William Walker (composer)

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William Walker
William Walker

William Walker (May 6, 1809 – September 24, 1875) was a Baptist song leader, shape note "singing master", and compiler of three shape note tunebooks[1].

Contents

[edit] Life

He was born in Martin's Mills (near Cross Keys), South Carolina, and grew up near Spartanburg. Walker married Amy Golightly. Benjamin Franklin White, publisher of the Sacred Harp, married her sister Thurza. He died in Spartanburg in 1875.[2]

[edit] Tunebooks

In 1835, Walker published a tunebook entitled The Southern Harmony, using the four-shape shape note system of notation. In 1846 he came out with The Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist, intended as an appendix to the Southern Harmony. In 1866, he published another tunebook entitled Christian Harmony, in which he changed from four shape to seven shape notation. He incorporated over half of the contents of The Southern Harmony in the Christian Harmony. For the additional three shapes, Walker devised his own system - an inverted key-stone for "do", a quarter-moon for "re", and an isosceles triangle for "si" (or "ti"). Editions of the Christian Harmony are still available printed with Walker's system, as well as in the more common shapes patented by Jesse B. Aiken. The standard four shapes, the Aiken and Walker seven shapes, and other shape note systems may be viewed at What are the Shapes and Why?

[edit] As composer

Walker is listed as the composer of many of the tunes in The Southern Harmony. However, he acknowledged that in many cases, he borrowed his tunes, probably from the living tradition of folk music that surrounded him. Glenn C. Wilcox (references below) describes the process as follows, quoting from Walker's own introduction:

to a "great many good airs (which I could not find in any publication, nor in manuscript)" he has written parts and assigned himself as composer. This ... shows his tacit acceptance of the commonality of many of the tunes... and the probability that many had achieved the status of folk song, although he of course did not use that term.

In working from original tune to finished hymn, Walker borrowed lyrics from established poets such as Charles Wesley (a common practice in his tradition) and added to the tune just a treble (upper) part and a bass, creating three-part harmony.

[edit] Legacy

Walker's hymnals remain in print; and his Southern Harmony continues to be the book used for an annual singing in Benton, Kentucky.

His songs are widely sung today by Sacred Harp singers as well as others. His work is represented by 13 songs in the current 1991 "Denson" edition of The Sacred Harp, and by 12 in the "Cooper" edition. According to the collated minutes kept by the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association[3], his song "Hallelujah" is sung at Sacred Harp conventions more than any other. The Walker songs are generally sung in four-part versions, with alto parts added by early 20th century composers.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Musicologist George Pullen Jackson believed that Walker also published a Sunday School tunebook in 1869, called Fruits and Flowers.
  2. ^ http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/w/a/l/walker_w.htm
  3. ^ fasola.org - Sacred Harp and Shape Note singing

[edit] References

  • cyberhymnal.com
  • A Checklist of Four-Shape Shape-Note Tunebooks, by Richard J. Stanislaw
  • White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands, by George Pullen Jackson
  • Wilcox, Glen, eds. (1987) The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by William Walker; facsimile edition with editor's introduction. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

[edit] External links

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