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Film, Video The High Lonesome Sound' Revisited: Documenting Traditional Culture in America

Event video

About this Item

Title

  • The High Lonesome Sound' Revisited: Documenting Traditional Culture in America

Summary

  • In the early 1960s, the multitalented musician, filmmaker, and photographer John Cohen journeyed to eastern Kentucky to document the songs of church-goers, miners, and farmers, and the rural community that produced and sustained their uniquely American sound. The result was "The High Lonesome Sound," a classic 1963 documentary film than evocatively illustrates how music and religion help Appalachian people maintain their dignity and traditions in the face of change and hardship. Featuring master traditional musician Roscoe Holcomb, Cohen's film also documented how different musical strands are synthesized in the playing of an individual performer. In this presentation, Cohen discussed the making of his influential documentary, its initial reception, and its continued impact in the shaping of documentary filmmaking and ethnographic research on traditional culture both in the United States and abroad.

Names

  • Library of Congress
  • American Folklife Center, sponsoring body

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 2009-06-11.

Headings

  • -  Biography, History
  • -  Culture, Performing Arts
  • -  Culture, Folklife
  • -  Performing Arts, Music

Notes

  • -  Classification: History: America.
  • -  Classification: Music and Books on Music.
  • -  John Cohen.
  • -  Recorded on 2009-06-11.
  • -  Kids, Families.
  • -  Researchers.

Medium

  • 1 online resource

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021688262

Online Format

  • video
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body American Folklife Center. The High Lonesome Sound' Revisited: Documenting Traditional Culture in America. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -06-11, 2009. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688262/.

APA citation style:

Library Of Congress & American Folklife Center, S. B. (2009) The High Lonesome Sound' Revisited: Documenting Traditional Culture in America. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -06-11. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688262/.

MLA citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body American Folklife Center. The High Lonesome Sound' Revisited: Documenting Traditional Culture in America. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -06-11, 2009. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021688262/>.