Stormy Banks and Sweet Rivers:
A Sacred Harp Geography
A Sacred Harp Geography
James B. Wallace, Emory University
cite this page | printable version
Essay Sections:
Introduction | History
of Sacred Harp | The Space of Sacred Harp |
The Geography of Sacred Harp | Sacred Harp as Folk
Tradition | Sacred Harp and the Pastoral | Conclusion
| Recommended Resources
Recommended Resources:
Online Bibliographies:
Shape Note Bibliography — by John Bealle
This extensive bibliography includes works directly related to Sacred Harp as well as works helpful for establishing its historical and religious context; the bibliography is particularly strong on Protestant hymnody. http://fasola.org/bibliography/index.html
Sweet Is the Day: Bibliography and Links
This short bibliography lists the standard works on Sacred Harp music and provides a Wootten Family discography.
http://www.folkstreams.net/context,62
Articles and Essays on Sacred Harp Singing
Warren Steel’s compilation of links to online essays and articles also includes practical, how-to essays related to Sacred Harp and reviews of books and recordings.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/articles/
Links:
Sacred Harp Singing
The official website of the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association, this website includes general information about Sacred Harp singing and provides easy access to lists and minutes of singings.
http://fasola.org/
Sacred Harp Singing
Warren Steel’s site offers insight into numerous aspects of Sacred Harp and features both scholarly articles and basic question-and-answer about Sacred Harp music. Steel also keeps an updated list of Sacred Harp singings that occur throughout the United States, England, and Canada. http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/%7Emudws/harp.html
Sacred Harp & Related Shape-Note Music: Resources
This website, maintained by Steven L. Sabol, boasts numerous short descriptions of tune books, books related to Sacred Harp, and especially sound and video recordings.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/resource/
Introduction to Sacred Harp Music
Wikipedia’s article serves as an excellent introduction to Sacred Harp music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Harp
Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp
Far more than an advertisement for the documentary Awake My Soul (see below), this site includes an excellent essay on the history and practice of Sacred Harp, along with brief biographies of some key figures. http://www.awakemysoul.com/
Video Documentaries:
Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp.
Directed by Matt and Erica Hinton. Produced by Matt Hinton. Awake Productions, 2006.
A beautiful documentary that captures the sights and sounds of Sacred Harp singing, Awake My Soul is one of the best introductions to the history and contemporary practice of Sacred Harp. (http://www.awakemysoul.com/)
Sweet is the Day: A Sacred Harp Family Portrait.
Directed by Jim Carnes. Produced by Erin Kellen. The Alabama Folklife Association, 2001.
Sweet is the Day documents the Wootten Family of Sand Mountain, Alabama, who have preserved and promoted Sacred Harp music for many generations.
(http://www.folkstreams.net/film,44)
Print Materials:
Bealle, John. Public Worship, Private Faith: Sacred Harp and American Folksong. University of Georgia Press: Athens, 1997.
Boyd, Joe Dan. Judge Jackson and The Colored Sacred Harp. Montgomery, Ala.: Alabama Folklife Association, 2002.
Boyd, Joe Dan. “Judge Jackson: Black Giant of White Spirituals.” Journal of American Folklife 83 (1970), 446-451.
Cheek, Curtis Leo. "The Singing School and Shape-Note Tradition: Residuals in Twentieth-Century American Hymnody." Ph.D. diss. University of Southern California, 1968.
Cobb, Buell E. The Sacred Harp: A Tradition and Its Music. Athens, GA: Brown Thrasher Books/University of Georgia Press, 1989.
Cobb, Buell E. "Sand Mountain's Wootten Family: Sacred Harp Singers," in Henry Willett (ed.), In the Spirit: Alabama's Sacred Music Traditions. Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press, 1995, 40-49.
Dyen, Doris Jane. “New Directions in Sacred Harp Singing,” in W. Ferris and M.L. Hart (eds.), Folk Music and Modern Sound. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 1982, 73-79.
Dyen, Doris Jane. “The Role of Shape-Note Singing in the Musical Culture of Black Communities in Southeast Alabama.” Ph.D. diss. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1977.
Ellington, Charles Linwood. "The Sacred Harp Tradition of the South: Its Origin and Evolution." Ph.D. diss. Florida State University, 1969.
Hardaway, Lisa Carol. “Sacred Harp Traditions in Texas.” Masters thesis. Rice University, 1989.
Horn, Dorothy D. Sing to Me of Heaven: A Study of Folk and Early American Materials In Three Old Harp Books. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press, 1970.
Jackson, George Pullen. The Story of the Sacred Harp 1844-1944: A Book of Religious Folk Song as an American Institution. Nashville: Vanderbilt Press, 1944.
Jackson, George Pullen. White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands: The Story of the Fasola Folk, Their Songs, Singings, and "Buckwheat Notes." Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933.
Kelton, Mai Hogan. "Analysis of the Music Curriculum of 'Sacred Harp' (American Tune-Book, 1971 Edition) and Its Continuing Traditions." Ph.D. diss. University Alabama, 1985.
Marini, Stephen A. Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2003.
Metcalf, Frank J. "'The Easy Instructor': A Bibliographical Study." The Musical Quarterly 23 (1937), 89-97.
Pen, Robert. "Triangles, Squares, Circles, and Diamonds: The 'Fasola Folk' and Their Singing Tradition," in Kip Lornell and Anne K. Rasmussen (eds.), Musics of Multicultural America: A Study of Twelve Musical Communities. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997, 209-232.
Tallmadge, William H. “The Black in Jackson’s White Spirituals.” The Black Perspective in Music 9 (1981), 139-160.
