Fwd: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg
From: Sue Lorraine <slorr...@roadrunner.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 7:39 PM
Subject: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
To: je...@originalsacredharp.com
Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg
Atlanta, GA
617 984 9378
je...@silversand.org
Tarik Wareh
I saw your inquiry about this song on a Sacred Harp discussion list to
which Jesse Karlsberg forwarded it.
Warren Steel's recent book "The Makers of the Sacred Harp" confirms
your ideas about the title reference (p. 125):
"HOWD. Nothing other than the surname is known of the composer of
Whitestown, first published in Stephen Jenks's Musical Harmonist
(1800). The song's title denotes a tract in Oneida County, New York,
intensively settled by emigrants from Connecticut around 1800. Samuel
Howd (1799-1862), a native of Branford, Connecticut, who moved to
Camden, New York, and married Eunice Fuller in 1797, is at least a
possibility in identifying this composer."
This is a lesser known song from the Sacred Harp repertoire, so I'm
not surprised you haven't found it on YouTube. However, there are two
audio recordings available online and linked under its page number
(211) at: http://www.bostonsing.org/index/
Best wishes,
Tarik
P.S. Do you know about the second Sunday practice singings in Clinton,
N.Y.? See http://home.roadrunner.com/~nysacredharp/ for more
information. I was able to join the all-day singing at Hamilton
College in February and found a great community of local singers!
Bob Richmond
Harp" singers here in Knoxville TN, and it has been very popular for
many decades.
The New Harp has only the first verse, ending "shall death forever
rage and reign / or hast thou made mankind in vain?" Our leader Larry
Olszewski (who died of cancer in his 50s several years ago) would
always shout "No!" to answer Isaac Watts's question, and we preserve
that tradition.
Bob Richmond
New Harp of Columbia treble
Knoxville TN
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Ray Rechenberg
> Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Fwd: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
> From: twa...@gmail.com
> To: slorr...@roadrunner.com
> CC: fasola-di...@googlegroups.com; jesseka...@gmail.com
Chris Brown
than a love of 211.
A few small points though; Samuel Howd's date of birth is 1779 not 1799. The
text was labelled by Watts as "A Psalm for New-England" and the tune
Whitestown made it over to to Old England and is found in an 1811 manuscript
in County Durham, probably copied from "The Easy Instructor".
Chris Brown
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tarik Wareh" <twa...@gmail.com>
To: <slorr...@roadrunner.com>
Cc: "Fasola Discussions" <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com>; "Jesse
Pearlman Karlsberg" <jesseka...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 2:25 PM
Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Fwd: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
Dear Sue,
Best wishes,
Tarik
--
Wade Kotter
From: Tarik Wareh <twa...@gmail.com>
To: slorr...@roadrunner.com
Cc: Fasola Discussions <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com>; Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg <jesseka...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 9, 2012 7:25 AM
Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Fwd: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
Tarik Wareh
Steel's book (1779). I typed the quotation too hastily! Tarik
Warren Steel
>I have not much to add to what is in "The Makers of the Sacred Harp" other
>than a love of 211.
>A few small points though; Samuel Howd's date of birth is 1779 not 1799.
>The text was labelled by Watts as "A Psalm for New-England" and the tune
>Whitestown made it over to to Old England and is found in an 1811
>manuscript in County Durham, probably copied from "The Easy Instructor".
Yes, Watts's title indicates that he was responsible for
the identification of the displaced Canaanites of the psalm
with the native tribes of America. Howd's title makes this
even more explicit, since White's patent was established in
1784 on llands ceded by the Six Nations, and settled almost
entirely by Connecticut families within 20 years. The
composer Truman Wetmore of Winchester, Connecticut, saw most
of his own family and many other families migrate en masse to
the Oneida country around 1795 in what was called the "Great
Exodus"; in his walks around the parish he counted the remains
of over sixty chimneys where houses has never been rebuilt
after the families emigrated.
I should note that some singers have reported on this
list that they avoid the song because of perceived ethnic
implications. The song was a favorite of the late singer
and historian Julietta Haynes, who led it often; I led it
in her memory last weekend.
--
Warren Steel mu...@olemiss.edu
Professor of Music University of Mississippi
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/
hannah land
Will Fitzgerald
> whitestown
Here is Matt's comment, from
https://www.facebook.com/groups/110889371183/permalink/10150507850121184/
If I may chime in, it is worth noting that the text was written by
Englishman Isaac Watts in 1719 as a loose of paraphrase of Psalm 107.
