The Alabama Sacred Harp Singers were any of the informal groups participating in four recorded
Sacred Harp singing
Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tune ...
sessions in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
in the 20th century, who were thereafter credited by that name as artists or performers in the published versions of those recordings.
The informal nature of Sacred Harp singing makes it difficult to identify performers in the usual sense. The music is rarely performed by a well-rehearsed
ensemble
Ensemble may refer to:
Art
* Architectural ensemble
* ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album
* Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary
* Ensemble cast (drama, comedy)
* Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus
* ''En ...
in concert or recording studio settings, but rather is sung by attendees at gatherings and conventions, usually open to the public. ''Alabama Sacred Harp Singers'' has referred to several such ad hoc groups of singers in Alabama.
Recordings
On April 16, 1928, a group led by J.C. Brown and S. Whit Denson recorded several songs for
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
, amongst which were "Present Joys" and "Rocky Road", later included on the ''
Anthology of American Folk Music
''Anthology of American Folk Music'' is a three-album compilation, released in 1952 by Folkways Records, of eighty-four recordings of American folk, blues and country music made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers. The album wa ...
''.
In August 1942,
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
recorded the Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Convention in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. These recordings were edited by
George Pullen Jackson
George Pullen Jackson (1874–1953) was an American educator and musicologist. He was a pioneer in the field of Southern (U.S.) hymnody. He was responsible for popularizing the term "white spirituals" to describe the "fasola" singing.
Early l ...
and published by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
.
In 1959, Lomax returned to Alabama to record the 56th convention of the United Sacred Harp Musical Association in
Fyffe. This recording is variously credited to either the "United Sacred Harp Convention" or "Alabama Sacred Harp Singers".
Samples from this recording of
Sarah Lancaster's "The Last Words of Copernicus" appear in both M.I.A.'s "
Tell Me Why" and Bruce Springsteen's "
Death to My Hometown
"Death to My Hometown" is a song written and recorded by American musician Bruce Springsteen and was the third single from his album, ''Wrecking Ball''. It is a protest song, as well a prominent example of Springsteen's experimentation with Celt ...
".
Finally, "Alabama Sacred Harp Singers" may refer to a recording by Stephen McCallum at the Alabama and Florida Union Singing Convention at Greater Old Salem Baptist Church in
Dale County, Alabama, on September 26, 1980.
References
External links
*
Alabama Sacred Harp Singerson
Last.fm
{{Authority control
Sacred Harp
Musicians from Alabama