Shape Note Singing

Folk Hymns and Hymnists

The hymns of Isaac Watts are used in shape note songs more than those of any other hymnist. Approximately one quarter of the songs in the Sacred Harp draw on Watts' hymns. Other hymns that are popular in the shape note song books were written by Charles Wesley, John Newton, Samuel Stennett and John Leland. Many of the hymns are by relatively unknown authors. Despite the variety of sources, these songs seem strikingly unified with themes of human frailty, certainty of death, and joyful expectations of a heavenly reward.

Folk hymns, often without clear authorship, were born out of the camp meetings around the time of the Second Great Awakening. These camp meeting songs were sung without books and were repeated in call and response fashion during the meetings. Or, they were variants of known hymns that were altered and added to as they were sung in these informal contexts. The most common additions to known hymns by the camp meeting singers were choruses. Examples of this type are Jewett, Religion is a Fortune, and The Promised Land.

A distinctive type is thus established, the Camp-Meeting Hymn. It is individualistic, and deals with the rescue of a sinner; sometimes in direct appeal to "sinners," "back-sliders," or "mourners;" sometimes by reciting the terms of salvation; sometimes as a narrative of personal experience for his warning or encouragement. The Camp-Meeting Hymn is not churchly, but the companionships of the rough journey to the camp reappear in songs of a common pilgrimage to Canaan, the meetings and partings on the ground typify the reunion of believers in Heaven. (Benson - The English Hymn)

Women Contributers

The contributions of women as hymnists and composers of the Sacred Harp stand in contrast to the poor female representation that existed in music generally during the 19th century. It is also worthy of note that some of the most popular songs, like Promised Land (128) and The Last Words of Copernicus (112), have been the works of female composers.

Female Composers (Denson numbers)

Female Hymnists - Denson Book

Female Hymnists - Cooper Book