Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old, a film by Alan Lomax, takes a loving look at the talents and wisdom of elderly musicians, singers, and story-tellers from southern American folk traditions. All the musicians featured in the film have soul and musical energy to spare: great, great performances and engaging reminiscences make this film a real treat. Please see the [more inside] for a collection of links to several of the outstanding performers featured in the film.
posted on Mar 25, 2008 - View this thread

Awake, My Soul is a new documentary on Sacred Harp singing, an American musical tradition that's strange, beautiful, and very much alive. Previously discussed and beautifully explicated in this post.
posted on Nov 6, 2006 - View this thread

Sacred Harp singing uses a system of four shaped notes first introduced by Little and Smith in The Easy Instructor in 1801. The four shapes denote the four syllables (fa, so, la, mi) of the scale used in American Singing Schools. Of course, solfege has been codified since at least the 11th century, but the adoption of shape-notes dovetailed with the tradition of Sacred Harp singing in the United states. With it's emphasis on participation and instruction in the moment, Sacred Harp singing is in the midst (NPR story) of a renaissance. MP3s here and here. Here is an excellent set of resources, and here is set of essays on everything from history to how to organize a Sacred Harp sing. Here is an interactive index to the 1991 edition of the traditional hymn book called, you guessed it, The Sacred Harp. Here's a special link to Manhattan Sacred Harp resources for jonmc who mentioned Sacred Harp before in the blue.
posted on Nov 17, 2005 - View this thread