“es sind zween weg”: singing amish children into the faith...

“Es Sind Zween Weg”

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Cultural Analysis 2001, 2: 39-67©2001 by The University of California.All rights reserved

“Es Sind Zween Weg”:Singing Amish Children into

the Faith Community1

D. R. ElderThe Ohio State University ATI

USA

AbstractThe world’s largest Amish settlementstraddles Ohio’s Wayne and Holmes coun-ties. The majority of the Amish prefer anagrarian lifestyle of steady, hard work,preserving a community-oriented, Refor-mation-era theocracy. The Amish are a“plain” people who define themselves bytheir differences from the dominant culture.Associating in small groups of 25 to 40families, “districts,” or “affiliations”within geographical areas known as“settlements,” they biannually decide byvote of adult members how to modify therules of behavior (Ordnung). Seeking to befaithful to biblical directives, the memberscommit themselves to live simply by accept-ing or rejecting specific technological ad-vances which they believe will enhance ordisturb community life. People who breakthe rules are subject to shunning(Meidung), the primary purpose of whichis to bring the transgressor to repentance.

An Amish adult’s primary function is toprepare children for heaven by shaping anattitude of “yieldedness” (Gelassenheit) toGod. Through vigilant contact, parentsteach their children to respect and submitto authority, to work cheerfully, and to bekind to and to help others. Singing is oneway parents transmit their cultural values.

They sing lullabies, Amish church hymns,and songs to children from infancy. Thispaper analyzes several Amish nurserysongs and investigates their role in Amishchildren’s socialization.

Introduction

The Amish present a classic caseof traditionalist resistance toassimilation. The tradition dates

from 1525 when rebaptizers(Anabaptists) broke with the SwissBrethren led by the priest-reformerUlrich Zwingli (Klassen 1973, 3). These“Radical Reformers,” headed by an-other priest named Menno Simons,held that adult baptism into a commu-nity of believers met God’s require-ments as set forth in Christian Scrip-ture (Keeney 1968, 14). The Anabaptistsgrounded their “distinctive knowledgeand language of God” in a salvationhistory (Heilsgeschicht), but they did nothave a theology (Oyer 1996, 281). AsRobert Friedmann explained, theAnabaptists practiced “an existentialnot a theological Christianity, wherewitnessing [by lifestyle] comes beforearguing. Anabaptists have a church oforder and not so much a church of doc-trines” (Friedmann 1950, 24). To theAmish, belief is only real when embod-ied in a community of believers.

In 1693, a further division occurredbetween the “Mennonites,” thosealigned with Menno Simmons, and agroup of dissenters led by thepreacher/tailor Jacob Amman, whowould become known as the “Amish.”

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Disagreements centered on how oftento hold communion, whether to prac-tice the ritual of foot washing, and theproper extent of church discipline, par-ticularly whether the shunning of un-repentant, erring members was too se-vere (Baecher 1996, 48-9).

Choosing the simple peasant life,Amman’s group rallied around thescripture-based practice of socialavoidance (Meidung). Early Anabaptistwriters described a threefold purposefor Meidung: to bring the sinner to re-pentance, to protect the rest of the com-munity from possible contagion, andto maintain the community’s reputa-tion (Keeney 1968, 159). The Amishbased their “purer” fellowship on thecore values of pacifism, i.e., non-vio-lent non-resistance, and separationfrom the world in obedience to God bymeans of voluntary adult baptism(Hostetler and Huntington 1992, 8-13).These choices left them open to furtherpersecution. Like the Hebrews, endur-ing persecution sharply defined theiruniqueness and solidified their iden-tity. As Jean Séguy asserted, “Persecu-tion did not arise out of occasional cir-cumstances; it sprang from ontologicalnecessity” (1982, 35). Being at odds

with those around them assured theAmish of their faithfulness to theirbible’s separation mandate.

Mennonites first ventured toAmerica by 1640, but nothing is knownof their fate. Puritan colonies rejectedMennonite settlement. In 1683 fiftyMennonite families founded a“Deutschstadt” in the Quaker colonyof Pennsylvania (Wir lesen und sprechenDeutsch 1984, 187). Meanwhile, Amishgroups emigrated to the Netherlands,Poland, and Russia (Nolt 1992, 52),with the first Amish, also part of Will-iam Penn’s Holy Experiment, settlingin Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1736(Hostetler 1996, 257). (see Fig. 1, below.)

In the decades after their arrival,seeking good and plentiful farmland,the Amish moved west. The first Amishin Ohio were the preacher Jacob Millerand his family, who reached the fertilefarmlands of Tuscarawas County in1809, and in 1813 the first Amish settledin Wayne County (Wir lesen undsprechen Deutsch 1984, 93).3 By 1862, thissettlement was strong and vocalenough to host a national meeting forAmish leaders (Diener-Versammlungen).Today, of the approximately 180,000Amish in the United States, over one-

Figure 1:2

PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS

The Church People The Moravians The Plain People (Anabaptists)

The Lutherans The Reformed The Mennonites The River Brethren

The Amish The Dunkards


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quarter live in a settlement straddlingWayne and Holmes counties in Ohio,making it the world’s largest settle-ment, surpassing Lancaster, Pennsylva-nia (Kraybill and Bowman 2001, 103-5).

Resisting Assimilation

Struggling to maintain their values andidentity in the New World, the Amishfellowships chose a functional, non-ornamented or “plain” lifestyle. Overthe generations they found themselvesdivided over whether to build churchesin which to gather or to worship inmembers’ homes; whether their chil-dren would attend school past the el-ementary grades; whether to allowbuttons or pockets; and whether or notone could vote or become involved inpublic life. Occasionally, doctrinal dif-ferences caused divisions. One splin-ter group decided to practice “stream”baptism. Joseph Yoder of McLeanCounty, Illinois, precipitated anotherdivision by advancing the doctrine ofuniversal salvation. Yoder wrote poetrythat proclaimed the power of love toembrace all and denied the existenceof hell. The majority denounced hisideas and reaffirmed that only the righ-teous would receive eternal joy, whilethe rest would receive eternal punish-ment (Yoder and Estes 1999, 155-6)

There was also much discussionabout how much change would orcould be allowed before they lost theiridentity. The tradition-minded or OldOrder Amish rejected industrial soci-ety and opted for simplicity, noncon-

formity, nonresistance, and nonvio-lence. Today their lifestyle continues toinclude German-language worship ser-vices, horse-drawn transportation,face-to-face business and social inter-actions, and no established church bu-reaucracy (Hostetler 1992, 6, 25).

Language serves as a good exampleof loyalty to tradition. Unlike manyother immigrant groups in America,the Amish preserve their native lan-guage in both the home and in religiousritual (Gallagher 1987), where HighGerman and Pennyslvania Dutch, orDeitsch (a German derivative), serve asimportant uniting factors. Among theSwartzentrubers, an ultra-conservativeAmish order, children learn no Englishuntil beginning school in the firstgrade. The adherence to their language,along with intentional community liv-ing, isolates the Amish from dominantAmerican education, mass culture,politics, and economic forces. The useof Deitsch cements the Amish into acommunity better able to resist theforces of assimilation.

In the late nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries, legal, social, andpolitical forces opposed the speakingof other languages besides English. Theunderlying belief of the “perfect union”ideology argued that uniformity of lan-guage would produce a single moral-ity, deep-seated patriotism, and even acapacity for logical thinking. From1917-1923 some states repealed lawsthat tolerated instruction in languagesother than English (Jottíni 1988, 26). Inspite of these legal decisions, the Amishtaught their children PennsylvaniaDutch and used it as their secular and

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sacred language. In Meyer v. State ofNebraska (1923), the Supreme Courtruled that states could require Englishinstruction but could not restrict sec-ondary language instruction, a rightensured by the Fourteenth Amend-ment (Riger 1977, 463).

