The Sacred Cow Harmogenizers. Now there’s a name that will stick in your mind and make you wonder just what kind of music they sing. They must harmonize, right? But sacred?
We got in touch with the folks who participate in the Sacred Cow Harmogenizers, a well-known Northwest shape-note singing group that’s been a part of the Northwest Folklife Festival since its earliest years, to learn more about shape-note singing. We found a whole community that extends along the West Coast, with several groups in the Seattle area. In fact, we found out so much about shape-note singing that it took two documentaries to cover it—one to explain what shape-note singing is, and one to track the history of the Sacred Cow Harmogenizers.
Shape-note singing as it is practiced in the Pacific Northwest is a cappella (unaccompanied by musical instruments), four-part harmony vocal music that was first sung in the late 18th century in Philadelphia and New England. Soon it moved to the American South, where it was taught by itinerant music masters who traveled throughout the region on horseback. People learned how to read the shapes of the notes—fa, sol, la, mi—so that they could sing from tune books, of which there were many. One of the most popular books was called The Sacred Harp, which is still in print. Because that particular tune book was so widely used, the practice of shape-note singing became known as Sacred Harp singing.
The 18th-century close harmonies of the Sacred Harp sound eerie, a bit off, and strangely compelling to contemporary listeners. The singing itself is powerful and a bit raw, a big sound that comes from the singer’s chest and is close in range to his or her speaking voice. The majority of the song texts deal with topics of sin, death and the hereafter. Shape-note singers in the Pacific Northwest represent a variety of religious beliefs and, as a result, everyone interprets the song texts through his or her own personal spiritual lens.
Intrepid videographer Doug Plummer visited groups in and around Seattle and traveled to Eugene, Oregon, for an all-day gathering called a “singing.” These videos capture the sound, the spirit, and the community of shape-note singing in the Pacific Northwest.
Shape-Note Singing:
History of the Sacred Cow Harmogenizers:
These videos are part of Northwest Stories, a year-long project of Northwest Folklife to capture the spirit of communities in the region that participate in the annual Northwest Folklife Festival. The project is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
