Dear Sacred Harp Friends,

This is just an advance reminder that we will have our first Fifth Sunday Singing on Sunday, March 30th from 4 to 7 pm at East Sandwich Friends Community House (at the Friends Meetinghouse). (see attached flyer). We will also be singing on the Fifth Sundays of June 29th, Aug. 31st and Nov. 30th. Please spread the word and we hope to see you on the 30th.

We are looking into the possibility of having an All Day Singing on Sat. June 28th in the Lower Cape. We are hoping that we can piggy back the Sat and Sun. Singings into a Singing Weekend for folks. This might be a great way to invite off Cape Singers to join us for a weekend of Singing and Sun. Would any of you on Cape Cod be able to host a singer or two as guests for that weekend? If so, please let me know. I think this might be a great way of bringing together and celebrating with singers throughout the region during one of the nicest seasons on the Cape.

My ears are still ringing from the Northampton Convention. There were over 400 (last count I heard was 490!!) from all over the US, as well as Canada, England, and Germany. The sound was just amazing and the event was very well organized. A great spirit was present in the music and the fellowship. And, of course, the "dinner on the grounds" was an indescribable feast of homemade delights. I think everyone attending left feeling very blessed and enriched by the experience.

So, may we rejoice as bulbs poke up. the earth smells rich with potential, and "He calls the warmer gales to blow and bids the spring return." (Winter, p. 38T) Looking forward to seeing you on the 30th.

Peace in All,
Chuck

Sacred Harp Singing Sunday, March 2nd 3-6pm

Dear Sacred Harp Friends,

This Sunday, March 2nd, from 3 to 6 pm, will be our final Singing at East Sandwich Meetinghouse and I hope you will be able to join us for this finale to what has been a great winter Singing.

I still have room in my car for the Northampton Convention; leaving the Cape on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday, following the Convention.

I'd be happy to pick up people on the way (traveling via 495 to Mass Pike).

I'm looking forward to seeing so many of you in Northampton for what will be an incredible weekend of Singing, fellowship, and more Singing.

Peace in All,
Chuck

Directions: From Rte. 6 take Exit 3, "Quaker Meetinghouse Rd." Travel North to Rte. 6A. Cross Rte. 6A onto Spring Hill Rd; cross the RR tracks and take the next left onto Quaker Rd. The Meetinghouse and Community House are located on the right; enter by the second driveway.

Sacred Harp Singing in Plymouth, Massachusetts

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Dear Friends of Sacred Harp,

Yesterday's Plymouth All Day Singing was very well attended with (I heard) 56 singers attending. What an incredible sound, and a blessed day of singing and fellowship. And so many friends traveled so far to be there. We also had a good turnout of Cape singers. And it was so wonderful to actually meet some of you whom I've only known by email conversation!

I didn't get a chance to pass around a sign up sheet for new Cape people interested in being on our email list. If you know of anyone attending yesterday who might want to be on this list and receive updates of SH events, please let me know or have them email me chmic@comcast.net.

The final First Sunday Singing at E. Sandwich will be on March 2nd.

Justin will announce the Plymouth location at that singing or on their website, http://www.newplymouthsacredharp.org/.

I hope you can join us to conclude what has been a great winter singing period at East Sandwich. It is not too late to make arrangements for the Western MA Convention in Northampton, March 8th & 9th, and I still have room in my car if anyone is in need of a ride.

Information is at http://www.fasola.org/ under "Western MA." Finally, I bumped to a website that is a Shape Note Musical Library. Although it is electronic music, it can be very helpful in getting a sense of how a particular song might sound.

The site is http://www.shapenote.net/ ; I hope you might find this helpful.

Peace in All,
Chuck

Sacred Harp Singing in Plymouth, Massachusetts

Other New England Sacerd Harp Singing Events

My First Day Singing Sacred Harp Music!

A wash basin stand with pitcher and basin to wash and refresh the weary traveler inside the Sandwich Friends Meetinghouse

A wood stove is the only source of heat in this oldest continual used Quaker meeting house in North America since 1757!

This is how the Society of Friends or Quaker Meetinghouse looks today, just as it did when this second building was built in 1812.

An all-day Sacred Harp singing is a day devoted to music and fellowship. All-day singings are usually held in small rural churches, or in schoolhouses, courtrooms, or community centers. They usually take place on the same weekend every year, say, the Fourth Sunday in May, and often mark the annual homecoming for a local church or community, when local natives return from far and near to decorate the graves in the nearby cemetery, visit with friends, and enjoy the music that sustained their parents and grandparents. Some annual singings and conventions extend to two or even three days of singing, and may meet in various locations from year to year.

