Sacred Harp singing? That’s a new one on me. Apparently it’s the oldest surviving form of American music and there’s a free screening of a documentary about it this Friday night plus a fish fry. If that’s your thing that’s just a double bonus isn’t it?
Awake My Soul is a feature documentary that explores the history, music, and traditions of Sacred Harp singing, the oldest surviving American music. Filmmakers Erica and Matt Linton will present their film after a celebratory fish fry, open to the public and free for all!
While often linked only to its history, Sacred Harp singing has survived over 200 years tucked away from sight in the rural deep south, where in old wooden country churches, devoted singers break open The Sacred Harp, a shape note hymnal first published in Georgia in 1844. These singers have inherited The Sacred Harp and its traditions from those who came before them and preserved these fierce yet beautiful songs, many of which are much older than the hymnal itself. And so they, like the early singers, begin each song by intoning syllables which are represented by each shaped note in their hymnal: fa, sol, la, and mi. Awake My Soul is a film that captures both the history and the vitality of a music that is utterly unlike any music most viewers are likely to have heard.
Friday April 24, 2009
Fish Fry at 5:30PM
Screening of Awake My Soul presented by filmmakers Matt and Erica Hinton at 7PM
Free
Vine St. Baptist Church
960 Vine Street
Louisville, KY
April 21st, 2009 at 10:05 am
Nayone interested in music, religion, or American History needs to watch this film. It’s incredibly fascinating, and if you’re not familiar with Sacred Harp/Shape Not Singing then the music will be unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Everyone I know who has seen this has left wanting to start singing clubs, attend singings, or just “Hollerin’ Fa So La”