Six outstanding song collections are recommended for reference:
1867: The Slave Songs of the United States Edited by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy McKim Garrison; ISBN 0-486-28573-1
1892/2003: The Jubilee Singers and Their Songs by J. B. T. Marsh; ISBN 0-486-43132-0
1918/1919: Negro Folk-Songs: The Hampton Series, Books I-IV, Complete Transcribed by Natalie Curtis-Burlin; ISBN 0-486-41880-4
1925/1926: The Books of American Negro Spirituals by James Weldon Johnson & J. Rosamond Johnson, Two Volumes in One; ISBN 0-486-40271-1
1940: American Negro Songs: 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious and Secular by John W. Work; ISBN 0-306-80074-8
1979/2000: The Shaker Spiritual by Daniel W. Patterson; ISBN 0-486-41375-6
| Title | Words |
|---|---|
| Ain' Go'n' to Study War No Mo' | anon. |
| Don't Be Weary, Traveller | anon. |
| Heave Away | anon. |
| Go Down Moses | anon. |
| God's a-gwine ter move all de troubles away [1918] | anon. |
| Great Day | anon. |
| Lord, Remember Me [1867] | anon. |
| Poor Rosy [1867] | anon. |
| Rise, Shine, for Thy Light is A-Comin' | anon. |
| Roll Jordan Roll [1867] | anon. |
| Some of These Mornings [1892] | anon. |
| Steal Away to Jesus | anon. |
| Swing Low, Sweet Chariot | anon. |
| Veum Vum | Mother Ann Lee, 1736-1784 |
In 1844 the original edition of the Sacred Harp was published, compiled by Benjamin Franklin White. It has been revised only four times: 1869, 1911, 1936 and 1991. It is only music published prior to the 1936 revision which will be posted here. The 1991 Edition of the book is currently available from The Sacred Harp Publishing Company for those further interested in the tradition of "shape-note" music which the book so well represents in a collection of several hundred songs among 572 pages.
Another website, which I highly recommend, with MIDI file arrangements of Sacred Harp music, is at
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7632/sh91index.html
| Year | Title | Words | Music |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1778 | Rose of Sharon | William Billings | William Billings |
| 1808 | Green Fields | John Newton, 1779 | The Missouri Hymnal |
| 1840 | Wondrous Love | Mead's General Selection, 1811 | James Christopher |
| 1844 | The Prodigal Son | John Newton, 1779 | John Newton (arr. E. J. King) |
| 1850 | Happy Land | Andrew Youung, 1838 | Arr. by L. P. Breedlove |