![Windham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Windham.PNG)
Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and was later perpetuated and carried on in the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tunebook printed in
shape notes
A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material type.
A pl ...
. The work was first published in 1844 and has reappeared in multiple editions ever since. Sacred Harp music represents one branch of an older tradition of American music that developed over the period 1770 to 1820 from roots in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, with a significant, related development under the influence of "revival" services around the 1840s. This music was included in, and became profoundly associated with, books using the
shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
style of notation popular in America in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Sacred Harp music is performed ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' (voice only, without instruments) and originated as
Protestant music.
The music and its notation
The name of the tradition comes from the title of the shape-note book from which the music is sung, ''The Sacred Harp''. This book exists today in various editions, discussed below.
In shape-note music, notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader identify them on the
musical scale
In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by decreasing pitch is a descending scale.
Often, especially in the ...
. There are two prevalent systems, one using four shapes, and one using seven. In the four-shape system used in ''The Sacred Harp'', each of the four shapes is connected to a particular syllable, ''fa'', ''sol'', ''la'', or ''mi'', and these syllables are employed in singing the notes, just as in the more familiar system that uses ''do'', ''re'', ''mi'', etc. (see
solfege). The four-shape system is able to cover the full musical scale because each syllable-shape combination other than ''mi'' is assigned to two distinct notes of the scale. For example, the C major scale would be notated and sung as follows:
The shape for ''fa'' is a triangle, ''sol'' an oval, ''la'' a rectangle, and ''mi'' a diamond.
In Sacred Harp singing, pitch is not absolute. The shapes and notes designate degrees of the scale, not particular pitches. Thus for a song in the key of C, ''fa'' designates C and F; for a song in G, ''fa'' designates G and C, and so on; hence it is called a ''moveable "do"'' system.
When Sacred Harp singers begin a song, they normally start by singing it with the appropriate syllable for each pitch, using the shapes to guide them. For those in the group not yet familiar with the song, the shapes help with the task of
sight reading
In music, sight-reading, also called ''a prima vista'' (Italian meaning "at first sight"), is the practice of reading and performing of a piece in a music notation that the performer has not seen or learned before. Sight-singing is used to descri ...
. The process of reading through the song with the shapes also helps fix the notes in memory. Once the shapes have been sung, the group then sings the verses of the song with their printed words.
Singing Sacred Harp music
![HollowSquareInSacredHarp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/HollowSquareInSacredHarp.PNG)
Sacred Harp groups always sing
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
, that is to say, without accompanying instruments. The singers arrange themselves in a hollow square, with rows of chairs or pews on each side assigned to each of the four parts: treble,
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
,
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
, and
bass. The treble and tenor sections are usually mixed, with men and women singing the notes an octave apart.
There is no single leader or conductor; rather, the participants take turns in leading. The leader for a particular round selects a song from the book, and "calls" it by its page number. Leading is done in an open-palm style, standing in the middle of the square facing the tenors.
The
pitch at which the music is sung is relative; there is no instrument to give the singers a starting point. The leader, or else some particular singer assigned to the task, finds a good pitch with which to begin and intones it to the group. The singers reply with the opening notes of their own parts, and then the song begins immediately.
The music is usually sung not literally as it is printed in the book, but with certain deviations established by custom.
As the name implies, Sacred Harp music is
sacred music
Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...
and originated as Protestant Christian music. Many of the songs in the book are
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
s that use words, meters, and stanzaic forms familiar from elsewhere in Protestant
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
ody. However, Sacred Harp songs are quite different from "mainstream" Protestant hymns in their musical style: some tunes, known as
fuguing tune
The fuguing tune (often fuging tune) is a variety of Anglo-American vernacular choral music. It first flourished in the mid-18th century and continues to be composed today.
Description
Fuguing tunes are sacred music, specifically, Protestant hymn ...
s, contain sections that are
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
in texture, and the
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
tends to deemphasize the interval of the
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
in favor of
fourths and
fifths. In their melodies, the songs often use the
pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancien ...
or similar "gapped" (fewer than seven-note) scales.
