On December 17, Christ the Savior Orthodox Church presented “An Appalachian Christmas” in Heritage Hall on the grounds of Heritage Farm Museum and Village in Huntington, West Virginia. This candlelit concert of traditional Christmas music was performed by the combined choir of Christ the Savior and Holy Cross Monastery, both located in nearby Wayne, West Virginia. The evening included renditions of well-known Christmas songs and shape-note carols sung in traditional a cappella, as well as a local folk carol from East Tennessee.
For more information about shape-note style, also known as sacred-harp singing, and how it journeyed “from the Land of the Witch Trials to the Land of Cotton, and why it still persists so strongly” in the South, check out this essay by music educator Dr. Tom Daniel.
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