Journal issue: Vol. 5, No. 1
Introducing Vol. 5, No. 1 of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company Newsletter
The tenth issue of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company Newsletter looks behind the scenes, exploring fascinating processes of composing, singing, and documenting Sacred Harp. Our issue opens with Andy Ditzler’s interview with prolific Sacred Harp photographer Robert Chambless, showing how Robert captures “all the in-between moments, the physicality, the spills as well as the smiles,…
“Much More than the Songs”: The Sacred Harp Photographs of Robert Chambless
Sacred Harp singing is an aural, musical experience, but as the sheer presence of cameras at singings suggests, it is visual as well. There is plenty to see. We watch the song leaders; we glance at each other across the hollow square; the abundance of dinner on the grounds delights our eyes; and later, we…
Remembering Carlene McGraw Griffin, a Lifelong Sacred Harp Singer
In 2015, Carlene McGraw Griffin became the eighty-eighth recipient of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company Citation, an award presented posthumously to “honor and express appreciation to loyal supporters and dedicated singers for outstanding work in the company and untiring support of and dedicated service to the cause of Sacred Harp music.” A resource page from the…
The Embodiment of Love and Fellowship: Honoring Billy Joe and Evelyn Harris
In October, 2015, the members of the Board of Directors of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company voted unanimously to present a citation to the descendants of Billy Joe and Evelyn Harris. The practice of awarding citations to outstanding deceased members of the Company was begun in 1969. This joint award was only the third one…
The Variety of Influence: Forms of Craftsmanship in the 1960 Edition
Introduction The Original Sacred Harp: Denson Revision, 1960 Edition, produced by an august music committee consisting of A. M. Cagle (chairman), H. N. McGraw, T. B. McGraw, Elmer Kitchens, Hugh McGraw, and Ruth Denson Edwards and edited by Owel Denson, is remembered today partly as the subject of extramusical anecdotes. Singers were displeased to find…
Entropy Unpacked: The Entropy Number from “FaSoLa Minutes”
Introduction Since its initial release in 2013, the “FaSoLa Minutes” iOS app has become an important component of how many singers learn and engage with Sacred Harp songs, singers, and singings. The app includes data from the Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings since 1995. A review of the app appeared in vol. 3, no. 2…
Sacred Harp’s (All-)California Dreaming
On the weekend of January 16–17, 2016, an enthusiastic crowd of singers gathered in Poway, California, for the 28th All-California Sacred Harp Singing Convention. Poway, known as the “City in the Country,” is centrally located in San Diego County. The All-California Convention rotates between the Los Angeles area, the San Francisco area, and the San…
Grandpa McWhorter: Singer and Civil Servant
The issuance early last year of the reproduction of the 1911 Original Sacred Harp (the James Book) caused me to reflect upon the extraordinary influence that historic old book and its predecessors had on common community life throughout the deep South a century ago. I knew from childhood that my grandfather, M. F. McWhorter (1858–1940)…
“With One Accord”: A UK West Gallery Quire at the National Convention, June 12, 1997
A note from the editor: This issue’s installment of “Just a Minute,” our examination of the story behind an unexpected line in the Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings, features a paragraph from the minutes documenting an unusual event: a performance by a musical ensemble at a Sacred Harp singing. The minutes of the 1997 National…