Month: July 2015

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Other local singings

Beacon Hill monthly singing

Some quick notes from the monthly singing at Beacon Hill Friends Meeting House:

Last time I was in the Beacon Hill Friends Meeting House was in 1999, when I went to meeting for worship and a peace witness just before Easter. I remember thinking then that it is a remarkable worship space: not large, but with a high ceiling, a surprising amount of light for a building on Beacon Hill in Boston, Quaker simplicity with lots of wood and plaster, and wonderful acoustics.

And now I know it is a lovely room for Sacred Harp singing: the dozen or so people who came to sing easily filled the room with sound, and the room warmed and strengthened the singers. I couldn’t help thinking that the residuum of several generations of Spirit-filled Quaker meetings also warmed and strengthened the singers, for it was definitely a Spirit-filled singing. If the monthly singing of Norumbega Harmony is wonderfully disciplined and controlled, this Beacon Hill singing was ecstatic and even transcendent.

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Other local singings

Norumbega Harmony

Some brief notes on the monthly singing sponsored by Norumbega Harmony:

I first sang Sacred Harp with Norumbega Harmony at the New England Folk Festival, and it felt like coming home to sing at their monthly singing once again after a lapse of half a dozen years. It was a somewhat different crew of singers, but the overall sound is the same.

I had forgotten how disciplined the singers of Norumbega Harmony are. They do not fudge notes, not ever; they seem to hit every note dead on pitch, and in perfect tempo. This discipline is coupled with very little ornamentation — the typical New England folk musician uses very little ornamentation, so this is a strong regional tendency — and the pairing of musical discipline and lack of ornamentation works especially well with eighteenth and early nineteenth century tunes. it is an absolute pleasure to sing along with Norumbega Harmony on tunes by Billings, Ingalls, Edson, or one of the other composers of the First New England School. This is not to dismiss their singing of later tunes, for they sound very good on those as well; but I feel they show an especial affinity for the New England composers.

It’s interesting to compare singing in the Bay Area with Norumbega Harmony. In the Bay area, the singing is most powerful when it is moved by ecstatic impulses (which can also make it a little wild, especially when the tempo is very quick). With Norumbega Harmony, the power comes through the discipline; it may be less intense, but on the other hand since the power is driven by disciplined singing it never seems to flag. There is I think a theological point here, something about the difference between the ecstatic or mystical religious impulse, and the religious impulse based on regular religious practice.

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Other local singings

Portland, Maine, monthly singing

Some brief notes on the Portland, Maine, local singing:

I was able to slip away from a professional conference to sing with the monthly singing in Portland, Maine. It was a good solid class, with (I think) 16 singers total. They tend to sing in a somewhat less ornamented style typical of eastern New England singers. The singers were loud and excellent — and if I might apply a term from the religious world, I would call them “Spirit-filled.”

While all the sections were good, I really enjoyed singing with the basses. In particular, the singer to my left (alas, I’ve forgotten his name) was a fabulous musician. I especially enjoyed his leading: he beat time with minimal motion but rock-solid tempo, and with that minimal motion managed to communicate exactly what he felt about a given tune, and also managed to get the best possible sound out of the class. Someday, when I grow up, perhaps I’ll be as good a leader as he is.