A fantastic series on National Public Radio called “Ecstatic Voices” is exploring religious music in a variety of traditions and (sometimes unusual) contexts. Today’s story was about folk hymnody in rural Appalachia, and previous installments included singing nuns and atheists performing Palestrina.
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Thanks, Adam. It's interesting to note that the sacred music in America that remained relatively isolated – Old Regulars, Hutterites, Amish, to name a few – is very, very slow. People literally seem to sink into the songs. Old Regular, like the Primitive Baptists with the Sacred Harp tradition, "warm-up" their weekly or monthly services with at least an hour of singing in addition to their larger annual singing conventions.
The slower singing allows the singer to ponder the words and gives a sense of stepping out of time into a meditative eternity. In some groups, it also allows for splendid ornamentation similar to Sean-nos singing.
In addition to giving us a wonderful window into a very different worship than our own, it may encourage us to take a look at our snappy tempos and "gotta be done in an hour" mentality.