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Overview

The African American musical genre known as the antebellum folk spiritual assumed an identiﬁable shape sometime after the arrival of African slaves on the North American continent but long before the American Civil War. In her initial analysis of the genre, Maultsby writes: "As a form of religious expression performed primarily in contexts free of White control, antebellum folk spirituals were outside the boundaries of consciousness for the vast majority of the White American public" (Maultsby 2015, 60). Unfortunately, before the advent of audio recordings, researchers can only surmise what these early sounded like by using extant descriptions and a few recordings made decades later in isolated churches throughout the South. Still, what has survived gives us an idea of what the spirituals said and a hint of their music.

Be ready to:

Define the term etymology and use of the term "spiritual" as found in the publications Slave Songs of the United States and Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands.

List at least three types of standard musical (melodic) scales used in the spiritual.

Explain the term heterophony and demonstrate its use with another student.

List the eight characteristics of a spiritual and discuss a selected spiritual focusing on one of the eight spiritual characteristics.

Describe the difference between folk spirituals and arranged spirituals.

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Spirituals: Solo Arrangements

Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) and an arrangement of the African American Spiritual "Oh, Didn't It Rain"

At the end of the Civil War, many educational institutions were established where African Americans received an education that did not erase their rich oral musical tradition from their minds. They knew that they needed to preserve their music so that future generations could be fully aware of their beauty. To that end, they would have to notate their songs. The musical notation of African American spirituals led to choral arrangements in four- and eight-part harmony and solo voice and piano accompaniment arrangements.

Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949), the African American classical composer, arranger, and singer, is considered the first to arrange spirituals as a solo art song. These songs, originally sung on the plantation, were now moved from an oral tradition onto the concert stage, with Burleigh closing his concerts by singing groups of spirituals. The new life breathed into these works allowed concert singers to access these works for the first time. In addition, as these songs now arranged in the art songA song of serious artistic purpose designed for the concert hall as opposed to traditional songs or folk songs. An art song is usually sung by a solo voice with accompaniment. In German it is called lieder, in French, chanson. An art song is a complete composition in itself and is not part of a larger work such as an opera or an oratorio. tradition began to enjoy wider circulation, they attracted noted composers and singers. Listen to a group of concertized spirituals arranged by Burleigh and sung by baritone Justin Austin. The spirituals that you will hear are grouped as follows in this program:

"My Lord, What a Morning"

"I Don't Feel No-ways Tired" [for the score click here]

"Oh, Didn't It Rain"

"O Rocks, Don't Fall on Me"

Harry T. Burleigh

Three noted singers who attracted to this new form of composition were the lyric tenor Roland Hayes (1887-1997), the operatic contralto Marian Anderson (1897-1993), and the concert artist and actor Paul Robeson (1898-1976). All three championed this style of work on the concert stage to wide acclaim.

Important Facts About Roland Hayes' Singing Career

Lyric tenor, and composer, Roland Hayes is considered to be the first African American man to win international fame as a concert performer.

Hayes began studying music at Fisk University in Nashville in 1905.

Hayes continued his studies by studying with Arthur Hubbard in Boston.

Hayes's linguistic skills demonstrated that he could sing songs in French, German, and Italian.

Hayes toured with the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1911.

He presented his first concert in 1915 in New York City, which was presented by orchestra leader Walther F. Craig-this was considered a financial failure.

He presented his second concert in 1917 at the Boston Symphony Hall. This was a sold-out venue. It was a success both musically and financially, but the music industry did not consider him to be a top classical performer.

He gave his first London concert at the Aeolian Hall in 1920.

During the 1920s, he gave concerts in many capital cities in Europe.

He gave command performances before King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace.

By 1924 he was performing more than eighty concerts per year, many with major orchestras, such as those in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Detroit.

In the 1950s, Hayes began teaching at Boston University.

Source: Wikipedia

Important Facts About Marian Anderson's Singing Career

She has a contralto voice and was known as one of the finest contraltos of the twentieth century.

She experienced racial discrimination in the United States but not in Europe.

In 1930, Anderson's first European performance was held in Berlin.

In 1933, she performed at Wigmore Hall in London.

She successfully toured Europe in the early 1930s.

She sang before monarchs of England, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

She also performed in France and Belgium.

Upon hearing her perform in Paris, American impresario Sol Hurok became her manager until the end of her career, and he convinced her to return to the United States to perform.

She opened her American tour at New York's Town Hall in December 1935, and it was a huge success.

She toured in South America and Europe shortly thereafter.

On January 7, 1955, she was the first African American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In 1957, she performed for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inauguration.

In the same year, the U.S. Department State and the American National Theatre and Academy sponsored Anderson's tour in Asia, which included twenty-four concerts in fourteen countries.

In 1958, she was officially designated as "goodwill ambassadress" of the U.S. to the United Nations.

In 1961, she performed at the inauguration ceremony of President John F. Kennedy.

In 1963, she sang at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which was an important event during the civil rights movement.

Her international farewell tour began at Constitution Hall on October 24, 1964 and ended at Carnegie Hall on April 18, 1965.

Source: Kids Konnect

Important facts about Paul Robeson's Acting and Singing Career

Robeson briefly worked for a law firm but eventually left because of racism and pursued theater and music instead.

Using his artistic and musical talents, Robeson began to promote African American culture through his performances.

He joined New York-based theater group Provincetown Players, and got a role in the play All God's Chillun Got Wings by Eugene O'Neill in 1924.

He next starred in the title role of The Emperor Jones in the play's 1925 revival in New York and London.

The Emperor Jones was adapted for a feature film in 1933 starring Paul Robeson.

Besides his acting skills, Robeson had exceptional bass-baritone vocal talent.

He performed his first vocal recital of Black spirituals in 1925.

One of the highlights in Robeson's career was his role as "Joe" in the musical play Show Boat in which his rendition "Ol' Man River" is still considered the top standard.

He earned international praise for his performance of the title role in Othello in London in 1930 and on Broadway in 1943.

He was the first African American to star as Othello on Broadway.

He continued to use his unique baritone voice to benefit social and labor movements and promote African culture.

He sang for peace and social justice and toured throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Soviet Bloc.

In 1933, he donated the proceeds of All God's Chillun Got Wings to Jewish refugees fleeing Germany at the time of Hitler.

Following the outbreak of the World War II, he premiered in Earl Robinson's Ballad for Americans in 1939.

Robeson also acted in films, namely Sanders of the River (1935), Show Boat (1936), Song of Freedom (1936), and The Proud Valley (1940) with special appearances in the documentary Native Land (1942) and the film Tales of Manhattan (1942).

Source: Kids Konnect

Down in the Valley

We'll run and never tire
We'll run and never tire
We'll run and never tire
Jesus sets poor sinners free

Maya Angelou

History, despite its wrenching pain
cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage,
need not be lived again.