The Socialization of Children

The Amish have never proselytized torecruit members, as proselytizing wasbanned from their inception. Thus,nurturing their own children in thefaith has been a prime mechanism formembership. Indeed, the Amishhighly value children as “the only pos-session we can take to heaven with us.”Children have both emotional and so-cial significance in the Amish commu-nity. As parents strive to be good ex-amples for their children, they becomebetter Amish themselves (Huntington1981, 380). The Amish believe that theirchildren, born with sinful natures, willbecome loving and teachable in theproper environment. Parents, specifi-cally fathers, are morally accountableto God for providing this training sothat their children will yield themselvesto God (Hostetler and Huntington1992, 14-16). As Keith Thomas pointsout, “The Reformation, by reducing theauthority of the priest in society, simul-taneously elevated the authority of layheads of households,” including theaccountability for the religious andmoral education and conduct of bothwife and children (qtd. in O’Day 1994,39). Children also contribute economi-cally to the family. One Amish infor-mant estimated that his children

earned about $75,000 a year workingin the community. He invested theirmoney in land or production supplies,or, if necessary, used it for the family’sexpenses, so that each of his childrenhad built up a large savings by the timethey were ready to marry.4

The Amish generally agree that “ba-bies,” as children are called from birthto the time they begin walking, are agift from God and are not responsiblefor their willfulness. Amish parentsbear full responsibility for their train-ing, as reflected in the proverb, “As atwig is bent, so the tree is inclined.”Ministers at the Amish Ministers’ Meet-ing of 1873 admonished parents, “Takevery great care, you to whom the careof your children is so highly and pre-ciously commanded, that you bringthem up from youth in the admonitionof the Lord; for this is the greatest andmost noble duty of the Christian”(Yoder and Estes 1999, 180).

Amish toddlers or “little children”are taught to be honest, to respect andobey authority as it is invested in theirparents and church leaders, and to rec-ognize that these adults have deep con-cerns about the child’s welfare (Kline1999). Amish parents act firmly andconsistently in their discipline. Thus,they do not moralize to their childrenwith platitudes such as: “It is God’s willthat you follow my orders.” Rather,they require obedience matter-of-factly.And when a child “knows what a combis for, he’s smart enough to know whata whipping’s for” (Stoll 1976, 56). In theMay 2001 Family Life, a magazine forAmish families, a story for children,“Abner and His Cookies,” tells about


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a boy who, in stealing extra cookiesfrom the cupboard, gets his fingercaught in a mousetrap. The didactictale ends with the boy’s mother tellinghim: “You will have to be punished. I’msure that after this you will think twicebefore disobeying” (E., J.H. 2001, 27-28).

Amish parents teach their childrento work steadily and to fulfill theirwork responsibilities agreeably andwithout expecting thanks. The pleasurein accomplishing a task is seen as itsown reward. “The dishes are clean andput away,” a parent might observe(Huntington 1981, 385). Amish parentssocialize their children to accept Amishnorms by constantly monitoring andguiding them; molding them to be“quiet, friendly, responsible, conscien-tious, devoted workers, patient withdetails and routine, loyal, considerate,and concerned with others’ feelingseven when they’re in the wrong”(Smucker 1988, 220). Parents do notexpect any other institution, neitherschool nor church, to take the respon-sibility for raising their children.

Adults welcome their children’squestions about the physical world,such as “When will these seeds comeup?” However, parents discourage in-tellectual curiosity, believing that inno-vation promotes sinfulness. Childrenlearn to be interdependent, to look outfor all younger children and to accepthelp from those who are older (Hun-tington 1981, 386). A four-year-oldmight wait for an older sibling to helpwith a coat or shoelaces while youngerchildren are required to obey an olderchild in the absence of a parent.

Amish children imitate their par-ents. Young children follow their fa-thers around the farm, patiently ob-serving and helping with chores.Where possible, the Amish maintainsmall-scale farms of about eighty till-able acres (Kline 1990, xvi). But the highcost and diminishing availability offarmland make it necessary for men toseek work away from home. DavidKline, an Amish farmer and author,estimates only 35% of Amish are full-time farmers, down from 70% “a fewyears ago” (1999). As a result of thesesocial and economic changes in theAmish community, family life has alsobeen affected. Researchers have foundthat non-farm Amish children are “lessrespectful, more defiant and rebellious,more self-centered and more confusedabout who they are and what [is] theirfuture role in the Amish community”(Smucker 1988, 231).

The question of what long-rangeeffects this will have on the Amish com-munity is thus clearly raised. Recogniz-ing early effects of this trend, manyAmish are trying to recover the lifestyleassociated with family farming, thelegacy of slow change, and close par-ent-child relationships. In the absenceof farming opportunities, for example,many establish cottage industries orwork in groups doing carpentry tominimize contact with outsiders.

Amish Singing

The place of singing in Amish home lifedeserves to be studied to determine itsrole not only in the parent-child rela-

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tionship, but also as a vehicle for trans-mitting cultural values. According toJeff Todd Titon, “[e]arly childhoodmusic is not simply functional, e.g., forentertainment or to quiet a child, but itteaches the musical taste and orienta-tion of a particular group. Lullabies notonly lull but promise, praise and teachcultural values” (1996, 496).

Historically, singing has played animportant role in Amish life. Impris-oned in Passau castle in southwesternGermany, and awaiting their fate at thestake or chopping block, sixteenth cen-tury Anabaptist martyrs spent theirtime singing and writing hymns (Nolt1992, 21-2). As many of those perse-cuted had been priests, and thus wellacquainted with Gregorian chantmelodies, these, along with traditionalfolk melodies, provided the back-ground for their lyrics. When otherprisoners danced to their singing, theAnabaptists slowed it down until therewas no danceable rhythm left. Col-lected in the Ausbund, these hymns be-came and remain the most importantmusic of the Amish tradition. They aresung in unison in each worship service,before meetings, at work, and in lei-sure.

In articulating his theory of“cantometrics,” a music analysis sys-tem for understanding and classifyingtypes of cultures, Alan Lomax arguedthat if a culture uses monophonic tex-ture (i.e., one line of melody sung with-out harmony), it follows that that soci-ety will be primitive and undeveloped(Nettl 1983, 92-5).5 But this ethno-cen-tric and value-laden presumption is

contradicted by the Amish, who em-ploy monophonic melodies and are notbackward or uneducated. The fact thatthey teach children within the commu-nity and avoid many aspects of moder-nity is a conscious choice on moralgrounds. Marc Olshan has labeledtheirs a value-rational culture, mean-ing they have carefully formulated the“ultimate” values which serve to guidebehavior within the community. TheAmish continually and self-consciouslyevaluate alternative modes of actionand make specific decisions which en-able them to live lives consistent withthese core values (Olshan 1980). Thisevaluation takes place in district churchmeetings preceding biannual commun-ion celebrations, and through this pro-cess the Ordnung is regularly reconsid-ered and reconfirmed. The Amish sing-ing style, thus, results from “intentionalinteraction by processes of decision-making by individuals” (Blacking 1981,n.p.), and the intentional decision toprohibit the use of harmony and musi-cal instruments reflects this process,rather than signalling a “primitive cul-ture.”

The Amish indicate that their sing-ing serves to “soothe, uplift and en-courage” those who sing, but they alsobelieve that their songs must alwaystake a form that “glorifies God anddoes not spotlight humans” (Brunkn.d., 3). Brunk, an Ohio Amish whoadvocated “divine simplicity” in songs,noted that musical instruments werenot allowed because the Protestant re-former Zwingli had rejected their usein church, along with other non-bibli-


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cal trappings such as candles, incense,crucifixes, and altars. According toZwingli, “God ordained vocal music,the wicked added the instruments”(ibid.). Most districts today do not al-low instruments even at home. AdaLendon, an “ex-Amish,” or one whohas chosen to leave the tradition, re-marked that her mother (who remainsin the tradition) “liked to play the har-monica . . . I remember a boy in anotherdistrict had an accordion. Boy! Couldhe play! He had to get rid of it to jointhe church, however.”6

While the Amish have borrowedsongs from surrounding cultures, thereare many types of songs and styles ofsinging they reject. John Paul Raber,also from an Ohio Amish settlement,wrote disapprovingly of the use of cho-ruses and quartets, considering themto place undue attention upon the sing-ers. He did, however, approve of theuse of gospel tunes and texts when theyspread the teaching of Christianity.Nevertheless, he cautioned that gospel“would not be so popular today” if itwere truly preaching Christ, suggest-ing that popularity equaled worldli-ness. Raber further remarked that thefounder of gospel music, “half God-fearing Thomas A. Dorsey and halfgood-time Georgia Tom,”7 hadmerged the “earnest fervor of spiritu-als with the Blues’ swinging beat” into“rocking tunes,” and because of this,Dorsey was expelled from the churchby the leaders (Raber n.d., 5-6). Thus,while the Amish employ gospel tunes,they do so in a way that could neverbe accused of “swinging” the beat.

