Allison’s Sacred Harp Singers, and other music & worship links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Allison’s Sacred Harp Singers: Heaven’s My Home -- “The 1927-1928 recordings by J.T. Allison's ensemble are rare instances of the convergence of two important cultural movements of the southeastern U.S.-the emerging country music recording industry and the tradition of singing religious folk music from shape-note tunebooks.”
• Book Review: Baptist Hymnal (2008), in Evangelical Forum Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 3 -- “What will strike the reader of this hymnal is not its inclusion of traditional hymns, however, but the presence of a large number of contemporary hymns and choruses.”
• David G. Jensen Research -- “Makes available (in text only) three of the early English metrical psalters: Matthew Parker, Sternhold & Hopkins (‘Old Version’) and Tate & Brady (‘New Version’).”
• Children of the Heavenly King - John Cennick -- “John Cennick was one of the most laborious and successful promoters of the ‘Great Revival’ of the Eighteenth Century.”
• How 16th c. Scottish Hymns Teach the Doctrine of Scripture -- “The following are excerpts of a Scottish Hymn published in 1567 as part of a compendium entitled ‘Followings of the Great Loving and Blessedness of God’s Word.’”
• Impactful Songs -- “The songs we sing have a way of forming us in ways we can never imagine.”
• O! What Mysterious Grace Is This? - Thomas Nichols -- “Let us not be carried away with the spirit of our age. Let us raise our voices in purer, sweeter melodies in praise to the most high.”
• Paul Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer and his Influence on English Hymnody -- “The history of hymnody in Germany up to the time of Gerhardt falls naturally into two periods which might be called the Mediaeval Period, extending from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the fifteenth century, and the Reformation Period...”
• Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs -- “Each selection is identified as a psalm, a hymn, or a spiritual song (perhaps a bit arbitrarily). The tune name and meter are found under the title. Above the top staff, the authors and sources of lyrics are on the left while the composers and sources of tunes are on the right.”
• Review: The Makers of the Sacred Harp -- “Steel presents data on text and music sources, their meters, and their history in the Sacred Harp. This proves to be an indispensable source for those studying the music of the South.”
• Shape, rattle and roll: The amazing survival of shape-note singing -- “Shape-note singing is America's most ancient form of choral music. It reached its apotheosis in the years before the civil war...”
• Substance is Worth It: Creating A Set List that is Above Reproach -- “If I have to choose between a song rich with truth and a weak song that could lead to theological confusion, I’ll choose truth every time.”
• The Psalms in Meter by Isaac Watts -- “We now have a limited number of Singing the Psalms with Isaac Watts. Its 270 pages contain...”
• Welcome to PDHymns.com -- “A collection of Public Domain Hymns.”
• What Are Shape Notes? -- “Preservation of hymns begins with burning a love for these sacred lines within generations to come. Teaching them to love and sing these indelible songs is our goal.”