Topic: Choral Arrangements
Harry Harter published a revision of his 1958 arrangement of “Koom Ba Yah” for women’s voices in 1960. The key modifications are those required for the different vocal ranges of sopranos in a female group and tenors in a mixed-gender ensemble. The highest note on the first page [1] for the SABT tenors is a D. In the SSA arrangement, the same note for the first sopranos is an E.
The parts for male voices are the most changed: women have no equivalent voices to basses. Their melodic line is taken over by the second sopranos while the altos follow the tenor’s basic line.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: first soprano in one section
Vocal Group: first and second sopranos, alto
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Music: Harry H. Harter
Text: based on an African Negro Spiritual
Dedication: “To the Maryville College Choir and Mabel”
© Copyright MCMLVIII, MCMLX, SHAWNEE PRESS, Inc., Delaware Water Gap, Pa.
First collected in the U. S. by Cooperative Recreation Service, Inc., Delaware, Ohio.
Notes on Lyrics
Same as SATB arrangements discussed in post for 24 September 2023.
Notes on Music
Generally the same as SATB arrangement discussed in post for 24 September 2023, with the following modifications.
Key Signature: four flats changes to no sharps or flats, then to three flats and a return to no sharps or flags
Harmonic Structure: when all three groups are singing, first sopranos generally carry the melody and second sopranos sing reverse lines with the altos repeating “koom ba yah, mah Lawd”
Notes on Performance
Cover: long African mask of face in center
Color Scheme: black ink on white paper
Audience Perceptions
A 1962 review in the Choral Journal told readers it is “an effective setting of an African Negro Spiritual. Makes use of piano accompaniment plus a passage for solo voice or a few solo voices.” [2]
Notes on Audience
The Fontbonne Chorus of the all-girls’ Roman Catholic college in Clayton, Missouri, performed Harter’s arrangement in 1962. “Koom Ba Yah” was the opening number. It was described as an “African Spiritual.”
Notes on Performers
Harry Harold Harter grew up in San Jose, California, where he graduated from San Jose State College. While a student, he began working as a tenor and arranger for The King’s Men quartet. [3] The group had been formed in 1929, and worked for Paul Whiteman between 1934 and 1937. When Harter joined them, they had just begun working for Fibber McGee and Molly on NBC radio. [4]
Presumably after graduation he served as a chaplain’s assistant in the Air Force from 1943 to 1946. [5] He earned a master’s in music from the University of Nebraska in 1947, [6] and began working at Maryville College the next year. [7]
Like Varner Chance and other musicians teaching in academic schools, he probably was forced to take on other jobs to supplement a low salary. [8] He directed the New Providence Presbyterian Church choir [9] and sold arrangements to a number of publishers beside Shawnee. [10] Beyond income, these compositions may have been accepted as publications before he earned a PhD in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in 1961. [11]
Although Maryville College was sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA), [12] Harter and his wife were members of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Maryville. [13]
Availability
Sheet Music: Harry Harter. “Koom Ba Yah.” Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania: Shawnee Press, Inc., 1960 edition for SSA.
Concert: Harry Harter, arranger. “Koom Ba Yah.” Fontbonne Chorus, Clayton, Missouri, 23 March 1962. Reported by the school newspaper, The Font, on 26 February 1962.
End Notes
1. The copy of the SABT arrangement of “Koom Ba Yah” that I purchased on the internet is missing pages 3–6.
2. George Gansz. “Choral Reviews.” Choral Journal 2(4):15:1 March 1962.
3. Keni Lanagan. “College Mourns Loss of Dr. Harry Harter.” Maryville College press release, 11 August 2004.
4. “All the King’s Men.” Radio Life, 10 July 1940; reprinted by Return with Us Now, 19 (9):5–6:April 1994.
5. Lanagan.
6. “Harry Harold Harter.” 134 in Chilhowean, Maryville College yearbook, 1977.
7. Lanagan.
8. Varner Chance is discussed in the posts for 21 March 2021 ande 28 March 2021.
9. Lanagan.
10. Obituary. McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home, Marysville, Tennessee, 2004.
11. Lanagan.
12. “Maryville College.” Wikipedia website; accessed 30 September 2023.
13. Lanagan.
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Harry Harter - Koom Ba Yah SSA
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Kumbaya Copyrights
Topic: Choral Arrangements
Fred Waring’s Shawnee Press was the first music publisher to challenge Lynn Rohrbough’s publication of “Kumbaya.” The exact chronology is lost; only some letters between Rohrbough and Shawnee representatives remain, and they appear to come toward the end of the correspondence.
