Choir performing in a church with stained glass windows, gold ornate walls, and a wooden ceiling.
Title card for the San Francisco Early Music Society featuring yellow and black background with orange and white text.
A text graphic for the Boston Camerata titled 'We'll Be There!' about American spirituals, Black and White, from 1800 to 1900.

Virtual Program

PROGRAM BOOK PDF

Creating a program of repertoire from both Black and White repertoires presents great challenges. Because of terrible social inequities and injustices, early written musical sources of Black songs, prior to the choir arrangements of the late nineteenth century, are far too few. We’ll be there! draws on the precious few songbooks as well as the collaborative memory and ongoing oral tradition of musical knowledge in the Black community. Within the songbooks, the mutual influences of both white and Black communities are omnipresent. Take a look at excerpts from some of the songbook sources below:

“Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies”

“Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies” (Cincinnati, 1882) is an important source of Black repertoire collected by Marshall W. Taylor (1846–1887), several works on the program are drawn from this collection including “Let us Cheer the Weary Traveler.”

Title page of a publication titled "A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies" by Marshall W. Taylor, published in Cincinnati in 1882.

“Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies” title page.

Black and white illustration of a man with a beard, wearing a dark suit with a collar. The man is looking slightly to the side with a serious expression. Text below reads, "Rev. Marshall W. Taylor, D.D.".

Portrait of “Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies” author, Marshall W. Taylor (1846–1887).

Sheet music titled 'Plantation Melodies' featuring hymn 'Let us Cheer the Wearing Traveler' with musical notation and lyrics about walking along the heavenly road and being cheered by the Savior.

“Let us Cheer the Weary Traveler” from “Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies”

The Sacred Harp

The Sacred Harp is both a song book and an entire singing tradition in itself. First published in 1844, the Sacred Harp is designed to welcome newcomers and help teach and facilitate congregational singing. The book contains an introduction to the fundamentals of music & notation, explaining its unique shape note notation style. This notation style uses four note shapes to help indicate the scale’s corresponding solmization syllables. In this system, “Fa” is a triangle, “Sol” is a round note, “La” is rectangular, and “Mi” is a diamond.

Title page of a music book titled "The Sacred Harp or Eclectic Harmony," revised and enlarged, published in 1844 by William T. Truman in Cincinnati. The page mentions the book contains church music, hymns, psalms, anthems, sacred songs, and chants, arranged for worship, compiled by Lowell Mason and Timothy B. Mason. There is a blue oval stamp from the Library of Princeton Theological Seminary dated October 4, 1932.

Title page from 1844 edition of The Sacred Harp.

Page from an old music book with text and diagrams explaining musical scales and notes, including descriptions of tones, semitones, and the use of tetracords in musical teaching.

An introduction page from the 1844 edition of The Sacred Harp explains the unique shape note system used with its similarly unique solmization system (Fa-Sol-La-Mi).

Sheet music titled "PISGARD" with lyrics about faith, love, and praise, featuring musical notes and lyrics for choir or hymn.

The music of “Pisgah” from the Sacred Harp is set to the text, “Alas, and am I born for this?” by poet George M. Horton (b. 1798), known as the "Slave Poet" and “The Colored Bard of North-Carolina”

Sheet music with musical notes, titles, and lyrics, including 'Cusetta' and 'Arlington,' with lyrics about showing pity, Lord, forgiveness, and love.

“Cussetta” from tonight’s program and the 1860 edition of The Sacred Harp.

The Revivalist

In The Revivalist (1868) we note the call-and-response format, ubiquitous in revivalist camp meetings and so typical as well of African-American group singing. 

Sheet music titled 'Roll Call' composed by J. Baker, featuring lyrics about being present when the general's roll is called during a religious service or event.

“Roll Call” From The Revivalist (1868).

Sheet music titled "Shall We Gather? 8s & 7s." lyrics include lines about gathering at the river where bright angel feet have trod, singing about the beauty of the river, saints, and reaching the silver river at the crown of God. Written by Rev. R. Lowry, based on "Happy Voices".

“Shall We Gather?” From The Revivalist (1868). The audience is invited to sing along in the chorus of this powerful melody.

View some of these songbooks in full:

Camp Meetings

An old black and white illustration of a large outdoor gathering, possibly a fair or market, in a wooded area with numerous tents, people socializing, and a few horses in the background.

Camp meetings were a popular form of Protestant worship throughout the 19th century. Lasting several days, these open-air events often involved ecstatic communal prayer. Hundreds and even thousands came from miles around for preaching and worship, and to enjoy the festival-like atmosphere.

Image courtesy of The Boston Camerata.

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In Bocca al Lupo | Feb 8—Mar 2

Collage of six people with musical instruments and outdoor backgrounds, smiling at the camera.

Step into a world where the familiar is turned upside down, and where the traditional and the modern collide in a mesmerizing musical experience!

Mundus Inversus features a talented ensemble of early music specialists led by multi-instrumentalist Shira Kammen. Drawing inspiration from iconic Medieval sources like the Roman de Fauvel and the Carmina Burana, this unique performance blends timeless melodies with newly-composed pieces that explore the chaos and disarray of our modern times.

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Logo for 'Voyages 2024: An Odyssey in Sound' featuring the title in white and red text on a red background with a stylized design.

Explore the rest of the season!

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