"Cold Mountain" Shape Notes & Sacred Harp

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I have no idea how "period" the music in "Cold Mountain" was, but I saw this article online and thought it worth sharing for those interested.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/14/sacred.harp.revival.ap/index.html

[SCSecesh]

The Scared Harp/Shaped Note Singing/FaSoLa goes well back into the 18th century American and even further back "across the pond" in England. It appears to have been fairly popular in the Northeast and more rural South during the period. Today Sacred Harp singing goes on across the US with it's strongest adherants in the South especially Alabama and Northwest Georgia.
While my Grandfather always admitted "dropping out" of the singing school, he nevertheless would always warn us when he went on to sing, "Fa-fa-fa-so-so-la-la . . ."
A very good CD of the 100th Ala. Sacred Harp Convention is still available along with others (I find the "home made" versions to be prefereable to the commercial ones!!) as are updated hymnals based on the original Denson Edition. Much of the music goes waaaay back and some of the songs we sing in churches today were written for shaped note singing. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion(1835), while not Sacred Harp per se seems to have a wealth of songs that show up in Sacred Harp Hymnals.
It seems very accurate to have had a church in rural Western NC singing the Sacred Harp method.

[ThehosGendar]

While a majority of the soundtrack is more of a bluegrass variety (it was produced by T. Bone Burnett, the same fellow of "O Brother Where Art Thou" fame), the two shape note hymns are fantastic and perfect for the period. Most striking to me is the hymn "Idumea," which I heard perforned last weekend at a sing at St. Bartholomew's church on Park Ave in Manhattan, and appears in the Sacred Harp (an 1860 print can be seen on the LOC). Very powerful (and period) stuff.

[Spinster]

I drive up to Liberty Baptist a couple of times a year to sing, and do other singings at the rate of about 2 a quarter--unlike the devout singer who is often at a different church every Sunday. Alas, when the call went out for Singers for the Cold Mountain track, it was on a day when I absolutely positively had to to be at work.

While The Sacred Harp (1991) has been through a number of revisions, the in-print book is more easily obtainable in large numbers than the older copies. A good rule of thumb for CW period singing is to sing from the front half of the book.

We've got a VERY mainstream CW event coming up in May, but a large number of area Singers are coming for a all-day singing in conjunction with the ubiquitious "beer, battle and ball". Should be fun, and in the interest of converting CW reenactors from on-lookers to Singers, I plan to raise a particular tune:

The Singers know this tune as "Sawyer's Exit". You know it as "Rosen the Beau"

Sawyer's Exit 338
Tune: John Massengale, 1850
Lyrics: S. B. Sawyer, 1859
Meter: 9s,8s (9,8,9,8)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How bright is the day when the Christian
Receives the sweet message to come,
To rise to the mansions of glory,
And be there forever at home.

Repeat (chorus):
And be there forever at home.
And be there forever at home.
To rise to the mansions of glory,
And be there forever at home.

The angels stand ready and waiting,
The moment the spirit is gone,
To carry it upward to heaven,
And welcome it safely home.

The saints that have gone up before us,
All raise a new shout as we come,
And sing hallelujah the louder
To welcome the travelers home.

[michael01612]

I was working on a song titled "I'm A Long Time Travellin'" with my wife. As I researched the song I found that the song was from the Sacred Harp hymnal. I had never heard of "shape notes"...but I looked on the internet and learned some stuff. I was sharing our version of "I'm A Long Time Travellin'" (http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=3240&alid=-1) with my wife's parents...and come to find out...my wife's father and grandfather used to sing from hymnals with shape notes and the my wife's father has a large collection of shape note hymnal books. I am really looking forward to seeing this collection next time I visit. My wife loves to sing these old-time gospel type songs...and if anyone likes her singing (see link above) and wants to try an online collaboration of a shape note song ...perhaps minstrel banjo and vocals...then please let me know.

Mike Foley

[fidlr1]

[QUOTE=Kevin O'Beirne]I have no idea how "period" the music in "Cold Mountain" was, but I saw this article online and thought it worth sharing for those interested.

Some of it was OK--fiddle, good; banjo, good; mandolin--not so good (mandolins to my knowledge did not appear in this country until the large wave of Italian immigrants in the latter 19th century.) I have yet to find a period image of or reference to a mandolin....

The tune "Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over" (melodically similar to "Skip to My Lou") was recorded in the 1920's by Fiddlin' John Carson--I'm not sure how far back that tune goes or if it was period or not.

Overall, they coulda done worse...