Methodology

To gather information on how Amishview the issue of singing, I interviewedAmish men and women and a few ex-Amish in a variety of settings in north-eastern Ohio. From 1999-2000, threeundergraduate assistants—AndreaLucas, Patrice Trudell, and EstherDiehl—and I conducted short, five- totwenty-minute interviews at Amish-frequented auctions in Mt. Hope,Kidron, and Farmerstown, and on thestreet on market days in Charm, Ber-lin, Walnut Creek, and Sugar Creek,Ohio. We interviewed individuals andfamilies in their homes through secondorder (or snowball) sampling, by firsttalking with Amish who were contactsof our “English” (non-Amish) friends.Some of these Amish were involved inpublic forums and advisory groups orparticipated in programs in the OhioState University Extension Program;some worked as nannies, house clean-ers, or other service providers for “En-glish” employers. These Amish, in turn,recommended other neighbors andfriends for us to interview. For ex-ample, an Amish woman might say, “Idon’t sing well, but Esther Miller lovesto sing. She lives down Geyers Chapel[in a house] with a big white barn.”When I would visit these women andidentify myself as an acquaintance ofone of their friends, they would stopwhatever project they were involvedin, ask me in, and, in general, seemedhappy to converse. We also attended aweekend workshop at an English innin Amish country, eating meals and

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talking at length with an Amish bishop,his wife, and two other Amish couples.Patrice Trudell (one of my research as-sistants) attended the Former AmishReunion (FAR), a biannual gathering ofex-Amish, which serves as an extendedfamily support for individuals andfamilies who have left the Amish com-munity, and there she engaged inlengthy person-to-person and groupinterviews.

Some Amish were hesitant to an-swer questions, especially when wetook notes. A few, particularly moreconservative Amish, declined to talkwith us at all. Others were glad to talkat length, some inviting us to walk alittle out of the way so they could singless conspicuously. For the lengthierinterviews, researchers asked a varietyof questions about child-rearing prac-tices, the kinds of songs sung to youngchildren, the importance of singing inAmish life, and interviewees were alsoasked to sing on tape. Such questionsoften led to other areas of discussion,such as wedding or funeral practices,women’s roles, reports of abuse inAmish families, “Brauch” 8 Johnnyhealers, and other health issues. In theirown homes, the Amish were veryhappy to talk about their experiencesraising children and offered us refresh-ments, inviting us to come back whenthey could gather some of their friendsto talk with us.

Three Nursery Songs

When we began gathering nurserysongs in this protected ethno-religious

community, Amish informants enjoyedbringing out songbooks (with lyricsonly) they had collected from bus ridesto Iowa or Kentucky. Then, they sangfor us their favorites, “MockingbirdHill,” and a Swiss ballad about a younglover lying in the graveyard. One in-formant insisted that we record an “im-portant” song and began to sing thecamp song, “Found a Peanut.” We per-sisted, asking them to sing only songsthey would sing to babies. After con-siderable thought, Amish parents ex-plained that they sang English nurserysongs, such as “Ten Little Indians” and“Mulberry Bush,” as well as Christianchildren’s songs, such as “Fishers ofMen” and “Jesus Loves Me” to theirchildren in both Pennsylvania Dutchand English. Amish adults also sing“fast” songshymns which they learnin school, at Sunday night sing-alongs,and other Amish gatherings. TheAmish began to collect these hymns inthe late nineteenth century intosongbooks such as the UnparteiischeLiedersammlung. These are not sungparticularly fast, but are distinguishedfrom the “slow” or church songs fromthe Ausbund. Like all traditional Amishmusic, these songs are monophonic,that is, one melodic line without ac-companiment.

Of all the songs we collected, threesongs in particular seemed to expressthe values that Amish parents seek toimpart to their children: “Raddy,Raddy, Gally,” “Schlof, Bubeli, Schlof,”and “Es sind zween Weg.” Each ofthese songs underscores the impor-tance the Amish place on the extendedfamily and on farming as the preferred


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livelihood which includes everyone inthe community/family regardless ofgender or age. Among the Amish, theideal is that individuals know theirroles, and unite to build an effective,harmonious community. The repetitionof songs to children is seen as a power-ful way to effect the internalization ofthe notion of such social harmony inchildren from an early age. Childrenwho daily hear soothing, gentle wordsand melodies of songs such as “Schlof,Bubeli, Schlof,” which emphasizes theemotional well-being brought about bysuch social harmony; “Es sind ZweenWeg,” which describes the clear choicesthat the Amish person faces between

worldly, materialistic conformity to thevalues of the surrounding culture ordevotion to the separated fellowship;and “Raddy, Raddy, Gally,” whichevokes the sheer joy of parental loveand the desire to hold children closeand give them pleasure, are thusthought to be pleasantly and lovinglysocialized into the Amish way.

Parents sing the unpitched, sing-song “Raddy, Raddy, Gally” whilebouncing a toddler on a knee. In con-trast to the American nursery song,“This is the way the gentlemen ride,”which echoes gender and class statusdistinctions, “Raddy” refers to agricul-tural life with an emphasis on work-

Ex. 1: “Raddy, Raddy, Gally”—Ada Lendon’s version

(“Ride-y, ride-y horsie/Half an hour a mile/Tomorrow we have to thrash oats/Forthe horsie to eat food/Then we go over the bridge/And the bridge breaks down”).11

Ex. 2: “Raddy, Raddy, Gally”—Harvey Troyer’s version

(“Ride-y, ride-y horsie/A mile’n’a half an hour/Drive over a ditch/And dumpoff”).12

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Ex. 3: “Schlof, Bubeli, Schlof”—Barbara’s Version, Walnut Creek, Ohio 15

(“Sleep, baby, sleep/Grandpa tends the sheep/Grandma brings in the skinny cows/She wades in mud up to knees/She don’t come home until tomorrow morning/Sleep, baby, sleep.”)

ing in fields. In Ada Lendon’s version(ex. 1),9 the bridge simply breaks, whilein the Harvey Troyer’s version (ex. 2),10

an inexpert driver and too much speedcause the upset.

In both the above versions, the sing-ers sang at the same, uncharacteristi-cally quick speed (quarter note = 176).This surely gives the impression thatthrilling the child is one of the song’smajor purposes. The rhythm, some-what uneven despite the racing pace,follows speech patterns, and resonateswith the rhythm of clopping horsehooves. Klassen’s version (⌡= 76) in 2/4 meter is slower, as is the version sungby Barbara ( ⌡= 96), a young Amishwoman working in a community busi-ness. Barbara agreed to have her songrecorded,13 unusual, given that theAmish consider recordings as well asphotography to be vain practices, andthus discourage them.

