Stylistic combination and methodical construction in William Duckworth'sSouthern Harmony

Abstract

William Duckworth's Southern Harmony is an extended work for unaccompanied choir in which minimalist procedures are used to interpret and adapt specific tunes from rural American shape-note music. Duckworth's adaptive processes both amplify and obscure features that are salient in the shape-note tradition, as exemplified by William Walker's The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. In Southern Harmony, Duckworth separates melodies, notes, and chords from their shape-note context, and processes them with methods foreign to the shape-note style. Because of this, Southern Harrmony can be perceived both as an evocation of its source and as a background for compositional technique. The shape-note tunes simultaneously function as the subject matter and as the foundation for technical manipulation.

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