[RelicRoomGuy]

25th September this year, South Carolina Civil War Symposium, Columbia - there's been interest expressed in having some Shaped Note singers - any ideas how we could get a good "period" performance done for this event? (I am not the final word on it but will enthusiastically pass suggestions along! Budget is tight, though...)

[northerngal]

For those in the Northeastern region, there is a singing school to be held at Chelsea Studios in Manhattan on April 17. If you are interested, please e-mail me for more information. The regularly scheduled sing is the following day at 2:30 pm at St. Bart's Church on 50th and Park. Here is the website for the Manhattan sing, which is held every third Sunday:

Manhattan Sing (http://www.manhattansing.org)

The Sacred Harp is full of wonderful songs, and the experience of singing with a group is awe inspiring and profoundly moving. It transcends having a "period moment", and I really believe that when you sing these songs in the company of others, certain notions and ideas fade, and thoughts are concentrated on the here and now. But, those are just my own thoughts about singing, for it really is a deeply personal form of expression. So, I would caution against going to one of these sings for just the 19th century aspect of the tradition. It's something that is just as applicable in modern life, too, and something that you might find you can't separate from the past and the present.

Also, for those of the northeastern persuasion, the Garden State Convention is being held this May. Here is the information:

2004 Garden State Convention (http://mysite.verizon.net/gssh/convention.html)

Natalie Baur
Learn more about shaped note singing (http://fasola.org)
Hear shaped note singing (http://www.pilgrimproduction.net/sacredharp1.html)

[65thgainf]

My cousin is that type of singer. She actually appeared on the Academy Awards Show this year (along with the others) singing one of the songs from Cold Mountain. That was the ONLY reason I watched and was worth it. I could sit and listen to them all day long.

[GWilson]

I know this is an old thread, but does anyone know if there are any Shape Note Singing CD's to purchase? I saw there was one on the fasola website, but they have not cashed my check, or returning my e-mails. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Grant Wilson

[ElizabethClark]

http://www.singers.com/shapenote.html

There were several other sites listing similar CDs when I used Google to look up "shape note music CD".

Hope that helps! It's a wonderful music tradition!

[65thgainf]

Georgia Public Television, is airing a special next Monday night.

Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp
Episode: 0
Nov 13, 2006 10:00 PM
Nov 17, 2006 12:00 AM

[Horton]

I've seen that program and it is very well done. I had never heard anything about shape notes until that. I recomend tuning in to it.

[MissMaggie]

Ok, I don't know if I'm being dense or just unmusical. But I just fail to understand what shape note singing is. Can someone put it into normal person terms for me?? Please bear in mind I can't sing, I've never been in a choir in my life and I barely passed middle school band.

[markj]

I know this is an old thread, but does anyone know if there are any Shape Note Singing CD's to purchase? I saw there was one on the fasola website, but they have not cashed my check, or returning my e-mails. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Grant Wilson


Hi Grant,

You can always look on eBay: there are several "Sacred Harp" CD's for sale there right now.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=Sacred+Harp+CD&category0=&submitSearch=Search

Here's an old National Public Radio report about Sacred Harp singing:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1534280

Here's a link to the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association. If anybody can help you obtain CD's, it has to be these folks. There are lots of links to other Sacred Harp sites too.

http://fasola.org/

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[ThehosGendar]

Some other great recordings, believe it or not, are by the rock group turned hardcore Appalachian folk music group, then kind of back to rock group Cordelia's Dad. Tim Eriksen, the fellow who sang "Am I Born to Die" on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, was the voice of Cordelia's Dad. There are about 4 or 5 great tracks, and you can get an idea of the unique harmonies.

One of my favourite CD that I've gotten lately is Rivers of Delight (American Folk Hymns From the Sacred Harp Tradition), http://www.amazon.com/Rivers-Delight-American-Sacred-Tradition/dp/B000005IVY/sr=8-5/qid=1163183683/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5/104-8324029-8105542?ie=UTF8&s=music .
"Soar Away" is mind-blowing.

Another great thing to check out is the online documentary of the singing Wooten family. It talks all about shape note, the singing schools, and there are wonderful songs being sung in the background. Check it out and watch the entire hour-long documentary here: http://www.folkstreams.net/film,44

[amity]

Can someone put it into normal person terms for me?? Please bear in mind I can't sing, I've never been in a choir in my life and I barely passed middle school band.

