Thomas-Town (William Billings)

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• (Posted 2023-12-06)  CPDL #77882:         

Editor: Barry Johnston (submitted 2023-12-06).   Score information: Letter, 1 page, 43 kB   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes: Transcribed from Massachusetts Historical Society Ms. S-290, ca. 1790, where it is titled "Deerfield". Two more pairs of stanzas included from Byles' poem.

• (Posted 2023-12-06)  CPDL #77881:         

Editor: Barry Johnston (submitted 2023-12-06).   Score information: 7 x 10 inches (landscape), 1 page, 43 kB   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes: Transcribed from The Continental Harmony, 1794. Note shapes added (4-shape). Two more pairs of stanzas included from Byles' poem.

• (Posted 2007-12-14)  CPDL #15673: 

Editor: Michael Lauer (submitted 2007-12-14).   Score information: Letter, 2 pages, 74 kB   Copyright: Personal

Edition notes:

General Information

Title: Thomas-Town
First Line: Great God, how frail a thing is man
Composer: William Billings
Lyricist: Mather Byles

Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Psalm-tune   Meter: 86. 86. D (C.M.D.)

Language: English
Instruments: A cappella

    Manuscript ca. 1790 as Deerfield in Massachusetts Historical Society Ms. S-290, no. 4
First published: 1794 in The Continental Harmony
Description: Appears first in the Shepard Fish Manuscript, circa 1790. The manuscript copy was reportedly transcribed by Shepard Fish around 1790, probably from copies provided in a singing-school. The singing-school may have been led by Billings himself. Published in The Continental Harmony in 1794. Words by Mather Byles in fourteen stanzas; Billings used the first and thirteenth stanzas of Byles' poem in his composition.

External websites:

• http://www.mrlauer.org/music/

Original text and translations

Original text and translations may be found at Great God, how frail a thing is man.