By JESSICA ALLEN
Horace Boyer gently stroked the piano keys as he listened to his class give life to his words, “We shall come re–joic–ing; Bring–ing in the sheaves.”
“Altos now,” Boyer commanded the lower-pitch female section to join in.
“We shall come ,” they sang.
“Now I should be able to put all four groups together,” Boyer said. “Number 33.”
“We shall come re–joic–ing” the chorus sang in unison. “Bring–ing in the sheaves.”
“Stop,” Boyer shouted. “Who had difficulty finding their pitch?”
No one answered.
“It was all good? Then let’s keep going,” he said.
The 40-member group sang in such harmony that one would have thought they belonged to the same church choir, denomination or locality.
They didn’t. But neither were they strangers. They were brothers and sisters in the faith, each with a desire to praise the Lord through spiritual music.
As part of Trinity Episcopal Church’s 177th birthday celebration, the group participated this weekend in a workshop and concert titled “Sweet, Sweet Spirit: Hymns, Spirituals and Gospel Music in the African–American Tradition.”
Participants were members at Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) on Sophia Street in Fredericksburg; Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) and Tower of Deliverance, both on Princess Anne Street; Third Mount Zion Baptist in Woodford in Caroline County; Colonial Beach Baptist in Westmoreland County; St. Stephens Baptist in Culpeper County; Christ Episcopal Church in Spotsylvania County; and Fredericksburg United Methodist Church on Hanover Street in Fredericksburg.
The Rev. Kent Rahm, Trinity’s senior pastor, and Doug Henderson, the church’s music director, said they wanted to celebrate the anniversary with the community.
When Henderson met Boyer last year at an Episcopalian conference, he was inspired to ask him to conduct the workshop and concert.
“We wanted to make an effort to bridge Fredericksburg, and we thought with someone like Horace Boyer with his gospel and being black, it would be a way to bring everyone together,” Henderson said.
Boyer, who is a retired music professor at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, edited “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The gospel hymnal is used in some Episcopalian churches, including Trinity.
He was surprised to learn that the congregation has been using his book for the past six years.
“Once I put [the book] together, we realized white Episcopalians didn’t know how to sing it,” he said. “I go around churches to give some history to the music and teach them how to sing it.”
That’s exactly what he did Saturday.
Boyer entered Trinity’s parish hall to a room filled with strangers eagerly waiting for his instruction.
For six hours, he taught them how to emphasize certain words when they sang, how to hold a note and how to move to the beat.
Gospel music is the 20th-century musical, sacred explanation of black America, he said. It involves joys, sorrows, hopes and the aspirations of the black people, he said.
“Since it’s a music of liberation, even sad subjects are treated with hope and joy,” he said. “It’s not Bach, Handel or Beethoven. It’s more like Mahalia Jackson and the Five Blind Boys.”
He started clapping his hands and swaying right to left.
“Hit the middle of your hand and move,” he said. “It’s all in the rhythm.”
For some, it came naturally; many grew up singing music that blends blues, jazz and Negro spirituals. But for others, it was a learning experience.
Jessica Smith, a 60-year-old Trinity member who had never sung gospel before, said it was a blessing that Episcopalians are learning other kinds of music.
“Not all of us were born in the faith; some are from other backgrounds,” she said. “But we are here now, together, worshipping and praising the Lord and giving him glory.”
To reach JESSICA ALLEN: 540/368-5036 jiallen@freelancestar.com