"Glory in the Meeting House", also known as "Glory to the Meeting House" is an old-time,
Breakdown from the Mt. Airy area of North Carolina and Kentucky in D Mixolydian
(Carlin/Sing Out), E Major/Mixolydian (Phillips) or E Mixolydian/Dorian (Titon/Strong).
It is played in standard, EDae (Stamper, Strong) or ADad tunings.
The parts are played AABB'BB'C (Carlin/Sing Out), AA'BB'AA'B"B"' (Phillips),
ABABACB'ABABA (Titon/Strong).
Jeff Titon (2001) gives its provenance as the Kentucky River basin. The melody was in the repertoires of Kentucky fiddlers Luther Strong and W.H. (Bill) Stepp. It was also collected from fiddlers Bev Baker (Luther Strong's father-in-law) and Boyd Asher, from the same region. The EDae tuning appears to have been generally applied to the tune in the region. The piece is heard played either in the major or mixolydian mode and Titon says that Strong's version has a dorian character. His version has been so influential, that dorian versions among modern fiddlers are prominent. Kentucky fiddler Hiram Stamper recorded a 'crooked' version in the key of D minor, with three parts, and other regional fiddlers also had 'crooked' versions-in fact, Strong's version is the only older one to be 'foursquare'. These older versions started with one of the high parts first. The banjo tab, based on Luther Strong's playing (although in E minor), is by Mac Benford. It was printed in Benford's Kentucky Favorites (1998), Sing Out! ("Teach In: Clawhammer Banjo," Bob Carlin), Fiddler Magazine, vol. 14, No. 4, (2007), Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes (1995) and Titon's Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes (2001). It was recorded by Luther Strong (orig. rec. 1937), The Harmony Sisters on Second Helping, Kevin Burke on Open House (1992), Dan Gellert & Shoofly on Forked Deer (1986), The Hurricane Ridgerunners on The Young Fogies, Gerry Milnes & Lorriane Lee Hammond on Hell Up Coal Holler (1999), Luther Strong on Music of Kentucky, Critton Hollow Stringband on Sweet Home (1983), The New Dixie Entertainers on Maybelle Rag and Evans, Bright, Blake and Blake on Songs That Are Mostly Older Than Us (2016). |