New Haven comes from the shape-note hymn tradition of the early nineteenth century in the United States. Many of these hymns were published in 'Southern Harmony' and/or 'The Sacred Harp', mostly in three-part arrangements: the melody with a bass part below it and a harmony part above it - a 'descant' in the original meaning of the word we use for the soprano recorder. Doubling parts at the lower or higher octave was normal practice in the tradition, and here I have duplicated the melody at the ... (more)

New Haven comes from the shape-note hymn tradition of the early nineteenth century in the United States. Many of these hymns were published in 'Southern Harmony' and/or 'The Sacred Harp', mostly in three-part arrangements: the melody with a bass part below it and a harmony part above it - a 'descant' in the original meaning of the word we use for the soprano recorder. Doubling parts at the lower or higher octave was normal practice in the tradition, and here I have duplicated the melody at the upper octave to give three possibilities for perfectly satisfactory performances: S1 S2 A T as written (doubling the A part if you like, since it's the tune); S2 A T (again doubling the A part if you like); or S1 S2 T.

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