Let tyrants shake their iron rod, And Slav'ry clank her galling chains, We fear them not, we trust in God, New England’s God forever reigns.
Religious congregations and soldiers of the Continental Army sang these words in the years of the American Revolution, defying England’s advancing forces. The song: “Chester,” a choral piece written by a young Bostonian today recognized as America’s first choral composer, William Billings.Billings (1746–1800) was a tanner by profession and a self-taught musician. His compositions are often rough-hewn, and musicologists sometimes categorize it as “American primitive.” But they have a simple power that lift them. It made “Chester,” in particular, a song that rivaled “Yankee Doodle” for popularity during the War of Independence. Musicologist Hans Nathan said of Billings’s music, “There is freshness, a naive vigor about it.”
