Joseph Brackett

Joseph Brackett Jr. (May 6, 1797 – July 4, 1882) was an American songwriter, author, and elder of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers. The most famous song attributed to Brackett, "Simple Gifts", is still widely performed and adapted.

Biography

Brackett was born in Cumberland, Maine on May 6, 1797, as Elisha Brackett. When he was 10, his first name was changed to Joseph, like his father's, as the Bracketts joined the short-lived Shaker community in Gorham, Maine. This new Shaker community was centered on the Bracketts' property, until the whole group moved to Poland Hill, Maine, in 1819. The song, written in 1848, was largely unknown outside of Shaker communities until Aaron Copland used the melody in his 1944 composition Appalachian Spring. The tune is also known widely through the lyrics "Lord of the Dance", written by Sydney Carter in 1963. The "Tune Lovers Society", an online organization designed to preserve and protect American tunes from the past, sponsors a birthday commemoration for Brackett on May 6.