The Music

Through the courtesy of Doris Sink, we have these words about the choral music for which Snow Hill was so well known from a note written by Obed Snowberger on 10/25/1888. The last celibate member of the Snow Hill Society, Obed died in 1895. (Read more about Obed Snowberger on our Congregation - Solitaries section).

"The Music is chiefly composed in five parts, a few pieces in seven parts. The scale upon which the music is arranged includes three whole octaves, bass, tenor, and treble tone. There are used the lowest tones of male voice, and highest tones of the female voice. The leading part is sung by the best female voice. Counting from below, the first part is lower base, second , upper bass, third female tenor, fourth female treble, fifth counter, high female voice, sixth leading voice, seventh second leading voice. The lower and upper bass have the F clef on the fourth line. The third and fourth part have the c clef on the fourth line. The fifth part the c clef on the third line. The sixth and seven part, the C clef on the first line"

From: 1853, Hazards Register of Pennsylvania quoting a Mr. Fahnestock on the music of Ephrata and Snow Hill:

“The tones from the choir imitate soft instrumental music conveying a softness and devotion almost superhuman to the auditor. The whole is sung in the falsetto voice, the singers scarcely opening their mouths, or moving their lips, which throws the voice up to the ceiling, which is set high, and the tones, which seem to be more than human, at least so far from common church singing, appear to be entering from above, and hovering over the heads of the assembly.”

And quite probably it’s the same gentlemen quoted in another publication on Snow Hill---a Dr. W. M. Fahnestock, who wrote in 1835:

“The music at Ephrata and Snow Hill is heavenly. I became ashamed of myself,

for hardly had these strains of celestial melody touched my ear, than my face

was bathed in tears. They were not tears of penitence for my heart was not

subdued to the Lord, but tears of ecstatic rapture, giving a foretaste of the joys