Why the Amish Sing: Songs of Solidarity and Identity

213 Pages·2014·3.34 MB·English

by  D. Rose Elder

Why the Amish Sing
Young Center Books in Anabaptist Pietist Studies
&
Donald B. Kraybill, Series Editor
zå
Why the Amish Sing
Songs of Solidarity & Identity
D. Rose Elder
Foreword by Terry E. Miller
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Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
© 2014 Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2014
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Elder, D. Rose, 1952–
Why the Amish sing : songs of solidarity and identity / D. Rose Elder ;
foreword by Terry E. Miller.
pages cm. — (Young Center books in Anabaptist & Pietist studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-4214-1465-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) —
isbn 978-1-4214-1466-9 (electronic) — isbn 1-4214-1465-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) —
isbn 1-4214-1466-X (electronic) 1. Amish—Hymns—History and criticism. 2. Amish—
Music—History and criticism. 3. Amish—Social life and customs. I. Title.
ml3178.a45e43 2014
782.32'2973—dc23 2013046567
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information,
please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected].
Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials,
including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent
post-consumer waste, whenever possible.
Contents
Foreword, by Terry E. Miller vii
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
z part i. Amish Life and Song å
chapter 1. Who Are the Amish? 3
chapter 2. The Functions of Amish Singing 23
chapter 3. Case Study: “Es sind zween Weg” 36
z part ii. Singing in Childhood and Adolescence å
chapter 4. Songs for Nurture: Lullabies and Children’s Songs 49
chapter 5. Songs for Instruction: Singing at School 62
chapter 6. Case Study: School Repertoire 69
chapter 7. Songs of Identity: Youth Sings 75
z part iii. Singing for Worship å
chapter 8. Songs of Memory: The Ausbund 87
chapter 9. Songs of Belonging: Baptism, Council,
and Communion 101
chapter 10. Case Study: The Loblied, or Lobsang 107
z contents å
vi
z part iv. Singing for Special Occasions å
chapter 11. Songs of Love and Life: Weddings and Funerals 121
chapter 12. Songs of Trust: Music in Daily Life 131
chapter 13. Songs for the Future: Amish Singing in
the Twenty-First Century 138
appendix i: Additional Musical Examples 145
appendix ii: Research Methods 157
appendix iii: Historical Studies of Amish Music 162
Notes 169
Bibliography 177
Index 183
To listen to audio recordings of Amish singing,
please visit https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/why-amish-sing.
Foreword
For decades, the Amish have been one of America’s most prominent “ex-
otic others.” Because they strictly keep to themselves and seek to maintain
a distinct cultural identity, they have, by default, allowed others to define
them. They have been unwilling to harness the commodification of their
identity, giving non-Amish carte blanche to stereotype and exploit them:
in the many Der Dutchman restaurants where hearty portions of starch,
meat, and sugar are served; as the sellers of “made in China” Amish-style
trinkets; on Amish tourist farms where buggy rides are offered; as well
as in misunderstandings seen in the use of Dutch (rather than Deutsch)
windmills, wooden shoes, and floral designs. This is partly the result of
their own reticence to permit scholars access to their inner culture. This
has been particularly true with regard to Amish singing, because much of
it takes place in the context of worship, which is extremely private. That
ethnomusicologist D. Rose Elder has been able to gain the trust of a major
Amish community in Ohio and was allowed to document Amish singing
in all its forms is a testament to her perseverance, sensitivity, and cultural
knowledge.
Elder’s study exemplifies classic ethnomusicology, a field that devel-
oped rapidly after World War II, when “the study of music” began to in-
clude the entire world as international travel increased. Ethnomusicolo-
gists traveled to wherever the music was being made and, because it was
mostly oral performance, they had to create their own documentation
through photographs, film/video, audio recordings, and interviews. Taking
their cues from anthropology, field researchers often became participant-
observers. Mantle Hood promoted the idea of bi-musicality, where re-
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viii
searchers learned to perform the tradition they studied. Thus, ethnomusi-
cology has long had a dual personality: studying music as an aspect of cul-
ture and studying music as a sonic phenomenon. Elder’s study of Amish
singing speaks to both.
Over many years, Elder built the relationships and trust that were nec-
essary for her field work. Eventually, she was permitted to record a full
range of song types, including those sung in church. Here she presents
a comprehensive survey of Amish song types in context, describing the
situations in which they were encountered and giving the singers a hu-
man side, even as they remain anonymous. She has transcribed the songs
she recorded into staff notation so that readers can get an idea of how the
Amish song world is constructed. Following the traditions of American
folklore, she has classified the songs according to function and sentiment.
As ubiquitous as Amish culture is in several parts of the United States—
especially northeast Ohio, central Ohio, eastern Pennsylvania, and cen-
tral Indiana—few outsiders have ever heard Amish singing. Recordings
other than those kept in well-guarded archives barely exist. There are no
occasions where Amish singers present themselves to the public as other
groups do, such as in folk festivals, international festivals, or special pro-
grams on NPR or PBS. For many other groups, church services are the
natural sites to experience those cultures, because most church buildings
are open to the public. This is not so with the Amish, since their congrega-
tions meet on a rotating basis in private homes instead of church buildings.
They have schools, but these sit unmarked on country roads, and because
they are private, outsiders may visit only by invitation. Elder was privi-
leged to attend church services, enter schools, and visit private homes for
her research.
The Amish have become idealized as old-fashioned, industrious crafts-
men and farmers who remain close to the soil, eat whole foods, pollute but
little, consume minimal amounts of energy, and take care of their families
and communities. Some might see them as ideal Libertarians who depend
on their community rather than the government. This stereotype is por-
trayed wherever merchants offer “Amish made” furniture, crafts, or even
buildings. They are seen as the last bastions of old European hand crafts-
manship. But when the Amish turn up among the general public, they
sometimes exhibit perplexing traits. Young Amish men sometimes drive
buggies through the countryside while blasting popular music from gigan-
tic battery-powered amplifiers and speakers and occasionally behave as
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ix
wildly as any non-Amish teens. Amish communities have their own share
of problems, but they try to address them as much as possible with their
own resources. Like the rest of us, they are sometimes self-contradictory
and belie their idealized stereotypes.
The Amish experience disease, sadness, disappointment, betrayal,
death, joy, abundance, poverty, discomfort, and uncertainty like everyone
else. Many of these emotions and experiences are expressed in their songs.
These songs, however austere and reserved, provide rare windows into
the Amish soul. Their songs articulate their beliefs and perspectives on the
world and their hope for eternal life. Their melodies and words reinforce
their core beliefs about how to behave, how a community is organized
and functions, what to believe about their place in the universe, and how
to relate to one another. It is through song that the Amish tell one an-
other—and potentially the rest of the world—who they are and what they
have experienced. Tours of “Amish villages,” buggy rides, and meals of
meat, bread, and potatoes at a gigantic “Amish restaurant” show us little of
the Amish soul or world view. Because the Amish write few confessional
studies of themselves and rarely bare their souls to outsiders in novels,
movies, or public lectures, their songs provide a wonderful opening into
their world.
Elder’s work therefore helps us not only to see the Amish as human be-
ings like ourselves but to see ourselves through the Amish. Ironically, even
as we have idealized Amish life, few non-Amish desire to live as they do.
But there is no doubt that they deserve our respect for maintaining a de-
manding alternative lifestyle and for preserving their dialect, their songs,
and their sense of communal solidarity.
Terry E. Miller
Professor Emeritus of Ethnomusicology
Kent State University