“Simple Gifts” is a beloved 1848 Shaker dance song composed by Elder Joseph Brackett [1]. Designed to accompany active worship, its lyrics celebrate humility, spiritual freedom, and physical movement through rhythmic turning and bowing. The melody gained worldwide fame in 1944 when Aaron Copland prominently featured it in his orchestral ballet score Appalachian Spring, and it later inspired the modern hymn “Lord of the Dance.”
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