Roger Lee Hall - Official Site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roger Lee Hall is a respected American musicologist and ASCAP composer who has traveled his own road of tuneful discovery for over 50 years.

He has spent many decades writing about music from America's past and is now Director of the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP) -- go here

Over the years he has been active in these areas as --
Album Producer, Cable Television Producer, Conductor, Ethnomusicologist, Film Music Critic, Lecturer, Radio Host, Singer, Music Teacher, and Writer.

For cable television, he hosted a series of music programs about America's oldest surviving choral group, The Old Stoughton Musical Society, organized in 1786.

He is Publisher and Editor of Film Music Review (FMR), an e-zine which in 2023 celebrates its 25th anniversary -- go here

He has written a book on the subject: A Guide to Film Music: Songs and Scores. To read about the latest edition -- go here

As a teacher, he taught classes in classical music, popular songs, and film music, in college and in a progressive adult education program in Massachusetts.

For his many accomplishments in music he has been listed in International Who's Who in Music, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Education and other directories.

He has written a series of stories about his life titled: "Memories and Music." To see the list of book titles -- go here

New webinar

Based partly on his story on a CD-ROM titled, "Dream World": Songs, Poems and Stories (PineTree Press), Roger Hall will tell about a wealthy banker and supporter of artists including poet Hart Crane, Italian opera singer, Enrico Caruso, and popular composer, George Gershwin. Kahn built his big, beautiful castle on Long Island in New York named Oheka after the initiials of his name (Otto HErmann KAhn). When completed in 1919, it was the second-largest private residence in America and now is the largest historic restoration in America. In 1954, Roger Hall, began his music career as a young cadet singing in the glee club at that castle. The program will feature many pictures about Otto Kahn, Eastern Military Academy and Oheka Castle.

This program is titled:

"Otto Kahn: A Personal Connection with the Gilded Age Music Patron"

The illustrated virtual program will be presented by Roger Hall through the New York Adventure Club on April 9, 2024, 5:30-7:00 p.m.


Read how to sign up for this popular program and if you are unable to watch it at the sceduled time you have a full week to watch -- go here

 

 

Four Anniversary Tributes On American Composers

"William Billings and Singing in Stoughton" - in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the William Billings singing school held in Stoughton, Massachusetts in 1774, which led to the musical society which is now the oldest one in the USA, organized in 1786.
Read about singing in Stoughton, Massachusetts --
go here

"Aaron Copland and Simple Gifts" --in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the distinguished American composer meeting several Shakers from Maine at Shaker Heights, Ohio in 1974 -- go here

"A Guide to George Gershwin" -- celebrating the 100th anniversary of the popular "Rhapsody in Blue," there are several illustrations from that concert work in the updated version of the Guide with information about Gershwin's popular songs, concert works, radio programs and films -- go here

"Memories of Henry Mancini" -- on the 100th anniversary of the popular composer's birth in 1924, a special tribute -- go here


Biographical Profile:

Roger Hall was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey on November 13, 1942.

His first music training was as a young cadet in a glee club at Eastern Military Academy (E.M.A.) on Long Island.
He has written a book about his days at E.M.A. at the former estate of wealthy investment banker, Otto H. Kahn, and
his music performance at the Friends of Oheka Garden Party in 2004.
Roger's book is titled: "Crazy Rhythm" - Memories of Eastern Military Academy and Oheka Castle.


Following his military service in the U.S. Army serving in Germany in the 1960s,
Mr. Hall attended Rutgers University where he graduated in1970 with a B.A. degree in Music Theory and Composition.
He composed his first classical works while at Rutgers.

Two years later, in 1972, he was awarded his M.A. degree in Ethnomusicology from the State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University).
He wrote the first Master's Thesis ever written about the music of the Shakers.

He did his Ph.D. studies in Musicology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where his specialty was Shaker music and music from earlier America, including popular music. Also, he was the teaching assistant for the popular Cleveland disc jockey, Bill Randle, who had promoted Elvis Presley in his early career and introduced him on his national television debut in 1956.

Since Bill Randle was not able to teach his college class, Roger Hall taught the course: The History of Popular Music in Ameirca.
He has written about the disc jockey in his book titled, The Bill Randle Chronicles: From Electric Elvis to The Shakers.

