December 2
A unique tradition of choral music centered on community, shape-note or Sacred Harp singing fills the air with harmonic hymns and anthems from the American South. Residents can hear this often jubilant, powerful music at the Lehigh Valley Shape-Note Singers’ All-Day Singing this month—just know that Sacred Harp isn’t about putting on a show.
Some of the first music sung and composed in the American colonies, shape-note came from the religion central to early American life. “The music that came out of it was hymn,” says Daniel Hunter, organizer for the Lehigh Valley Shape-Note Singers, “used not just for worship but to get together to sing socially.”
“Shape-note” refers to notation using different shapes for note heads to make reading the music easier, and The Sacred Harp is the most popular shape-note tune book. Kept alive by the likes of Mennonites and Baptists, the communal jam vibe was enlarged upon in the folk music revival of the ’70s with a more secular bent.
Folks gather in a hollow square of seating, and sing for enjoyment, transport and/or worship. “It can be loud and rhythmic, and can get ecstatic. Besides being nice to sing any music together,” he says, “this particular genre is reliably capable of getting people into an experience they don’t generally have.”
Though it’s said that “going to a group to listen is like going to a restaurant to eat,” December’s All-Day Singing is open to anyone. Guests are welcome to come explore whether they like the music and forget about whether they can perform. It’s the enjoyment of song, expression and community that leads shape-note singing, so make yourself at home!
Free | 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; Shared meal: 12:30 p.m. | The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley | 424 Center St., Bethlehem | facebook.com