In their
musical form
In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...
, Sacred Harp songs fall into three basic types. Many are ordinary ''
hymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...
s'', mostly composed in four-bar phrases and sung in multiple verses. ''Fuguing tunes'' contain a prominent passage about 1/3 of the way through in which each of the four choral parts enters in succession, in a way resembling a
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
. ''Anthems'' are longer songs, less regular in form, that are sung through just once rather than in multiple verses.
Venues for singing
Sacred Harp singing normally occurs not in church services, but in special gatherings or "singings" arranged for the purpose. Singings can be local, regional, statewide, or national. Small singings are often held in homes, with perhaps only a dozen singers. Large singings have been known to have more than a thousand participants. The more ambitious singings include an ample potluck dinner in the middle of the day, traditionally called "dinner on the grounds".
Some of the largest and oldest annual singings are called "conventions". The oldest Sacred Harp convention was the
Southern Musical Convention The Southern Musical Convention was the first ''Sacred Harp'' musical convention, organized by B. F. White and others in 1845. It was formed at Huntersville in Upson County, Georgia.
From its founding until 1867, White's ''The Sacred Harp'' was ...
, organized in
Upson County, Georgia
Upson County is a county located in the west central Piedmont portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,700. The county seat is Thomaston. The county was created on December 15, 1824.
Upson County comp ...
in 1845. The two oldest surviving Sacred Harp singing conventions are the
Chattahoochee Musical Convention (organized in
Coweta County, Georgia
Coweta County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of Metro Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 146,158. The county seat is Newnan.
Coweta County is included in the Atlanta- ...
in 1852), and the
East Texas
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...
Sacred Harp Convention (organized as the
East Texas Musical Convention in 1855).
Sacred Harp music as participatory music
Sacred Harp singers view their tradition as a participatory one, not a passive one. Those who gather for a singing sing for themselves and for each other, and not for an audience. This can be seen in several aspects of the tradition.
First, the seating arrangement (four parts in a square, facing each other) is clearly intended for the singers, not for external listeners. Non-singers are always welcome to attend a singing, but typically they sit among the singers in the back rows of the tenor section, rather than in a designated separate audience location.
The leader, being equidistant from all sections, in principle hears the best sound. The often intense sonic experience of standing in the center of the square is considered one of the benefits of leading, and sometimes a guest will be invited as a courtesy to stand next to the leader during a song.
The music itself is also meant to be participatory. Most forms of choral composition place the melody on the top (treble) line, where it can be best heard by an audience, with the other parts written so as not to obscure the melody. In contrast, Sacred Harp composers have aimed to make each musical part singable and interesting in its own right, thus giving every singer in the group an absorbing task. For this reason, "bringing out the melody" is not a high priority in Sacred Harp composition, and indeed it is customary to assign the melody not to the trebles but to the tenors. Fuguing tunes, in which each section gets its moment to shine, also illustrate the importance in Sacred Harp of maintaining the independence of each vocal part.
History of Sacred Harp singing
Marini (2003) traces the earliest roots of Sacred Harp to the "country parish music" of early 18th century England. This form of rural church music evolved a number of the distinctive traits that were passed on from tradition to tradition, until they ultimately became part of Sacred Harp singing. These traits included the assignment of the melody to the tenors, harmonic structure emphasizing fourths and fifths, and the distinction between the ordinary four-part hymn ("plain tune"), the anthem, and the fuging tune. Several composers of this school, including
Joseph Stephenson and
Aaron Williams, are represented in the 1991 Edition of ''The Sacred Harp''. For further information on the English roots of Sacred Harp music, see ''
West gallery music
__NOTOC__
West gallery music, also known as Georgian psalmody, refers to the sacred music (metrical psalms, with a few hymns and anthems) sung and played in English parish churches, as well as nonconformist chapels, from 1700 to around 1850. In ...
''.
