This December, City Singers Youth Choirs was delighted, blessed, inspired and grateful to collaborate with Elkhardt-Thompson Middle School (a City of Richmond public school), Collegiate School (an independent school) , One Voice Chorus Ensemble (a community choir of singers dedicated to racial equity) and the marvelous Dr. Lisa Edwards-Burrs, Soprano, on this Christmas Spirituals: Songs of African-American Tradition concert. Here’s a sampling of our program notes:
It seems that every year about this time we hear a renewed longing for ‘peace on Earth, good will toward men’ and the Spiritual songs from African-American tradition encapsulate that longing in a way no other art form does. We invite you to read a brief history of Spirituals on page 4 of this program. There you will find explanations of the genre and its origins and discover how a work song in a cotton field sung by captive Africans made its way to the fanciest concert halls in America.
We would have loved to sing every Spiritual we could get a hold of, but alas, time limits! While one concert cannot represent the full breadth and depth of the Spiritual literature, a careful listener will hear echoes of both the hardships and joys from which each song was born, from the most energetic selections to the sweetest lullaby.
Our singers have been on a journey of discovery through these songs–a challenging, beautiful journey–all the things that come with trying to touch another’s experience. We would like to humbly acknowledge the varied opinions of African Americans regarding the performance of Spirituals. The great tree which is the Spiritual Tradition was grown from both the blood and the irrepressible spirit of the enslaved Africans who created each song. Our purpose is to celebrate and honor the enduring artistic, social and historical contribution those men and women have given to America and the world.
~ Leslie Dripps & Mara Smith, Directors, City Singers Youth Choirs
True enough this music was transmitted to us through humble channels, but its source is that of all great art everywhere—the unquenchable, divinely human longing for a perfect realization of life. It traverses every shade of emotion without spilling over in any direction. Its most tragic utterances are without pessimism, and its lightest, biggest moments have nothing to do with frivolity. In its darkest expressions there is always a hope and in its gayest measures a constant reminder.
Hall Johnson (1888-1970), Composer
A Brief History of Spirituals
The term “Spiritual” describes the songs created and sung by enslaved Africans in North America from as early as 1650. Although widely thought to have evolved gradually from group music making over the years, research now supports the idea that specific individuals (not groups) likely created most of the body of work, weaving African and European influences together into a new art form and teaching these songs to their communities. This oral transmission fostered a fluidity which allowed for variation. The first written arrangements of the Spiritual for formal concert use were performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1871. This is considered the birth of the “concert spiritual”, a formalized iteration of an oral art form, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, through tireless dedication through much trial and hardship, brought the Spirituals to the entire world. The Spiritual songs of the enslaved Africans have woven the very fabric of most of the body of modern western music–blues, rock, gospel, jazz, pop, hip-hop–the reach and influence of the Spirituals cannot be overstated.
Spirituals have been categorized into five thematic groupings: religious spirituals, freedom spirituals, escape spirituals, shouts and hollers, and work songs. Within each of these categories is a wide and various emotional diversity, from slow and sorrowful to fiery and syncopated.
The songs presented here generally fall within the narrow confines of the concert spiritual with a bit of gospel in the mix. Also, while sorrow songs, a significant segment of the Spirituals genre, are missing in today’s concert, their echo is in every Spiritual song. H.T. Burleigh, one of the preeminent arrangers of concert Spirituals, wrote about them thus:
The cadences of sorrow invariably turn to joy, and the message is ever manifest that eventually deliverance from all that hinders and oppresses the soul will come, and man, every man, will be free. -H.T. Burleigh (1866-1949)
W.E.B. Du Bois, in his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, concludes:
Sometimes [Spirituals display] a faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins.
-W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Last Updated: July 15, 2021 by admin
Christmas Spirituals: Songs of African-American Tradition
It seems that every year about this time we hear a renewed longing for ‘peace on Earth, good will toward men’ and the Spiritual songs from African-American tradition encapsulate that longing in a way no other art form does. We invite you to read a brief history of Spirituals on page 4 of this program. There you will find explanations of the genre and its origins and discover how a work song in a cotton field sung by captive Africans made its way to the fanciest concert halls in America.
We would have loved to sing every Spiritual we could get a hold of, but alas, time limits! While one concert cannot represent the full breadth and depth of the Spiritual literature, a careful listener will hear echoes of both the hardships and joys from which each song was born, from the most energetic selections to the sweetest lullaby.
Our singers have been on a journey of discovery through these songs–a challenging, beautiful journey–all the things that come with trying to touch another’s experience. We would like to humbly acknowledge the varied opinions of African Americans regarding the performance of Spirituals. The great tree which is the Spiritual Tradition was grown from both the blood and the irrepressible spirit of the enslaved Africans who created each song. Our purpose is to celebrate and honor the enduring artistic, social and historical contribution those men and women have given to America and the world.
~ Leslie Dripps & Mara Smith, Directors, City Singers Youth Choirs
True enough this music was transmitted to us through humble channels, but its source is that of all great art everywhere—the unquenchable, divinely human longing for a perfect realization of life. It traverses every shade of emotion without spilling over in any direction. Its most tragic utterances are without pessimism, and its lightest, biggest moments have nothing to do with frivolity. In its darkest expressions there is always a hope and in its gayest measures a constant reminder.
Hall Johnson (1888-1970), Composer
A Brief History of Spirituals
The term “Spiritual” describes the songs created and sung by enslaved Africans in North America from as early as 1650. Although widely thought to have evolved gradually from group music making over the years, research now supports the idea that specific individuals (not groups) likely created most of the body of work, weaving African and European influences together into a new art form and teaching these songs to their communities. This oral transmission fostered a fluidity which allowed for variation. The first written arrangements of the Spiritual for formal concert use were performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1871. This is considered the birth of the “concert spiritual”, a formalized iteration of an oral art form, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, through tireless dedication through much trial and hardship, brought the Spirituals to the entire world. The Spiritual songs of the enslaved Africans have woven the very fabric of most of the body of modern western music–blues, rock, gospel, jazz, pop, hip-hop–the reach and influence of the Spirituals cannot be overstated.
Spirituals have been categorized into five thematic groupings: religious spirituals, freedom spirituals, escape spirituals, shouts and hollers, and work songs. Within each of these categories is a wide and various emotional diversity, from slow and sorrowful to fiery and syncopated.
The songs presented here generally fall within the narrow confines of the concert spiritual with a bit of gospel in the mix. Also, while sorrow songs, a significant segment of the Spirituals genre, are missing in today’s concert, their echo is in every Spiritual song. H.T. Burleigh, one of the preeminent arrangers of concert Spirituals, wrote about them thus:
The cadences of sorrow invariably turn to joy, and the message is ever manifest that eventually deliverance from all that hinders and oppresses the soul will come, and man, every man, will be free. -H.T. Burleigh (1866-1949)
W.E.B. Du Bois, in his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, concludes:
Sometimes [Spirituals display] a faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins.
-W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
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