Customer Reviews

Rivers of Delight / Folk Hymns

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Word of Mouth Chorus, from Vermont, started out as a "normal" choir, doing standard church choir repertoire. They started singing "shape-note" music shortly after their founding, but the performances sounded like a normal church choir. A few years later, some of the choir members were inroduced to the "real McCoy" at a singing convention in Georgia. The "performance practice", for lack of a better term, of the folks in Georgia had a profound effect on them.

The result was that they completely rethought and relearned how to perform this music. They don't sound like a normal church choir here; they sound raucous and untutored, with loud nasal voices sticking out of a group of other loud, raucous voices. The effect is exhilerating; the drive and energy are like nothing you've ever heard. Other recordings of the shape note music of the Sacred Harp tradition of the American South take the brash rough edges off the tone. Not here -- you get the real deal; raw, edgy, unabashed, and a lot of fun.

Recordings of sacred harp music tend toward being either field recordings with poor production standards or over-civilized, lifeless professional performances. This classic recording strikes the right balance. It serves particularly well as an introduction to the genre. It is a fine addition to any music collection, whether or not there is any other sacred harp included.

This is a great recording if you like the harmonies of shape-note music but you insist on trained rather than folk voices. The voices are nice and natural, but precise in pitch and tempo. The singers also attempt some sacred harp numbers that are hard to find on most recordings of authentic folk singings, such as "A Better Land." If there were more Word of Mouth recordings, I'd certainly buy them.

As far as I am concerned, this is the ONLY decent shape note recording. All the others are either low budget amateur affairs or are stiff high art classical recordings. The songs are sung with abandon and feeling; many of the best shape note hymns are done here. You can't beat the price, too.

Like many, I was first introduced to Sacred Harp music through the music on the Cold Mountain soundtrack. While those recordings are probably my favorites, Rivers of Delight has some excellent recordings of popular, as well as obscure, songs. Although the album lacks the raw energy present in Sacred Harp sings, it gives the listener a good idea of how the different parts sound (sometimes the older rural recordings just sound like caterwauling), without being extremely formal. The album also has a couple renditions of shape note classics in 2 and 4 person arrangements, rather than the larger group. All in all, this album is worthwhile, especially if you're just discovering Shape note singing and would like a good, comprehensive introduction.

this is a very good recording. Excellent acapella renditions of the Sacred Harp songs know to early colonists and continued in the Bible belt today. Farewell my friend I'm bound for Canaan is probably the best. The lyrics fit the melody so well you will be ready for the next plane of existence. Really!!!

I was first introduced to shaped note or sacred harp music by listening to the music in the movie Cold Mountain. "I'm going home" recorded at the Liberty Church in Alababma is an extremely powerful song. I immediately bought Southern Journey, Vol 9 & 10- sacred harp music recored by Alan Lomax in 1959. Its almost too crude to enjoy with a lot of people singing off key but there are some really good songs on them too. I also bought "In Sweetest Union" recorded in 1999 again at the Liberty Church. THAT is a great album that has real church-goin singers, mostly on key, singing with all of their hearts. That is what is missing from Rivers of Delight. No one is off key and I just don't hear the heart that makes sacred harp music so powerful.

I am very impressed with this CD. I can hear the words. And these folks sound better then we did when we were singing these songs [like we wished we sounded].

ACADEMICALLY AND HISTORICALLY INTERESTING
American shape-note music with its freshness and durability, is the product of circumstances different from our own. It still survives and flourishes today in a variety of styles and places across the continental United States.

Shape-note music evolved with the 'singing school', an American institution dating back to the early 18th century. In Colonial days, traveling singing masters taught part-singing to townsfolk in a community activity that combined sacred and secular values.
The singing-school music was usually sung a cappela and in 3 or 4 parts-tenor(or melody), bass, treble, and usually alto or counter.

By the early 1800's, the music of New England tunesmiths-William Billings,Daniel Reed, Justin Morgan, and others-had spread throughout the Southern and Central states. There , together with folk hymns and camp-meeting songs, it formed the basis for a sturdy tradition of community singing and religious expression.

The 'Sacred Harp', first compiled in 1844 by two Georgians, Benjamin Franklyn White and his assistant E.J. King, is one of the richest collections of tunes; it is also one of the few shape-note books from that era still in print today.

The sound of Sacred Harp singing has several elements: The surging beat, the intonation of the singers, the minor-modal melodies, and the open harmonies. In the Sacred Harp tradition, mens's and women's voices double the tenor and treble parts, with men and women alone singing the bass and alto, respectively. Dynamics are sacrificed for a uniformly strong sound.

This disc does indeed fulfill all the requirements of shape-singing and therefore is an invaluable contribution to the historian, the teacher of many subjects especially in the arts and humanities. To sit down and listen to it in its entirety is not too enjoyable unless you are involved with a specific activity that makes it necessary to do so. As a voice teacher, it annoys me with the type of singing it demands such as chest-tone most of the time. But, as I stated above, this is really not for entertainment purposes. The 'Word of Mouth' chorus is to be commended for keeping alive this very important segment of our Musical History and tradition.

Having watched the first episode in the recent BBC4 series, "Sacred Music", which featured the history and examples of Sacred Harp singing, I wanted to track down some of the music. After listening to short extracts from various albums, I went for this compilation. I am in no way religious but found the simple and, at times, robust songs to be - in places - very moving and a real breath of fresh air.