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WRITING MUSIC IN THE SACRED HARP TRADITION

get Hugh McGraw and Buford McGraw and Aubrey Barfield (1937–2019), a North Florida sing-
Buell Cobb and one or two of the others and er active in the regional Sacred Harp community, led
they would sing it for me and then offer sugges- nAtionAl bleSSingS at all-day events on a regular ba-
tions. And so I kind of had some really good sis. The song was also sung at his funeral. Karlsberg
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tutoring right at the beginning. … Having [ex- did not know Barfield well and never saw him after
perienced singers] look at all my songs and say nAtionAl bleSSingS was added to the Cooper book,
don’t do this, do this. It was a quick way of but he found out through mutual friends that his own
learning. music had found a special place in the heart of a fellow
participant in the community.
If singers do not enjoy any element of a song, the The composers’ comments reminded the authors
composer will be quick to revise it. Hall recalled an of our research in the area of musical leadership in
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occasion on which she brought some compositions to shape-note singing. The resounding theme in that
her local group: “I could hear that some of the chords study was that leadership is a collaborative effort be-
were hard to tune, so I changed them.” She discussed tween the person in the center of the square and the
how some classical composers (particularly those work- singers, and that the goal is for members of the com-
ing in high-art contexts) may be encouraged to write munity to enjoy the music and to have a fulfilling ex-
difficult parts that sound virtuosic, and she noted the perience. The composers seem to have this same out-
contrast in shape-note composition: it is essential to look. Among other things, they do not merely write for
consider whether something will be done well rather the community but encourage the community to write
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than sound virtuosic. (This is also a typical concern as well. Brittain talked about how he would be happy
for composers in the educational sphere.) This allows to have only one of his songs in the next revision if it
everyone, regardless of experience, to participate. The would mean that other composers’ work would have a
melodic nature of each individual part is reflective of chance to be included. As he put it, “the more people
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the value placed on the community members’ enjoy- we have writing, the better the community is.” The
ment and experience. exhortation for community members to compose has
Karlsberg explained that his ultimate purpose is to been a part of shape-note tradition for a long time. In
contribute memorable songs to the tradition. Every the rudiments of The Hesperian Harp, the author writes,
song in The Sacred Harp is a vehicle for some of the most “and now, dear reader, male or female, let me urge you
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meaningful experiences that the singers have. Singing to try your hand at composing tunes; be not afraid to
these songs is a spiritual encounter for many partici- try, though every numbskull about you should laugh at
pants. Specific songs are associated with friends, family, your attempts.” The Sacred Harp preface emphasizes
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and other loved ones. Every member in the commu- that continuing to include new and present composers
nity attaches special meanings and associations to cer- in each updated revision since 1844 is “the main rea-
tain songs, which accumulate continuously. Karlsberg son [the book] has lasted so long and will continue to
shared a story about his song nAtionAl bleSSingS, survive.”
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which is published in the Cooper edition of The Sa-
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cred Harp (Figure 5 on the next page). Karlsberg com-
posed this tune as a setting for a 1707 Isaac Watts text Singers’ Engagement
beginning “Lord, what a heav’n of saving grace,” and Composers write with the understanding that the
he titled the composition A glimpSe of thee after the community has some liberty with the use of their com-
concluding phrase of the refrain. The editors of the positions. There are notable discrepancies between
Cooper edition changed the text and title. It is com- communities in terms of musical interpretation. Brit-
mon in the shape-note tradition for a beloved text to tain himself noted that in Georgia the tempos tend to
be paired with many different tunes and for a tune to be much slower than in Alabama, where he said they
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appear with different texts across collections. sing “a mile a minute,” and the authors have certain-

CHORAL JOURNAL March/April 2025 Volume 65 Number 7 15