Helping to make American music come alive again!

 

 

The Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP) was established in 1998 to help preserve historical American music

from the past through publications and recordings so it will survive into the future.

Naturally not every music genre or composer can be covered on this website.

It is intended to provide information on selected music areas, listed below.

The goal is to provide historical information and music recordings from earlier America

for performance, research, teaching, or personal interest.

For contact: click here

 

 

 

 

These are the six main topic areas on this CAMP website:

 

No. 1: CLASSICAL MUSIC

American Composers: From The Colonial Era To Our Time

Earlier American Composers: A Survey in Sound

 

No. 2: COMMUNAL MUSIC

Music of the American Shakers - Resources and Recordings


A Sampling of American Communal Hymns

 

No. 3: FILM MUSIC

Film Music Review e-zine

Essential Movie Musicals

 

No. 4: NEW ENGLAND MUSIC

New England Heritage Music

Singing Stoughton - home of America's Oldest Choral Society, founded in 1786

 

No. 5: POPULAR SONGS

American Song History, 1759-1959

Popular Songs - From The Civil War To The Cold War, 1860s-1960s

No. 6: RECORDED MUSIC

American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC)

 

American Music Recordings Archive (AMRA)

 

 

 

-- Roger Lee Hall, CAMP Director

He is a distinguished musicologist and music preservationist,

who has researched, performed, and written about American music for over 50 years.

He is the former Vice President and Historian

of the Old Stoughton Musical Society - America's oldest, founded in 1786.

His areas of special interest include:

New England choral music (18th-20th centuries)

Music of the Shakers (18th-20th centuries)

Composers in earlier America (18th-19th centuries)

Film music (20th centuriy)

 

He is also an ASCAP pop songwriter and classical composer with over 100 compositions.

See the list of his compositions published exclusively by PineTree Music

 

 

Anti-War Song

Soloist (first verse): Karen Pritchard
Old Stoughton Musical Society Chorus
Kevin Yates, organist
Roger Hall, conductor

Listen to this anti-war song set to words
by a 10 year old Stoughton girl
during the War of 1812
and premiered in a 1981 concert celebrating
the centennial of Stoughton Town Hall -- click here

 

PEACE

Come, gentle Peace, with smiling ray,
Beam on our Land a cloudless day;
Beneath thy influence serene
The olive wears immortal green,

Come, gentle Peace, resume thy reign.
With all thy virtues in thy train;
And then Columbia's soil shall grow
As verdant Paradise below.

Words: Esther Talbot, 1814
Music: Roger Hall, 1981

© PineTree Music, 1981

To order this song score and audio go to -- Peace Poem 1814

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Musical Celebration for the

250th Anniversary of The American Revolution!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sign up to watch the webinar from the NY Adventure Club on "Revolutionary Tunes" -- go here

 

Professor Robert Allison and Roger Lee Hall, Director of the Center for American Music Preservation
discuss how music shaped public opinion, preserved memory, and reflected the hopes, anxieties, and humor of Revolutionary Americans.
The conversation also highlights the survival of period melodies, the stories behind famous songs,
and the ways music connected ordinary people to extraordinary events.
It is a fascinating journey into the sounds of 1776 and the cultural heartbeat of a Revolution that changed the world.

Watch the discussion and hear these four early American tunes:

STOUGHTON - William Billings, 1770 with added text by Dr. Isaac Watts, edited by Roger Hall
THE LEXINGTON MARCH - attributed to Dr. Richard Shuckburgh
CHESTER - text and music by William Billings, 1778 (shown above)
YANKEE DOODLE (Father and I went down to camp) - text by Harvard College student, Edward Bangs, ca. 1776

Watch the conversation on YouTube at Revolution 250

 

 

Read about America's first major choral composer

with samples of his music at - William Billings - Father of American Choral Music

 

 

The Town of Stoughton, Massachusetts, where William Billings taught a signing school in 1774
is celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2026.
Here is a selection of "Town Tunes"

TEN TOWN TUNES (PINETREE PRESS),

This tune collection includes STOUGHTON (1770) by William Billings
and named after the town where he met his wife Lucy in the singing school he taught in Stoughton.
STOUGHTON was originally published without words and an 18th century text was added by Roger Hall.
This tune was first perfomed during the Bicentennial Celebration
of the Old Stoughton Musical Society (America's oldest choral society) in 1986

