Tourdion (Quand je bois du vin clairet)
Anon., 16th-century France
Live in Whately, MA, August 2022
Hopeless
Cover of a song by The Staves
U Poju se mala
Croatia, from the klapa singing tradition
Terzetti di Filenu Traditional, from the village of Rusiu (Corsica)
Video Credit: Feels Like Media
USA, Adam Simon, 2019
This choral piece, written by our very own Adam Simon, is inspired by American Appalachian folk music and Sacred Harp singing. The text is a common meter setting of Psalm 55 by the English hymnodist Isaac Watts.
USA, Sacred Harp, arr. John Massengale,1850
This lively American Christmas song is from The Sacred Harp, a tune book first published in the mid 19th century. Sacred Harp singing is a community singing tradition focused not on performance but on the joy and power of singing together.
Corsica, Traditional
The paghjella is a highly ornamented and improvised singing tradition from the island of Corsica. Th text says: “You may boast, youth, but your elders are everywhere. Even if you are nimble like deer, they will hunt you down, and like hunters, they are watching, night and day.”
USA, Grace Potter, 2005
Sophie and Sora were drawn to this song for its powerful harmonies and their love of singing American music together. It was written by acclaimed musician and composer Grace Potter, who is from Sora’s home state of Vermont.
USA, M.L. Swan, 1867
Originally published in The New Harp of Columbia in 1867, this song has been recently repopularized by its publication in a new American songbook, The Shenandoah Harmony. Its harmonies, unaltered from the original version, sound strikingly modern and very satisfying.