Vocal Music of the Old Order Amish of Kalona, Iowa

Thomas Nussbaumer, professor of musicology at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, draws on field recordings made in Kalona, Iowa, of Old Order Amish vocal music. Always performed a cappella, Amish songs include both “slow tunes,” a form of melismatic singing originating in 17th-century Europe, and “fast tunes,” three- and four-part American hymns from the 18th and 19th centuries. Discussion of the music includes performance aspects and the place of vocal music in Amish culture.