Rohrbough’s company, Cooperative Recreation Service (CRS), first published “Kum Ba Yah” in a songbook prepared in 1955 [1] by Kathryn Thompson Good and John Blocher, Jr., for Indianola, a Columbus, Ohio, Methodist family camp. Blocher did the transcription from Good’s singing. [2]
No copyright was registered, and no ownership notice was appended. The law dictated that copyright owners print a notice under a song in every publication to maintain a copyright. As seen in the reproduction of Indianola Sings posted on 29 May 2022, this did not occur.
The lawyer for later owners of CRS told them that, under the law in effect in 1955, “the printing of one book (one copy) with out proper Copyright notice can lose you the copyright.” He added that “some folks judged a little less strictly than others, but certainly if more than one whole printing has gone out with songs uncredited, he feels that there is no question; the song has fallen in to the public domain.” [3]
Instead, Rohrbough included “Come By Here: Kum Ba Yah,” without an ownership notice, in a Song Sampler published in January 1956 that was distributed to “200 organizations in every state and to correspondents in 60 overseas countries.” He informed recipients that “bulk lots are available to organizations for mailing lists, in conferences, and try-outs.” [4]
Rohrbough believed the next publication of “Kum Ba Yah” was in a collection compiled in February and March 1956 for the North East Ohio Conference of the Methodist Church. Bliss Wiant, one of the editors, created a four-part arrangement that did carry a copyright notice.
This only asserted ownership of the arrangement, and did not cover the original song. A copy is included in the post for 2 October 2022, and I have yet to see another publication reproduce this particular version.
Shawnee published a version of “Koom Ba Yah” in 1958 by Harry Harter. The sheet music carried a notice at the bottom of the first page.
Shawnee’s editors apparently learned about the CRS version soon after it released Harter’s arrangement. It must have contacted the company about copyright infringement because Rohrbough included the following credit in a 1958 songbook produced for Lake Poinsett: [5]
Meantime, Shawnee was publishing another version of “Koom Ba Yah” in 1959 by Livingston Gearhart for boys’ vocal ensembles. The book carried a notice on the title page, which was intended to cover all the songs in it. [6]
Rohrbough may then have written back to Shawnee to assert his prior publication of “Kumbaya.” This is where the evidence begins. In the first letter saved in a CRS file on the song, the company’s editor wrote Rohrbough on 13 February 1959:
“Our contributor, Hr. Harter maintains that he learned the song directly from an African missionary, who said it was widely sung in Africa. Its popularity there is further attested to by the fact that one of our editorial assistants learned it at a church camp from another African missionary. It would appear that this song may be a true folk song, which can be collected any number of times from authentic but different sources - namely the folk themselves. Our understanding of such songs is that they can be published by anyone who gets them from an original source, and does not use another publishers’ printed version for a source. (In this instance, Hr. Harter was under the impression that he was the first person to write down the song, so was unaware of the existence of a printed source.)” [7]
At this point, Rohrbough did not seem to be aware that “Kumbaya” was an original publication of CRS. Indeed, he seems to have fully accepted the history of the song that was presented by Larry Eisenberg at Davidson College in 1957. [8] This is where Peter Seeger heard the song, and he subsequently spread the legend about an African missionary. [9]
On 16 February 1959, Rohrbough wrote: “Of course this song was widely known by missionaries. Probably it is only a question of who first published it.” [10]
However, Rohrbough noted: “The fact that your contributor followed the spelling “Koom” in our footnote would indicate that your missionary friend had seen our printed copy. [11]
Shawnee’s lawyer then contacted Harter, and wrote back on 14 May 1959: “Our contributor, Harry Harter learned of the spiritual in 1957 from an African missionary. However, we have determined that the missionary actually first heard the selection in a recreational laboratory workshop in Minnesota about 1954 but the missionary also had the understanding that Rosa Page Welch heard the work while travelling in Africa and brought the song to America. Tracking that down, we have determined that Rosa Page Welch actually first heard the work at the World Christian Student conference at Athens, Ohio about 1956 when an African student led the conference in singing it.” [12]
Rohrbough responded on 4 June 1959 that “we did the Northland Songs for the Rec. Lab. at St. Paul.” [13] When I contacted members of the Northland Recreation Laboratory, they indicated Rohrbough had not attended their annual workshops since 1936. [14] The group published collections from workshops, and there was no evidence that the song ever was sung there in the middle-1950s. One member, however, did remember learning the song at the annual conference of the Methodist Church, which was held in 1956 in Minneapolis. [15] That may be the source for Harter’s reference to Minnesota.
Rohrbough also described the Student Volunteer Movement meeting in Athens, Ohio, and Welch’s role as a song leader. [16]
At this point, Shawnee’s lawyer realized that Harter was an unreliable source and that oral tradition had engulfed the song. He wrote Rohrbough: “we are agreeable to making acknowledgment in our reprints of KOOM BA YAH to your organization as first collectors of this spiritual in the U. S. and in consideration of your position as said first collector of the selection we would pay you a nominal fee of $1.00 with the understanding that in making such acknowledgment to you we do so without prejudice to our copyright in KOOM BA YAH.” [17]
Shawnee was able to publish Harter’s version for women’s voices later that year. [18] The following credits appeared at the bottom of the page.
