassail.
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Let all the earth their voices raise
To sing the choicest psalm of praise,
To sing and bless Jehovah’s Name:
His glory let the heathens know,
His wonders to the nations show,
And all His saving works proclaim.
He framed the globe, He built the sky,
He made the shining worlds on high,
And reigns complete in glory there:
His beams are majesty and light;
His beauties, how divinely bright!
His temple, how divinely fair.
--Isaac Watts, 1719
Links:
Village Carols on CD, from Folkways