The ''Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion'' is a

shape note Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the notehe ...

hymn and tune book compiled by

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Ba ...

, first published in 1835. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

s and shape note collections like ''

The Sacred Harp Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tun ...

''.

The music and its notation

New Britain Southern Harmony Amazing Grace

The roots of ''Southern Harmony'' singing, like the

Sacred Harp Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tun ...

, are found in the American colonial era, when

singing school A singing school is a school in which students are taught to sightread vocal music. Singing schools are a long-standing cultural institution in the Southern United States. While some singing schools are offered for credit, most are informal progra ...

s convened to provide instruction in choral singing, especially for use in

church service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day S ...

s. This practice remained popular with

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...

s in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

long after it fell from use in other regions. In 1801, a book called '' The Easy Instructor'' by William Smith and William Little was published for the use of this movement; its distinguishing feature was the use of four separate shapes that indicated the notes according to the rules of solfege. A triangle indicated ''fa'', a circle ''sol'', a square ''la'' and a diamond, ''mi.'' To avoid proliferating shapes excessively, each shape (and its associated syllable) except for ''mi'' was assigned to two notes of the musical scale. A major scale in the system would be noted ''Fa – Sol – La – Fa – Sol – La – Mi – Fa'', and a minor scale would be ''La – Mi – Fa – Sol – La – Fa – Sol – La.''

History

''The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion'' was compiled by William "Singin' Billy" Walker and printed in 1835, with subsequent editions printed in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. It contained 335 songs, went through several editions, and became one of the most popular southern tunebooks in the 19th century. In 1867 Walker claimed over 600,000 copies had been sold. Walker added an appendix of additional tunes in 1840 with a further enlargement in 1847. An 1854 revision deleted several tunes and added still more. The present edition is a facsimile reprint of the 1854 edition. In 1866, Walker published a tunebook entitled '' The Christian Harmony'', in which he changed from four shape to seven shape notation. He incorporated over half of the contents of ''The Southern Harmony'' in the ''Christian Harmony.'' Walker died on September 30, 1887. The ''Southern Harmony'' has remained unchanged since 1854, unlike its counterpart the ''

'', which went through several revisions in the 20th century. About 75% of the songs are presented in three-part harmony. Besides Walker, notable contributors to ''Southern Harmony'' included

Matilda T. Durham Matilda T. Durham, later Hoy (January 17, 1815 – July 30, 1901) was an American composer and hymn writer. She is remembered for her shape note tune "Promised Land", first published in 1835. Biography A native of Spartanburg County, South Caroli ...

and John Gill Landrum.

The American composer William Duckworth used some of the songs in the Southern Harmony as a starting point for his own minimalist choral arrangements of the same name. Composer Donald Grantham also composed a four-movement piece for

wind ensemble A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

based on the anthology, entitled ''Southern Harmony''.

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer G ...

named their second album '' The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion'' after this song anthology.

Notes

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . See also the bibliographic entries under

Shape note Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the notehe ...

References

External links