Around the mid-18th century, the forms and styles of English country parish music were introduced to America, notably in a new tunebook called ''Urania'', published 1764 by the singing master
James Lyon. This stimulus soon led to the development of a robust native school of composition, signaled by the 1770 publication of
William Billings
William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School.
Life
William Billings was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of 14, t ...
's ''The New England Psalm Singer'', and then by a great number of new compositions by Billings and those who followed in his path. The work of these composers, sometimes called the "
First New England School
Yankee tunesmiths (also called the First New England School) were self-taught composers active in New England from 1770 until about 1810. Their music was largely forgotten when the Better Music Movement turned musical tastes towards Europe, as in ...
", forms a major part of the Sacred Harp to this day.
Billings and his followers worked as singing masters, who led
singing schools
A singing school is a school in which students are taught to sightread vocal music. Singing schools are a long-standing cultural institution in the U.S. Southern states, Southern United States. While some singing schools are offered for credit, mos ...
. The purpose of these schools was to train young people in the correct singing of sacred music. This pedagogical movement flourished, and led ultimately to the invention of
shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
s, which originated as a way to make the teaching of singing easier. The first shape note tunebook appeared in 1801: ''The Easy Instructor'' by William Smith and William Little. At first, Smith and Little's shapes competed with a rival system, created by
Andrew Law (1749–1821) in his ''The Musical Primer'' of 1803. Although this book came out two years later than Smith and Little's book, Law claimed earlier invention of shape notes. In his system, a square indicated ''fa'', a circle ''sol'', a triangle ''la'' and a diamond, ''mi''. Law used the shaped notes without a musical staff. The Smith and Little shapes ultimately prevailed.
Shape notes became very popular, and during the first part of the nineteenth century, a
whole series of shape note tunebooks appeared, many of which were widely distributed. As the population spread west and south, the tradition of shape note singing expanded geographically. Composition flourished, with the new music often drawing on the tradition of
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
for tunes and inspiration. Probably the most successful shape note book prior to ''The Sacred Harp'' was
William Walker's ''
Southern Harmony
The ''Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion'' is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker, first published in 1835. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern hymnals and s ...
'', published in 1835 and still in use today.
Even as they flourished and spread, shape notes and the kind of participatory music which they served came under attack. The critics were from the urban-based "better music" movement, spearheaded by
Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known ...
, which advocated a more "scientific" style of sacred music, more closely based on the
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
styles of contemporaneous European music. The new style gradually prevailed. Shape notes and their music disappeared from the cities prior to the Civil War, and from the rural areas of the Northeast and Midwest in the following decades. However, they retained a haven in the rural South, which remained a fertile territory for the creation of new shapenote publications.
The arrival of ''The Sacred Harp''
Sacred Harp singing came into being with the 1844 publication of
Benjamin Franklin White and
Elisha J. King's ''The Sacred Harp''. It was this book, now distributed in several different versions, that came to be the shape note tradition with the largest number of participants.
B. F. White (1800–1879) was originally from
Union County, South Carolina
Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,244. Its county seat is Union. The county was created in 1785.
Union County is coterminous with the Union, SC, Micropolitan Sta ...
, but since 1842 had been living in
Harris County, Georgia
Harris County is a County (United States), county located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia; its western border with the state of Alabama is formed by the Chattahoochee River. As of the 2020 United St ...
. He prepared ''The Sacred Harp'' in collaboration with a younger man, E. J. King, (ca. 1821–44), who was from
Talbot County, Georgia
Talbot County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The 2020 census showed a population of 5,733. The county seat and largest city is Talbotton.
History
Talbot County was created from a portion of Musco ...
. Together they compiled, transcribed, and composed tunes, and published a book of over 250 songs.