While he seems to have seen some parallels between the description of
a people immigrating to a new land in Scripture with those in New
England (he dedicated this hymn to New England, in fact), we cannot
suppose that it's meant to be simply a description of early American/
"Indian" relations. We can't even see it as a statement of optimism
for the American project: 1. It's actually called "When God, provoked
with daring crimes", which is the first line of the hymn, not printed
in the Sacred Harp and not a reference to the acts of any natives but
of settlers- that is, the "daring crimes" are those of the
protagonists 2. over half of the hymn constitutes a warning against
the settlers to not forget their Lord. It is He that brought them out
of one land (Egypt, perhaps?) had them wander in the *wilderness* and
delivered them to a new home (Canaan?), and He does not promise to
continue to bless them if they continue to live without regard for His
law. What Watts seems to be chiefly concerned with, in terms of the
imagery he employs, is the idea of community/ towns/ cities as a
blessing, as contrasted by the"wilderness" and the nomadic life of the
Jews in their journey to a place of settlement.(BTW, One could also
characterize the ocean as a place of wilderness for the New England
settlers, as many of them did.) This "problem of wilderness" is well
summarized in this part of the Psalm in question: "[4] They wandered
in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
[5] Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. [6] Then they
cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of
their distresses. [7] And he led them forth by the right way, that
they might go to a city of habitation. [8] Oh that men would praise
the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children
of men!"(Ps 107:4-8) In other words, God led the Jews to a place of
suitable habitation, though they themselves would have to establish
it. For instead of arriving at a settled town, they arrived in a place
with only animals who do not practice agriculture or make cities, or
else a tribe of people who similarly do not practice agriculture or
make cities, being a nomadic sort. Thus, if one of Watts' central
themes is the movement from wilderness to a place to make a city where
there had been none, the description of the natives as "fierce and
wild" is not, I think, a existential claim about the value of such
folks (tho he might be have been willing to make that claim elsewhere
for all I know). Rather, I think that he seems to be merely saying
that the travelers had no advantages that are likely to be found in a
more "civilized" place. They could only thank God for His blessings
rather than, for example, folks who might have already lived there who
were able and willing to lend their tools and sell them materials to
build homes. Rather, in the case of New England, as "reported" by
Watts via paraphrase of Psalm 107, they found their new neighbors to
be either animals, on one hand, or a war-like ("fierce") and
non-sedentary/ not inclined to the building of cities ("wild" or "at
home in the wilderness") sort of people on the other hand. Obviously
the natives, either animal or human, would be no great advantage in
the settlers project of building towns as they were either a threat or
were ill-equipped for the tasks at hand. They could only rely on God.
And a link to the poem in question:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts/psalmshymns.Ps.238.html
This is one of the few Sacred Harp tunes I will not sing, however.
--
Will
Wade Kotter
Nate
Psalm 107:6. Last Part, verses 3 & 4
Colonies planted; or,
Nations blest and punished.
A psalm for New England.
1 When God, provok'd with daring crimes,
Scourges the madness of the times,
He turns their fields to barren sand,
And dries the rivers from the land.
2 His word can raise the springs again,
And make the wither'd mountains green,
Send showery blessings from the skies,
And harvests in the desert rise.
3 [Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey,
Or men as fierce and wild as they;
He bids th' opprest and poor repair,
And builds them towns and cities there.
4 They sow the fields, and trees they plant,
Whose yearly fruit supplies their want:
Their race grows up from fruitful stocks,
Their wealth increases with their flocks.
5 Thus they are blest; but if they sin,
He lets the heathen nations in,
A savage crew invades their lands,
Their princes die by barbarous hands.
6 Their captive sons, expos'd to scorn,
Wander unpity'd and forlorn;
The country lies unfenc'd, untill'd,
And desolation spreads the field.
7 Yet if the humbled nation mourns,
Again his dreadful hand he turns;
Again he makes their cities thrive,
And bids the dying churches live.]
8 The righteous, with a joyful sense,
Admire the works of providence;
And tongues of atheists shall no more
Blaspheme the God that saints adore.
9 How few, with pious care, record
The wondrous dealings of the Lord!
But wise observers still shall find
The Lord is holy, just, and kind.
Wade Kotter
Jonathon Smith
Wade Kotter
From: Will Fitzgerald <will.fi...@gmail.com>
To: fasola-di...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 9, 2012 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Fwd: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
Chris Noren
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,What wondrous love is this, O my soul?What wondrous love is this that brings my heart such bliss,And takes away the pain of my soul, of my soul,And takes away the pain of my soul.When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,When I was sinking down, sinking down,When I was sinking down beneath my sorrows ground,Friends to me gathered round, O my soul, O my soul,Friends to me gathered round, O my soul.To love and to all friends, I will sing, I will sing,To love and to all friends I will sing.To love and to all friends who pain and sorrow mend,With thanks unto the end I will sing, I will sing,With thanks unto the end I will sing.
Wade Kotter
From: Jonathon Smith <dia...@yahoo.com>
To: "fasola-di...@googlegroups.com" <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, April 9, 2012 1:44 PM
Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Re: Sacred Harp- Whitestown
Just to clarify- Whitestown also found it's way into a few other books- The Knoxville Harmony and Union Harmony, both from East Tennessee. But in these two books, as well as the New Harp of Columbia (the only one still used), the text is the same as Granville in the Sacred Harp (Remember, Lord, our mortal state) and this is why some Knoxville singers like to answer with "No" at the end of the song, in response to the question "or hast Thou made mankind in vain."Jonathon Smith