The broad outline of shape-note singing (and four shape-note in particular) is that it emerged from New England and took hold in the deep south and some western locales where it survived largely among isolated communities. It was in the 1930s that some academics discovered this American musical form had not disappeared, and studied and partook in it. It is mostly through these scholar-practitioners, and motivated enthusiasts that the traditional music and culture has seen several revivals and has slowly expanded into a vibrant and living community of singers around the world.
The first Southern shape-note tunebook was Kentucky Harmony by Ananias Davisson, published in 1816. Philadelphia was a major publishing hub of Shape Note books, and there have even been a couple books published in Baltimore. But, compared to other areas, Mid-Atlantic has had only a moderate history of shape-note singing, though it’s not completely alien, a topic for a different blog.
It is remarkable that Baltimore and Washington teamed up to begin to present All-Day singings beginning in 2013, two centuries after the cultural flight of the music from North to South. The singings were also two-book singings, using the Denson 1991 revision of The Sacred Harp and the Shenandoah Harmony books.
Unfortunately the pandemic that occurred beginning in 2019 did a great deal of damage in many ways, and shape-note singings suffered because of it.
A timeline of the Baltimore-Washington All Day Singings
1st Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2013
Sat., Oct. 12, 2013 from 10am-3:30pm
Church of the Ascension, 633 Sligo Ave, Silver Spring MD 20910
There is a video playlist of 12 songs from 2013 available on YouTube.
2nd Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2014
Sat., Oct. 4, 2014 from 10am-3:30pm
Church of St. Monica/St. James, 222 8th St NE Washington DC
3rd Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2015
Sat., Oct. 3, 2015 from 10am-3:30pm
Faith Community Church, 5315 Harford Rd. Baltimore, MD 21214
4th Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2016
Sat., Oct. 1, 2016 from 10am-3:30pm
Cathedral of the Incarnation, 4 E University Pkwy, Baltimore, MD
5th Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2017
Sat., Oct. 7, 2017 from 10am-3:30pm
Woman’s Club of Arlington, 700 S Buchanan St, Arlington, VA 22204
6th Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2018
Sat., Oct. 6th, 2018 from 10am-3:30pm
Cathedral of the Incarnation, 4 E University Pkwy, Baltimore, MD
7th Annual Baltimore-Washington Shenandoah Harmony All Day Singing – 2019
Sat., Oct. 5, 2019 from 10am-3:30pm
Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church 201 4th St SE Washington, DC 20003