The Poinsett note was used for a reprint of the Young Women’s Christian Associations’ Sing Along that originally had been published in 1957. CRS simply used the current plate. [19]
Rohrbough did not reprint the reference to Shawnee Press again in his songbooks. The closest he came in 1962 was to follow Shawnee’s hint about sources and list the first dates for Wiant’s arrangement of “Kum Ba Yah” and Van Richards’ “Come by Here.” The latter, published in 1958, is discussed in the post for 15 January 2023.
Graphics
1. “Kum Ba Yah.” 31 in Hymns of Universal Praise, edited for North East Ohio Conference of the Methodist Church by Bliss Wiant and Carlton Young. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service, Cooperative Song Service, 1956.
2. Harry Harter. “Koom Ba Yah.” Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania: Shawnee Press, Inc., 1958 edition for SATB.
3. “Kum Ba Yah.” 50 in Lake Poinsett Fellowship Songs. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Song Service, revised 1958.
4. “Koom Ba Yah.” 59–61 in Gentlemen Songsters, edited by Livingston Gearhart. Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania: Shawnee Press, Inc., 1959.
5. Harry Harter. “Koom Ba Yah.” Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania: Shawnee Press, Inc., 1960.
6. “Kum Ba Yah.” 11 in Songs to Keep, edited by Augustus Zanzig. Delaware, Ohio: Informal Music Service. © 1962, Cooperative Recreation Service, Inc., Delaware, O.
End Notes
Bruce Greene, owner of World Around Songs, has sent the surviving papers, songbooks, and other documents of CRS to the Library of Congress, who now has the originals. I kept scans of all the papers in the company’s “Kumbaya” folder, which Mr. Greene lent to me in 2016.
1. Lynn Rohrbough. Letter to Shawnee Press, 16 February 1959. Copy courtesy of Bruce Greene.
2. Patricia Averill with John Blocher, Jr. “‘Kumbaya’ and Dramatizations of an Etiological Legend.” Voices 46:26–32:Spring–Summer 2020. Copy available from Academia.edu.
3. Letter from one owner of World Around Songs to another, 3 May 1979. Copy courtesy of Bruce Greene.
4. Song Sampler number 1, January 1956. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service, Cooperative Song Service, 1956. B. The post for 31 July 2022 reproduces the Song Sampler variant.
5. Lake Poinsett is discussed in the post for 9 July 2023.
6. Gearhart’s is discussed in the post for 8 October 2023.
7. Shawnee Press editor. Letter to Lynn Rohrbough, 13 February 1959. Copy courtesy of Bruce Greene.
8. For more on the event at Davidson College, see the post for 16 October 2022.
9. Averill and Blocher.
10. Lynn Rohrbough. Letter to Shawnee Press editor, 16 February 1959. Copy courtesy of Bruce Greene.
11. Rohrbough, 16 February 1959.
12. Shawnee Press lawyer to Lynn Rohrbough, 14 May 1959. Copy courtesy of Bruce Greene.
13. Lynn Rohrbough, letter to Shawnee Press lawyer, 4 June 1959. Copy courtesy of Bruce Greene.
14. For more on Northland Recreation Workshop, see the post for 26 September 2021.
15. For more on the Methodist conference, see the post for 9 October 2022.
16. Rohrbough, 4 June 1959. The post for 31 July 2022, has more on the Athens meeting.
17. Shawnee Press lawyer.
18. Harter’s arrangement is discussed in the post for 29 October 2023.
19. Sing Along is discussed in the post for 11 December 2022.
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Livingston Gearhart - Koom Ba Yah
Topic: Choral Arrangements
Following the publication of Harry Harter’s SATB arrangement of “Koom Ba Yah” in 1958, Fred Waring published a version for boys’ choirs the next year. It appeared in Gentlemen Songsters, a choral collection edited by Livingston Gearhart.
The arrangement was the first published one to use vocal melodic and rhythmic parts. The upper voices sang the tune in unison while the lower ones repeated “koom by yah” in a dotted-quarter-note/eighth note/quarter-note pattern. The first two notes were the same, and the third was a step lower. The second part of the arrangement used two melodies.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: two parts
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano
Rhythm Accompaniment: vocal part
Credits
Headnote: African Spiritual
Footnote: “Koom ba ya,” is derived from the words “Come by here.”
Title Page: © Copyright MCMLIX by Shawnee Press, Inc., Delaware Water Gap, Pa.
