For early American music in conventional notation (i.e., not shape note), see More vocal music.
Eighteenth Century Tunes
William Billings
Adams
in four shape notation
Chester
in four-shape notation
With the original patriotic words by Billings (the version in The Sacred Harp pairs a different text with this tune).
PDF of Chester (patriotic words)
Jargon
in four shape notation
The notorious atonal composition by William Billings.
Madrid
in four-shape notation
from Suffolk Harmony
PDF of Madrid in four-shape notes
Morpheus
in four-shape notation
The first part is from Music in Miniature; the second part is a bass-and-tenor composition found in Billings’ manuscripts, to which I added counter and treble parts. The whole is in the style of many of Billings’ fuguing tunes, in which a fuguing section is appended to a a complete (all four lines of the stanza) plain tune.
John Tufts
100 Psalm Tune
in four-shape notation
Irving Lowens argued that this may well be the first published composition by an American composer. It was written for the early Singing School movement, and thus deserves notice by Sacred Harp and other shape note singers.
Elisha West
Death’s Alarm
in four-shape notation
from Beauties of Harmony
Nineteenth Century Tunes
William Walker
Friendship
in four-shape notation
arr. by William Walker in The Southern Harmony
Very different from the cleaned-up version of “Friendship” in The Shenandoah Harmony. Walker’s original 3-part arrangement is a fine example of what Dr. Neely Bruce means when he talks about “Sacred Harp as Experimental Music.”
Star in the East
in four-shape notation
arr. by William Walker in The Southern Harmony
The version included here is the earlier 3-part version; Walker’s later version with an added alto part is less spare harmonically.