Willett, Henry. "Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp," in Henry Willett (ed.), In the Spirit: Alabama's Sacred Music Traditions. Montgomery, Ala.: Black Belt Press, 1995, 50-55.
Shape Note Bibliography — by John Bealle
This extensive bibliography includes works directly related to Sacred Harp as well as works helpful for establishing its historical and religious context; the bibliography is particularly strong on Protestant hymnody. http://fasola.org/bibliography/index.html
Sweet Is the Day: Bibliography and Links
This short bibliography lists the standard works on Sacred Harp music and provides a Wootten Family discography.
http://www.folkstreams.net/context,62
Articles and Essays on Sacred Harp Singing
Warren Steel’s compilation of links to online essays and articles also includes practical, how-to essays related to Sacred Harp and reviews of books and recordings.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/articles/
Links:
Sacred Harp Singing
The official website of the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association, this website includes general information about Sacred Harp singing and provides easy access to lists and minutes of singings.
http://fasola.org/
Sacred Harp Singing
Warren Steel’s site offers insight into numerous aspects of Sacred Harp and features both scholarly articles and basic question-and-answer about Sacred Harp music. Steel also keeps an updated list of Sacred Harp singings that occur throughout the United States, England, and Canada. http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/%7Emudws/harp.html
Sacred Harp & Related Shape-Note Music: Resources
This website, maintained by Steven L. Sabol, boasts numerous short descriptions of tune books, books related to Sacred Harp, and especially sound and video recordings.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/resource/
Introduction to Sacred Harp Music
Wikipedia’s article serves as an excellent introduction to Sacred Harp music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Harp
Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp
Far more than an advertisement for the documentary Awake My Soul (see below), this site includes an excellent essay on the history and practice of Sacred Harp, along with brief biographies of some key figures. http://www.awakemysoul.com/
Video Documentaries:
Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp.
Directed by Matt and Erica Hinton. Produced by Matt Hinton. Awake Productions, 2006.
A beautiful documentary that captures the sights and sounds of Sacred Harp singing, Awake My Soul is one of the best introductions to the history and contemporary practice of Sacred Harp. (http://www.awakemysoul.com/)
Sweet is the Day: A Sacred Harp Family Portrait.
Directed by Jim Carnes. Produced by Erin Kellen. The Alabama Folklife Association, 2001.
Sweet is the Day documents the Wootten Family of Sand Mountain, Alabama, who have preserved and promoted Sacred Harp music for many generations.
(http://www.folkstreams.net/film,44)
Print Materials:
Bealle, John. Public Worship, Private Faith: Sacred Harp and American Folksong. University of Georgia Press: Athens, 1997.
Boyd, Joe Dan. Judge Jackson and The Colored Sacred Harp. Montgomery, Ala.: Alabama Folklife Association, 2002.
Boyd, Joe Dan. “Judge Jackson: Black Giant of White Spirituals.” Journal of American Folklife 83 (1970), 446-451.
Cheek, Curtis Leo. "The Singing School and Shape-Note Tradition: Residuals in Twentieth-Century American Hymnody." Ph.D. diss. University of Southern California, 1968.
Cobb, Buell E. The Sacred Harp: A Tradition and Its Music. Athens, GA: Brown Thrasher Books/University of Georgia Press, 1989.
Cobb, Buell E. "Sand Mountain's Wootten Family: Sacred Harp Singers," in Henry Willett (ed.), In the Spirit: Alabama's Sacred Music Traditions. Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press, 1995, 40-49.
Dyen, Doris Jane. “New Directions in Sacred Harp Singing,” in W. Ferris and M.L. Hart (eds.), Folk Music and Modern Sound. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 1982, 73-79.
Dyen, Doris Jane. “The Role of Shape-Note Singing in the Musical Culture of Black Communities in Southeast Alabama.” Ph.D. diss. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1977.
Ellington, Charles Linwood. "The Sacred Harp Tradition of the South: Its Origin and Evolution." Ph.D. diss. Florida State University, 1969.
Hardaway, Lisa Carol. “Sacred Harp Traditions in Texas.” Masters thesis. Rice University, 1989.
Horn, Dorothy D. Sing to Me of Heaven: A Study of Folk and Early American Materials In Three Old Harp Books. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press, 1970.
Jackson, George Pullen. The Story of the Sacred Harp 1844-1944: A Book of Religious Folk Song as an American Institution. Nashville: Vanderbilt Press, 1944.
Jackson, George Pullen. White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands: The Story of the Fasola Folk, Their Songs, Singings, and "Buckwheat Notes." Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933.
Kelton, Mai Hogan. "Analysis of the Music Curriculum of 'Sacred Harp' (American Tune-Book, 1971 Edition) and Its Continuing Traditions." Ph.D. diss. University Alabama, 1985.
Marini, Stephen A. Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2003.
Metcalf, Frank J. "'The Easy Instructor': A Bibliographical Study." The Musical Quarterly 23 (1937), 89-97.
Pen, Robert. "Triangles, Squares, Circles, and Diamonds: The 'Fasola Folk' and Their Singing Tradition," in Kip Lornell and Anne K. Rasmussen (eds.), Musics of Multicultural America: A Study of Twelve Musical Communities. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997, 209-232.
Tallmadge, William H. “The Black in Jackson’s White Spirituals.” The Black Perspective in Music 9 (1981), 139-160.
Willett, Henry. "Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp," in Henry Willett (ed.), In the Spirit: Alabama's Sacred Music Traditions. Montgomery, Ala.: Black Belt Press, 1995, 50-55.
Essay Sections:
Introduction | History
of Sacred Harp | The Space of Sacred Harp |
The Geography of Sacred Harp | Sacred Harp as Folk
Tradition | Sacred Harp and the Pastoral |
Conclusion | Recommended Resources
