Christian Harmony

The Christian Harmony is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker. The book was released in 1866¹. It is part of the larger tradition of shape note singing.

The same title had previously been used by the early New England composer Jeremiah Ingalls in 1805 for his The Christian Harmony; or, Songster's Companion. In 2005 Thomas B. Malone edited and published a four-shape version for the Jeremiah Ingalls Society Bicentennial Singing in Newbury, Vermont. This edition is increasingly in use in New England singings.

Origin

William Walker was born in 1809 in South Carolina, and grew up near Spartanburg. He became a Baptist song leader and shape note "singing master". Walker and Benjamin Franklin White, publisher of the Sacred Harp, married sisters. In 1835, Walker published a tunebook entitled Southern Harmony in the four-shape notation. He incorporated over half of the contents of this Southern Harmony in his Christian Harmony in 1866. For the Christian Harmony, Walker changed from the "four-note" system to the "seven-shape" system. Retaining the original four shapes of the Southern Harmony, he devised three other shapes of his own. In explaining his change from the four-shape system which he had previously championed, Walker explained that parents wouldn't name seven children with only four names. A second edition was released in 1873. William Walker died on September 24, 1875.

Later Editions

The Christian Harmony is currently available in two editions - the "Carolina" edition and the "Alabama" edition. The book used in western North Carolina and adjacent areas is a 1994 reprint of Walker's 1873 edition of the Christian Harmony. None of the old songs were changed in the new reprint - four songs and some commentary were added. The "Alabama" edition is a line of revision of the Christian Harmony book in 1958. The work was carried out under the leadership of O. A. Parris and John H. Deason. This edition utilizes the seven-shape system of Jesse B. Aiken. This was an adaptation because Aiken's system was the most common among gospel singers in the South. In addition to changing to the Aiken notation, the 1958 revision deleted some songs and added new ones. It is used mainly in Alabama and Mississippi. A revision of the "Alabama" book was released in 1994, with a few song changes and corrections, and again in 2002.

References

• White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands, by George Pullen Jackson

External links

• Christian Harmony page
• Christian Harmony in Newton County, Mississippi
• Homepage for Jeremiah Ingalls' Christian Harmony

Footnote

1. Some sources give the date as 1867.