A Survey of the Performance Practice of the Negro Spiritual

A Survey of the Performance Practice of the Negro Spiritual
Author: Tonya Lyn Hylton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021
Genre: African American music
ISBN:

The Negro Spiritual has long been a style of choral music often enjoyed by various audiences yet is approached and interpreted incorrectly. The spiritual is often programmed at the end of a choral concert, and the interpretation lends itself to a "feel good" moment versus authenticity to the art form and its intentions. Amongst conductors and music educators alike, there are some inhibitions and fears when attempting to approach and perform the Negro spiritual. Primarily because of the lack of significant study of this choral art form, the interpretation tends to be contrary to the spiritual's original meaning. It does not tend to heed the essential elements of this art form. This research aims to provide an understanding of the spiritual with regards to its history, performance practice elements, the purpose, and intention of those elements, the emergence of the spiritual as a choral art form, why it can often be confused with gospel music.

Spirituals

Spirituals
Author: Kathleen A. Abromeit
Publisher: A-R Editions, Inc.
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2015-01-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0895797992

Spirituals originated among enslaved Africans in America during the colonial era. They resonate throughout African American history from that time to the civil rights movement, from the cotton fields to the concert stage, and influenced everything from gospel music to blues and rap. They have offered solace in times of suffering, served as clandestine signals on the Underground Railroad, and been a source of celebration and religious inspiration. Spirituals are born from the womb of African American experience, yet they transcend national, disciplinary, and linguistic boundaries as they connect music, theology, literature and poetry, history, society, and education. In doing so, they reach every aspect of human experience. To make sense of the immense impact spirituals have made on music, culture, and society, this bibliography cites writings from a multidisciplinary perspective. This annotated bibliography documents articles, books, and dissertations published since 1902. Of those, 150 are books; 80 are chapters within books; 615 are journal articles, and 150 are dissertations, along with a selection of highly significant items published before 1920. The most recent publications included date from early 2014. Disciplines researched include music, literature and poetry, American history, religion, and African American Studies. Items included in the annotated bibliography are limited to English-language sources that were published in the United States and focus on African American spirituals in the United States, but there are a few select citations that focus on spirituals outside of the United States. Of the one thousand annotations, they are divided, roughly evenly, between: general studies and geographical studies; information about early spirituals; use of spirituals in art music, church music, and popular music; composers who based music on spirituals; performers of spirituals (ensembles and individuals); Bible, theology, and religious education; literature and poetry; pedagogical considerations, including the teaching of spirituals as well as prominent educators; reference works and a list of resources that were unavailable for review but are potentially useful. This book also offers considerable depth on particular topics such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers and William Grant Still with over thirty citations devoted to each. At the same time, materials included are quite diverse, with topics such as spirituals in Zora Neale Hurston’s novels; bible studies based on spirituals; enriching the teaching of geography through spirituals; Marian Anderson’s historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial; spiritual roots of rap; teaching dialect to singers; expressing African American religion in spirituals; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s music; slave tradition of singing among the Gullah. The book contains indices by author, subject, and spiritual title. Additionally, an appendix of spirituals by biblical reference, listing both spiritual title to scriptural reference as well as scripture to spiritual title is included. T. L. Collins, Christian educator, compiled the appendix.

So You Want to Sing Spirituals

So You Want to Sing Spirituals
Author: Randye Jones
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2019-10-14
Genre: Music
ISBN: 153810735X

With their rich and complicated history, spirituals hold a special place in the American musical tradition. This soul-stirring musical form is irresistible to singers seeking to diversify their performance repertoire, but it is also riddled with controversy, especially for singers of non-African descent. Singer and historian Randye Jones welcomes singers of all backgrounds into the style while she explores its folk song roots and transformation into choral and solo vocal concert repertoire. Profiling key composers and pioneers of the genre, Jones also discusses the use of dialect and other controversial performance considerations. Contributed chapters address elements of collaborative piano, studio teaching, choral arrangement, voice science, and vocal health as they apply to the performance of spirituals. The So You Want to Sing series is produced in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Like all books in the series, So You Want to Sing Spirituals features online supplemental material on the NATS website.

Gospel Music: An African American Art Form

Gospel Music: An African American Art Form
Author: Dr. Joan Rucker-Hillsman
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2014-12-30
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1460232216

This book is designed for the general reader of gospel music, as well as those who incorporate gospel into their lesson plans on the academic level. “Gospel Music: An African American Art Form” provides music information on the heritage of gospel from its African roots, Negro spirituals, traditional and contemporary gospel music trends. The mission and purpose of this book is to provide a framework of study of gospel music, which is in the mainstream of other music genres. There are 8 detailed sections, appendices and resources on gospel music which include African Roots and Characteristics and history, Negro Spirituals, Black Congregational Singing, Gospel history and Movement, Gripping effects: Cross Over Artists, Youth in Gospel, and Gospel Music in the Academic Curriculum with lesson plans. There is a wealth of knowledge on the cultural heritage of “Gospel Music As An Art Form.”

Wade in the Water

Wade in the Water
Author: Arthur C. Jones
Publisher: Leave a Little Room Fdn
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2005
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780976237709

Spirituals emerged from the crucible of slavery. They inspired enslaved African Americans to risk their lives for the chance to be free. Wade in the Water celebrates these spirituals as an art form and as unique and powerful cultural expression. For those with little knowledge of the tradition, it provides a wealth of information. For those who know and love the spirituals, it offers a fresh prespective and an invitation to deeper understanding, spiritual transformation, and social renewal. The book comes with a CD of some of the spirituals covered in the book.

Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals

Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals
Author: Patricia J. Trice
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 254
Release: 1998-02-12
Genre: Music
ISBN: 031306492X

Although the choral arrangements of the African-American spirituals constitute the largest group of folk song arrangements in western literature, they have received little scholarly attention. This book provides the needed historical and stylistic information about the spirituals and the arrangements. It traces the history and cultural roots of the genre through its inception and delineates the African and European characteristics common to the original folk songs and arrangements. Ensembles that have perpetuated the growth of the spiritual arrangements—from Fisk Jubilee Singers of the 1870s through those currently active—are chronicled as well. Musicians, choral directors, and scholars will welcome this first complete text on the African-American spiritual genre. Annotated listings of titles provide information choral directors need to make ensemble-appropriate performance choices. Arrangements indexed by title, arranger, and subject complement the accompanying biographies and repertoire information. Well-organized and thoroughly researched, this text is a valuable addition to music, choral, multicultural, and African-American libraries.