Typically, an all-day singing begins between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. When the singers have seated themselves by singing part (tenor, bass, treble and alto), the singing begins with an opening song, a prayer, and a brief organizational meeting. Each individual is invited to take a turn leading a lesson, that is, standing in the center of the “class,” choosing one or more songs by page number, sounding the opening pitch (or receiving the key from an experienced singer nearby), and leading the song by beating time with a simple vertical motion of the hand, first with the singing syllables (fa, sol, la, and mi), and then with the words. The officers may call a brief recess in the morning or afternoon, but the only extended break comes at noon, when everyone proceeds to outdoor tables or a fellowship hall for an abundant dinner on the grounds provided by local families.

After an hour, or when the dinner is cleared, the singers return to the main building to continue the rotation of leaders. There may be a brief “memorial lesson” in honor of singers or community members who have died in the past year; indeed some annual singings are themselves memorials to beloved singers and family members. Singings usually end between 2:30 and 4:00, depending on the number of leaders. After announcements of upcoming singings, there is a closing song and a prayer of dismissal.

SATURDAY SINGING SCHOOL

At 11: 30 AM I travelled on to the village of Sandwich via the 6A "Ye Olde Kings Highway", and if this were 300 years ago, in 1708, I would have had to use this same path on a horseback and the trip would likely be an overnight trip. My destination was the Sandwich Quaker Meetinghouse, which has stood here since 1657.



The reason I sojourned to Sandwich was to hear real Sacred Harp singing live for the first time.

It was Saturday, in February with snow on the ground, and I felt as if my Subaru morphed into a horse just as I would have been riding 300 hence, if I were visiting a Methodist Meetinghouse in 1708!

Sandwich Quakers did not sing Sacred Harp then!

My good friend Chuck Micciche, introduced me to Sacred Harp Singing and once I had conducted all my Wikipedia, and other internet searches and found
this NPR story. I then became familiar with the concept and history of this phenomenon, now reborn within the context on the modern era.

We can play, mix, stretch, add, shorten, and even re-master recordings of dead singers with all the technology of the 21st century.

But to listen with our human ears to the sounds of other humans, up close and personal is real and social delightful.

One person said to me that "...when I am in my car, I become a black gospel singer and sing my guts out, but I am lonely; however, when I sing Sacred Harp I am never alone.."

That's just my point, we cocoon ourselves too much in the recorded music of others, which may be or may not be, authentic, and as we ride alone in out individual vehicles, imagining we are with others singing or hearing others sing as too are hearing our singing.

Do we consent or agree to be separate from others in our lives, or must we fight the temptation of being alone and reach out to touch others, in order for us to be touched ourselves?

See: Century On Self , this 4 part BBC series tells the story of "engineered consent".

We no longer seem to be traveling together, singing together, worshipping together, or meditating together. It seems like the days or reading in a public library, singing together in a group action, or even riding in a bus, train, boat with others, {omnibus meaning -for all, for everyone} are over, unless we fight this modernity with our whole hearts, souls and bodies.
We this event allowed this glimpse back to yesterday.

I felt alive and so invigorated after being greeted in the heated school room with "dinner on the grounds'' a sort of pot luck, hot covered dish of meats, potatoes, salads, beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, dips with cheese with crackers, teas, coffee, a galore of desserts from homemade apple, blueberry, and pumpkin pies, assorted cakes without bar codes on the outside, on hand thrown pottery, juices and all sorts of waters.

The room smelled very sweet with the earthy warmth of humid humanity. Women and men, young and old straight and gay, tall and short round and thin. But all were excited and happy to be in the company of other singers. Red complexions ruled the day. After eating more than a good Quaker would have, I was introduced to many folks who came from New York City, as well as upstate New York, western Massachusetts, Boston, Plymouth and Providence RI. This was the New Plymouth Sacred Harp Singers annual all day singing which started at 10AM, with Singing school, conducted by Allison Blake Schofield from Western Massachusetts.

We than sat in 4 squares c and sang until 3 pm! Every one getting a chance to lead. When my host Chuck Micciche had his turn, he welcomed me to stand up in the middle of the crowd as he lead his selection of Amazing Grace.

Now Sacred Harp singing came into my ears from the North, South, East and West. I was standing with my hymn book open, but my eyes were closed and I was actually was transcended by this experience. I now know felt what Sacred Harp singing feels like.

AWESOME!

REALLY HUMAN!

CONNECTED TO OTHERS!

