I don’t usually watch the Oscars but I hope to tune in this weekend. A friend of mine, a frequent visitor of CT – comments by “laura” – will be performing at the event.
So how does a Sociology PhD student make it to the Oscars? Certainly not by planning for it. Laura’s dissertation is on Sacred Harp singing. It’s not something most of us know anything about. I’ve learned from her that it’s an a capella four-part harmony style that’s been a living tradition in the South for over 150 years and has undergone something of a folk revival in the Northeast, Midwest, and West coast over the past 20-30 years. It is participatory singing, not usually performed in this way so the Oscar performance will be a bit artificial. But anything is possible in Hollywood, as we know.
Laura is studying communities that form around Sacred Harp singing so she has become quite connected with people who are involved in these communities. The movie Cold Mountain featured some Sacred Harp songs. It turns out that those songs were the hit of the movie’s soundtrack. And although they are not eligible to be nominated in the song category because they are old songs not “original song” (?), a Sacred Harp song is attached to the song sung by Alison Krauss that has been nominated. So that’s where a group of Sacred Harp singers, including Laura, will be participating in the Oscars. It should be about an hour into the show.
{ 7 comments }
Sam Heldman 02.28.04 at 1:53 am
Cool. That’s how you tell those who really LIKE american traditional music from those who simply like to listen to the Prairie Home Companion, you know: play them some Sacred Harp singing. The dilettantes can’t handle it.
yami 02.28.04 at 2:30 am
Hmm, so what does that say about those of us who prefer Sacred Harp to most of what gets played on Prairie Home? Or at least, who prefer shape-singing by people who can stay on key, which is of course against the ideology of Sacred Harp, but that’s what happens when you’re born to Suzuki method folk musicians…
Ralph Luker 02.28.04 at 3:10 am
CT discovers Sacred Harp! Surely a good thing. And do not forget that it is best when it is very loud.
ben wolfson 02.28.04 at 4:30 am
I’m most definitly a trad-music dilettante and I thought the one singing I went to was totally and completely awesome. You’ll need a different method.
dave heasman 03.01.04 at 12:55 pm
Surprised not to see Daniel commenting…
jesse 03.02.04 at 2:49 pm
i watched the oscars, but it sounded to me like the singers just sang harmony behind krauss, they didn’t even open their books or sing anything in the Sacred Harp tradition. was the telecast edited? did the plans change? what happened?
eszter 03.05.04 at 2:44 am
Jesse – yup, it turns out that the plans were changed so they didn’t get to do what they had planned. But hey, at least they weren’t completely erased from the program. (For a while there, I thought they wouldn’t come on stage at all.)
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