The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #117284 Message #2530196
Posted By: dick greenhaus
02-Jan-09 - 11:19 PM
Thread Name: homage to Rise Up Singing
Subject: RE: homage to Rise Up Singing
Ron-
Actually, the folk have been writing down songs for a long long time--for personal use, rather than for publication. Sarah Cleveland had an extensive collection; words were written down in sailor's logbooks and the Appalachian collectors frequently noted that their sources used written-down words (As I recall, Jean Thomas called them "Song Ballets"
Sacred Harp singing --a rigidly arranged choral style-- and hymn singing are, really, qualitatively different from folk song gatherings. Or at least they used to be.