Category: New Research & Essays
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Hamm Harmony (1992) Compiled and Composed by: Neely BrucePublished: Middletown, Connecticut, 1992Format: Comb-bound, 8.5×11″, four-shape notationLength: 116 numbered pages (not including title page or preface)Typology: Contemporary Era – Tunebooklet – Original Compilation Overview Hamm Harmony is a 1992 tunebooklet of original four-shape compositions by Neely Bruce, created during the early years of the shape-note revival…
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The Sacred Harp Publishing Company has announced a full-day symposium, Revising The Sacred Harp, to be held Friday, September 12, 2025, at Emory University’s Woodruff Library in Atlanta. This event will serve as the public unveiling of the much-anticipated 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp—and your first opportunity to get a personal copy in hand.…
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The following list presents known four-shape shape-note tunebooks published during what I define as the Revival Period (1960–1989) of four-shape shape-note tunebook publishing, a phase of rediscovery and preservation. This era coincided with…
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In the small rural community of Louvale, Georgia, a remarkable effort to preserve and pass on the tradition of Sacred Harp singing took root in the early 1980s. While Louvale may be easy to miss on the map, many nmay not know it has a role in the continuation of shape-note music in the Chattahoochee…
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A paper on composing music in the Sacred Harp tradition is the feature article in the new March/April 2025 issue of Choral Journal (Vol. 65, No. 7). Three singers, who are also three scholars, have teamed up for the paper. Lily M. Hammond, Abigail C. Cannon, and Esther M. Morgan-Ellis have written the paper “Compositions…
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A Brief Biographical Chronology of General Secretaries Shape Note Minutes books serve as annual records of singing conventions, documenting attendees, leaders, and the songs led at each gathering. These books not only preserve the history of Sacred Harp style singing but also provide insight into regional traditions and the evolving shape-note community. Over the years,…