It’s not a reprint. Why Sacred Harp singers are revamping an iconic pre-Civil War hymnal

By HOLLY MEYER BREMEN Ga AP Singers at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in West Georgia treat their red hymnals like extensions of themselves never straying far from their copies of The Sacred Harp and its music notes shaped like triangles ovals squares and diamonds Related Articles Dolly Parton leans on her faith after losing husband of nearly years As Pope Leo XIV faces scrutiny casualties of abusive Catholic group say he helped when others didn t Pope Leo XIV makes first U S bishop appointment fills San Diego vacancy Supreme Court tie vote dooms taxpayer funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma Pope Leo XIV calls for aid to reach Gaza and an end to hostilities in his first general audience In four-part harmony they sing together for hours carrying on a more than -year-old American folk tradition that is as much about the public as it is the music It s no accident The Sacred Harp is still in use in current times and a new edition the first in years is on its way Since the Christian songbook s pre-Civil War publication groups of Sacred Harp singers have periodically worked together to revise it preserving its history and breathing new life into it It s a renewal not a reprint disclosed David Ivey a lifelong singer and chair of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company s revision and music committee That s credited for keeping our book vibrant and alive noted Ivey First published in by West Georgia editors and compilers Benjamin F White and Elisha J King revisions of the shape-note hymnal make space for songs by living composers declared Jesse P Karlsberg a committee member and expert on the tradition A edition of The Sacred Harp a shape-note hymnal from the s opened to song No Primerose Hill at the Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum in Carrollton Ga on Friday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski This is a book that was published before my great-grandparents were born and I think people will be warbling from it long after I m dead noted Karlsberg who met his wife through the a cappella group practice which is central to his academic career It s also his spiritual locality It s changed my life to become a Sacred Harp singer Cuts additions and other weighty decision making The nine-member revision committee feels tremendous responsibility explained Ivey who also worked on the greater part newest edition Sacred Harp singers are not historical reenactors he noted They use their hymnals week after week Particular treat them like scrapbooks or family Bibles tucking mementos between pages taking notes in the margins and passing them down Memories and emotions get attached to specific songs and favorites in life can become memorials in death The book is precious to people explained Ivey on a March afternoon surrounded by songbooks and related materials at the nonprofit publishing company s museum in Carrollton Georgia Sacred Harp caroling is a remarkably well-documented tradition The small unassuming museum about miles west of Atlanta near the Alabama state line stewards a trove of recordings and meeting minutes of crooning events Sarah George who met her husband through Sacred Harp warbling holds their son while leading a song from the hollow square at a Sacred Harp gathering in Bremen Ga at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church on Saturday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski The upcoming edition is years in the making The revision authorized by the publishing company s board of directors in October was delayed by the COVID- pandemic It now will be circulated in September at the annual convention of the United Sacred Harp Musical Association in Atlanta Ivey hopes singers fall in love with it though he knows there is nervousness in the Sacred Harp district For now a multitude of of the changes are under wraps Assembled to be representative of the population the committee is being methodical and making decisions through consensus Ivey explained Though majority of will remain several old songs will be cut and new ones added They invited singer input holding region meetings and serenading events to help evaluate the more than new songs submitted for consideration Crooning unites generations of family and friends Sarah George who met her husband through Sacred Harp and included it in their Episcopal wedding hopes his compositions make the edition and their son grows up seeing his dad s name in the songbook they will sing out of largest part weekends More so George is wishing for a revival Her hope for the revision is that it reminds people and reminds singers that we re not doing something antiquated and folksy We re doing something that is a living breathing worship tradition and music tradition reported George during a weekend of serenading at Holly Springs Dozens gathered at the church for the Georgia State Sacred Harp Convention Its back-to-back days of caroling were interrupted by little other than potluck lunches and fellowship Sharing a pew with her daughter and granddaughter Sheri Taylor explained that her family has sung from The Sacred Harp for generations Her grandfather built a church specifically for vocalizing events Sheri Taylor left sits with her daughter Laura Wood and granddaughter Riley McKibbin while melodizing from The Sacred Harp in the tenor section at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen Ga on Saturday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski I was raised in it commented Taylor They ve also known songwriters Her daughter Laura Wood has fond childhood memories of warbling with the late Hugh McGraw a torchbearer of the tradition who oversaw the edition While her mother is wary of the upcoming revision knowing a few songs won t be included Wood is excited for it At Holly Springs they joined the chorus of voices bouncing off the