“Schlof, Bubeli, Schlof,” was themost familiar of the nursery songs to

all the Amish we interviewed. Womenand men alike greeted the song titlewith huge smiles accompanied bylaughter. They explained that “Bubeli”is a term of endearment for babies,whereas for older children it can beused in a negative or teasing sense:“Stop being a baby (“Bubeli”) and growup.” The agrarian theme in the songsemphasizes the security and regular-ity of tending the farm animals nearbyin the corral. Mammi (Grandma), livesnext door, and is both a role model anda caretaker. Despite her age, she is veryproductive: Out chasing the skinnycows, she runs all night, “and don’tcome till tomorrow morning.”14

Klassen noted many lyric variantsin “Schlop, Kjintje, Schlop,” broughtto Canada from Russia by Mennonites(ex. 4), but related that “melodic dif-ferences were minimal” (1989, 29-31).The Amish in Holmes county, on theother hand, sang a version that differedsignificantly from Klassen’s. The


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Ex. 4: “Schlop, Kjintje, Schlop”—Canadian Russian Mennonite Version

(“Sleep, baby, sleep/Your father herds the sheep/Your mother shakes a little tree/There falls down a little dream/Sleep, baby, sleep” becomes, in another version,“Sleep, baby, sleep/Outside stand the sheep/A black one and a white one/And ifthe baby won’t sleep/Then the black one will come and bite it,” while a third ver-sion has “Sleep, little child, sleep/Your father herds the sheep/Your mother shakesa little tree/There fall down a little dream/Sleep, little child, sleep;” Klassen 1989,29-31).

Ex. 5: “Schlof, Bubeli, Schlof”—Lancaster, Pennsylvania Version

Holmes county version is exemplifiedby Barbara’s tune (ex. 3), which moreclosely resembles a Pennsylvania ver-

sion brought from Germany in the1780s and recorded by Hausman (ex.5) (1953, 66-7).

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Barbara begins in 2/4 and switches into6/8 meter when she gets warmed upand into full swing. The 6/8 metergives a swing-like sound. Hausman’sversion is in a regular 6/8 meter withthe same scale pattern as the CanadianRussian Mennonite version of Klassen.Klassen’s and Hausman’s are sungmuch higher than Barbara’s, which issung in Db. Klassen’s version is in thekey of F major; the Hausman, G major.Barbara uses a three-note, do-re-mi,scale while Klassen has do-re-mi-fa-solwith an additional sol below do.

The three versions differ widely inmelodic material. Comparing the inter-vals, there is a preponderance of majorseconds, neighboring notes, in each,but a larger variety of intervals in theCanadian Mennonite version (table 1).Like “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” theOhio Amish version is the essence ofsimplicity, a quality highly valued inAmish culture, using only three notes,all major seconds. Like most of Amishsinging, all the notes are diatonic, con-forming to the Western major scale andusing no additional “accidental” notes.

“Es sind zween Weg,” on the otherhand, offers an example of a churchhymn sung to babies and little childrento calm them and to teach them loy-alty to spiritual over worldly claims.The text of this martyr’s song speaksclearly of choosing between two ways,one narrow, one wide, and proclaimsthat daily actions lead to eternal con-sequences (ex. 6).

Ex. 6: “Es sind zween Weg”—Troyer

Table 1: Comparison of Intervals

Interval Canadian Russian Walnut Creek, Lancaster County Mennonite Ohio (Hausman) (Klassen) (Barbara) Minor 2nd 2 — 1 Major 2nd 6 All 12 Minor 3rd 4 — 4 Major 3rd 1 — — Perfect 4th 3 — 4 Major 6th 1 — 1 Minor 7th — — 1

(“There are two ways in this our day/One narrow and the other broad/Whonow will go the other way/Will bedespised by all abroad;” Overholt 1987,60).


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Shape Note 16

The traveler at the crossroads is am e t a p h o rfound in manyc u l t u r e s .W o l f g a n gHarms datedits use to thefifth-centurywritings ofProdikos, theGreek Sophist,“ H e r c u l e smust choosebetween Viceand Virtue”(1970, 40-43).Similarly, in Deuteronomy 30:15-16, 19,God instructs:

See, I have set before you this daylife and good and death and evil; Inthat I command you this day to lovethe Lord your God, to walk in God’sways, and to keep God’scommandments and God’sjudgments, that you may live andmultiply . . . I have set before youlife and death, blessing and cursing;therefore choose life, that both youand your children may live.

In Matthew 7:13-14, in the Sermon onthe Mount, Christ also invokes themetaphor:

Enter in at the narrow gate: for wideis the gate, and broad is the way, thatleads to destruction, and many therebe which go in there; Becausenarrow is the gate, and narrow is theway, which leads unto life, and fewthere be that find it.

In addition to appearing inphilosophical and religious texts, as

well as the Amish hymns, this themeis also featured in the visual art ofGerman woodcuts of the twelfthcentury (fig. 2). The theme is the “Y,”with one thick arm and one thin arm,symbolizing the wide and narrowroads (Harms 1970, 85). By the fifteenthcentury, the “Y”-shaped symbol wasfamiliar enough to be used as a crucifixand a sceptre. (fig. 3)

Figure 3: Y-Signum Sceptre18

Figure 2: Y-Signum17

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Choosing between the wide roadthat leads to punishment and fire andthe narrow,which leads toglory andreward, is afundamentalconcept for theAmish. (fig. 4)They frequentlymust interactwith others whoclaim to beChristians butwho are notfollowing thenarrow way. Ifthe Amish are tosurvive, theyneed to draw “a clear cut boundarybetween the kingdom of the world andthe kingdom of God. . . . The Amishsense of order, from their verybeginnings, included a decisive need

for boundaries” (Meyers 1996, 40-53).The women singing the FAR version

(ex. 7) left out one line of melody, thethird, and sang the text of the third tothe fourth line of melody.Ethnomusicologist John Blacking hasobserved that, in his experience,

Figure 4: Two ways19

Ex. 7: “Es sind zween Weg”—Former Amish Reunion


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“singers often omit ‘lines’ of standardsong” or may insert them inunexpected places (1967, 156). Withoutapology, the leader translated the firsttwo lines and avoided comment on thethird and fourth, despite anotherwoman mentioning quietly that theyhad omitted a line certainly due to amemory lapse.

As with all Amish church hymns,this is a free rhythm (a flowing rhythmwith no set meter), sung slowly at ⌡=69. The melody is neumatic (two to fournotes per syllable of text). Only foursyllables, one of which is the final, havebut one note; and five have three notes.Jackson, who studied Amish churchchants, reported that he heard atendency to melisma (ten to twentynotes on one or more syllables), whichhe attributed to “vocal vagaries—tonewaverings and rhythmicinconsistencies of the performances[that] become stylized andincorporated in performance practices”(Jackson 1945, 152). The preponderanceof short-long pairings gives theappearance that the melody has been

borrowed directly from chant. Thelargest ascending melodic movementis a major third, while there is onedescending perfect fourth in eachphrase. The melody spans an octavefrom b

b to b’

b.

Typically, these tunes aretransmitted orally. Occasionally, agroup of Amish, fearing that they maybe losing some of the old tunes, makesthe decision to collaborate with anoutsider in order to publish a collectionof texts and tunes, although this is notin keeping with the Amish emphasison oral tradition. The Amische Lieder byJoseph Yoder, published in 1942, is anexample of such a collaborative effort,and in it Yoder presents severaldifferent versions of “Es sind zweenWeg,” such as the one presented in ex.8 (1942, 25).

A comparison of the melodiccadences (approaches to the final noteof each melodic line) of thirteenmelodies from Yoder’s Amische Liederand thirteen melodies from Ben TroyerJr.’s 1997 edition of Ausbund andLiedersammlung songs (table 2) shows

Ex. 8: “Es sind zween Weg”—Amische Lieder

D. R. Elder

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some striking dissimilarities. Each iscollected in a different Amishcommunity, but the differences makeone wonder how much the melodieshave changed. The span of notes whichfit comfortably in general groupsinging ranges from the smallest of amajor sixth to the largest of an octaveand a fourth in the Troyer edition andan octave and a fifth in the Yoderedition. While both use the shape notetradition, Yoder gives specific pitchesfor his songs, while Troyer onlyprovides the notes in relation to eachother.

Yoder prefaced his 1942 edition withdirectness:

Since the singers of the [MifflinCounty, Pennsylvania] Valley feelthat they still have these hymns asnear or nearer the old ways of

singing them, than any othercommunity, it was only natural thatthe writer should go back to theValley to get these songs and hymnsin their early forms (v).

