| Few tunebooks have contained the rich variety that Ingalls' Christian Harmony possesses. As I have selected tunes for transcription, I have frequently recognized melodies that jumped the 1820 terminus marked by the Hymn Tune Index and became standards in western and southern books, under other names. Ingalls had an adventurous ear, and a willingness to preserve what was popular among the singers of his corner of New England swept up by the camp meeting tide rising in the early Republic. If he and his printer had chosen to set The Christian Harmony in patent notes (4-shape) his sole collection would have had a monumental impact on singing, and gone through many more than its one printing. |