church s floor-to-ceiling wood planks and followed along in their songbooks Wood felt connected to her family especially her late grandmother I can feel them with me she announced Fa sol la mi and other peculiarities of shape-note chanting Like all Sacred Harp events it was not a performance The Sacred Harp is meant to be sung by everyone loudly Anyone can lead a song of their choosing from the hymnal s options but a song can only be sung once per event with insufficient exceptions Also called fa-sol-la vocalizing the group sight-reads the songs using the book s unique musical notations sounding first its shape notes fa sol la and mi and then its lyrics The whole idea is to make intonating accessible to anyone disclosed Karlsberg For several of us it s a moving and spiritual experience It s also a chance to see our dear friends The shape-note tradition emerged from New England s th century serenading school movement that aimed to improve Protestant church music and expanded into a social activity Over time The Sacred Harp became synonymous with this choral tradition The Sacred Harp was designed to be neither denominational nor doctrinal Karlsberg explained Countless of its lyrics were composed by Christian reformers from England such as Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley he disclosed It was rarely used during church services Instead the hymnal was part of the social fabric of the rural South though racially segregated Karlsberg announced Before emancipation enslaved singers were part of white-run Sacred Harp events post-Reconstruction Black singers founded their own conventions he explained The Sacred Harp eventually expanded to cities and beyond the South including other countries In this photo provided by the Library of Congress Hugh McGraw leads singers at the South Georgia Sacred Harp Intonating Convention in Tifton Ga on May Howard W Marshall Library of Congress via AP In this photo provided by the State Archives of Florida M L Long leads sacred harp singers at the S E Alabama Florida Union Sacred Harp Sing in Campbellton Fla on Nov Peggy A Bulger State Archives of Florida via AP Nathan Rees a committee member and Sacred Harp museum curator at The Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum in Carrolton Ga on Friday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Sacred Harp singers sit among the headstones at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church for a midday potluck in Bremen Ga on Saturday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Rodney Ivey keeps time while humming from the tenor section at a Sacred Harp trilling event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen Ga on Sunday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Isaac Green sings in the tenor section during a Sacred Harp serenading event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen Ga on Sunday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Show Caption of In this photo provided by the Library of Congress Hugh McGraw leads singers at the South Georgia Sacred Harp Serenading Convention in Tifton Ga on May Howard W Marshall Library of Congress via AP Expand The Sacred Harp is still sung in its hollow square formation Singers organize into four voice parts treble alto tenor and bass Each group takes a side facing an opening in the center where a rotating song leader guides the group and keeps time as dozens of voices come from all sides Christian or not all singers are welcome It s a high I mean it s just an almost indescribable feeling reported Karen Rollins a longtime singer and committee member At the museum Rollins precisely turned the pages of her first edition copy of The Sacred Harp and explained how the tradition is part of her fiber and faith She often picks a Sunday vocalizing over church I like the fact that we can all sing no matter who we are what color what religion whatever that we can sing with these people and never never get upset talking about anything that might divide us she explained Though numerous are Christian Sacred Harp singers include people of other faiths and no faith including LGBTQ locality members who detected church uncomfortable but miss congregational melodizing Trees encircle Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church which has been a historical meeting site for Sacred Harp singers for generations in Bremen Ga on Sunday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski It s the good part of church for the people who grew up with it mentioned Sam Kleinman who stepped into the opening at Holly Springs to lead song No Zion He is part of the vibrant shape-note chanting population in New York City that meets at St John s Lutheran Church near the historic Stonewall Inn Kleinman who is Jewish but not observant disclosed he doesn t have a religious connection to the lyrics and finds serenading in a group cathartic Whereas Nathan Rees a committee member and Sacred Harp museum curator finds spiritual depth in the often-somber words It just seems transcendent sometimes when you re intonating this and you re thinking about the history of the people who wrote these texts the bigger history of just Christian devotion and then also the history of music and this district he disclosed Matt Hinton a shape-note singer leads a song at a Sacred Harp crooning event held at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen Ga on Saturday March AP Photo Jessie Wardarski At Holly Springs Rees took his turn as song leader choosing No Oh Sing with Me The group did as the song directed loudly and in harmony like so a multitude of Sacred Harp singers before them There s no other experience to me that feels as elevating he announced like you re just escaping the world for a little while Associated Press religion coverage receives backing through the AP s collaboration with The Conversation US with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc The AP is solely responsible for this content