Yoder also explained that hispublication was meant to help familiesto learn and use the slow hymns fordaily home worship. Troyer made nosuch claims, merely acknowledgingand thanking those who had helpedhim transcribe the songs (1997, i) .

Performance practices include theuse of scooping and sliding on a newsyllable and between two syllables andthe consistent use of anticipation. Thefinal note is barely held a full beat, thenis chopped off quickly. As in nearly allAmish singing, a song leader(Vorsinger) sings an incipit, typically themelody for the first syllable of text, in

Table 2: Comparison of Cadences

Troyer’s Yoder’sAusbund and Lieder- Amische Liedersammlung Songs

Upper neighbor tone, anticipation, final 71 70.3% 40 51.9%

Upper neighbor,lower neighbor, final 19 18.8% 4 5.2%

Final, upper neighbor, final 1 1.0% 20 25.9%

Descending notes to final 0 0 5 6.5%

Other 10 10.0% 8 10.3%

TOTAL CADENCES 101 77


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this case three-notes (ex. 7), then pausesbriefly, waiting for the others to join her.Generally, whether in a schoolroom, athome, or in worship, the Amish aresinging with people they sing withoften, and so, like a well-rehearsedmarching band, they match their strideto the group’s norms and maintaintheir uniformity. As in other Christiantraditions, a few tunes may be used fora multitude of texts. A version of thelyrics to “Es sind zween Weg” wassung to a gospel melody, “I’m Buildinga Home.” Likewise, the same text maybe sung to a variety of tunes (ex. 9).

Ex. 9 : A second melody20

The Role of Nursery Songs inSocialization

In his Venda Children’s Songs, Blackingproposes that “[c]ultural analyses ofmusic sounds may help us towards anexplanation of th[e] relationshipbetween life and music” (1967, 198). InAmish culture, religion and way of lifeare inseparable (Kingston 1953, n.p.).While education in the dominantAmerican culture promotes selfadvancement, independence, and theacquisition of power over others,

Amish education guides a child to livehumbly, and to be satisfied with simpleliving in resignation to the will of God(Hostetler and Huntington 1992, 14).The music of the dominantculturemanifold, varied, simple, orcomplexreflects a culture ofdifference. Imbedded in the singing ofthe Amish, in contrast, is the simplicity,conformity, and unity of a single lineof melody, sung together as one voice,for the purpose of praising God.Singing confirms norms of behaviorand “sentiments that [pre-]exist”

(Blacking 1967, 31). The Amish focusis on contentment in a life of work andfamily, and in living spiritually,committed to worship and praise ofGod with a pure, humble voice, incontrast to a trained, self-consciousvoice, singing for self-aggrandizement.

The Amish want their children tochoose this more simple way of life, butthey believe that submission should beencouraged, not forced. As eachteenager becomes an adult, he or shechooses whether to stay under theauthority of the church or to leave

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Table 3: How important is singing in your family?

Very important 5 33 58.9%

4 12 21.4%

3 6 10.7%

2 2 3.6%

Not Important 1 3 5.4%

TOTAL 56 100.0%

They agree singing makes work easier,transmits values, spreads the gospel,and adds joy to the day. It helps themto be more the person they are meantto be. Many sing as much as two hoursa day with their children whileengaging in a variety of family choresand activities (table 4). One Amishgrandmother talked about the birth ofa granddaughter who had a rare healthdisorder. The doctors cautioned thatthe child would not live six months.“We took turns rocking her and singingto her. We had so little time to showher love,” the woman explained. “Thedoctors were amazed that she livednearly eighteen months,” she added.

The Amish we interviewedexpressed the opinion that homesinging promotes a yielding spirit andbrings one closer to God. It encourages“togetherness,” keeps the “thought-lifein check and gives you a spirit ofgratefulness.” Church songs in

(Klassen 1973, 35, 44-5), and today,nearly 80% choose to remain Amish.Amish parents disciple their childreninto becoming mature adults dedicatedto the Amish way of life by shapingtheir young children’s thoughts andactions. They teach Gelassenheit(yielding and submission) andDemutigkeit (humility) to their childrenwhen they are infants andpreschoolers, with the goal of theirbecoming ideal Amish adults who aresincere, honest, cordial, content, andwell-mannered (Wittmer and Moser1974, 270).

Blackboard Bulletin is a publicationfor Amish teachers that also finds itsway into the homes of many Amishparents, and fosters interaction andcooperation between parents andteachers. The Bulletin’s columnist,“Teacher Arlene,” observes:

A normal child’s attitude towardGod begins in his own home. Hisparents are molding and shaping hisattitudes as a reflection of their own.This also is true of a child’s attitudetoward work and his own abilitiesand talents. If we excuse a child fromdoing something he doesn’t want todo or thinks he can’t do goodenough, are we helping him?(Teacher Arlene 2000, 4)

“Teacher Arlene” believes parentsshould encourage their children toparticipate and work diligently atdeveloping their skills regardless ofability. This includes singing in thehome and at school. The Amish weinterviewed told us that singing is asignificant part of their family life (table3).


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particular were reported to have greatvalue. Parents tell martyr stories totheir children often, including whensinging Ausbund hymns.

On the other hand, not all Amishchildren or adults enjoy singing. Whena few Amish teachers reported thatsome of their students were less thanenthusiastic about singing in school,“Teacher Arlene,” stressing theimportance of singing, wrote back:

I think there are many reasons whywe should teach our children to sing.. . . if we wish them to spend eternityin heaven, there will undoubtedly besinging there, and won’t we beexpected to help sing, regardlesshow our voices are? . . . Singingshould be a devotion, a way ofworshipping God, and we all shouldhelp sing no matter what our abilityis. . . . We should instead teach ourchildren that their voices are neededin our homes, in our schools and inour churches—not because of theirtalents but because they are part of

our fellowship. . . . Let’s not denyour children the opportunity forsinging to allow them to develop thefeeling of expressing their devotionand reverence in their hearts to God.(2000, 4)

“Teacher Arlene” sought to persuadeAmish families that singing is anappropriate behavior that will lead tostronger adherence to the community’svalues. Full participation in the life ofthe community is expected. “She”equated singing with true worship andreinforced its importance in preparingchildren, and by inference adults aswell, for eternity in heaven.

Conclusions

The Amish we interviewed sing to theirchildren. Fifty-four out of fifty-sixinformants stated that they sang dailyor often with young children. In fact,30% sang two or more hours per day.Amish report singing to soothe

Table 4: When do you sing?

Often Sometimes Rarely NeverCooking 6 10 5 1Doing Housework 8 12 2 0Gardening 1 10 10 3Bathing Child 4 13 6 4Buggy Riding 5 9 6 2Playtime 6 7 4 5Other: while sitting 3 1 0 0on the porch in the eveningto relax, sewing, milking,bedtime, rocking, Sundayevening, mowing the lawn

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themselves and their children. Whenasked how many hours he sang withhis children, one man replied, “Itdepends on how many babies you haveto rock.” Singing, the Amish in ourstudy agreed, does transmit the valuesof yielding, humility, and closeness toGod. It is especially important andvaluable while working.

In analyzing Amish home singingwe found consistent performancepractices. First, monophonic vocalmusic was the norm. Second, asdocumented in Amish literature, ourresearch reaffirms the role of theVorsinger (song leader), the one whosets the pitch and, often, the tempo, bysinging the first syllable of a song(Durnbaugh 1999, 25). We found thatin home singing the first syllable ofeach verse and each chorus is intonedby the Vorsinger and that many sharethe role of song leader. One leads forone song with another leading for asecond song. No one person isidentified as the “expert.” Even in theschoolroom, children take turnsleading, and learn songs from eachother. Except when it is her turn, theteacher neither leads nor instructsalthough her enthusiasm for singing is“catching.” Third, “fast” and gospelsongs, such as “Wo ist Jesus meinVerlangen,” are sung nearly as slowlyas Amish church chants. Fourth, allparticipate heartily regardless of ability,and most are capable of staying onpitch. Fifth, the tone quality may belight and pure or a nasal, countrytwang, but the phrasing is invariablylegato except for the final note, which

is cut off quickly rather than held,despite the fact that one Amishhymnbook notated the final as a longnote (Yoder 1942, 13). Sixth, as a rule,the hymnbooks the Amish use do nothave musical notation. Tunes are sungfrom memory. Several men havereported that they get together withother men to practice singing outsideof the worship setting and some reportusing books with shape notes in thosegatherings.