King died soon after the book was published, and White was left to guide its growth. He was responsible for organizing
singing school
A singing school is a school in which students are taught to sightread vocal music. Singing schools are a long-standing cultural institution in the Southern United States. While some singing schools are offered for credit, most are informal program ...
s and conventions at which ''The Sacred Harp'' was used as the songbook. During his lifetime, the book became popular and would go through three revisions (1850, 1859, and 1869), all produced by committees consisting of White and several colleagues working under the auspices of the
Southern Musical Convention The Southern Musical Convention was the first ''Sacred Harp'' musical convention, organized by B. F. White and others in 1845. It was formed at Huntersville in Upson County, Georgia.
From its founding until 1867, White's ''The Sacred Harp'' was ...
. The first two new editions simply added appendices of new songs to the back of the book. The 1869 revision was more extensive, removing some of the less popular songs and adding new ones in their places. From the original 262 pages, the book was expanded by 1869 to 477. This edition was reprinted and continued in use for several decades.
Origin of the modern editions
Around the turn of the 20th century, Sacred Harp singing entered a period of conflict over the issue of traditionalism. The conflict ultimately split the community.
B. F. White had died in 1879 before completing a fourth revision of his book; thus the version that Sacred Harp participants were singing from was by the turn of the century over three decades old. During this time, the musical tastes of Sacred Harp's traditional adherents, the inhabitants of the rural South, had changed in important ways. Notably,
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
– syncopated and chromatic, often with piano accompaniment – had become popular, along with a number of church hymns of the "mainstream" variety, such as "Rock of Ages". Seven-shape notation systems had appeared and won adherents away from the older four-shape system (see
shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
for details). As time passed, Sacred Harp singers doubtless became aware that what they were singing had become quite distinct from contemporary tastes.
The natural path to take—and the one ultimately taken—would be to assert the archaic character of Sacred Harp as an outright virtue. In this view, Sacred Harp should be treasured as a time-tested musical tradition, standing above current trends of fashion. The difficulty with adopting traditionalism as a guiding doctrine was that different singers had different opinions about just what form the stable, traditionalized version of Sacred Harp would take.
The first move was made by
W. M. Cooper, of
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...
, a leading Sacred Harp teacher in his own region, but not part of the inner circle of B. F. White's old colleagues and descendants. In 1902 Cooper prepared a revision of ''The Sacred Harp'' that, while retaining most of the old songs, also added new tunes that reflected more contemporary music styles. Cooper made other changes, too:
* He retitled many old songs. These songs were formerly named by their tune, using arbitrarily chosen place names ("New Britain", "Northfield", "Charlestown"). The new names were based on the text; thus "New Britain" became "Amazing Grace", "Northfield" became "How Long, Dear Savior", and so on. The old system was intended in colonial times to permit mixing and matching of tunes and texts, but was unnecessary in a system where the pairing of tune and text was fixed.
* He transposed some songs into new keys. This is thought to have brought the notation closer to actual performing practice.
* He wrote new alto parts for the many songs that originally just had three vocal lines.
The Cooper revision was a success, being widely adopted in many areas of the South, such as Florida, southern Alabama, and Texas, where it has continued as the predominant Sacred Harp book to this day. The "Cooper book", as it is now often called, was revised by Cooper himself in 1907 and 1909. His son-in-law published the book in 1927, including an appendix compiled by revision committee. The Sacred Harp Book Company was formed in 1949, and subsequent revision has been supervised by editorial committees under its instruction. New editions were issued in 1950, 1960, 1992, 2000, 2006 and 2012.
In the original core geographic area of Sacred Harp singing, northern Alabama and Georgia, the singers did not in general take to the Cooper book, as they felt it deviated too far from the original tradition. Obtaining a new book for these singers was made more difficult by the fact that B. F. White's son
James L. White, who would have been the natural choice to prepare a new edition, was a non-traditionalist. His "fifth edition" (1909) won little support among singers, while his "fourth edition with supplement" (1911) enjoyed some success in a few areas. Ultimately, a committee headed by
Joseph Stephen James Joseph Stephen James, of Douglasville, Georgia, was a lawyer, community leader, shape note singer, composer, and a reviser of the tunebook known as ''The Sacred Harp''.
