Fantasie and Fugue on Themes from the Sacred Harp (Antioch, Cusseta, Wayfaring Stranger) Written by Lisa DeSpain and was commissioned for the BYU-Idaho Sacred Music Series in 2021
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Performed by Rix Stix Percussion Group | Sophia Pack ~ Marimba, Archie Gillespie ~ Marimba, Jack Ensign ~ Marimba\Celeste, Cameron Beck ~ Vibraphone
Sound Engineer - Tyler McNiven
Video Editor - Kevin Meyer
Program Notes:
Shape Notes was a music notation system developed in the late 1700s as a way of teaching lay congregations hymn singing and music reading skills. Instead of teaching the classical notation system with 5 lines, 4 spaces, treble clef, bass clef, etc., singers learned to recognize pitch by reading differing shape of the note head, squares, diamonds, triangles, etc.
The origins of Shape Note singing began in the Northeast and was the prevailing practice of upstate New York during the Second Great Awakening, time of the restoration. The Smith family and early church converts would have known and participated in this style of singing.
Some of our most beloved hymns were printed in these shape note tune books. I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES was sung to a haunting tune titled ANTIOCH. ALL IS WELL later became COME, COME YE SAINTS, and A POOR WAYFARING MAN OF GRIEF was performed in a simple 4/4 meter.
The most famous shape note tune book, The Sacred Harp was published in 1844.
Sacred Harp singings continue to this day. A typical “convention” will take place over several days and include fellowship and pot-luck dinners. The participants sit in a square facing each other. Each hymn contains the standard 4 parts, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone; but are mixed male and female. The leader stands in the center of the square. And the music is sung forte with a shout-style as if shouting up to God. The emphasis is on the sing-ability of the lines often ignoring the rules of counterpoint.
Shape-note singing includes hymns and fuguing tunes.
In FANTASIE ON THE SACRED HARP, Ms. DeSpain utilized the performance practices of shape note singing and three melodic fragments of her most-loved shape note hymns, ANTIOCH/I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, CUSETTA, and WAYFARING STRANGER to create a new work for percussion quartet.