The Amish sing English andPennsylvania Dutch lullabies, such as“Shlof, Bubeli, Shlof,” entertainmentand teaching songs, such as “AldsButter Fas” and “Here We Go Roundthe Mulberry Bush,” religiouschildren’s songs such as “Jesus liebtmich” and “Jesus liebt de kleinekinder,” “fast”gospel songs such as “AtCalvary” and “Amazing Grace,” andchurch slow songs from the Ausbund,such as “O Gott Vater, wir loben dich.”

The Amish core values of respect forelders and other figures of authority;mutuality and equality; strong self-discipline and conformity to churchdiscipline; separation from the world;Gelassenheit; and Demutigkeit evidencethemselves in several ways. First, theAmish family carefully chooses textsthat feature farming and spiritualthemes. Second, they use a measured,thoughtful pace. Voicing the wordsdeliberately, the song is a vehicle forreinforcing important messages. Third,singing reinforces family time andtogetherness. Families enjoy singingafter a full day of work. Fourth, singingregularly reconnects them with their


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history, especially as they sing hymnswritten by martyred women and men.

In Music, Culture and Experience,John Blacking proposes that

[M]usic is non-referential and sen-suous, and no claim can be madethat it is directly political. But somemusic can become and be used as asymbol of group identity, regardlessof its structure; and the structure ofthe music can be such that the con-ditions required for its performancegenerate feelings and relationshipsbetween people that enable positivethinking and action in fields that arenot musical. (1995, 198)

Throughout the centuries ofpersecution and, perhaps more so,during the years of tolerance, theAmish have monitored the musicalpractices of its members, thenprescribed and proscribed certain typesof songs and singing. Like the ban onmusical instruments, these choiceshave been made by the community tounite them in their insistently simpleway of life, which they believe to beredemptive. Other forms of singing, iftolerated, might lead their children toprefer the vain, pride-filled, consumer-and achievement-oriented lifestyle oftheir English neighbors. Amish singingreflects the culture of “divinesimplicity” and conformity reinforcedby their belief that their lives are to bededicated to nurturing children whowill be obedient to God.

Notes1 The writer gratefully acknowledges theNational Endowment for Humanities andThe Ohio State University Office of Re-search for their support of this research.2 Jottíni 1988, 33.3 For more information about the customsof the Amish of Wayne and Holmes Coun-ties, see Kreps, Donnermeyer, and Kreps1997; and Donnermeyer, Kreps, and Kreps1999.4 Amish man. Interview by author,Millersburg, Ohio, 11 March 1999.5 Alan Lomax claimed that his system ofanalysis, cantometrics, was “objective sci-ence . . . [which] supplied us with certainincontrovertible proofs regarding the roleof musical style as a reflection of certainfundamental truths” (Grauer 2001, 3).6 Ada Lendon. Interview by author,Wooster, Ohio, 26 July 1999.7 Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993), Americansongwriter known as the father of gospelmusic; pianist for blues artists Bessie Smithand Gertrude Ma Rainey.8 Meaning “pow-wow.” Some Amish fre-quent healers; others disapprove.9 Ada Lendon. Interview by author,Wooster, Ohio, 26 July 1999.10 Harvey Troyer. Interview by PatriceTrudell, at the Former Amish Reunion,Ashland, Ohio, 31 July 1999.11 Translated by an Amish informant. Penn-sylvania Dutch is a spoken language. Sev-eral groups in Holmes County have re-cently tried to regularize spelling. A localgroup published a book with about half ofthe songs of the Ausbund written in thePennsylvania Dutch dialect rather thanHigh German. One man who worked onthis said they started with the “songs wesing most.” Another group is working ona dictionary.12 Translated by an Amish informant.

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13 Barbara. Interview by author, WalnutCreek, Ohio, 26 January 1999.14 Emily Gerstner-Hirzel documentedmany versions of this song in German lan-guage folksong from “Ruh, Kindlein, ruh/der Wächter tutet: uh” to “Schloop Kinnekeschloop/in Marias Schöötje” and “SchlafBabele schlaf/und scheiss mer net aufsWendele.” The earliest “Slaap Kindkenslaap/dien Vader is een Aap/dine Moderis een Etterlin/slaap du verwesseldHorenkind” from Bremen was publishedin 1767. Another “Schlaf Büble schlaf”dated from 1853 in Tirol. The most similartexts related to agriculture come from Basel(1894), “Schlof Chindli schlof/di Muetterhüetet d Schof,” from Lower Franconia(n.d.), “Schlaf Kindlein schlaf/dein Vaterhüt die Schaf/dei Mutter hüt die dürraKüh/kommt nich heim bis morgen früh,”and from Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1915)“Schlof Bubbeli schlof/der Dawdy hüt dieSchof/die Mommy hüt die rote Küh/unsteht im Dreck bis an die Knie.” A Yiddishversion, “Schlof schlof schlof/der Tate wetfohren in Dorf/wet er brejngen an Epele/wet sain gesund die Kepele,” was recordedin Munich in 1918 (Gerstner-Hirzel 1984,243, 271-2, 275, 323). The Swiss still sing thissong, an ex-Amish physician who visitedthere recently reported.15 Barbara. Interview by author, WalnutCreek, Ohio, 26 January 1999. Translatedby an Amish informant.16 Troyer 1997, 6.17 Geofroy Tory. 1529. Champ Fleury. Paris.Cited in Harms 1970, 321.18 Cesare Ripa. 1603. Iconologia. Rome. Citedin Harms 1970, 344.19 Daniel Sudermann. 1622. “The choicebetween the wide and narrow way.” InSchöne ausserlesene Figuren. Frankfurt a.M.Cited in Harms 1970, 348.20 Yoder 1942, 94.

Works Cited

Ausbund, Das ist: Etliche schönechristliche Lieder . 1997.Lancaster, Pennsylvania:Amish Book Committee. (Firstedition, 1564).

Baecher, Robert. 1996. Raisons etdéroulement du schismeamish: une perspectivenouvelle. In Les Amish: Origineet particularismes, 1693-1993 .Edited by Lydia Hege andChristoph Wiebe. Ingersheim:Association Françaised’Histoire Anabaptiste-Menno-nite:40-53.

Blacking, John. 1967. Venda Children’sSongs: A Study inEthnomusicological Analysis .Chicago: University of ChicagoPress.

______. 1981. Ethnography of MusicalPerformance. In Report on the12th International MusicologicalSociety Congress (Berkeley, 1977).Edited by Daniel Heartz andBonnie Wade. Basel: BärenreiterKassel:382-401.

______. 1995. Music, Culture and Expe-rience: Selected Papers of JohnBlacking. Edited by ReginaldByron. Chicago: University ofChicago Press.

Brunk, George R. (n.d.). Musical Instru-ments. Carrollton, Ohio: AmishMennonite Publications.

Donnermeyer, Joe F., George M. Kreps,and Marty W. Kreps. 1999. Les-sons for Living: A Practical Ap-proach to Daily Life from theAmish Community . Walnut


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Creek, Ohio: Carlisle.Durnbaugh, Hedwig T. 1999. The

Amish Singing Style: Theoriesof Its Origin and Description ofIts Singularity. PennsylvaniaMennonite Heritage 22(2):24-31.

E., J.H. [anon.] 2001. Abner and HisCookies. Family Life, May, 27-28.

Friedmann, Robert. 1950. Anabaptismand Protestantism. MennoniteQuarterly Review 22:12-24.

Gallagher, J. 1987. Accepting ThingsModern: An Interpretation ofHow the Amish Change. Un-published paper presented atthe International Conference onCoping with Modernity atElizabethtown College, PA.

