Musicians - Justin Morgan

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	Musicians - Justin Morgan

Justin Morgan (February 28, 1747 – March 22, 1798) was a U.S. horse breeder and composer.

He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and by 1788 had settled in Vermont. In addition to being a horse breeder and farmer, he was a teacher of singing; in that capacity he traveled considerably throughout the northeastern states. He died in Randolph, Vermont.

He owned the horse, "Figure" who started the eponymous breed of horses, the Morgan horse. He received Figure, a runt, and one other horse Bub as payment for a debt. As Figure grew older, people began to recognise his skill in a variety of areas. Figure became a prolific breeding stallion and his descendants make up the first American breed of horse to survive to today. His offspring are still noted for the versatility and friendly personality that made their ancestor great.

Music

Morgan was also a composer, best known for his hymns and fuging tunes. While not as famous as those by William Billings, his works share the same characteristic roughness, directness and folk-like simplicity.

Publications containing his work include The Federal Harmony (New Haven, 1790), and The American Harmony (Philadelphia, 1793). The former collection includes his perhaps most famous composition, a setting of Psalm 90, subtitled both "Despair" and "Amanda", which he wrote in memory of his wife, who had died during childbirth.

The 1793 collection contains his setting of Psalm 63, Montgomery. This fuging tune was reprinted more than 50 times before 1811, attesting to its popularity. Its voice-leading, as is common in works by early American composers, contains numerous unabashed parallel fifths, giving the music a folk-like quality. Another work of his, the Judgment Anthem, is tonally adventurous, moving back and forth between E minor and Eb major.

References and further reading

Nym Cooke: "Justin Morgan", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed December 3, 2005),
W. Thomas Marrocco and Harold Gleason, eds. Music in America. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1964.

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