Life
Joe S. James was born March 20, 1849, in Campbell County (now in Dougla ...
produced an edition entitled ''Original Sacred Harp'' (1911) that largely satisfied the wishes of this community of singers.
![Photo of Original Sacred Harp (Denson edition) songbook](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Photo_of_Original_Sacred_Harp_%28Denson_edition%29_songbook.jpg)
The James edition was further revised in 1936 by a committee under the leadership of the brothers
Seaborn
Seaborn is a given name and a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
Persons with the given name
* Seaborn Buckalew, Jr. (1920–2017), American judge and politician
* Seaborn McDaniel Denson (1854–1936), American musician and singin ...
and
Thomas Denson, both influential
singing school
A singing school is a school in which students are taught to sightread vocal music. Singing schools are a long-standing cultural institution in the Southern United States. While some singing schools are offered for credit, most are informal program ...
teachers. Both died shortly before the project was complete, and the remaining work was overseen by Paine Denson, son of Thomas. This book was entitled ''Original Sacred Harp, Denson Revision'', and was itself revised 1960, 1967, and 1971; a more thorough revision and remodeling of this book, overseen by
Hugh McGraw, is known simply as the "1991 Edition", though some singers still call it the "Denson book".
Even the highly traditionalist James and Denson books followed Cooper in adding alto parts to most of the old three-part songs (these alto parts led to an unsuccessful lawsuit by Cooper). Some people (see for instance the reference by Buell Cobb given below) believe that the new alto parts imposed an esthetic cost by filling in the former stark open harmonies of the three-part songs. Wallace McKenzie argues to the contrary, basing his view on a systematic study of representative songs. In any event, there is little support today for abandoning the added alto parts, since most singers give a high priority to giving every side of the square its own part to sing.
It was thus that the traditionalism debate split the Sacred Harp community, and there seems little prospect that it will ever reunite under a single book. However, there have been no further splits. Both the Denson and the Cooper groups adopted traditionalist views for the particular form of Sacred Harp they favored, and these forms have now been stable for about a century.
The strength of traditionalism can be seen in the front matter of the two hymnbooks. The Denson book is forthrightly Biblical in its defense of tradition:
DEDICATED TO
All lovers of Sacred Harp Music, and to the memory of the illustrious and venerable patriarchs who established the Traditional Style of Sacred Harp singing and admonished their followers to "seek the old paths and walk therein".
The Cooper book also shows a warm appreciation of tradition:
May God bless everyone as we endeavor to promote and enjoy Sacred Harp music and to continue the rich tradition of those who have gone before us.
To say that both communities are traditionalist does not mean they discourage the creation of new songs. To the contrary, it is part of the tradition that musically creative Sacred Harp singers should become composers themselves and add to the canon. The new compositions are prepared in traditional styles, and could be considered a kind of tribute to the older material. New songs have been incorporated into editions of ''The Sacred Harp'' throughout the 20th century.
Other Sacred Harp books
Two other books are currently used by Sacred Harp singers. A few singers in north Georgia employ the "White book", an expanded version of the 1869 B. F. White edition edited by
J. L. White.
African–American Sacred Harp singers, although primarily users of the Cooper book, also make use of a supplementary volume, ''The Colored Sacred Harp'', produced by
Judge Jackson (1883–1958) in 1934 and later revised in two subsequent editions. In his book ''Judge Jackson and The Colored Sacred Harp'', Joe Dan Boyd identified four regions of Sacred Harp singing among African–Americans: eastern Texas (Cooper book), northern Mississippi (Denson book), south Alabama and Florida (Cooper book), and New Jersey (Cooper book). The ''Colored Sacred Harp'' is limited to the New Jersey and south Alabama–Florida groups. Sacred Harp was "exported" from south Alabama to New Jersey. It appears to have died out among the African–Americans in eastern Texas.
In summary, three revisions of and one companion book to ''The Sacred Harp'' are currently in use in Sacred Harp singing:
* ''The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition'' (the "Denson book"). Carrollton, Georgia: Sacred Harp Publishing Company.
