The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion [Hardcover]

William Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1993

" William Walker's Southern Harmony, first published in 1835, was the most popular tune book of the nineteenth century, containing 335 sacred songs, dominated by the folk hymns of oral tradition and written in the old four-shape notation that was for generations the foundation of musical teaching in rural America. Born in 1809 in South Carolina, William Walker grew up near Spartanburg and early became devoted to the Welsh Baptist Church of his ancestors and to the musical heritage that church had brought to early America. Walker became a singing master, and Southern Harmony was compiled for his students in hundreds of singing schools all over North and South Carolina and Georgia and in eastern Tennessee. Southern Harmony reached Kentucky in the company of music-loving pioneers, and today an annual singing in Benton, Kentucky, remains the only such occasion on which Southern Harmony is consistently the source of the music. The CD included with the book contains 29 tunes, hymns, psalms, odes, and anthems, including ""New Britain"" (Amazing Grace), ""Happy Land,"" ""O Come, Come Away,"" ""Wondrous Love,"" and many, many more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A facsimile edition of the 1854 printing of this American gem, 'perhaps the most popular tunebook ever printed.' Today Southern Harmony songs are in many of the hymnals of mainstream churches. They belong there. This attractive edition can help choirs get back to the source." -- The Christian Century

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (September 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081311859X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813118598
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant piece of American musical history, April 14, 2002

By 

Daniel Bonevac (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (Hardcover)

Southern Harmony is probably the most popular hymnbook in history, having gone through editions in 1835, 1847, and 1854 as well as reprints in 1939, 1966, 1987, and 1993. After 1835, William Walker, its compiler, signed his name "William Walker, ASH"-- that is, Author of Southern Harmony. He was rightly proud of his achievement. The book includes the best of early-nineteenth-century American hymns, including many written by Walker himself. It was an influential source for many subsequent hymnals.

Southern Harmony is a shape-note hymnal, in which different notes have different shapes, enabling easy transposition between keys. The sopranos sing descants; the melodies are in the tenor voice.

And what melodies! The tunes (and lyrics) of this book will stun you with their plain-spoken power and beauty. Some (Amazing Grace, Rock of Ages) are familiar; some (Resignation --"My Shepherd Will Supply My Need"-- and Wondrous Love) are becoming better known; others have been arranged by contemporary musicians such as Alice Parker and Mack Wilberg. Many dozens of others are gems waiting to be mined.

The melodies in this book tend to display their Gaelic origins. Most are based on a pentatonic scale. Many are in minor keys, and many more are modal (especially Dorian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian). Harmonies are primitive but forceful.

This is an important part of our musical heritage. Anyone interested in church music will find Southern Harmony an inspiring collection that amply rewards hours of study.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor reproduction, November 22, 2007

By 

C. Roberts "biblioholic" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (Hardcover)

Sadly the print is dim and hard to read. If you are poring over a rare first edition it is easy to forgive, but in a reproduction you would expect better. An ink shortage at the University of Kentucky?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Gospel Hymns before the adventure of "Science", February 14, 2010

By 

Hãvard Skaadel "Dr art, organist" (Skudeneshavn, Norway) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (Hardcover)

This is still a very fresh and powerful collection of popular Southern Gospel hymns. The style is close to Anglo-American folksong, the arrangements by William Walker seem to be semi-improvised, breaking most of the rules that had already come in the North with Lowell Mason "scientific" settings in a standard Classical style. This is definitely "back to the roots", before any organ had a chance to influence how the assembly actually felt for performing hymns in church or at home! Refreshing!!!