It ain't all profane pop music around here! I was heartened, recently, to receive a copy of the new documentary on Sacred Harp singing, Awake, My Soul, and its accompanying two-disc (!) soundtrack. Sacred Harp singing is one of the oldest enduring forms of American music—over 200 years—making it's way from England, to New England, and finally the South, where it found a home in Southern churches. Despite the name, there are no instruments involved in Sacred Harp singing: it is an a capella singing style built around four-part vocal harmonies. More communal than traditional forms of gospel and choral singing, it does not require a director or leader; when a church does Sacred Harp singing, everyone in the building enthusiastically participates, getting caught up in the waves of loud, joyous sound.

The first time I heard Sacred Harp music, I was taken aback. This was like no gospel music I had ever encountered before! It is an alien sound, completely bucking traditional notions of dynamics and choral techniques for a rousing, rough-hewn cacophony that is as ecstatic and strong as it is tremendously sad. More Phil Spector than the Gaither Family, this is a wall of human sound, all booming, discordant exuberance. The imperfections in one human voice could be turned into a thing of sanctified beauty when belted out unselfconsciously and multiplied by the many. If enough people are singing together wrong, it can suddenly become so right. 

The first disc is full of authentic recordings of traditional songs captured at various churches by the filmmakers, Matt and Erica Hinton. And it's immaculate. The second disc, a collection of popular adaptations of the Sacred Harp songbook, captures the gravitas and dirt-stained dignity of the music but somewhat misses all of the raucous din that seems to me so essential (though tracks by Danielson, Doc Watson and Woven Hand come close).

Besides the Awake, My Soul soundtrack, I also recommend Sacred Harp Singing and Southern Journey, vol. 9: Harp of a Thousand Strings, both issued on Rounder Records and both made up of field recordings from famed musicologist Alan Lomax in 1942 and 1959, respectively. 

Read more about this music at the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association's site and listen to this NPR story.

Listen to samples from the soundtrack.

Watch the movie trailer.