William
Billings Interview
Interviewer: Hello William. How are you and your family?
Billings: Good evening Miss. Salyers. We are great
thank you for asking.
Interviewer: Would mind telling me a little on your
family? I have heard that you are "married with six children."
(Nathan)
Billings: Yes ma'm. I am married to my beloved wife Lucy
Swan and we have five beautiful daughters and one son. "My son's name is William
Jr. My five daughters named Margret, Mary, Abigail,
Dorothy, Patience, and Ebenezer. All of
my children were born and raised in Stoughton, Massachusetts." ("American Music
Preservation") My
children were not born into the same conditions as I. Lucy and I have raised
our children under wealth and respect in hopes of getting it in return. We have
amazing children but none of them have followed in my footsteps. But I am not
only known as the father to my children. I am known as "the father of
American choral music."(Gary)
Interviewer: What do you mean same conditions? Has
anything in your life inspired you to become interested in the arts.
Billings: When I was just a child I was very poor
and not very educated. "I was a tanner and had self taught myself to play
and write music. I starting teaching choral music at the age of 22."
(Lienhard) When I was 14 my father had passed away so I had stopped formal
schooling. I have created "compositions hymns,
anthems, psalms, and fuging tunes. My music is noted for its rhythmic vitality,
freshness, and straightforward harmonies. The emotions embodied in my music
range from the exuberant glory and profound grief to buoyant humor."(Britannica)
I have confidence in myself and in my music.
Interviewer: So being poor did you have an mentors to
help develop your interest in music?
Billings: No one was really there for me. My friends
where "figures
of the American Revolution as Samuel Adams and Paul Revere." ("Music
of William Billings") I tried to keep my life moving. Never to know what
to write next, I stayed upon my feet. "At the age of twenty-three I had already composed more than one hundred
original pieces of sacred music. I had also published his first tune book, The
New England Psalm Singer." (McKay) Being at the top brought to myself
great pride and joy.
Interviewer: What was the world of music like back when
you entered it? Many have said
"you're the only person in 18th-century Boston
to list his profession as "Singing Master."" (Gann)
Billings: There where many types of music from
orchestras to the choral music I write. But my music was more surprising
considering that I have "one sightless eye, a withered arm, legs of different lengths, a loud, rasping voice and
generally a slovenly appearance."("Church History
Timeline") I have written hundreds of pieces and almost every top ranked
choir has sung. My music is world renounced and I am proud. Years upon years it took to get
where I am but it was not as hard as anticipated. "My tune books were used
in New England singing schools." ("Traitors, Seamstresses, and
Generals: Voices of the American Revolution") I have a great passion for
music and I am glad people use my work. To see how much I have touched people
is the greatest gift ever given.
Interviewer: How your lack of education and money impact
your work?
Billings: Even starting out as a tanner by trade "I
have created what is now known as a unique American style."(Hall) My music
has never been the same as the next and every song written was different. Being
poorly educated wasn't a choice but it's the cards I have been handed and I
have gotten along just fine without it. My wealth has increased over the years
so I have nothing to sob or complain about. Me
as a person have had a lot happen in my life. I have made wrong decisions,
messed up on a song, or made a mistake. Not everyone in the world is perfect.
I'm one of the lucky ones and my life had turned around for me towards the end
but it was pretty rough in the beginning. The trick is to always be confident
and stand proud for what is right and in the end it might work out.
Interviewer: What would you say were your major
accomplishments and the methods you would use in your music?
Billings: On a plaque dedicated to me was written, "One
of America's earliest native born composers who greatly enhanced a musical
awareness within the colonies by respected tradition, his final resting place
is to be believed to be an unmarked grave within this area of the
common."(Digati). I am known for my music and for that is the greatest
accomplishment able to receive. For I had no variety of method for my music
it was pure emotion. My music was written in many different ways and has many
different intentions. "My
favorite and most important piece was CHESTER. I had wrote this in 1770."
