The Sound of Dove
Singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches

Beverly Patterson (Author)

9780252070037

Paperback / softback, published 16 July 2001

264 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.399 kg

"This insightful study fills a great gap in American folk music scholarship and demonstrates ways that sensitive feminist scholarship can illuminate surprising corners of traditional culture."--William Bernard McCarthy, Journal of American Folklore

In The Sound of the Dove, Beverly Bush Patterson explores one of the oldest traditions of American religious folksong: unaccompanied congregational singing in the Primitive Baptist churches of Appalachia. Using interviews, field observations, historical research, song transcriptions, and musical analysis, Patterson explores the dynamic relationship between singing and theology in these churches, the genesis of their musical practices, and the unexpectedly significant role of women in their conservative congregations.