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Sacred Harp Singers, Professor Stephen A ―IF I CAN REACH THE CHARMING SOUND, I‘LL TUNE MY HARP AGAIN‖: THE FASOLA TUNEBOOK PUBLICATION RENAISSANCE By A. MITCHELL V. STECKER A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 © 2019 A. Mitchell V. Stecker ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many individuals and groups whose support has facilitated the undertaking and completion of this document. First, I sincerely thank Dr. Laura Ellis and Dr. Jennifer Thomas for their time and energy spent not only on my thesis committee, but for all they both have invested in me over the better part of the past decade. I also wish to express my gratitude to the individuals and groups who gave of their time in answering questionnaires, giving interviews, and having informal conversations about this fascinating musical phenomenon, including the St. Louis Sacred Harp Singers, Professor Stephen A. Marini, and Micah Walter. I thank my parents for their unflagging support of my educational endeavors for the entirety of my life, and Sarah, whose love, encouragement, and strength are continual sources of inspiration. And finally, I would like to thank my singing friends everywhere, without the friendship and hospitality of whom I likely never would have discovered and been taken by this incredible music. How sweet the hours have passed away/Since we have met to sing and pray; How loath we are to leave the place/Where Jesus shows His smiling face. Oh could I stay with friends so kind,/How would it cheer my drooping mind! But duty makes me understand/That we must take the parting hand. Verse 2, 62 PARTING HAND, Sacred Harp, 1991 Denson Revision 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................3 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF EXAMPLES ...................................................................................................................10 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...............................................14 Review of the Literature .........................................................................................................16 Traditional Shape-Note Practice ......................................................................................16 Shape-Note Music, Collections, and History ..................................................................20 Structure ..................................................................................................................................25 2 A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE 19TH-CENTURY FASOLA TUNEBOOK ...........27 Introduction .............................................................................................................................27 An Immaterial Precursor: The Singing School .......................................................................28 Physical Disposition ...............................................................................................................33 Shaped Notation ......................................................................................................................33 Rudiments ...............................................................................................................................42 Performance Practice as Encoded in the Rudiments .......................................................44 Tone Quality of the Voice as Encoded in Rudiments .....................................................45 Stylistic Implications Encoded in Rudiments ..................................................................49 A Case Study in Fasola Transmission: ―General Observations‖ ...........................................52 Repertoire ...............................................................................................................................58 Folk Hymnody .................................................................................................................62 Genre ...............................................................................................................................64 Number of Parts ...............................................................................................................69 Ordering and Sorting of Content .....................................................................................71 Naming Conventions .......................................................................................................74 Tune naming .............................................................................................................74 Collection naming ....................................................................................................75 Historical Import of the Tunebook .........................................................................................77 3 THE 20TH CENTURY SHAPE-NOTE REVIVAL ................................................................86 Introduction .............................................................................................................................86 The Academic Revival ...........................................................................................................88 4 The Folk Music/Sacred Harp Revival ....................................................................................96 The New England Revival ...............................................................................................98 The Midwestern Revival ...............................................................................................101 Connections and Divergences between the New England and Midwestern Revivals ..104 The Continuing Sacred Harp Revival: 1990 - Present ..........................................................108 4 THE TUNEBOOK PUBLICATION RENAISSANCE .......................................................109 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................109 Case Studies of New Tunebooks ..........................................................................................113 Northern Harmony (2nd Ed., 1984; 1991 Printing) ........................................................113 Genesis of the collection ........................................................................................113 A description of the book and its contents .............................................................115 Front matter, indices, and other non-musical content. ...........................................115 Repertoire. ..............................................................................................................117 The Norumbega Harmony (1st Ed., 2003) .....................................................................120 Genesis of the collection ........................................................................................120 A description of the book and its contents .............................................................121 Front matter, indices, and other non-musical content. ...........................................122 Repertoire. ..............................................................................................................123 The Missouri Harmony (Wings of Song ed., 2005) ......................................................129 Genesis of the collection ........................................................................................129 A description of the book and its contents .............................................................131 Front matter, indices, and other non-musical content ............................................131 Repertoire ...............................................................................................................133 A Dividing Point: The Early Tunebooks versus the Later Tunebooks .........................137 The Georgian Harmony (2nd ed., 2012) .......................................................................137 Genesis of the collection ........................................................................................137 A description of the book and its contents .............................................................140 Front matter, indices, and other non-musical content. ...........................................141 Repertoire. ..............................................................................................................143 The Trumpet (2011-2015) ..............................................................................................147 Genesis of the collection ........................................................................................147 A description of the collection and its contents .....................................................148 Front matter, indices, and other non-musical content ............................................148 Repertoire ...............................................................................................................148 The Shenandoah
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