[Magdalen] Brightest and Best - The Epiphany, January 6, 2016.

[P. Dan Brittain]

On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 7:28 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> I just did a little research, and it said the first sing at the Weavers
> Church was in 1903, and it has been held every year since.


I wonder if the singing had been at another church and moved to Weavers in
1903. The Chattachoochee Convention (Wilson's Chapel in Carrollton, GA -
1st Sunday in August and Sunday before) resumed in 1865 and has met
continuously since. The East Texas convention (currently meets in
Henderson, TX 2nd Sunday in August and Saturday before) is only 3-4 years
younger than the Chattahoochee.


> The same
> article, which focused on the history of Singer's Glen, VA and the Harmonia
> Sacra itself, also said that the Harmonia Sacra is the oldest hymnbook
> still in use in the USA today.
>

Under the name "Harmonia Sacra," the book dates to 1851. Harmonia Sacra's
predecessor books were Choral-Music 1816 (in German), and Genuine Church
Music 1832 - 4 editions by 1847. Not sure how much of the book changed by
the time it got its present title. The claim of oldest hymnbook is
questionable if one remembers that the word "hymn" only refers to the
poetry - not the music. In the category of "tunebook" the claim has greater
merit. The 3 oldest tunebooks in continual use since printing are Southern
Harmony, 1835; Sacred Harp, 1844; and Harmonia Sacra, 1851. I have not seen
a copy of Genuine Church Music but Harmonia Sacra is generally considered a
revision of that book with a new name- so may well be the oldest.



>
> One distinctive characteristic of all the sings here is that they have to
> give two page numbers for all the hymns--one for the Legacy edition which
> is in standard hymnal format, but with the shapes place on a regular staff,
> and the other for the "Long Book," as they call it.  It's a larger book
> printed on the short end (landscape style) and is more traditional.
>

We refer to these as "oblongs." All of our books are printed that way.


-- 
P. Dan Brittain
Harrison, Arkansas

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