Roger Hall has been a music consultant for various activities, including these:

-the music of Tonga for the National Geographic Society LP album (1972)
-the music of Colonial America for the Paul Revere House in Boston (1981)

-two music collections: Love is Little - A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals (1992) and Joy of Angels - Shaker Spirituals for Christmas and The New Year (1995)
-the best-selling CD, Simple Gifts - Shaker Chants and Spirituals by The Boston Camerata (1995)
-the DVD titled, "Emerson: The Ideal in America" for The Ralph Waldo Emerson Institute (2007)

-the CD, "It's Magic," commemorating the 100th birthday of film lyricist, Sammy Cahn (2013)

One Act Plays:

"The Grand Constitution" (1987)
"The Musical Telephone" (1988)
"William Billings Teaches A Singing School" (1990)
"The Canterbury Pilgrims" (2018)

Music Compositions:

He is a longtime member of ASCAP and has composed over 100 classical and pop song compositions and many have been recorded.
To see his list of his compositions published exclusively by PineTree Music--
go here

Early American Choral Music:

He has spent considerable time researching and producing recordings for two singing traditions which are among the oldest in the United States of America:

Music of the Shakers -- from the 18th to 20th centuries, the Shakers composed over 10,000 original songs, hymns and anthems, more than any other communal society in the U.S.A. Their best known song is "Simple Gifts" (also known as: 'Tis the gift to be simple), and Mr. Hall has written two books about that song. He has presented numerous Shaker music concerts and lectures at museums, schools, churches, historical societies and colleges. Also, he has edited and arranged Shaker spirituals for performance. See the list of his books and music collections below.


The (Old) Stoughton Musical Society -- organized on November 7, 1786, this is now America's oldest choral society. They have performed American music longer than any other chorus in the U.S.A. Their Constitution was written in 1787 just a few weeks after the United States Constitution. They were first called The Stoughton Musical Society and the "Old" was added to their name when incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1908. William Billings, America's first prominent choral composer, taught a singing school in that town in 1774 and he wrote a tune titled "Stoughton," which Roger Hall has edited and added a text by Isaac Watts. That hymn was premiered in 1986 for the Bicentennial of the Old Stoughton Musical Society. Hall was also Historian for this musical society and Chairman of the 1986 Bicentennial Season and prepared several concerts for that anniversary. In addition, he has prepared a series of publications about music from Stough
ton's musical past (see list below).

Producer:

Local Cable TV series: NOW AND THEN (1987-88)

1.
Old Stoughton and The Grand Constitution: A Celebration in Words and Music
2.
The Musical Telephone - A Romantic Narrative (One act play with music)

Local Cable TV series: IN CONCERT (1986)

1. "Ode to the Virginian Voyage" - Cantata by Randall Thompson
2. "Easter Concert" - Oratorio by Edwin Arthur Jones
3. Music by Stephen Foster - Hymns and Songs
4. Birthday Tribute to Edwin Arthur Jones
5. Patriotic Music of Henry K. Hadley and George W. Chadwick
6. Music by Guest Soloists: Synneve Carlino, Anthony DiLorenzo, Edward Wood
7. Music by Four New England Composers: William Billings, Jacob French, Oliver Shaw, Amy Beach
8. Singing Stoughton: The Story of America's Oldest Choral Society (documentary)
9. 200 Years of Music in Stoughton - with special anniversary exhibit at the local historical society
10. 200th Anniversary of Old Stoughton Musical Society in Review




Music Recordings:

As Album Producer, Mr. Hall has produced over 50 CDs for the American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC) label
highlighting music in the United States from over three centuries.

To see the complete list the AMRC CD titles --
click here



Publications:

 

Books and Booklets

 

Music collections:

American Music Guides:

01 "Invitation to Zion" - A Guide to Shaker Music (6 editions, 1996-2016)
02 "As Time Goes By" - A Guide to Film Music: Songs and Scores (7 editions, 1997-2017)
03 "Celebrate, Rejoice and Sing!" - Christmas Music in America (1998)
04 "I Got Rhythm" - A Guide to George Gershwin (1998/ 2004)
05 "In The Mood" - A Guide to Music on Radio (1998)
06 "Old Stoughton" - A Guide to Singing Meetings and Concerts (2010)








Deluxe Multimedia Collections
with historical documents, audio files and video features:

 

 

 

See the list of the multimedia titles he has written and edited
for PineTree Multimedia Editions (PTME) -- click here

 

Online article:

His article titled, "An Early American Auld Lang Syne," is available Online at We're History -- click here
Note: The credit on We're History for the "Song of the Old Folks" music picture is incorrect.
It should be: Father Kemp's Old Folks Concert Tunes, Boston, Oliver Ditson & Company, 1874

 

Compositions:

Mr. Hall is an ASCAP composer with over 100 compositions and arrangements to his credit.

His music is published exclusively by PineTree Music. To see his list of compositions -- click here

 

Recordings with his music:

One of his best known instrumental compositions, "Seven Variations on a Shaker Marching Tune,"
has been recorded by three different pianists on these CDs:

 

 

 

Other music by Roger Lee Hall on these CDs:

Here is the title hymn from this CD: "Creator God, We Give You Thanks" -- click here

Here is a sample from this CD: "The dark night is ending" -- click here

 

 

 

Here is his arrangement of the title song from this CD: click here

 

 

 

See his biographical entry at Wikipedia