My senior year of high school, a couple of my friends and I auditioned and were selected for the North Carolina High School Honors Chorus in Winston-Salem, NC. I remember the hours of rehearsal that went into perfecting our performance, but I honestly can't remember half of what we sang. Except for one piece: an a cappella rendition of the traditional folk song, "Oh, Shenandoah."
Looking over the sheet music for the song before the event, I remember kind of shrugging it off, figuring it was going to be the same melody I'd sung as a kid in my town's boys' choir (don't laugh--that boys' choir produced at least one Grammy-winning musician). But then we began to run through it, and it was worlds apart from the original tune. There were hints of Aaron Copland's populist approach to classical composition and George Gershwin's jazz-steeped harmonies, jumping out of the SATB multi-layered vocals. The lush harmonies made the lyrics--which express a longing for nature, loved ones, and home--that much more poignant to my friends and me, considering that we were going to be heading our separate ways after graduation, leaving our Blue Ridge home for our respective universities and/or jobs.
Saying it was moving is an understatement.
This particular rendition was arranged by composer/conductor James Erb, who was associated with the University of Richmond in Virginia for most of his 40-year teaching career--hence the lyrical focus on Virginia's Shenandoah River Valley in his arrangement.
According to the Library of Congress Song of America Project website, the origins of the song are unknown. Some contend that it is a post-Civil War sea shanty about a sailor who's missing his Shenandoah Valley home. Others believe it has Native American roots--Shenandoah referring to an Algonquian chief whose daughter had been courted by a white Missouri River trader, who had been away for "seven long years" but still longed to see the maiden again.
If you listen to no other part of the video posted here, which features a great recording by the US Air Force Singing Sergeants, go to the 1:50 mark, and take in the vocal harmonies on the line Across the wide Missouri. It's a thing of pure, hair-raising beauty.
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