Harmonia Sacra Singers of Hamburg, Va
Brighter Scenes: Harmonia Sacra Singing from Hamburg, VA
A form of a capella religious singing practiced in the Shenandoah Valley since the 1830s. This recording features the sound of more than 200 singers singing hymns in four part harmony, from the August 2006 singing at Mauck Chapel
What is Harmonia Sacra Singing?
Harmonia Sacra singing is one of a handful of surviving 19th century forms of a capella religious singing. It is based on a shape-note tune book first published as Genuine Church Music by Joseph Funk in Winchester, Virginia in 1832. This book, later renamed the Harmonia Sacra, and since revised in 25 editions down to the present, is the oldest shape-note book in continuous use. About 9 singings are held from it in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia each year, along with one in Indiana. (The Elkhart, Indiana singing is stylistically different, being heavily influenced by the Sacred Harp tradition.)
The Harmonia Sacra [pronounced SAYCRA] tradition is surviving branch of a movement that began in New England in the 1720s. Seeking to improve singing in worship, church leaders in New England began singing schools to teach the basics of music. Traveling singing masters would come to a town, and hold weeklong (or longer) classes. When they left, the young people had learned to sing, and had an appetite for new pieces, which was supplied by the singing master’s compiled collections of original and borrowed hymns.
Shape notes, also known as character or patent notes were introduced after 1800 to aid sight reading. After selecting a starting pitch for the piece (often different from the printed score) and the use of these notes, which graphically convey the degree to which the singer needs to move up or down the scale to sing the next note, complicated pieces become easier to grasp. There were many competing schemes, but the most widely used system included geometrically shaped flags placed a top the notes in the music - a triangle for Fa, an oval for Sol, a square for La, and a diamond for Mi. This system was used in the Sacred Harp, Southern Harmony, and in the first four editions of Genuine Church Music.
Though the music of Genuine Church Music, and the later Harmonia Sacra came out of the singing school movement, Funk adjusted some of the tunes to make them more appropriate for the sensibilities of his Mennonite brethren. He was successful in his efforts – in 1847 his book was chosen to provide tunes for the first book of Mennonite hymns in English – A Selection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.
Funk changed its name to Harmonia Sacra, for its fifth edition in 1851, and adopted a seven shape note system, with shapes for “Do.” “Re,” and “Ti” in addition to the four shapes used in earlier editions.
Funk’s grandsons Aldine S. Kieffer and Ephraim Ruebush continued his publishing enterprise after his death in 1862. Their effort developed into Ruebush, Kieffer & Company, one of the three leading publishers of Southern Gospel music (James D. Vaughan Publishing Company, and the Stamps-Baxter Publishing Company being the other two.)
The 12th edition, in 1867, added a fourth part to the former three part arrangements, and located the melody in the tenor part. In 1980 the 24th edition, introduced dramatic changes – the oblong format was changed to a conventional hymnal format. The soprano and tenor parts were swapped, which mirrors the practice of singers in Shenandoah Valley, where the sopranos sing tenor and the tenors sing the soprano part.
With the 25th edition of 1993, the Harmonia Sacra returned to its roots, with a restoration of the format found in previous editions through the 23rd. Funk’s Rudiments of Music, instructional matter on singing, which had been removed in 1878, was restored. Two sections of pieces from previous editions, and some in original three part voicing were included as well.
Though started in the North, shapenote singing fell out of use as gospel songs and more “correct” musical styles with European influences replaced tunes composed by the singing school masters or arranged from the folk tradition. However in the South, singers kept the old ways alive, and several other traditions based on 19th Century books survive, including the Sacred Harp, New Harp of Columbia aka Old Harp, Christian Harmony, and Southern Harmony.
Singers still gather at churches, fellowship halls, and other singing spaces to sing the old songs in the old ways. Though not as numerous as in the days before radio, TV and recorded music, they preserve a way of singing is deeply spiritual.
Mauck Meeting House
The finer details of the construction of the Mauck Meeting House in Hamburg, VA, are shrouded in time, with some sources placing its construction by Mennonites as early as the 1740s. By the 1790s the religious make up of the local community had changed, with Baptists in the ascendancy. Thus in 1797, the chapel became home to the Mill Creek Baptist Church, which restored the log structure. The land on which the meeting house sits belonged to Daniel Mauck and it is likely this is why the name Mauck became attached to it. The meeting house is today maintained by the Page County Historical Association as part of a complex which includes a former store next door and a historic home across the street. Entering the meeting house is like stepping back in time. It is a rectangular log structure. The current entrance is from the side. A stove from the 1790s occupies the center of the room. A podium/pulpit occupies the left of the room, with rough benches facing it from the other three sides. The structure also has two balconies overlooking the main worship space.
Harmonia Sacra Singing at the Mauck Meeting House
According to a history of the meeting house an annual singing was started at the there in 1922. At this time it was called the Old Folks Sing. The book used at that time was the New Harmonia Sacra (a previous edition of the book). The name of the singing was changed to “The Harmonia Sacra” sing in 1952 to attract younger people. This singing continues today, on the first Sunday of August each year.
More than 200 people packed the log chapel for the 2006 singing, which began with the singers and listeners saying the 100th Psalm together. A prayer and the election of a moderator and secretary were followed by singing. After lunch on the chapel grounds, the singing resumed with prayer. During the course of the day, time was devoted to the history of Harmonia Sacra singing as well as the chapel.
The singers sat in family groups, rather than by parts as in other traditions. Two editions of the Harmonia Sacra were used – the Legacy Edition and the 25th edition (1993) referred to as “the old book.” When a leader was called forward, they gave the page numbers for the song in both books, and then either from memory or with the aid of a pitch pipe, set the pitch for the song. While the names of the notes were used at times for pitching, they were not sung through as is the practice in other shapenote traditions. Once the pitch was established, the singers began with the first verse of the song. All verses of the song were generally sung. During the course of the day 50 songs were sung.
Folk: Field Recordings