Various Artists - Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp [DVD]

Cat. no: APDVD001
Format: DVD
Barcode: 762184008622
Release Date: 30 May 2025
Genre: Folk

Over the course of 7 years, Atlanta flmmakers/ Sacred Harp singers, Matt & Erica Hinton, created Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, the frst feature documentary to explore the history, music, and traditions of Sacred Harp singing, the oldest distinctively American music

This haunting music has survived over 200 years tucked away from sight in the rural deep South, where Sacred Harp singers begin each song by intoning syllables which are represented by each "shape note" in their hymnal: fa, sol, la, and mi (triangle, oval, 
square and diamond). To the casual observer, it is some foreign, unintelligible language, but to these Sacred Harp singers, it is the key that unlocks mysteries: songs of both beauty and sorrow, of life and of death, songs that cause feet to stomp and tears to fow, often at the same time. Awake, My Soul has aired nationwide on PBS and has been featured in TIME, Paste Magazine, NY Times, Pitchfork, SPIN and on NPR. 

Now available in the UK.

Tracks: AWAKE MY SOUL - History, Music and Traditions of Sacred Harp Music