Is it different from the harmonization by Haugen in RitualSong? I haven't seen a Glory and Praise since our church processed to the dumpster with them.

I just got a private email with the info that G&P uses the same harmony copyrighted in 1978 in the Lutheran Book of Worship (but still no score). If that's the case, here's a midi file of what it sounds like. http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/lbw/lbw423.mid (Edit: actually, this midi turns out to be an original arrangement by Rev. Richard Jordan, who lists his arrangements by hymn number. So, I still don't know what the G&P/Lutheran version actually sounds like.)

Thank you kindly, eft94530, for writing out the notes of the Sacred Harp version! Alas, we have no tenors, but maybe I'll play around and revoice that, see what it sounds like with sopranos on melody, and the altos and basses on their respective lines.

Do you know about shapenote.net, which lets you automatically transpose scores from the Sacred Harp to any key, and also plays midi files, at any tempo you like, with any combination of voice parts that you want? Here's BEACH SPRING. It's amazing how different it sounds from the Lutheran version, isn't it? I love getting multiple settings of a piece and comparing them. You can change the whole character of a piece just by tweaking the accompanying chords.

I'm not sure, Charles, whether it's the same as Haugen's harmonization in Ritual Song. In Gather Comprehensive, Haugen's is unison with an intricate piano part.

Rebecca, Once I got to shapenote.net I remembered it as
"that website that requires me to download an unknown plugin"
to hear or see a page. I will try a different machine on a different day. Thanks!

Thanks Charles! My library has a copy of the Chalice Hymnal, so I'll be able to check this out tomorrow.

Eft94530, yes, I remember being suspicious and peeved by the need to install a plugin. At the time, I was resetting a lot of Sacred Harp music to some more traditionally Catholic hymn texts, at the request of a couple who had recently converted, and I eventually caved in and installed the thing.

WGS,

Great, I didn't know it was traditional to have the melody in octaves.

I do realize the tenors get the melody, and since our issue is less about skill and more about bodies, I think you'll see that Men on Melody just ain't gonna happen here :-) In this particular instance, we'll have 4 sopranos, 3 altos, and 2 basses. If we were going to use the Sacred Harp arrangement, I think I'd split up the women in twos to cover SA and melody, throw a third on melody, and let the boys enjoy the B. We always have to work to avoid being so top-heavy that we fall over.

Orourkebr, that text could indeed be sung to BEACH SPRING, since the meter is 8.7.8.7, though I've never seen it. Is this what you're thinking of? We'll be using a different text :-)

So I took all the harmonies people helped me find, and then made my own version. A rudimentary audio of how it sounds, demonstrated SB, then SAB, is here Yes, I accidentally said "trilgrims" in the bass line :-)



Orourkebr, does that sound familiar? Also, there are audio files at all the links above. If you listen to the one at the "Come ye sinners" site, you'll hear that it's a different melody.

Thanks again for the help, folks!

Beautiful!