VOICE IS SACRED HARP

January 21, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

youngstown

The Rev. Dr. Bradley Pace, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, applauds music as a means and method to enhance worship.

Though the mainstay is mostly English liturgical music, the rector of the city church at 323 Wick Ave., said “special music” adds to services. “It’s something to do for fun ... and we have the talent and resources,” he said.

What started as his suggestion for a bluegrass Mass because he is a fan of the gentre has evolved into “The Sacred Harp: A Celebration of Shape Note Singing.” It will be featured during the liturgy at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 5.

Nathanael Welch, a choir member and graduate student at Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music, and Dr. Richard A. Konzen, organist and choirmaster, are teaching choir members to sing in this style.

In the church’s January newsletter, Welch describes the multiple meanings of the term Sacred Harp. He notes that Sacred Harp is a phrase to describe the human voice; it’s a style of music popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s; a form of nondenominational, a cappella participatory singing; and the title of a hymn book published in 1844 (which has been updated and remains in use).

Welch, who is writing his master’s thesis on shape-note singing, said the style was first used “to guide people in singing and teach them to sing independently.”

He added “people would sing the shapes to get the tune in their ear.” Shape-note singing is based on a four-syllable solf ge system of fa, symbolized as a triangle; sol, a circle; la, a square; and me, a diamond. This differs from the more-familiar seven-syllable system of do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti. The four syllables are used to sing the notes.

Welch said the style began in New England and spread to the South. Its lack of sophistication contributed to its rise and demise. “It is music for the people, by the people,” Welch said, adding it allows you “to sing your heart out.”

Its simplicity made it available to many and some outgrew it and sought more sophisticated European music. The website, www.fasola.org, reveals the style is alive and vibrant. Across America, there are regularly scheduled shape-note singing gatherings and conventions. The style is showcased in a documentary, “Awake, My Soul,” (www.awakemysoul.com) and two Sacred Harp tunes were sung in the movie “Cold Mountain.”

Konzen said shape-note singing was a skill learned at church. In the 18th and 19th centuries, he said, the church “was the center of the community” and a place to learn singing and music. “Shape-note singing was a teaching aid,” Konzen said. The music was mainly sacred not secular.

Members of St. John’s choir, numbering about 24, were introduced to the style this week to prepare for the Feb. 5 service. One member, Sophia Brooks, a well-known soprano, said she was no stranger to shape-note singing. “I remember going with my grandmother to a Baptist church and hearing it,” she said of her experience in the 1940s in Alabama. Brooks, who went to Dana, said the style was among requirements in the 1950s.

Konzen and Welch admitted it might be harder for trained musicians to revert to this simple style than for novices to learn it. At first, choir members were challenged and even puzzled, but as they sang through it, someone commented “not to over think it.” As rehearsal continued, the choir became more comfortable and confident. “It so different from what we’re used to,” Konzen said.

As the choir rehearsed “New Britain” (Amazing Grace), a different melody emerged. Welch said the selection has different melodies, though one is preferred. Along with that hymn, the choir will lead “Lloyd,” “Africa,” “Antioch,” “Calvary,” Cowper” and “Stratfield.” Traditionally, singers grouped as tenor, bass, alto, treble sit in what is termed a “hollow square” with rows forming a square and facing the center. At St. John’s liturgy, the choir will vacate the choir loft and be in a three-sided arrangement located closer to the congregation. Congregants will get a handout.

“It’s an unfolding process,” Welch told choir members as their sound jelled. “The rhythms are a bit different,” Konzen said. “The beat starts and just goes ... there’s not a place to grab a breath.”

Someone commented “it sounds like bagpipes.” The sound does have a hauntingly beautiful quality.