(Excerpt from The Art of Singing: In Three Parts, to Wit, ...)
Excerpt from The Art of Singing: In Three Parts, to Wit, I. The Musical Primer, II. The Christian Harmony, III. The Musical Magazine Mond; the third aznd fixth degrees, are the fquare'; and the fourth and few enth degrees, {re the round.42 Moderate. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(Excerpt from Musical Primer: Containing the Rules of Psal...)
Excerpt from Musical Primer: Containing the Rules of Psalmody, Newly Revised and Improved; Together With a Number of Practical Lessons and Plain Tunes, Designed Expressly for the Use of Learners Characters. Explanations. Characters. Explanations. 'examples. The diamond Q, 15 mi; the square Q. Is faw; the round 0, is sol; and the quart er of a diamond L, 13 law. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Andrew Law was born in Milford, Connecticut, the son of Jahleel and Ann (Baldwin) Hollingsworth Law. He was the grandson of Jonathan Law, and Abigail Andrew, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Andrew. In 1753 the family removed to Cheshire, where the parents were admitted to the church in 1769.
He graduated from Rhode Island College in 1775. Later he studied theology with the Rev. Levi Hart of Preston, Connecticut.
Law was ordained in Hartford on September 8, 1787. For a time he was connected with the presbyteries of Philadelphia and Baltimore, but preaching was not to be his life work.
In 1767, when he was only nineteen years old, he had compiled A Select Number of Plain Tunes Adapted to Congregational Worship. By 1790 he had issued at least six books of hymns or tunes and was advertising in the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, in November of that year, that these books could be obtained of the author who was then situated in the Maryland city. How long he remained in Baltimore is uncertain, but books of his music were printed there until 1795. In 1799 some of his books were printed in Philadelphia, and in 1814 his Essays on Music was printed there.
In the meantime he had traveled into Vermont, where his Christian Harmony was printed in Windsor in 1805. From 1795 to 1797 he was in Salem and its neighborhood conducting classes in singing. In 1781 Law petitioned the Assembly of Connecticut for the exclusive right to imprint and sell his collection of tunes. The petition was granted but the list of tunes which he proposed to publish was never used in its entirety in any one book. The patent, however, carried protection for the use of any or all of the tunes named.
In 1802 he patented a new plan for printing music without the use of the staff, employing four different shapes of notes, which he afterward increased to seven different characters. In comparing his new plan with the old he pointed out that his system had only seven characters, while the old plan with its lines and spaces, and different keys, totaled 196 signs to learn. This new system, however, was not accepted by singers, and only a few of his books were published in it.
His aim in teaching music was to have it very soft, slow, and solemn. For a time his music was quite popular, but most of the tunes dropped out as taste changed. "Archdale, " which he believed to be his best composition, was the last to hold a place in hymn books. Law published numerous hymnals, under varying titles. His first, the Plain Tunes, sixteen pages in length, contained fifty-four tunes, being those in common use at that period. In 1779 the Select Harmony made its appearance--one hundred pages of engraved music printed in New Haven, and containing some tunes of his own composition. The Musical Primer (1780) was advertised as "suitable for learners at their first setting out. " A Collection of the Best and Most Approved Tunes and Anthems was printed in 1779.
A number of his books were printed in Cheshire by his brother William. The Art of Singing (1792), in one volume, was made up of The Musical Primer, the Christian Harmony, and The Musical Magazine. Other works included The Rudiments of Music (1783 and later editions); Harmonic Companion (1807); The Art of Playing the Organ (1807), and Essays on Music (1814). According to his definition, in the first essay, the musician must be "a linguist, an orator, a poet, a painter, a mathematician, a philosopher, an architect, a christian, a friend to God and man. " He died in Cheshire, Connecticut, at the home of his brother William.
Andrew Law was a pioneer of the FASOLA (Shape note) system of musical notation which simplified lessons in reading music during the Singing School era of New England music. He was among the first American composers to put the melody in the soprano instead of the tenor part, and was also one of the first Americans to write about music.
(Excerpt from Musical Primer: Containing the Rules of Psal...)
(Excerpt from The Art of Singing: In Three Parts, to Wit, ...)
He had never married.
