Latest update of 1844 American songbook reflects new generation of 'Sacred Harp' singers

"More than 700 singers convened in Atlanta this month to celebrate the latest edition of the songbook at the heart of one of the country's oldest Christian music traditions. The Sacred Harp, first published in 1844, contains hymns and anthems written with "shape notes," designed to aid sight reading. Unlike in standard music notation, each note is a triangle, a circle, a square or a diamond. Each shape stands for a syllable, fa, sol, la or mi, and each syllable corresponds with different pitches."

"The convention was the largest Sacred Harp singing in living memory and culminated seven years of work to revise the book. Hundreds traveled long distances to sing the 113 new songs. "It's the only time in most of our lifetimes that we're going to see a gathering like this," said composer Angharad Davis of Sydney, Australia. Sacred Harp is centered in the American South, but singers came from 35 U.S. states, three Canadian provinces, Australia, the UK, Ireland and Germany."

"They sang in tenor, treble, alto and bass sections, without instruments. The so-called "Sacred Harp" is the human voice itself, said alto Lucy O'Leary. All the songs express Christian faith, with mortality as a prominent theme. "Hallelujah" uses words from 1759: "And let this feeble body fail, / And let it faint or die; / My soul shall quit this mournful vale, / And soar to worlds on high.""

More than 700 singers from 35 U.S. states, three Canadian provinces and several countries gathered in Atlanta to sing 113 new songs from a revised Sacred Harp songbook. The Sacred Harp, first published in 1844, uses shape-note notation in which triangle, circle, square and diamond indicate syllables fa, sol, la and mi and corresponding pitches. Singers performed a cappella in tenor, treble, alto and bass sections. The repertoire centers on Christian faith with mortality as a prominent theme. No single denomination controls the tradition, and the book now contains songs by 49 living composers after a seven-year revision.

Read at www.npr.org