John Bangert- Harwich

Sacred Harp Singing on Cape Cod

The singing is loud, soulful, and spirited; singers sit facing one another in a “hollow square” and move their arms up and down in unison to keep time. The harmonies, four and sometimes six parts, are sung with enthusiasm and foot-tapping gusto.

The lyrics may be unfamiliar to first-time singers; yet, the rustic beauty of the music envelops and engages everyone. Newcomers are warmly welcomed and given singing books, and, in the quiet between songs, one senses the deep bonds of affection and friendship among the regulars. Singers, who frequently travel great distances to sing, are linked by a love of this old and unique style of country hymn singing called Sacred Harp.

Tomorrow, the Plymouth Sacred Harp Singing Community will host a free All Day Singing from 10 AM to 3 PM at East Sandwich Friends Meetinghouse, Quaker and Spring Hill roads, off Route 6A, in East Sandwich. All are invited to learn more about this very distinctive part of our American musical heritage.

Sacred Harp singing takes its name from the title of the oblong hymnal of shape note music used by the singers. The “Sacred Harp,” which has been in continual print since it was first published in 1844, has proved the most popular of the shape note hymnals and is used at singings all over the country. Shape note music is so termed because of the four distinct shapes given to the four musical notations (fa, so, la, mi) used in the score. The term “Sacred Harp” describes the culture that has been preserved around this venerable shape note book.

Seating is arranged so that singers in each part (bass, tenor, treble, and alto) face each other in the hollow square. New singers can quickly pick up the vocal parts by following the lead of more experienced singers. A singer will “call” for a song to be sung by referring to its page number, and then stand in the center of the square to lead the singing. The song will first be practiced by singing just the notes (fa, so, la, mi), and then the song will be sung with the lyrics.

The process is very democratic; anyone can call and lead a song. New singers are encouraged to learn the art of leading, and more experienced singers are happy to pass on the arm movement techniques used to lead the tempo.

Emphasis is on the enjoyment of singing and one another, and not primarily on a perfect musical presentation. A singing is a participatory event, and all are encouraged to join in the singing, regardless of experience.

Shape note music offers a glimpse into the spirit and soul of 18th- and 19th-century life. Untimely and early death, or “traveling to Canaan,” was all too common an experience. There are numerous, and sometimes enthusiastic, references to the “fiery billows” that await evildoers. Yet, the lyrics also convey the strong bonds of community, both in this life and the next, and a simple, yet sustaining, faith that continues to offer hope, meaning and sustenance to singers today

The singings attract people of diverse spiritual journeys. Singers do not focus on theological issues; rather, in the customary silence between songs, each person allows the words form their own uniquely personal message. Individuals become associated with their favorite hymns and the close bonds formed are particularly evident when one of these songs is occasionally called in tribute to a fellow singer’s birthday, wedding or passing.

Shape note singing flourished among American colonists in the 18th century, finding a home in the Baptist, Methodist and Congregational singing traditions, including those throughout Cape Cod. “Singing teachers” traveled from town to town, holding “Singing Schools” and instructing communities how to sing. In their travels, they wrote much of the music they taught, giving their songs such titles as “Schenectady,” “Northfield,” or “Concord.”

Singing School music began to decline in New England and was viewed as too rustic and ribald for early Victorian church sensibilities, particularly in urban Protestant churches. The music moved westward and, eventually, to the South. In rural Southern country church communities, it has been lovingly preserved and sustained. Many of the terms and practices used today reflect this Southern country influence.

In the past 30 years, Sacred Harp singing has seen a tremendous revival throughout the country. There are regular monthly singings held in Plymouth, Providence, and throughout the Boston area, and a small, but growing, number of local singers are hoping that a monthly “Cape Cod singing” may soon be established.

Tomorrow’s All Day Sacred Harp Singing will begin with a Singing School, taught by Allison Schofield, who has extensive experience teaching throughout New England. Newcomers are particularly encouraged to attend this morning session.

All are invited to share “Dinner on the Grounds,” a covered dish luncheon served at noontime. Although the entire program is free, a collection will be taken to help with expenses. More information about Sacred Harp Singing can be found at the Sacred Harp website: http://www.fasola.org which lists all local and national singings and provides extensive information about this musical heritage. Information about tomorrow’s event can be seen at http://www.newplymouthsacredharp.org.

Chuck Micciche, a Harwich resident and a newcomer to Sacred Harp music, first heard “Singing” from friends visiting from Georgia, who sang it around a campfire this past summer, and he has been smitten ever since.

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