The first full-length study of Isaac Baker Woodbury, one of America's most successful composers of parlor songs and hymn tunes and an editor of widely-popular tunebooks and instructional books. It provides a useful window into the nature of music and social forces during the Jacksonian Era. The biographical portion calls attention to the social forces with which Woodbury interacted: home and family, social status, evangelical Christianity, and the politics of musical life. The second part incorporates both musical and sociological analysis into a discussion of his sacred, secular, and dramatic music and his theoretical and instructional works. Includes a complete list of his known works.