Sacred Harp Singing report
Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Convention, March 7, 2009. The Northampton Center for the Arts hall is only just big enough for the crowd that was there on Saturday, but the sound was glorious-occasionally I had to sit back and just let the sound break over my head, rich, resonant, poignantly minor or triumphantly major.
I love many of the texts as well as the music; here are some snippets that I particularly reveled in from the day’s singing:
The year of jubilee is come; Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
(Lenox, 40, by Lewis Edson, 1782; words, Charles Wesley, 1750)
Waked by the trumpet sound,
I from my grave shall rise;
And see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the flaming skies!
(Idumea, 47B, Ananias Davisson, 1816; words, Charles Wesley, 1763)
Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course;
Fire, ascending, seeks the sun;
Both speed them to their source.
(Amsterdam, 84, Foundery Collection, 1742)
The sea grows calm at Thy command, And tempests cease to roar.
(Rainbow, 344, by Timothy Swan, 1785; words by Isaac Watts, 1719)
Serve with a single heart and eye, And to thy glory live or die.
(Consecration, 448, by William S.Turner, 1866)
Unshaken as the sacred hill, And firm as mountains be …
(Mount Desert, 474, by Bruce Randall, 1985; words by Isaac Watts, 1707)
Now shall my inward joys arise,
And burst into a song;
Almighty love inspires my heart,
And pleasure tunes my tongue.
(Africa, 178, by William Billings 1770; words by Isaac Watts, 1709)
But neither the words nor the music by themselves convey the full richness of the songs, of sitting in the hollow square with 300 other people, lifting one’s voice in first the shapes, then the words of song after song. And then there are the friends we get to see at singings, the babies grown so much bigger since last year (or new!), the wonderful pot luck dinner-on-the-grounds. Not to mention the quick trip during the lunch break to Ted’s Boot Shop to replace a 25-year-old pair of worn-out boots with new Rockport boots on sale at half price!
I love many of the texts as well as the music; here are some snippets that I particularly reveled in from the day’s singing:
The year of jubilee is come; Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
(Lenox, 40, by Lewis Edson, 1782; words, Charles Wesley, 1750)
Waked by the trumpet sound,
I from my grave shall rise;
And see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the flaming skies!
(Idumea, 47B, Ananias Davisson, 1816; words, Charles Wesley, 1763)
Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course;
Fire, ascending, seeks the sun;
Both speed them to their source.
(Amsterdam, 84, Foundery Collection, 1742)
The sea grows calm at Thy command, And tempests cease to roar.
(Rainbow, 344, by Timothy Swan, 1785; words by Isaac Watts, 1719)
Serve with a single heart and eye, And to thy glory live or die.
(Consecration, 448, by William S.Turner, 1866)
Unshaken as the sacred hill, And firm as mountains be …
(Mount Desert, 474, by Bruce Randall, 1985; words by Isaac Watts, 1707)
Now shall my inward joys arise,
And burst into a song;
Almighty love inspires my heart,
And pleasure tunes my tongue.
(Africa, 178, by William Billings 1770; words by Isaac Watts, 1709)
But neither the words nor the music by themselves convey the full richness of the songs, of sitting in the hollow square with 300 other people, lifting one’s voice in first the shapes, then the words of song after song. And then there are the friends we get to see at singings, the babies grown so much bigger since last year (or new!), the wonderful pot luck dinner-on-the-grounds. Not to mention the quick trip during the lunch break to Ted’s Boot Shop to replace a 25-year-old pair of worn-out boots with new Rockport boots on sale at half price!