Cork Sacred Harp hosts ninth All-Day Singing, 24 Aug. 2019

Thanks to Laurie Skelton of Cork Sacred Harp for this press release:

Cork Sacred Harp will host its ninth annual Sacred Harp All-Day Singing on 24 August 2019 at St Finbarre's Hall on Dean St. in Cork city. 



Sacred Harp singing, a folk tradition with strong ties to the southern United States, has been thriving in Cork for over a decade. There are a lot of peculiarities about the musical style, but the first thing most people notice is that it's loud. Very loud. Unlike conventional choirs, Sacred Harp singers sing in their full natural voices, which produces a powerful sound capable of booming down corridors and rattling windowpanes.

The second thing people tend to notice is the unfamiliar musical notation. Sacred Harp music uses a system of shaped notes — composed of squares, triangles, circles, and diamonds — to represent the solfège syllables (e.g. fa, so, la, and mi) of the scale. This system, dating from at least the late eighteenth century, was developed as a teaching aid to make reading music easier for beginners. To learn a new tune, participants first sing the notes on the page as syllables before singing the song with the words.



The Cork Sacred Harp All-Day Singing consistently draws seasoned shape-note singers from all across Europe. Spectators are welcome, but singing along is highly encouraged! To get a sense of what the music sounds like, you can find recordings from Cork Sacred Harp on YouTube and Bandcamp. For those interested in participating, all voices are welcome and no experience is necessary! More details are available on Facebook, on Meetup, and at corksacredharp.com.

Thurs. 22nd: 19.00–21.00, weekly singing in the Unitarian, Princes St., Cork
Fri. 23rd: 19.00–21.00, singing school with Matthew Parkinson of Bristol in the Unitarian, Princes St., Cork
Sat. 24th: 10.30–16.00, All-Day Singing in St Finbarre's Hall, Dean St., Cork

The Tenth Ireland Sacred Harp Convention will be held on the last weekend in February 2020 (details TBA). The Sacred Harp Singers of Cork can be contacted by corksacredharp@gmail.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.