Essay on the Hymn Tune, "I'm Going Home"- (2024)   

for organ

 

Found in the shape-note hymnal, The Sacred Harp, this tune from 1850 is numbered as 282. A quote accompanies it on the page:  "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.'' -- Isaiah 65:19. 

 

Intended for a full registration, one reads:  "In Sacred Harp singing, loud is usually good, and louder is better. This is partly because of the music’s origins as a true folk music sung by ordinary people for pleasure and worship, partly because loud singing provides more catharsis, more instant gratification, more visceral pleasure, than controlled singing." In "First time at a Sacred Harp singing?" Text adapted from "A Beginner’s Guide to Shape-Note Singing," 4th edition, Lisa Grayson, Sacred Harp Publishing, 2009.

 

 

2 pages, circa 2' 45" an MP3 demo is here: 

 

The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.

 

Essay on the Hymn Tune, "I'm Going Home"

                    

 

[ 1 ]     The look of the shape notes on the page is quite interesting for musicians, as intended as an aid to the amateur singer joining with a cappella gusto.

         \