Gerstner-Hirzel, Emily. 1984. Dasvolkstümliche deutscheWiegenlied: Versuch einerTypologie der Texte . Basel:Schweizerischen Gesellschaftfür Volkskunde.

Grauer, Victor. 2001. Some Thoughtson Cross Cultural and Com-parative Studies inEthnomusicology. Unpub-lished paper presented at themeeting of the Mid-AtlanticRegion Society forEthnomusicology, April 1.

Harms, Wolfgang. 1970. Homo Viator inBivio: Studien zur Bildlichkeit desWeges. Munich: Wilhelm Fink.

Hausman, Ruth L. 1953. Sing and Dancewith the Pennsylvania Dutch.New York: Edward B. Marks.

Hostetler, Beulah Stauffer. 1992. TheFormation of Old Orders. Men-nonite Quarterly Review 66:5-25.

Hostetler, Beulah Stauffer. 1996. The

Amish and Pietism: Similaritiesand Differences. In Les Amish:Origine et particularismes, 1693-1993. Edited by Lydia Hege andChristoph Wiebe. Ingersheim:Association Françaised’Histoire Anabaptiste-Menno-nite:253-261.

Hostetler, John A., and GertrudeEnders Huntington. 1992.Amish Children: Education in theFamily, School, and Community.Fort Worth, Texas: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich.

Huntington, Gertrude Enders. 1981.The Amish Family. In EthnicFamilies in America: Patterns andVariations. Edited by Charles H.Mindel and Robert W.Habenstein. New York: ElsevierScientific Publishing:367-399.

Jackson, George Pullen. 1945. TheAmerican Amish MedievalFolk Tunes Today. SouthernFolklore Quarterly 10:151-7.

Jottíni, Laura. 1988. A Language andCultural Island in Modern Ameri-can Society: The Amish. Vol. 1,The Amish in the American Lin-guistic and Ethnic Context .Milan: Guiffre.

Keeney, William Echard. 1968. The De-velopment of Dutch AnabaptistThought and Practice 1539-1564.Nieuwkoop: B. De Graaf.

Kingston, Joseph T. 1953. The AmishStory: Came to America LongAgo to Preserve Way of Life.Intelligencer Journal, September,Lancaster, PA.

Klassen, Doreen Helen. 1989. SingingMennonite: Low German Songs

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Among the Mennonites .Winnipeg: University ofManitoba Press.

Klassen, Walter. 1973. Anabaptism: Nei-ther Catholic Nor Protestant. Wa-terloo, Ontario: Conrad Press.

Kline, David. 1990. Great Possessions: AnAmish Farmer’s Journal. NewYork: North Point Press.

______. 1999. Unpublished lecture pre-sented March 11, Millersburg,Ohio.

Kraybill, Donald B., and Carl F. Bow-man. 2001. On the Backroad toHeaven: Old Order Hutterites,Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni-versity Press.

Kreps, George M., Joe F. Donnermeyer,and Marty W. Kreps. 1997. AQuiet Moment in Time: A Con-temporary View of Amish Society.Walnut Creek, Ohio: Carlisle.

Meyers, Thomas J. 1996. The AmishDivision: A Review of the Lit-erature. In Les Amish: Origine etparticularismes, 1693-1993. Ed-ited by Lydia Hege andChristoph Wiebe. Ingersheim:Association Françaised’Histoire Anabaptiste-Menno-nite:72-93.

Nettl, Bruno. 1983. The Study ofEthnomusicology: Twenty-NineIssues and Concepts . Urbana:University of Illinois.

Nolt, Stephen M. 1992. A History of theAmish. Intercourse, PA: GoodBooks.

O’Day, Rosemary. 1994. The Family andFamily Relationships, 1500-1900:England, France, and the United

States of America. New York: St.Martins Press.

Olshan, Marc. 1980. The Old OrderAmish as a Model for Develop-ment. Ph.D. diss., Cornell Uni-versity.

Overholt, John J. 1987. ErweckungsLieder, Nr. 1. Sarasota, Florida:Christian Hymnary Publishers.

Oyer, John S. 1996. Is There an AmishTheology? Some Reflections onAmish Religious Thought andPractice. In Les Amish: Origineet particularismes, 1693-1993 .Edited by Lydia Hege andChristoph Wiebe. Ingersheim:Association Françaised’Histoire Anabaptiste-Menno-nite:278-302.

Raber, John Paul. (n.d.). Music—Harmo-nizing with the Truth . Baltic,Ohio: Amish Brotherhood.

Riger, Peter J. 1977. Yoder and Free Ex-ercise. Journal of Law and Educa-tion 6: 463.

Séguy, Jean. 1982. The French Menno-nite Tradition and Change. Re-ligion and Change 2(1):25-43.

Smucker, Melvin R. 1988. How AmishChildren View Themselves andTheir Families: The Effective-ness of Amish Socialization.Brethren Life and Thought 33(summer): 218-236.

Stoll, Joseph. 1976. Child Training .Aylmer, Ontario: Pathway Pub-lishers.

Teacher Arlene [pseud.]. 2000. TheSinging Situation at ShadyLane School. Blackboard Bulletin(January):1-4.

Titon, Jeff Todd. 1996. Worlds of Music.


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New York: Schirmer.Troyer, Ben, Jr. 1997. Ausbund and

Liedersammlung Songs. WalnutCreek, Ohio: Carlisle Printing.

Wir lesen und sprechen Deutsch. 1984.East Earl, Pennsylvania:Schoolaid.

Wittmer, Joe, and Arnold Moser. 1974.Counseling the Old OrderAmish Child. Elementary SchoolGuidance and Counseling8(4):260-271.

Yoder, Joseph W. 1942. Amische Lieder.Huntingdon, Pennsylvania:Yoder Publishing.

Yoder, Paton, and Steven R. Estes, eds.1999. Proceedings of the AmishMinisters’ Meetings, 1862-1878:Translation, Interpretation, Re-lated Documents, Participants.Goshen, Indiana: MennoniteHistorical Society.

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Responses

Terry E. MillerKent State University

Ohio, USA

Many of my own preconcep-tions and beliefs concerningthe Amish stem from having

grown up in an Amish area wheremany families, including my own,hired young Amish women as live-indomestic helpers. Although I later be-came an ethnomusicologist with astrong interest in North Americanorally-transmitted religious singing, Idid not persist enough to overcome themany obstacles of ethnographic re-search among the Amish to have actu-ally done it. This frustrated interest isapparently widespread, for the litera-ture on Amish singing—one cannotreally say “music” because of its instru-mental associations—is quite sparse.Few articles on Amish singing havebeen published since the early andmid-twentieth century, when JohnUmble’s “The Old Order Amish, TheirHymns and Hymn Tunes” (1939),George Pullen Jackson’s “The StrangeMusic of the Old Order Amish” (1945),Charles Burkhart’s “The Church Mu-sic of the Old Order Amish and OldColony Mennonites” (1953), and BrunoNettl’s “The Hymns of the Amish: anExample of Marginal Survival” (1957)were published.

Elder’s work, based on extensiveand continuing field investigations,demonstrates that with persistence andcreative approaches scholars can doexcellent field-based research with thecooperation of the Amish. I believe itimportant that we continue such field-

work, partially because it isembarassing that so little is knownabout Amish singing, despite the factthat such singing often takes place rightin the midst of numerous colleges anduniversities. At my own institution,Kent State University, we know andteach far more about Thai classicalmusic, Chinese “silk and bamboo”music, and West African drummingthan Amish singing; indeed, Amishsinging barely merits mention in spiteof the large populations of Amish in thenearby communities of Geauga andHolmes counties.

Elder’s careful work brings us closerto the hearts and minds of contempo-rary Amish people and begins to breakdown the thick wall of cliché and mys-tique that we have built up aroundthem. More than that, though, her ap-proach is multi-disciplinary. While thearticle is written with sensitivity to an-thropology, folklore, andethnomusicology, it should be of spe-cial interest to music educators as well,for its core is an explication of not onlyhow the Amish teach their childrensinging but how they transmit theirvalues and their identity in song aswell. We all have much to learn fromsocieties such as the Amish who havedemonstrated long-standing success inpassing their musical traditions fromone generation to the next.

