Shape Note tunes by black composers

[Rachel Fox Von Swearingen]

Hello Syracuse Shape Note folks,

I just learned about a new-to-me shape note book and wanted to share it with you -- The Colored Sacred Harp

This book was compiled and published during the Jim Crow era in Alabama, and the tunes are mostly from the 19th century. From what I can tell, most (if not all) tunes were composed by black composers, but descriptions I've found on the internet have differed a bit. 

Selections of the book are in this PDF http://general.utpb.edu/fac/keast_d/Tunebooks/tunebook/Colored%20Sacred%20Harp.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2qXBseFt6ue79YTA5Gm_QgiJu5L9QD5XW0bQr6_7TutGq8-je9Y-TQw0o

I am not sure if I can get a hold of a copy of the book, but I'll try. 

 

Here's a YouTube playlist of some tunes from the book https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSXWSieq7r_vgfki6-yE_wg

And here's the info for the CD https://www.newworldrecords.org/products/the-colored-sacred-harp

Some history, from the Country Dance & Song Society  

"CDSS Sings—Singing Across the Color Line: Reflections on The Colored Sacred Harp" by Jesse P. Karlsberg

http://www.cdss.org/images/newsletter_archives/columns/CDSS_News_summer_2016_cdss_sings_colored_sac_harp_rev.pdf  

(the author of the article is not a person of color, but is reputable. He was the editor of the most recent Centennial Edition of the Original Sacred Harp tune book, which includes some additional tunes from previous editions of the Sacred Harp that had been dropped.)

I look forward to the potential for a world where we do not need to seek out a separate book to include all of our shape note voices. 

Yours in Peace, Justice, Health, Change, and so many other things,

Rachel

[David Deacon]

There is also a neat documentary by Tom Davenport called A Singing Stream. Dan Patterson, my advisor at UNC, worked on it. It’s about the Landis family and their family  history of singing. It mentions some of background in shape notes. You can find it at Folkstreams.net. 

David

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 3, 2020, at 5:40 PM, Rachel Fox Von Swearingen <fox.von.s...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jessica M Rice]

Hello, all.
I felt instantly connected to this - and more than a little blown away - when I listened to a random song in the mentioned youtube play list.
  The song leader said a prayer before they started singing that included the phrase "We thank God that we are here clothed and in our right mind..." I was taught that exact phrase by my Godmother, in the prayer "We thank God that we woke up in our right mind...". We both always felt that the prayer was simultaneously funny but also so profound.
  It makes me happy to know that there were black shape note singers and that I can be a part of an inclusive folk tradition.  Thank you so much for sharing this.  Jessica

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From: syracuse-s...@googlegroups.com <syracuse-s...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of David Deacon <davi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 6:04:24 PM
To: syracuse-s...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Shape Note tunes by black composers

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/syracuse-sacred-harp/49D6216E-335E-414A-894B-4F0D616ECAFB%40gmail.com.

[B.E. Swetman]

I have a copy that was printed in the 1990s. Most tunes date from the 1920s & 30s. It's just under 100 pages.

Most of the tunes in the PDF are on the New World Record CD. I did not do the reverse check but at least one lacks additional pages. The playlist below has the complete NWR CD so you should be able to follow along for most of them.

The "Wiregrass Singers" principally sing from the Cooper Edition of the Sacred Harp. The Colored Sacred Harp came out about the same time new editions of both Denson and Cooper were in the works. I've heard it said that there would have been no Colored Sacred Harp if the whites would have included some of their songs.

Jesse P. Karlberg is originally from the North East and lived in Troy while doing his MA work. He moved to Atlanta to attend Emory for his PhD. I see he has a new title Senior Digital Scholarship Strategist at Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. He's on the Revision Committee for the next ed of the Sacred Harp.

Barbara

[KATHLEEN SILVERSTEIN]

This is all fascinating! Thanks to all for sharing this richness.

Kathleen

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 4, 2020, at 12:07 PM, B.E. Swetman <bswe...@hamilton.edu> wrote:

 I have a copy that was printed in the 1990s. Most tunes date from the 1920s & 30s. It's just under 100 pages.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/syracuse-sacred-harp/9842d19e-b7c4-b81c-4a03-63b045676c59%40hamilton.edu.

[Margot Fassler]

This is all great! I'm teaching a class in African American vocal styles in the Spring...so now have a shape note component to add. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/syracuse-sacred-harp/86809E2B-C486-4F67-B986-84ADEFAB34F5%40mac.com.

--

Keough Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy

Director, Notre Dame Program in Sacred Music

Fellow, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, 2019-20

Ite Hiberni!

[B.E. Swetman]

The whole book is available here: http://edan.si.edu/slideshow/viewer/?damspath=%2FPublic_Sets%2FNMAAHC%2FNMAAHC_Slideshows%2F2014_193&fbclid=IwAR1oMoD1520EvlOHpBKukjXj1AekDKUSrVS2uNIZa_fR2mjjnt5kmegxhbE

Barbara

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/syracuse-sacred-harp/CAOLjP9_5XoeR7LQq-Jjmxy_17Xbj3gvwFZTq9%3DtLMw%3DzZNrirA%40mail.gmail.com.