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COMPOSITIONS SHAPED BY COMMUNITY

tain and Hall shared the philosophy that the purpose with a high note and giving the trebles a time to shine.
of their music is to facilitate rewarding participatory She also discussed one of her compositions in which
experiences for Sacred Harp community members. the bass part was especially melodic. The emphasis was
When asked what he hoped people gained from his on the singers having an enjoyable experience and each
music, Brittain answered, “partially fun and partially part being valuable.
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community. It helps the community.” Hall concurred: It is typical for tunesmiths to involve singers in their
“The community part of [composing] is really import- compositional process. Once a composer has roughed
ant to me.” This focus on participation and enjoyment out a new tune, they will bring it to the community to
is demonstrated in the ways that these composers ap- ensure that it sings well and to invite feedback. Brittain
proach their music-writing. Karlsberg seeks to write “a relied heavily on experienced singers to guide his devel-
song I just [want] to sing”—a song that he and other opment as a composer:
singers will immediately enjoy and that will be reward-
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ing for everyone. Hall explained that the composition- The fun part was that I would write a tune
al rules she has for herself include providing the altos and carry it with me to the next singing and

14 CHORAL JOURNAL March/April 2025 Volume 65 Number 7