The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition
debuted December 1, 2012 at the Florida State singing convention, in Panama
City. This version of The Sacred Harp has gone through many changes since
Wilson Marion Cooper first launched it in 1902. It was the first of what
were to be three descendants of the book that had been first published in
1844 under the editorship of Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha James King.
Today all three descendants of the White-King Sacred Harp have singings
dedicated to using them, and Sacred Harp singers often make no distinction
over which singing they will travel to attend. Indeed there are singings
which use more than one tunebook during the event.
As is nearly always the case with human endeavors, this 2012 edition is not
error-free. A list of errors important to singers and users of the book can
be found here.
If you'd like to see what songs folks are choosing to lead, a dynamic list
of the singings for which minutes are available and the minutes themselves
is available here, as well
as a link to song popularity lists.
Contact: Cooper@weelyrd.net