* ''The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition, 2012''. Samson, Alabama: The Sacred Harp Book Company.
* ''The Sacred Harp, J. L. White Fourth Edition, with Supplement'' (the "White book"). Atlanta, Georgia: J. L. White. Released 1911; republished 2007.
* ''The Colored Sacred Harp''. Ozark, Alabama: Judge Jackson.
rd revised edition (1992) includes rudiments by H. J. Jackson (son of J. Jackson) and an autobiography of Judge Jackson
Sacred Harp books generally contain a section on
rudiments
In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely assoc ...
, describing the basics of music and Sacred Harp singing.
The spread of Sacred Harp singing in modern times
In recent years, Sacred Harp singing has experienced a resurgence in popularity, as it is discovered by new participants who did not grow up in the tradition. New singers typically strive to follow the original southern customs at their singings. Traditional singers have responded to this need by providing help in orienting the newcomers. For instance, the Rudiments section of the 1991 Denson edition includes information on how to hold a singing; this information would be superfluous in a traditional context, but is important for a group starting up on its own. The tradition of the singing master is still carried on today, and singing masters from traditional Sacred Harp regions often travel outside the South to teach. In recent years an annual summer camp has been established, at which newcomers can learn to sing Sacred Harp.
The U.S. beyond the South
There are now strong Sacred Harp singing communities in most major urban areas of the United States, and in many rural areas, as well. One of the first groups of singers formed outside the traditional Southern home region of Sacred Harp singing was in the Chicago area.
The first Illinois convention was held in 1985, with enthusiastic and strongly proactive support by prominent Southern traditional singers.
The Midwest Convention is now acknowledged to be one of the major American conventions, attracting hundreds of singers from all over the US and abroad.
Similarly, the Sacred Harp singing community in western New England has become a prominent one in recent years; the late songleader
Larry Gordon
Larry Gordon (July 8, 1954 – June 25, 1983) was an American football linebacker who played seven seasons in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins. A member of the Dolphins' Silver Anniversary team, he was in the starting lineup ...
has been credited with re-popularizing Sacred Harp singing in northern New England. In March 2008, the 2008 Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Convention attracted over 300 singers from 25 states and a number of foreign countries. Other prominent singing conventions outside the South include, for example, the Keystone Convention in Pennsylvania, the Missouri Convention, and the Minnesota State Convention, which began in 1990.
Sacred Harp Singing beyond the US
In more recent times Sacred Harp singing has spread beyond the borders of the United States.
The United Kingdom has had an active Sacred Harp community since the 1990s. The first UK Sacred Harp convention took place in 1996. There are regular singings in London, the Home Counties, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Manchester, Brighton, Newcastle, Durham, southwest England, Bristol, as well as in Scotland.
Canada has a decades-long tradition of Sacred Harp singing, particularly in
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
and the
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships (french: Cantons de l'Est) is an historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest, to Drummondv ...
of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. Singings have been organized weekly in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
since 2011, as well as a monthly afternoon sing, and the first Montreal all-day sing took place in the spring of 2016. Sacred Harp singing has happened on a monthly basis for years in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
.
Australia has had Sacred Harp singing since 2001, and singings are held regularly in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Blackwood. The first Australian All Day Singing was held in Sydney in 2012.
In January 2009, Sacred Harp singing was introduced to
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, by Dr Juniper Hill of
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...
, spreading quickly from a class module into the wider community. In March 2011 U.C.C. hosted the first annual Ireland Sacred Harp Convention, and the Cork community held their first All-Day Singing on 22 October 2011. There are now also growing Sacred Harp communities in Belfast and Dublin.
In the most recent development, Sacred Harp singing has expanded beyond the limits of English-speaking countries to mainland Europe. In 2008 a singing community was established in Poland (which hosted the first Camp Fasola Europe in September 2012). In Germany there are regular weekly or monthly singings in Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne and Munich, most of them with their own annual All-Day singings. Elsewhere in Germany, singers meet irregularly in Frankfurt, Gießen and Nürnberg. Recently groups have started up in Amsterdam, Paris and Clermont-Ferrand Oslo, Norway, and Uppsala, Sweden. Both the Swedish and Norwegian groups have arranged All Day Singings. The 6th Oslo All-Day Singing will in 2022 be arranged June 4.-5.