Then you are the perfect candidate for shapenote singing, Miss Maggie. Shapenote songs are written using the same notation system as any other type of modern music, except that in place of the round note heads we are most familiar with today, some clever guys back in 1801 substituted shaped note heads. This was done to make it easier for illiterate, or musically illiterate, people to learn to read music. The shapes quickly imprint the musical intervals in your mind so that you don't need to worry about the lines and spaces on the staff.

http://www.arts.state.ms.us/crossroads/music/sacred_harp/mu4_text.html
http://fasola.org/

It started off in New England, but by the civil war and up until the present it has been mainly associated with the south. By the war, the north had moved on to emulate the current European musical fashion of the times. The south remained musically more rooted in the past.

These are indigenous American folk hymns. The words come from a variety of sources, mainly English dissenters of the 17th and 18th centuries, the hymns that the early American colonists were familiar with. The tunes were written by Americans, mainly rural people without formal musical training. They oftentimes just transcribed and arranged much older folk melodies, such as in Wayfaring Stranger, for example. This music uses polyphonic four-part harmony, and a lot of harmonic intervals and devices that aren't common today, but go back to 16th century England, which gives this music a very powerful and haunting sound. It is very emotionally charged music.

Here is a website that has some good quality sound clips of these old songs (be patient for them to load):
http://www.awakemysoul.com/

The Sacred Harp songs used in Cold Mountain were selected by Tim Ericksen, who was a consultant on the movie. He is "one of us" i.e. a Sacred Harp singer who is very familiar with the music. Therefore that is very authentico singing (unlike the rest of the music in the movie, unfortunately). The main thing that would have been different in a true civil war era singing is that instead of four parts there would have been three (no alto on most songs at that time).

The 1859 Sacred Harp is available online at:
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/ssb/display.cfm?TitleID=610&Format=jpg
The two songs used in Cold Mountain are right where they have always been, Idumea on page 47 (46 in the online schema) and Going Home 282 (281 online). So you can sing along, the songs on the Awake My Soul website are Antioch 277 (276), and inside the site it is Idumea again 47 (46).

There are Sacred Harp singings all over the country:
http://fasola.org/singings/

I hope to see you at one of them!

[Nevada Bugler]

It can be very hard to find a 'sacred harp' sing out here in the west. The Churches of Christ use a shaped note songbook entitled 'Sacred Selections for the Church' that uses only shaped notes. Drop in some Sunday morning or evening to a local Church of Christ and see what shaped note singing is all about. Some groups aren't so good at it but a group that can really sing will make the hair on your head stand up. I'll never forget a church service at the church on the grounds of the Shaker Village in Kentucky. Shaped note singing and the building has nearly perfect acoustics. You can hear the singing up to a mile away on a good day and I would bet we reached that marker that day.

____________________
Bill Scott
Hardaways Alabama Battery

[amity]

I am so glad, and even relieved to hear that CoC out your way is still singing shapenote. In my neck of the woods they USED to sing modern gospel music in an early 20th century style set in four shapes until very recently, but more and more are moving toward so-called praise music in round notes.

At any rate, There are plenty of Sacred Harp singings in the midwest and west, that is for sure, and that is the true mid-19th century style of music, not gospel. Where are you and I will link you up with the closest group.

[YoungCampaigner]

http://theyoungcampaigner.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/04/shapenotes.jpg
I know that this thread is fairly old by now, but I thought I would add a little something. Below is a photo of an original piece of shape note music from my collection. It is hand-written and dated 1864. The title of the piece is "Let Us Walk in the Light".

[amity]

I would get back in touch with whoever you wrote to on the fasola website. They are probably just swamped by holidays, etc. They are good people all and will send you your CD unless the check got lost in the mail or something.

My favorite Sacred Harp CDs are the ones on Rounder, Alan Lomax recordings of singings in the 40s and 50s. Even though the sound quality is not as good as modern tapes, the singing is better than today for our purposes. The ones I have are called _Harp of a Thousand Strings_ _And Glory Shone Around_:
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1144499
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1144500/a/Southern+Journey+Vol.+10:+And+Glory+Shone+Around-More+All+Day+Singing+From+The+Sacred+Harp.htm

As you become more familiar with singing (you ARE attending your local singings, are you not?) you will ask yourself the question, what specific songbook were people in the area I portray singing from? Was it the Sacred Harp, Southern Harmony, Harmonia Sacra, or other? Answering that will take a bit of research, but when you find out, you will already know half the songs.

Two things to avoid are:
1) tarting it up with operatic voice techniques. "Just use the voice God gave you."
2) musical instruments, including pitch pipes and tuning forks, unless you can document their use for your area.

I would heartily recommend going for "just an interest in 19th century". That is a good enough reason. It is how I started singing and I have been doing it now for 20 years.