Jubilee Quartet Tradition

The Fisk University Jubilee Quartet in 1909, from left: Alfred G. King (first bass), James A. Myers (second tenor), Noah W. Ryder (second bass) and John W. Work II (first tenor).

Courtesy of Doug Seroff  (Listen here)

Abbott, Lynn, and Doug Seroff. To Do This, You Must Know How: Music Pedagogy in the Black Gospel Quartet Tradition. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2013.

The authors discuss how the jubilee quartet tradition emanated from the revival of university-based vocal harmony singing, most notably the Fisk Jubilee Quartet and its leader, John Work II. They further examine the mining camps of Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama, and on to Chicago and New Orleans. Early in the twentieth century there were countless initiatives in support of African American vocal music training conducted on both national and local levels. Later, singers such as Silas Steele added the pulpit zeal of the Baptist preacher to jubilee quartet, opening the door for the hard gospel quartet style that dominated the 1950s and 1960s.

Racial Bigotry and Stereotypes in Music Books Recommended for Use by Children

Zinar, Ruth. “Racial Bigotry and Stereotypes in Music Books Recommended for Use by Children,” The Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 1 (1975): 33-39. 

This article is a study of music history books that have been recommended for use by children. The collection of books reveals many examples of racial bigotry, tokenism, and stereotypes directed against African Americans, Chinese, and other non-Western European people. Only a few texts provide a suitable source of information on the music of minority groups in America. Those responsible for recommending music history books for children should give careful consideration to the presence of racial bias in instructional material. (Author’s abstract)

Mississippi’s Cotton Blossom Singers!

Bailey, Ben E. “The Cotton Blossom Singers: Mississippi’s Black Troubadours,” The Black Perspective in Music 15, no. 2 (1987): 133-152.

Similar in practiceCotton Blossom Singers (1929) to Fisk University and the Jubilee Singers, this article discusses the early history of the Cotton Blossom Singers at Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi from about 1921 to the 1940s. Locally, the group was known as the Piney Woods Singers. Their travels, repertoire, radio programs, and their encounters with racism are discussed. A day-by-day account in one week of travel is included. (Author’s abstract, slightly revised)

Langston Hughes and Howard Swanson

joy41Spearman, Rawn Wardell. “The ‘Joy’ of Langston Hughes and Howard Swanson.” Black Perspective in Music 9, no. 2 (1981): 121–38.

In excerpts from an interview conducted on July 22, 1972, Spearman and Swanson discuss Swanson’s lifestyle and musical values and his setting of Langston Hughes’s poem “Joy.” In a musical analysis of the song, Swanson discusses its blues and jazz influences: the handling of polyrhythms and the inspirations for some of the motives. The work of current African American composers draws less on the spirituals and oral tradition of African American music than did the work of earlier generations. (Journal’s abstract, revised)

W. E. B. DU BOIS and Spirituals

MTE5NTU2MzE2MjA2MDQwNTg3Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In 1895, he became the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Du Bois wrote extensively and was the best known spokesperson for African-American rights during the first half of the 20th century. He co-founded the NAACP.

Below is a short bibliography of writings related to Du Bois and spirituals.

Brooks, Christopher A. “The ‘Musical’ Souls of Black Folk: Can a Double Consciousness Be Heard?” InThe Souls of Black Folk One Hundred Years Later,edited by Dolan Hubbard, 269–83. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003.

Examines Du Bois’s use of spirituals in The Souls of Black Folk (1903). A study of Du Bois’s life makes clear that he moved with apparent ease through two worlds—black and white, a Continue reading →

E. Azalia Smith Hackley (1867–1922)

Azalia Smith Hackley an African American singer and Denver political activist born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1867.  Her parents, business owners Henry and Corilla Smith, moved to Detroit where she attended Washington Normal School, graduating in 1886.  Smith, a child prodigy learned to play the piano at three and later took private voice, violin and French lessons. Emma Smith worked as an elementary school teacher for eighteen years.  Despite her stellar training, Hackley did not pursue a professional career.  Instead she spent much of the rest of her life training a younger generation of singers including Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes and R. Nathaniel Dett.

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Spirituals from Alabama

Boyd, Joe Dan. “Judge Jackson: Black Giant of White Spirituals.” Journal of American Folklore 83, no. 330 (1970): 446–51.

Solomon, Olivia, and Jack Solomon, eds. “Honey in the Rock”: The Ruby Pickens Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs from Sumter County, Alabama. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1992.

Terrell, Clemmie S. “Spirituals from Alabama.” Journal of American Folklore 43, no. 169 (1930): 322–24.

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excerpted from Spirituals: A Multidisciplinary Bibliography for Research and Performance by Kathleen A. Abromeit

photo, “Mardis Mill Falls, #2” by Kerry Sanders

Spirituals for Christmas

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Here are some ideas for what you might sing this holiday season:

“Amen”
“Behold That Star”
“Children Go Where I Send Thee”
“Glory Hallelujah to the New-Born King”
“Go Tell It On the Mountain”
“Mary Had a Baby”
“Mary Where Is Your Baby”
“Meet Oh Lord”
“New Born Baby”
“Oh Mary”
“Rise Up Shepherd and Follow”
“There Was a Babe”
“This Is the Christmas Time”
“What Month Was Jesus Born In”

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excerpted from An Index to African-American Spirituals for the Solo Voice by Kathleen A. Abromeit

Need help finding lyrics to a spiritual?

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Check out these sources!

Herder, Nicole Beaulieu, and Ronald Herder. Best-Loved Negro Spirituals: Complete Lyrics to 178 Songs of Faith. Foreword by Paul T. Kwami. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2001.

Contains the lyrics of 178 spirituals. Due to complexities in working with songs that originate in an oral tradition, the author indicates when there are several songs with the same title or the same first line. Excellent for sing-alongs, community programs, church functions, and other events.

Hickman, Cynthia. Spirituals: A Folk Anthology. New York: Dunbar, 2002.

Discusses the origins, preservation, and performance of spirituals, relying heavily on historic documents. An anthology of lyrics from 225 spirituals, which Hickman calls “folk poetry.” The collection is designed to serve as a reference to the core of the spirituals omnibus, making it useful to literary and cultural historians, general historians, and theologians. Includes an extensive bibliography and discography.

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