Regular singings are also taking place in Israel, and in April, 2016, an all-day singing was held in Paris, France.
Use in popular works
Sacred Harp singing appears as
diegetic music
Diegetic music or source music is music in a drama (e.g., film or video game) that is part of the fictional setting and so, presumably, is heard by the characters. The term refers to diegesis, a style of storytelling.
The opposite of source m ...
in the films ''
Cold Mountain'' (2004) and ''
Lawless'' (2012), and as background music in ''
The Ladykillers'' (2004).
The 2010 song "
Tell Me Why" by
M.I.A. includes a sample of "The Last Words of Copernicus" by
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster (born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her long-running roles as Rachel Meyers in the NBC series '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and Ellie Bartowski in the NBC comedy-spy series '' Chuck'', a ...
, recorded at the 1959 United Sacred Harp Convention in
Fyffe, Alabama
Fyffe is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1956.Claire Wilson,Fyffe" ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'', November 2, 2012. At the 2020 census, the population was 967. Fyffe is located atop Sand Mountain.
History
...
, by
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 ...
. The album version of
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
's "
Death to My Hometown" (2012) also samples this recording.
Electronic musician
Holly Herndon
Holly Herndon (born 1980) is an American composer, musician, sound artist and sound designer based in Berlin, Germany. After studying composition at Stanford University and completing her Ph.D. at Stanford University's Center for Computer Resea ...
's 2019 track "Frontier" includes a performance of Herndon's music by a singing class in Berlin, Germany.
The 2014 animated miniseries ''
Over the Garden Wall
''Over the Garden Wall'' is an American animated television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network. The series centers on two half-brothers who travel across a mysterious forest to find their way home, encountering a variet ...
'' features an original Sacred Harp composition in the second episode, "Hard Times at the Huskin' Bee".
Origins of the music
The music used in Sacred Harp singing is eclectic. Most of the songs can be assigned to one of four historical layers.
There are a few additional songs in ''The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition'' that cannot be assigned to any of these four main layers. There are some very old songs of European origin, as well as songs from the English rural tradition that inspired the early New England composers. There are also a handful of songs by European
classical composers (
Ignaz Pleyel,
Thomas Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whic ...
, and
Henry Rowley Bishop
Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (18 November 178730 April 1855) was an English composer from the early Romantic era. He is most famous for the songs "Home! Sweet Home!" and "Lo! Hear the Gentle Lark." He was the composer or arranger of some 120 dramat ...
). The book even includes five hymns by
Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known ...
, long ago the implacable enemy of the tradition that ''The Sacred Harp'' has preserved to this day.
The description just given is based on ''The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition'', also known as the Denson edition. The widely used "Cooper" edition overlaps considerably (about 60%) in content, but also includes many later songs. A detailed comparison of the two editions has been made by Sacred Harp scholar Gaylon L. Powell.
Other books with the title ''Sacred Harp''
''The Sacred Harp'' was a popular name for 19th century hymn and tune books, with no fewer than four bearing the title. The first of these was compiled by John Hoyt Hickok and printed in
Lewistown, Pennsylvania
Lewistown is a borough in and the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the '' Lewistown, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area'', which encompasses all of Mifflin County. It lies along the Juniata Riv ...
in 1832. The second was compiled by Lowell and Timothy Mason and printed in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
in 1834, as part of the "better music" movement mentioned above. The publisher released their book as a
shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
edition, while they preferred to urbanize their audience by releasing a round note edition.
The third ''Sacred Harp'' was the one by
B. F. White and E. J. King (1844), the origin of today's Sacred Harp singing tradition.
Lastly, according to W. J. Reynolds, writing in ''Hymns of Our Faith'', there was yet a fourth ''Sacred Harp'' – ''The Sacred Harp'' published by J. M. D. Cates in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
in 1867.