Read more at -- Singing Stoughton

 

 

 

William Billings - Father of American Choral Music

 

 

 

"DEDICATION" - American Choral Sampler

 

 

 

Four American Patriotic Songs:
The Liberty Song, The New Massachusetts Song of Liberty, Chester, Yankee Doodle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yankee Doodle -
An American Song Treasury, 1620-1920

Watch this program:

"More Than Yankee Doodle -

Songs of Patriotism and Protest in the American Revolution"

presented by American music preservationist, Roger Lee Hall

at the Colonial Society of Massachusetts in Boston

now available on YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To contact the CAMP -- click here

 

 

Your support of the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP)

is urgently needed so it can continue providing valuable music information.

 

To help support this website,

see the American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC)

and the CAMP Store

 

Click on the picture to read about this highly rated AMRC CD

of enjoyable piano music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the list of 60 music collections by Roger Lee Hall

available in the series of

PineTree Music Editions (PTME)

 

 

 

 

You can listen to the podcast about his music career from high school songwriting,

to how he became an ASCAP songwriiter and composer and an American music preservationist and

Director of the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP).

Click on any of these links to listen to the audio podcast:

Apple -- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-history-your-story/id1535889414?i=1000611257078

Spotify -- https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mS6z5JjFwUapMnp3jk5XJ?si=lYjF4XNiT7iHmZmD7qCF9w

YouTube -- https://youtu.be/aPlzapgMVkM

Support Your History/Your Story Podcast & become a patron! 

http://patreon.com/YourHistoryYourStoryPodcast

 

 

 

"Free As The Breeze" - A Songwriter's Joys and Sorrows (PineTree Press, 2025)

Listen to the discussion with James Gardner

speaking with Roger Hall about his early songwriting days on

YouTube

 

 

 

 

"The Star-Spangled Banner" - A Musical Salute

 

 

 

Music of the Shakers

 

Roger Hall is one of the foremost experts on music of the American Shakers.

Since 1971, he has researched, written publications,

performed and recorded their music for a series of CDs.

For over two centuries the Shakers composed thousands of anthems, hymns and songs, more than any communal sect in America.

Their first tunes were wordless and later they added texts and also wrote music in three and four-part harmony.

Their earliest existing songs in America are from the 1780s and their last known song was composed in 1959.

 

 

In Celebration of the the 50th Anniversary of his first published Shaker music collections and recording in 1976

Music Collection: "A Western Shaker Music Sampler"
1. Anthem: +Mount Zion
2. Hymn: The Living Shepherd
3. Song: Marching Tune
4. Hymn: How Happy Are They
5. Song: +Love is Little
6. DanceSong: Round Shuffle
7. Song: +March
8. Hymn: +Doxology
9. Hymn: On the Landing of Mother Ann in America
10. Song: +A Dream
11. Song: +Gentle Words
12. Song: Slow March

+ = these titles are on this AMRC CD and book:

 

 

A multimedia collection with research information, audio and concert videos is available on USB Flash Drive titled:

 

 

Read about this AMRC CD

with some of the earliest religious music by women in America beginning in the 18th century.

Read about this highly praised CD, "My Shaker Home" -- here

 

 

 

 

Watch the program with Shaker music scholar, Roger Lee Hall,

now available on YouTube and titled -

"Tis the gift to be simple" -
Aaron Copland Meets The Shakers in Shaker Heights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcpVRysB328

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read the facts about the popular Shaker dance song,

"Simple Gifts (aka: Tis the gift to be simple)" -- click here

 

 

 

 

SAVING EARLIER AMERICAN MUSIC (SEAM)

 

Helping to preserve two centuries of American vocal and instrumental music, 1759-1959

click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early New England Composer,
Supply Belcher (1751-1835)
read about him - here

AMRC CD 0002:

"Make A Joyful Noise" -
The New England Harmony

 

 

ANGEL OF PEACE: Music in Old Boston

 

 

 

 

 

 

In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Landing of the Pilgrims,

a multimedia collection available

highlighting singing and songs in earlier America:

"Land of Our Hearts" - From Pilgrims To Patriots

 

 

 

 

Join the T.E.A.M!

Treasures of Earlier American Music

Music refines the taste, purifies the heart,
and elevates our nature.
It does more:

it soothes in sorrow, tranquillizes in passion,
and wears away the irritabilities of life.

