Murillo's Lesson

Here are the lyrics to the Murillo's Lesson, number 358 (lyrics credited from the Sacred Melodeon) a hymn especially popular (I just read) in Cleburne County, Alabama.

As down a lone valley with cedars o’erspread,
From war’s dread confusion I pensively strayed,
The gloom from the face of fair heaven retired,
The winds hushed their murmurs, the thunders expired.
Perfumes as of Eden flowed sweetly along,
A voice as of angels enchantingly sung,
Columbia, Columbia to glory arise,
The queen of the world and the child of the skies.

Fair science her gate to thy sons shall unbar,
And the east see thy morn hide the beams of her star.
New bards and new sages unrivalled shall soar
To fame unextinguished when time is no more.
To Thee the last refuge of virtue designed,
Shall fly from all nations the best of mankind;
There grateful to heaven with transport shall bring
To Jesus, the author of nations will sing.

I just found this amazing recording of Murillo's Lesson at this website, bee mp3, performed by Jimmy Wofford & the Churchmen. They have a pretty impressive website format, making tons of recordings from WFMU & old 78s free online, easy to download, & easy to embed:

	Jimmy Wofford and the Churchmen - Murillo's Lesson
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

There's several videos on the Youtubes of the Sacred Harp version:

Two Christmas Shape-Note Scores & Recordings

Here's two Christmas tunes for the Western Harmony, scores & sampler demo recordings - I brought them on Monday, but things got a little confusing with the floor being waxed, et cetera.

The first one is the melody of Tchaikovsky's snowflakes, the harmonies have been changed to protect the innocent. The second is a nativity fuging tune with text inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of James (hence the title). I apologize for the sloppy production on the recordings, I only intend them as demos to test the harmonies. There's also a pdf here if anyone across the series of tubes wants to print it out. (& the mp3s here & here.) Happy Christmas & see you all again in the Obama era.

Wailin' Jennys at the Freight and Salvage

This is only very tangentially related to Sacred Harp singing, as I once heard The Wailin' Jennys sing White on Prairie Home Companion. Though there is no guarantee they will sing any Sacred Harp tunes at all on July 20, anyone want to hear the late show at the Freight? Doors open at 7:30, show at 8.