William Billings: "Boston," an early American Christmas hymn (1778)

Boston, a early American Christmas song
0:06 Original tune on harpsichord
0:54 Original song for SATB chorus
1:40 Instrumental arrangement for string band
2:30 Song with soprano and tenor lines sung in swapped octaves
"Boston," a song by the early American composer William Billings, has no clear connection to the city of Boston other than the fact of Billings life-long residence there. It is an optimistic song for the Christmas season published in Boston in the midst of the dark and uncertain years of the American War for Independence. I arranged the song two different ways as Billings recommended in his preface: first, in the original form as published with the soprano and tenor performing their assigned parts and, second, in an arrangement where the soprano and tenor sing the others' line in their own range. I added the harpsichord and string quartet versions as these were the most frequently used instruments in the Colonies. Both harpsichords and violins were being manufactured in the North America long before the start of the Revolutionary War.
I recreated the instrumental parts using the iPhone app MusicStudio2. The vocal arrangements, I rendered using the voice encoder Vocaloid 2 with the PRIMA and CYBER SONGMAN voice banks.
Text:
Me thinks I see a heav'nly host
of Angels on the wing,
Me thinks I hear their cheerful tones
So merrily they sing:
Let all your fears be banished hence,
Glad tidings we proclaim.
For there's a Saviour born today,
and Jesus is his name.
Description of the photos:
1. Old State House in Boston, Anonymous German, 18th cent., Billings' old stomping grounds.
2. Southeast view of Boston, Anonymous Anglo-American, c1730
3. "Boston" the complete score by William Billings, The Singing Master's Assistant, Boston, 1778
4. Boston Harbor, Richard Byron, 1764
5. The earliest known American made violin, John Antes, 1759
6. Boston Tea Party (1773), lithograph by Nathaniel Currier, 1846
7. New South Church, Boston, photo from 1860, unchanged in appearance for the most part since the time of Billings, who attended church there and learned the art of singing from the chorister John Barry.

[@BetsyHatfield]

Lovely music! Rich tone, sweet melody.

[@earlymusicmidi]

Thank you. I made a more recent rendition of the same piece that I think has a little more shape. ua-cam.com/video/4m9bROJPa1c/v-deo.html

[@MrHDE-ex6xl]

Thank you for sharing this melodic treasure!

[@earlymusicmidi]

Thank you for listening!

[@flemmingranch8777]

Dejlig musik fra de gamle dage, hvor alt var anderledes. Skøn musik....

[@earlymusicmidi]

thank you 😊