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: dialect for “mah,” “Lawd”; drops terminal G’s
Verses: those published by Cooperative Recreation Service (CRS) – kumbaya, prayin’, cryin’, singin’
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lawd, Savior
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: 4-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: Savior for Lord in last line
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5; same melody as that published by CRS
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: fast, quarter note = ca 138
Rhythm: introduction is “very short; brittle”; first section rhythm part is “hushed, but strongly percussive”; second section is “subtito”
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Dynamics: first section soft (“pp”), second section loud (“f”), ending soft (“pp”)
Basic Structure: two sections
Singing Style: one syllable to one note; “savior” used in place of “Lord” in final line
Harmonic Structure: verses 1 and 2 use one melodic line for upper voices and rhythmic repetition of “koom ba yah” for lower voices; verses 3 and 4 use two melodic lines
Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: piano alternates two-note right-hand chords with two-note left-hand chords
Ending: last note held by vocal parts as accompaniment gets progressively softer
Notes on Performance
Cover: four male figures with staffs of music across their bodies
Color Scheme: cover is vanilla with taupe and black printing; black ink on white paper inside
Notes on Audience
Gentlemen Songsters used “spirited rhythmic drive” to attract and keep “the interest of men and boys.” The arrangements were “tested by the Fred Waring Music Workshop and in a high school boys chorus.” [1]
At least one school is known to have performed Gearhart’s arrangement in 1962: the Essex District High School in Ontario, Canada.
Notes on Performers
The publisher of Gentlemen Songsters, Fred Waring, was best known in 1959 as the director of the Fred Waring Singers, who appeared on television from 1948 to 1954. [2] Partly in response to choir directors wanting to learn from him and use his arrangements, he organized his own workshops. [3] From those he discovered what worked with youth, and began publishing arrangements through his Shawnee Press. [4]
Livingston Gearhart, who made the arrangements in the collection, had a long and sometimes complicated relationship with Waring. He was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1916. His mother, the former Lillian Hawley, was a trained pianist. Gearhart learned piano, violin, and oboe as a child, and sang in church choirs. At Curtis Institute, he began with oboe in 1935, then changed to piano. [5]
While he was studying in Paris he met Virginia Clotfelter. They toured as the piano duet Gearhart and Morley, and married in 1940. They began working with Fred Waring in 1943, and he began making arrangements for Waring. [6]
Gearhart made his first foray into music methods with Clarinet Sessions in 1945. [7] The arrangements were made by him and Dan Cassal, whom he knew from oboe classes at Curtis. [8] Waring was the publisher.
The following year Shawnee issued Gearhart’s most popular arrangement, “Dry Bones.” [9] It was described as a “rhythmic spiritual” for “percussion, two bass voice, piano, and string break.” [10] Waring’s Pennsylvanians recorded a version for Decca in 1947 that featured the men singing in unison with percussive sounds at the end of phrases. [11] The arrangement still is in print, and several versions are available of YouTube.
In 1954, Gearhart and Morley divorced and she married Waring. He moved to the University of Buffalo where he taught music until he retired in 1985. [12] The break was not complete because he continued to do work for Shawnee Press like Gentlemen Songsters.
After his death in 1996, his widow, the former Pamela Gerhart, gave his papers to the University of Buffalo. The finding aid recalled that “as an author and teacher, Gearhart delighted in composing lively, stimulating music for young singers and instrumentalists.” [13]
Availability
Book: “Koom Ba Yah.” 59–61 in Gentlemen Songsters, edited by Livingston Gearhart. Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania: Shawnee Press, Inc., 1959.
Concert: “Koom-ba-yah.” Essex District High School, Essex, Ontario, Boys’ Glee Club. Reported in 1962 school yearbook, Argus, edited by Sharon Greenwood. Helmut Keil contributed “Boys’ Glee Club” on page 56.
End Notes
1. Gentlemen Songsters. Inside cover.
2. “Fred Waring.” Wikipedia website.
3. Virginia Waring. Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997. 222–223.
4. Fred Waring and Shawnee Press is discussed in the post for 28 March 2021.
5. “Livingston Gearhart Papers 1933-1997, 1933-1997.” State University of New York at Buffalo Music Library finding aid. Available on Empire Archival Discovery website.
6. Gearhart papers.
7. Don Cassel and Livingston Gearhart. Clarinet Sessions. East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania: Shawnee Press, 1945.
8. Laila Storch. Marcel Tabuteau. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008. 191.
9. Livingston Gearhart. “Dry Bones: A Rhythmic Spiritual.” New York: Shawnee Press, 1946.
10. WorldCat entry for “Dry Bones.”
11. Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians. “Dry Bones / Ole Moses Put Pharaoh In His Place.” Decca – 23948. Issued 1947. [Discogs entry.]
12. Gearhart papers.
13. Gearhart papers.