Elder’s study is one step in the longoverdue process of “rehumanizing” theAmish. Although Amish and non-Amish societies live together andmingle in public arenas such as shop-ping centers, the latter have little first-hand and much stereotyped knowl-edge of the former. Because of how the


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Amish dress, live, and travel, they areautomatically the “exotic other” in ourmidst, one of our own “national mi-norities” (to use the Chinese term), akind of “aborigine” (to use the Austra-lian and Taiwanese term), perhaps arural equivalent to Brooklyn’s HassidicJewish community. We tend to knowthem through the clichés of “Pennsyl-vania Dutch” commercialism, reducedto aphorisms in peculiar English, andthrough artistic motifs portrayingbarns, buggies, and straw hats. We ad-mire their traits of hard work, crafts-manship, and old-fashioned valueswhich give them, in our minds, a Ro-mantic Herderian mystique of the pureand uncorrupted “peasant,” unaffectedby the pollution and alienation of theIndustrial Revolution. They embody anideal of the simple life, infused withspirituality, dignity, and “old fashionedfamily values.” We also become con-fused upon encountering “wild”Amish youth filling up on “junk food,”engaging in PDA, and driving buggiesfitted with huge, booming speakerspowered by batteries through the coun-tryside.

Clearly Amish life is much morecomplex, self-contradictory, and opento change than many of us may real-ize. While their singing does not seemcomparable in terms of technical com-plexity to the Euro-American classicalmusics studied in the conservatory, itis certainly quite complex in its mean-ings and connections to many aspectsof Amish life and culture. From Elder’sarticle we learn that this singing is alsoboth archaic and modern, for theAmish sing both the ancient choralemelodies to the hymn texts in the

Ausbund as well as recent English nurs-ery songs. From my own experience, Iknow that some “liberal” Amish listento Country-Western songs on the radio,and many of the youth are clearly wellaware of current trends in Americanpopular music. In spite of shoppingamong the non-Amish at ordinarymalls and supermarkets where theyhear Muzak and see everything mate-rialistic the world has to offer, manyseem to valiantly strive to maintain aseparate existence from the main-stream, perhaps living what could beseen as the original “alternative”lifestyle. They have chosen to be sepa-rate, to be different, and their singingexpresses this distinctness as much asanything else in their lives. Elder hasrecognized the significance of song inmaintaining Amish life and values, andby focusing on children and how theylearn song she has begun in the rightplace.

Works Cited

Burkhart, Charles. 1953. The ChurchMusic of the Old Order Amishand Old Colony Mennonites.Mennonite Quarterly 27:34-54.

Jackson, George Pullen. 1945. TheStrange Music of the Old OrderAmish. Musical Quarterly31:275-88.

Nettl, Bruno. 1957. The Hymns of theAmish: an Example of MarginalSurvival. Journal of AmericanFolklore 70:323-8.

Umble, John. 1939. The Old OrderAmish, Their Hymns andHymn Tunes. Journal of Ameri-can Folklore 52:82-95.

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Daniel Martin VariscoHofstra University

New York, USA

I remember many weekend afternoons from my Ohio childhoodwhen my family would take a trip

to “Amish country,” and I would be re-galed with parental nostalgic stories of“this is how it used to be.” My memoryof these “plain” people, as they are stilloften and stereotypically referred to,gained mainly from a car windowthrough the dust of unpaved roads, isnow as faded as the 8mm movies myDad faithfully took way back in the 50s.That the Amish might sing in additionto their stereotyped image of ridingbuggies, wearing old-fashionedclothes, and shucking corn never oc-curred to me four decades ago. It is thuswith a mix of nostalgic curiosity, myown desire for Gelassenheit, and schol-arly demeanor that I read Elder’s “EsSind Zween Weg” as a lyrical accountof a self-proclaimed rustic sect.

Elder starts with the perfunctory“classic case” scenario the Amish havecome to represent: the earlier “Ameri-can passage” flight from socially acti-vated doctrinal persecution in Europe,a transplanted rural Gemeinschaft sofearful of assimilation that it preachedthe shunning of loved ones to keepthem from straying, a group intent onfinding meaning by mitigating thechange everyone else defined asprogress. Thanks in part to the Quak-ers, the Amish eventually found a Zionin the American wilderness, and were

no longer hated by most for their dif-ference. Instead, through that peculiarAmerican admiration of individualismand uniqueness, they progressivelybecame commodified as nostalgia andtourist machines. In Ohio’s Holmesand Wayne counties, the loci of this eth-nographic study, there are still dirtroads and corn shucks: yet, these havelong since been reinscribed by neon“Amish Cooking” signs beckoning thebusloads of tourists to take stock bybuying (into) mementos of an Ameri-can rural idyll.

Sociological analyses of Amish so-ciety have tended to focus on the regu-latory functions of a group, which, tomost Americans, represents a pastthought of as a far better world. Yethardly anyone would want to returnto such a mentally constructed nostal-gic world in the everyday, except as atourist on a bus for a brief weekendgaze. What is interesting about Elder’sresearch is the focus on socializationthrough the very specific mechanismof song. Providing a historical surveyof the importance of role singing as aform of resistance to torture, Elder isable to demonstrate through herethnomusicological analysis that itwould be foolish to dismiss the mono-phonic form of most Amish singing asa product of their so-called “backward”or “primitive” state. As a vehicle forinculcating the young with moral val-ues, whether consciously or not, theform as well as the content of the songsshape a will to grow up and remainAmish.

I am intrigued by the author’s com-ments on the theologian Zwingli, who


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privileged, and in fact insisted upon,the purity of voice unencumbered bymusical instruments. Although not ex-plored in further detail here, I am curi-ous if this idea might not itself reinforcethe return-to-nature economic drive ofthe society, a kind of Eden-esque inno-cence in which the naked human voiceresonates as the culture-free Adam whoknew no distraction from his creator?As a specialist on Islam, I should notethat the human voice alone is man-dated for reciting the Quran, so as notto call attention to itself. In this lattercase, God’s words can only be properlyechoed by man’s voice and not some-thing created by man himself.

Elder is to be commended for bridg-ing the interdisciplinary gap that oftenwidens when music is analyzed bothas a technique and at the same time iscontextualized as a social act of sym-bolic power to shape socially sharedvalues. After reading this study, wehave a sense of what some contempo-rary Amish actually do and how theyview what to them is no doubt a natu-ral part of living. There are a numberof areas for further research. I am es-pecially interested in the role of theVorsinger, described here not as an ex-pert who determines the pitch, but asa necessary guiding role that is sharedby community members. To the extentthat children can “lead” elders, thereappears to be a powerful metaphor fordeveloping agency. How this develop-ing agency steers the child to staywithin the community or allows him

or her to slide into a parallel religiousor even secular community is worthexploring.

Reading through the article, bothinformative and enjoyable, I am alsoinspired to read beyond it. There ismuch more I would like to know aboutthe role music plays as a conscioussymbol in promoting Amish social co-hesion. Given the chosen isolation fromthe globalizing world around them,what role does singing in a “mother-”or even “Ur-” tongue play in reinforc-ing a desired otherness? What role dosinging and humming play in every-day work tasks? What is the power ofa musical tradition that is not abettedand shaped by recording but—if I un-derstand the context correctly—mustbe passed on in actual performance?Imagine, if you can, how modern sym-phonies would sound if we did notusually have a “classic” recorded per-formance to judge by. I also wonder towhat extent the aural overshadows thevisual as the sense of choice in Amishupbringing. American culture, in itspresent commodified euphoria, fixatesprimarily on the visual. The Amish, itseems, simplify their visual world toharmonize as closely as it can with “na-ture,” while our broader media-medi-ated trend has been to out- and over-do nature. There is some irony, then, inthe fact that the Amish as a withdrawncultural group have come more andmore to represent, as they did for memany years ago, what modern cultureseems to be missing out on.

D. R. Elder

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