(Billings) This song is still very popular and means a lot about the American
Revolutionary War. Sadly among the anthems written during the war the song
YANKEE DOODLE was more popular. My song was written to a town named Chester
than my hymn tune Africa.
Interviewer: What opportunities did you have that led
you to turning points in your life of music? An article by Richard Crawford
stated, "The music seems to present few performance problems...
authenticity rather than technical problems represent the chief difficulty
there" (Crawford); how did this make you feel?
Billings: It was upsetting because not every
performance will be spot on and he pointed every little mistake. That was one
of many performances. When had started talking about my tune book and saying
"readers should not infer that Billings advice about performance applies
to all music of his contemporaries, as well as his own music" (Crawford);
my music is uniquely written and how people interpret music is how they want. Music
means something different to every other person and hits them in a way only
understandable to those who hear it. My
music has been composed by many other performers and in all different
ways. My performances were unique in many ways. Most of my pieces where written
in four part harmony. The harmonies include bass, tenor, treble, and counter.
My pieces were usually preformed a cappela.
Interviewer: What hardships did you have to overcome to
become a choral artist? Have you had any one to admire and inspire you in music
and beyond?
Billings: In the beginning it was all about putting
yourself out and trying to earn a buck to put food on the table. My appearance
also didn't help. But with every artist comes someone who doesn't like them. I
have had a fair share or respectable people enjoying my music and some to not
like the form. My
family inspires me to keep writing and keep having faith. The only thing I have
is my wife and children and without them I am just a composer. The motivate me
and keep me going. I have written "304 works, taught singing schools, and
wrote extensively in several literary forms" ("New World Records")
since I have been married. I owe my family everything.
Interviewer: Do you have any personal stories about how
you became so successful that you would like to tell us?
Billings: All I have now to say is don't be afraid
to follow your dream through anything. I went without school and money and
became one of the top American composers. You never know how or when your life
is going to go or how it will end so live everyday like it has never been
lived. You can come up with something new, write a book, act in a play, play in
a band or orchestra, design clothing, or even write a song if you set your heart to it.
Work Cited.
and R Digati. William Billings . 2004.
Photograph. n.p. < http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=6686735&PIpi=802512>
Crawford, Richard. "The Preformance of William Billings
Music." JSTOR. 318.JRME (1976): n. page. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/pss/3344906>
"Eccentric Hymn Composer William Billings." Church
History Timeline. JupiterImages Corporation, 2007. Web. <http://www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11630248/.>
"Encouraging Voices." Traitors, Seamstresses, and
Generals: Voices of the American Revolution. Orcale ThinkQuest Education
Foundation, 2010. Web. <http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/music.htm.>
Gann, Kyle. "What is American about American Music?." American
Mavericks. American Public Media, 2012. Web.
Gary, Charles & Mark, Michael. (2007). A
History of American Music Education. Rowman & Littlefield Education <
http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/essay_gann02.html>
Hall,
Roger L. MAJESTY: A discussion of Facts and Fiction about William Billings and
The Stoughton Musical Society (PineTree Press, 2000)
Lienhard, John. "William Billings." Engines
of Our Ingenuity. Engines of or Ingenuity, 2012. Web.
<http://uh.edu/engines/engines_of_our_ingenuity-display_episode.php?episode_number=1188>.
"Make Ev'ry Breathe." New World Records. Recorded
Anthology of American Music, Inc, 1988. Web.
<http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80539.pdf>.
McKay, David P., William Billing of
Boston: Eighteenth-Century Composer (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1975)
Nathan, Hans. 1976. William Billings: Data and
Documents. Detroic: College Music Society.
"The Music of William Billings
." The Music of William Billings. Amaranth Publishing , 2009. Web.
<http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/billings.htm>.
"William
Billings." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012.
"William Billings - Father of American Choral Music ." American
Music Preservation. PineTree Multimedia Productions, 2006. Web.
<http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/billi
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