There’s approximately ONE TON of information that I could include in this article, ranging from Gregorian chant to early American shape-note singing to the great Alice Parker and her arrangements for the Robert Shaw Chorale, of which “Hark” is one of many. I’m going to rein myself in at least somewhat, though, fascinating as all of this is.
Let me just briefly say first of all that we haven’t, of course, always had the musical notation that we have today, nor have we had the mathematical theory behind it. The Greek mathematician Pythagoras is the one who came up with at least the basic ideas of how pitches work. (So he wasn’t just about triangles.) He figured out that a plucked string vibrated at a certain frequency, or pitch, and that a string half that length vibrated an octave above it. In other words, the same note, but higher. I guess one of these days I’ll have to read up on how he figured all of this out, if indeed we have any info about that process at all. Then, as far as we know, it took only about 1500 years for the notation system of today to get its start, in connection with what we call “Gregorian chant,” used in services of the Roman Catholic Church. But this system didn’t really specify pitches but only direction of pitches—up or down. Someone who knew the melody had to teach the monks or nuns or whatevers the actual tune. The music, an oral (or aural) medium, had to be passed down orally, that is, by memory. But that idea shouldn’t be terribly strange to us, as we know that verbal material was also passed down orally. Ancient poets and bards who didn’t have access to writing recited long stories that they had learned “by heart.”
Eventually we ended up with the complicated system we have today for musical notation, with key signatures and time signatures and all that sort of thing. But what if you didn’t know how to read music but you wanted to sing with a group? One answer to that question came in the form of “shape notes,” that is, notes that had different shapes for the note heads according to where they fell in the “do-re-mi” scale sequence. (Or “fa-so-la,” but I’m not going to dive into that particular rabbit hole.) Every modern major scale has a certain sequence of whole and half tones, and every minor one has the same. So you’d know, as you sat in your shape-note (or perhaps “shaped” note—both terms are used) choir and looked at your choir book, that every time you saw a note with a rectangular head it would be a certain pitch in the scale sequence. It didn’t matter where you started the tune; all that mattered was the sequence of intervals that you’d learned. That starting pitch would set the tone for all the rest. And how would you know that starting pitch? Ah. Good question. “Harp singers traditionally key songs without a pitch pipe; a singer with a good ear will sound the notes of the first chord, trying to find a vocal range to make the song both interesting and comfortable.” (“A Beginner’s Guide to Shape-Note Singing”) Again, this shouldn’t be a totally foreign idea to us today. How many times have you been gathered somewhere without a piano and wanted to sing something, perhaps “Happy Birthday” or “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” and you’ve said, “Someone start us off.” You were asking for someone with that same “good ear” mentioned above to pick a starting pitch that most people could sing.
Shape-note songs or hymns are usually simple, without any kind of complicated rhythm or melody, and they’re also sung at full volume. So, while shape-note pieces wouldn’t necessarily be sung in a certain way just because of the style of notation, in reality they’re usually very distinctive because of their simplicity and volume.
Before I finally get to the song itself, I must also mention that the idea of singing the notes of the scale with syllables is today called “solfège,” and it is used in very sophisticated applications to teach voice students how to sight read and to stay on pitch without any external help. In reality, what is going on in the singer’s mind (and ear) as he or she participates in a shape-note choir is pretty sophisticated too, even though the temptation is to think of that process as being “primitive.”
Okay. On to “Hark! I Hear.” I’ve talked about Alice Parker a little bit in a previous post; she is a powerful figure in American music even today, at the age of 95. (I’m writing this in early 2021.) She served for 20 years as the chief arranger of pieces for the Robert Shaw Chorale, and this piece is from that period, with the original song dating to the mid-1850s. Her arrangement is truly lovely and challenging, with complicated rhythms and a sort of canon, but, as you know if you’re familiar with this site, I don’t do much in the way of musical analysis. Instead, I want to concentrate on the words. I have to say that I’ve sung this song myself in a church setting (although not in its shape-note version), and that while I’ve loved doing so I didn’t really think through the words until writing this article. The lyrics are short but packed with meaning, and I’m going to go through them verse by verse:
Hark! I hear the harps eternal ringing on the farther shore,
As I near those swollen waters, with their deep and solemn roar.
The speaker is approaching death, which is often symbolized by a river. Oh man, could I go on forever here or what? (You’ve already done that, Debi. Give us a break.) The idea of crossing a river at death is very common, with the Greeks perhaps starting the whole thing with the River Styx. Christians kind of picked up on that idea but merged it with the crossing of the River Jordan into the Promised Land in the Old Testament. John Bunyan, for example, has this scene in Pilgrim’s Progress before his two pilgrims can enter the Celestial City, or heaven:
Now, I further saw, that between them and the gate was a river, but there was no bridge to go over: the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, the Pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went in with them said, You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.
Note the wording in the song: “with their deep and solemn roar.” Death isn’t treated lightly. And why does the person nearing death hear harps? Well, the Christian New Testament mentions harps in heaven several times. Here’s one that combines the roar of the water with harps:
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. (Rev. 14:2 KJV)
Note my use of an exclamation point after “Hark.” This isn’t typically used in the title but should be, as it’s actually a one-word commmand: “Listen!”
The chorus switches us to those who are already there in heaven, singing before God’s throne:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, praise the Lamb,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Glory to the great I AM.
This language is all over the Book of Revelation, sung by saved souls, angels, and other beings.
Let’s go on to the next verse:
And my soul though stained with sorrow, fading as the light of day,
Passes swiftly o’er those waters to the city far away.
Death is swift, after all. And here’s my favorite verse, the last one:
Souls have crossed before me, saintly, to that land of perfect rest;
And I hear them singing faintly in the mansions of the blest.
Somehow that image of the newly-passed soul being able to hear the saints only “faintly” (because he isn’t quite there yet) has always seemed particularly striking to me. You can then take the repeated final choruses as the soul’s being able to join in now that he’s finally arrived. That’s one way to see it, anyway. How I love this song!
Just as I’ve gotten a bit carried away with explaining the above, I’m now going to inundate you with videos or recordings. I wasn’t able to find an actual shape-note choir on YouTube performing the song, but here’s an attempt by a virtual choir to give the same effect. They go through the tune first using the shape-note syllables and then with the words.. Note the arm motions–that simple up-and-down motion is authentic. Also, the harmony is somewhat different. They are to be commended!
And here’s a performance of the Robert Shaw Chorale which is clearly our arrangement even though Alice Parker’s name is not mentioned:
A-a-a-a-n-d–a performance by the LA Master Chorale via virtual choir (note the intro):
Oh, and my former church singing the song:
Capitol Hill Baptist Church Hymn Sing
Oh, and one more thing (I promise)–Here are some additional verses that were listed on one of the YT video comments:
4. Just beyond the river flasheth Jebu-Salem of my God,
Where the white wave, rising, plasheth On the shore by angels trod.
5. Stop! I see the boatman nearing; See! the snowy sail is set,
And the oars are floating idly, And the sail is drifting wet.
6. Call my father! call my mother! Tell them that the boatman’s here;
And another—Oh, another! Unto whom my soul is dear.
7. Call them quick! for I am passing Thro’ the valley of the grave;
I am passing, with the boatman, O’er the deep and solemn wave!
