Stormy Banks and Sweet Rivers:
A Sacred Harp Geography
A Sacred Harp Geography
James B. Wallace, Emory University
Abstract:
This essay explores the history, geography, and
contemporary practices of Sacred Harp—one form of a cappella,
shape-note music—in the U.S. South. The roots of Sacred Harp extend
back to an eighteenth-century New England singing-school movement that
spread the rudiments of choral music south and west with songs that drew
upon folk melodies as well as original compositions by the earliest American
composers. The Sacred Harp, a songbook compilation that gave
its name to the major stream of shape note music, has remained in continuous
use and revision since its publication in 1844. Sacred Harp singing took
its strongest hold outside the southern plantation regions, especially
in the piedmont and upcountry, encouraged by performance practices that
represented a more egalitarian ethos. Although considered by most participants
to be a form of worship, Sacred Harp exists independently of official
denominational support and welcomes anyone interested in singing. This
essay also considers the imagined geographies evoked by Sacred Harp through
its lyrics and examines the tradition’s distinct configuration of
sacred space.
Essay Sections:
Introduction | History
of Sacred Harp | The Spaces of Sacred Harp |
Many Harps | Sacred Harp as Folk
Tradition | Sacred Harp and the Pastoral | Conclusion
| Recommended Resources
Introduction:
On a warm Saturday in early summer, a crowd gathers
at a white-washed church in rural Alabama. As they begin to sing, a sound
rises that is overwhelming in volume and intensity. The lyrics speak of
the transience of life on earth and express a longing for a more joyous
existence in the next world. The music has a haunting quality, with plaintive
tones and a sound that to the uninitiated might seem more at home in medieval
or renaissance Europe than in the U.S. South. The crowd will sing from
9:30 in the morning until about three in the afternoon, and they will
use only one songbook – The
Sacred Harp.
 |
C major scale in shape notes, four-shape system
of the Sacred Harp. (From Wikipedia)
|
 |
Sacred Harp "Rudiments" from 1911 edition of
the Original Sacred Harp.
Image courtesy of Emory University Pitts Theology Library. |
Audio Recordings:
Introduction to Sacred Harp ( 1:05 min.)
RealMedia | Windows Media | QuickTime
Nick Spitzer offers a brief introduction to Sacred Harp music.
"Heavenly Armor" (2:25 min.)
RealMedia | Windows Media | QuickTime
The Wootten family performs the Sacred Harp song, "Heavenly Armor." Before singing the words, they sing the notes of the entire song. This practice is a distinct feature of Sacred Harp singing and has led the music to be dubbed "fa-sol-la" and its enthusiasts, "the fasola-folk."
Introduction to Sacred Harp ( 1:05 min.)
RealMedia | Windows Media | QuickTime
Nick Spitzer offers a brief introduction to Sacred Harp music.
"Heavenly Armor" (2:25 min.)
RealMedia | Windows Media | QuickTime
The Wootten family performs the Sacred Harp song, "Heavenly Armor." Before singing the words, they sing the notes of the entire song. This practice is a distinct feature of Sacred Harp singing and has led the music to be dubbed "fa-sol-la" and its enthusiasts, "the fasola-folk."
|
What gives Sacred Harp singing its haunting,
ancient sound?
In Sacred Harp music, the tenor part may carry
the melody, but each of the other parts (bass, alto, treble) have
important roles. Composers also make use of parallel fifths, in
which an
interval
of a fifth is employed consecutively, and Sacred Harp composers
consider two notes, often fifths, sufficient for a chord. Sacred
Harp music includes unique performance practices. For example,
all
songs are sung loudly. Participants sing virtually at the top of
their voices, though the falling and rising of the leader's arm
can indicate where accents should be placed. Music composed in
this
style may feature dispersed harmony, in which the parts cross over
each other rather than running parallel. Both the tenor and treble sections include men and women, creating the effect of a six-part, rather than a four-part, harmony. Sacred Harp music frequently includes fuging tunes, which incorporate a technique similar to singing in rounds. The different parts enter at different intervals as they repeat a line. The Wootten family sings "Northfield" (1:10 min.) RealMedia | Windows Media | QuickTime |
About this Essay:
Most of the sound clips in this essay feature the Wootten
family from the Sand
Mountain region of Alabama. These performances aired in 1995 on the
radio show Folk Masters, recorded at the Barns of Wolf Trap in
Vienna, Virginia, and produced and hosted by folklorist Nick
Spitzer. I am indebted to Matt and Erica Hinton for images from their
documentary Awake
My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, and to Matt for teaching
me about this music. For additional images from the excellent collection
of Sacred Harp hymnals and materials found in the Emory University Pitts
Theology Library, I am grateful to Patrick Graham, John Weaver, Debra
Madera, the staff of Special Collections and Archives and for the Robert
W. Woodruff Library Fellowship which enabled me to research and write
this essay.
About the Author:
James B. Wallace is a Ph.D. candidate in New Testament
Studies in the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University.
Essay Sections:
Introduction | History
of Sacred Harp | The Spaces of Sacred Harp |
Many Harps | Sacred Harp as Folk
Tradition | Sacred Harp and the Pastoral | Conclusion
| Recommended Resources