It intensifies love,
it fires the patriotism,
and makes the altar of our devotion burn
with a purer, holier flame.

--W.W. Hall, M.D.
Hall's Journal of Health for 1862

To inquire about joining the T.E.A.M. as a historian, musician, researcher, music teacher, interested individual -- click here

See the T.E.A.M. recordings available -- click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Popular Songwriter Series

 

 

 

A Tribute to George Gershwin

 

"The Last Round-Up" - Songs by Billy Hilll

 

"I Hear Music"- A Tribute To Songwriter, Frank Loesser

 

"Moon River" - Memories of Henry Mancini

"Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive"- Johnny Mercer in Hollywood

 

 

 

 

 

This massive music collection

for teaching or research is now available at a huge discount!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier American Music Timeline

Part One: 1620 - 1818

Part Two: 1822-1920

 

 

 

 

 

Essential American Recordings Survey (EARS)

Music from 200 years, 1759-1959

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research article:

"Simple Gifts": The Discovery and Popularity of a Shaker Dance Song

 

 

 

 

 

Read about the first important American choral composer,Willliam Billings, his large family,

and the singing tradition in Stoughton, Massachusetts which led to the

oldest choral society in the USA, founded in 1786

in this publication from PineTree Press:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the list of music titles,
see the American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC) -- click here

For the list in titles
in the PineTree Multimedia Editions (PTME) -- click here

To write to the CAMP about your educational institution
obtaining this extensive collection of audio and research material
available for a one time preparation charge -- click here

 

 

Featured Publication:

Read about Shaker music in this new edition with 25 texts of Shaker spirituals,
an interview with Aaron Copland, and a Shaker Song Quartet in this book.

There is also an CD available with all 25 tunes. To read about the book and CD for a special price -- go here

 

See a list of Roger Hall's Shaker music collections -- click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A valuable series
for teaching, research or just for listening!

 

 

Earlier American Composers:
Survey In Sound, 1759-1919

4 volumes with music examples from 16 American composers,
including chamber music and choral music, all together on one multimedia DVD-ROM.

Read about this extensive audio collection -- click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Recorded Choral Archive (ARCA)

American Recorded Choral Archive

 

 

 

 

 

Honor Roll

We are grateful for any donations received to help support the CAMP.

These names have been added to the CAMP Honor Roll for their service to American music:

Eldress Bertha Lindsay

Sister Ruth Mildred Barker

Sister Bertha Lillian Phelps

Gregory Erickson

Earl Eyrich

Randy Folger

John D. Herr

David P. McKay

William Randle

Charles "Bud" Thompson

 

You can help support the CAMP by making a donation by credit card for $25 or more

and adding a name to this Honor Roll.

To make your donation see below on this page

 

 

Your support is needed to help support American music preservation.

Order any of these special limited edition CDs:

 

 

CELESTIAL PRAISES - A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals

 

 

"It's Magic" - One Hundredth Birthday Celebration of Sammy Cahn

 

 

 

MY SHAKER HOME - Words and Music by Shaker Sisters

Research Topics

 

18th century

Read about the first known American art song in 1759 by Francis Hopkinson--
click here

 

 

William Billings - Father of American Choral Music

 

 

Singing Stoughton - America's oldest choral tradition

 

 

 

 

 

"A Toast" - Music of George Washington's Time

 

 

 

 

 

19th century

Read about "The Simplicity of Shaker Music" -
the oldest surviving communal sect in America,
with the largest number of original tunes and texts
click here

 

 

"Lincoln and Liberty" - Music From Abraham Lincoln's Time

 

It is not commonly known that in addition to his many popular songs,
Stephen Foster also composed a group of beautiful hymns during the Civil War years.
Some of these hymns are available in First Recordings on a multimedia disc titled,

 

"Glory, Halllelujah" - Songs and Hymns of the Civil War Era

 

 

20th century

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music by George W. Chadwick - click here

One of his choral works from 1918 is the title of this DVD-ROM with audio and video features:

"Land of Our Hearts" - From Pilgrims to Patriots

 

 

 

The Bill Randle Chronicles - click here

 

 

 

Film In Focus (1930s-1960s) - click here

 

 

Tribute to a popular Oscar-winning lyricist, Sammy Cahn