Comedic parody
In order to increase accessibility to the Sacred Harp tunes, ''Jo Puma - Wild Choir Music'' was published by the Machinists Union Press, combining the unaltered Sacred Harp arrangements with new secular lyrics by Secretary Michael.
See also
* ''
Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp''
*
Chattahoochee Musical Convention
*
East Texas Musical Convention
*
List of shape-note tunebooks
Shape notes are a system of music notation designed to facilitate choral singing. Shape notes of various kinds have been used for over two centuries in a variety of sacred choral music traditions practiced primarily in the Southern region of the U ...
*
Sacred Harp hymnwriters and composers
*
Shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
*
Southwest Texas Sacred Harp Singing Convention
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
* See chapter 3, "Sacred Harp singing".
*
*
*
Further reading
* Boyd, Joe Dan (2002) ''Judge Jackson and The Colored Sacred Harp''. Alabama Folklife Association.
See also the bibliographic entries under
Shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
.
* Campbell, Gavin James (1997) " 'Old Can Be Used Instead of New': Shape-Note Singing and the Crisis of Modernity in the New South, 1880–1920." ''
Journal of American Folklore
The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003, this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society' ...
'' 110:169–188.
*
*
* Eastburn, Kathryn (2008
''A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground''University of Nebraska Press.
*
Jackson, George Pullen (1933a) ''White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands''. University of North Carolina Press.
* Jackson, George Pullen (1933b) "Buckwheat notes", ''
The Musical Quarterly
''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...
'' XIX(4):393–400.
* Miller, Kiri (ed.) (2002) ''The Chattahoochee Musical Convention, 1852–2002: A Sacred Harp Historical Sourcebook''. The Sacred Harp Museum.
* Miller, Kiri (2007) ''Traveling Home: Sacred Harp Singing and American Pluralism''. University of Illinois Press.
* Sommers, Laurie Kay (2010)
Hoboken Style: Meaning and Change in Okefenokee Sacred Harp Singing ''
Southern Spaces
''Southern Spaces'' is a peer-reviewed open-access academic journal that publishes articles, photo essays and images, presentations, and short videos about real and imagined spaces and places of the Southern United States and their connections to t ...
''
* Steel, David Warren with Richard H. Hulan (2010) ''The Makers of the Sacred Harp''. University of Illinois Press.
* Wallace, James B. (2007)
Stormy Banks and Sweet Rivers: A Sacred Harp Geography ''
Southern Spaces
''Southern Spaces'' is a peer-reviewed open-access academic journal that publishes articles, photo essays and images, presentations, and short videos about real and imagined spaces and places of the Southern United States and their connections to t ...
''
External links
Fasola Home Page a web site dedicated to Sacred Harp music
by Warren Steel, another web site on the Sacred Harp
Sacred Harp and Related Shape-Note Music Resources a large and well-annotated collection of resources on shape-note music
Sacred Harp Publishing Company songbooks and other resources
* Public-domain editions
''The Sacred Harp'' (1860)(1911, rev. J. S. James et al.)(for other shape note tunebooks see
these links)
*
The Sacred Harp article from the New Georgia Encyclopedia
Florida Memory: Sacred Harp includes an educational unit on Sacred Harp
Sacred Harp Music article on Sacred Harp from the Handbook of Texas online
Sacred Harp singing in Texas includes composer sketches, including one of B. F. White
Stormy Banks and Sweet Rivers: A Sacred Harp GeographySacred Harp Singinghistorical marker
Online media
Sweet is the Day streaming documentary on the Wootten family of Sand Mountain, Alabama
includes recordings of Sacred Harp singings
BostonSing a large collection of shape-note recordings
BBC Radio 4 programme about Sacred Harp music
{{christian music
American styles of music
American Christian hymns
Christian music genres
Musical notation
Shape note
Four-part harmony