Yes, > Re European influence on African Music. > I recently heard an NPR program on Sacred Harp music which is a rare singing > tradition from southern US churches. It is a shaped note method and it struck > me that it sounds Very similar to South African choirs. And in fact sounds > Very much like English folk songs from the 17th century.
The flow was both ways. In the 19th century the European and American explorers were closely followed by the Christian missionaries around the world. And most of those missionaries to the "natives" were the Evangelicals who made a lot of use of their hymns (as well as their prejudices - "the missionary position" so called by the newly covered Pacific Islanders <g>). It is probably true that the '60s folkie's Kumbaya is Come By Here, My Lord - just a bit garbled. But those same southern Evangelical churches already had picked up an African influence from the converted slaves. The unison and the emotion. Sacred Harp singing isn't so much rare as ignored in the mainstream. It has been a part of Gospel singing for a long time. I could go further, but I won't (much to the pleasure of the list). Best, Jon
