AMERICAN MOSAIC - Sacred Harp: One of America's Oldest and P

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Sacred Harp²: One of America's Oldest and Purest Musical Traditions
By Nancy Steinbach and Dana Demange

Broadcast: Friday, October 28, 2005

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HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We hear some music known as Sacred Harp…

Answer a question about daylight saving time.

And report about the upcoming holiday of Halloween.

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Monday, October thirty-first, is Halloween in the United States. On that night, many people will dress in clothes to make them look like frightening creatures like monsters or ghosts. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

 
Halloween jack-o-lantern in a store
FAITH LAPIDUS: The traditions of Halloween grew out of Celtic beliefs in ancient Britain. The Celts thought spirits of the dead would return to their homes on October thirty-first, the day of the autumn feast³. The Celts built huge fires to frighten away evil spirits released with the dead on that night.

People from Scotland and Ireland brought these ideas with them to America. Some people still believed that spirits played tricks on people on the last night of October.

History experts say many of the Halloween traditions today developed from those of ancient times. For example, they say that burning a candle inside a hollow pumpkin⁴ recalls the fires set many years ago in Britain. And they say that wearing a mask to hide a person's face is similar to the way ancient villagers covered their faces to force evil spirits away.

On Halloween night, American children dress in special clothing and go from house to house shouting "trick or treat!" If the people in the houses do not give them candy, the children might play a trick on them. Americans spend a great deal of money buying Halloween costumes to wear. They also buy pumpkins⁵ and frightening objects to place outside their homes.

Adults enjoy Halloween, too. Many go to parties dressed as monsters or famous people. We know of two people who got married on Halloween and had their wedding guests dress in such costumes.

The National Retail⁶ Federation⁷ did a study on what people will wear on Halloween. The group released a list of the most popular Halloween costumes this year. It says the most popular choices for children are princess, witch, monster and characters from popular movies. And it says adults want to dress as a witch, vampire⁸, monster or famous actor.

Daylight Saving Time

HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from France. Sylvain Restelli asks about the system of time in the United States.

 
Clock
Standard time is a worldwide system of time areas. It is based on longitude⁹. Longitude is the distance on the Earth that measures east or west of the first longitude line at Greenwich, England. Each time area is fifteen degrees longitude wide.

Under standard time, the time kept in each area is that of its central longitude line. These lines are fifteen degrees, thirty degrees and so on east or west of the first line in England. The difference in time between each nearby area is exactly one hour.

The continental¹⁰ United States is divided into four time areas. The most eastern area uses eastern time. The next time area to the west is central time. The next area is mountain time and the farthest west is pacific time. For example, when it is ten o'clock in New York City, it is nine o'clock in Chicago, Illinois. It is eight o'clock in Denver, Colorado and seven o'clock in San Francisco, California.

In the summertime, most Americans move their clocks ahead one hour for daylight saving time. But some states do not. They are Hawaii, Arizona and parts of Indiana. The use of daylight saving time saves energy by providing an additional hour of daylight in the early evening.

Many countries first used daylight saving time during wartime. After World War Two, American states established some kind of daylight saving time. But this was confusing. So, in nineteen sixty-six, Congress established it for the nation. It began the last Sunday in April and ended the last Sunday in October. Congress extended the time period in the nineteen seventies when a reduction in Arab oil exports caused a fuel shortage¹¹.

In nineteen eighty-six, legislation¹² changed the start of daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in April. Earlier this year, Congress again passed a law extending daylight saving time. Starting in two thousand seven, daylight saving time will begin the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November.

Until then, daylight saving time begins the first Sunday in April and ends the last Sunday in October. That is why most Americans will set their clocks back one hour this Saturday night.

Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp singing is one of the oldest and purest musical traditions in America. Yet, it has nothing to do with the musical instrument called the harp. These performers use only their voices to sing both religious and non-religious traditional songs Pat Bodnar tells us more.

 
Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers
PAT BODNAR: Sacred Harp singing has existed in America since the eighteenth century. It started when singing teachers traveled around the country to improve the quality of church music.

Here is an example. An African-American group, called the Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers, performs a song written in the late seventeen hundreds. It is called "Coronation."

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The term "Sacred Harp " refers to a book published in the eighteen forties. It contains more than five hundred songs that are important to the history of Sacred Harp singing. The book is still being published today.

This song was written in eighteen-oh-three. It is based on a Christian¹³ Bible story in the Book of Luke. The Alabama Sacred Harp Convention¹⁴ performs the song called "Sherburne."

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Sacred Harp singers get together at day-long events called "sings". Groups of men, women and children come together to celebrate in song. The people arrange their chairs in a square and face one another. Then they divide into four groups based on their singing voice. Each group makes up one side of the square. Every person takes a turn choosing a song and leading the group.

We leave you now with a song performed by a professional group of singers called the Word of Mouth Chorus¹⁵. This song was written in nineteen fifty. "Peace and Joy" is a more modern example of the Sacred Harp tradition.

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HOST: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program.

This show was written by Nancy Steinbach and Dana Demange who was also our producer.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

3 feast   

n.盛宴，筵席，节日

参考例句：

• After the feast she spent a week dieting to salve her conscience.大吃了一顿之后，她花了一周时间节食以安慰自己。
• You shouldn't have troubled yourself to prepare such a feast!你不该准备这样丰盛的饭菜，这样太麻烦你了！

4 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

5 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

9 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

10 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

11 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

12 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 convention   

n.惯例，习俗，常规，会议，大会

参考例句：

• How many delegates have checked in at the convention?大会已有多少代表报到？
• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。

15 chorus   

n.合唱，合唱队，齐声

参考例句：

• Never before have I heard this song sung in chorus.我从来没有听过这首歌的合唱。
• The children repeated the words after her in chorus.孩子们跟她齐声朗读单词。