History of Negro Spirituals
Negro spirituals are folk songs created by enslaved Africans during their enslavement in the Americas (1600s-1800s). The songs were created and sung by enslaved women, men, and children. These spirituals share their stories of life, death, hope, joy, escape, dignity, and survival. These stories and songs have been passed down orally from generation to generation. These stories were passed down in plantation fields, churches, and homes, they have been performed on concert hall stages around the world. (History of American Negro Spiritual | National Association of Teachers of Singing. (n.d.). https://www.nats.org/History_of_American_Negro_Spiritual.html, accessed 22 September 2024).
The negro spiritual stands as one of the largest and most significant forms of American folk music. Negro spirituals are typically sung in a call and response form. Spirituals can range from intense, melancholic, sorrowful songs to joyful, rhythmic, and fast-paced songs. They can also be considered as protest songs as many spirituals were used to for escapism of slavery and the fight for freedom. (African American Spirituals. (n.d.). The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/, accessed 22 September 2024).
Examples of Negro Spirituals (Past and Present)
Song Order:
- Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
- Fare Ye Well
- I Got My Ticket
- Go Down Moses
- Wade In The Water
- Steal Away To Jesus
History Of Folk Spirituals
Folk spirituals is the oldest form of African American religious music. The folk spiritual is a form of improvised music, that is spontaneously created by groups and individuals. Folk spirituals were performed spirited with religious dancing. Early folk spirituals fused Christianity with native African culture, that was passed down orally through generations. The folk spiritual has now evolved into concert spirituals, rural gospel, and freedom songs. They are created and performed in a repetitive and improvised way. Folk spirituals created a space for slaves to protest their enslavement and criticize their capturers. Some folk spirituals also created coded songs for freedom. (History of folk spiritual. (n.d.-b). Timeline of African American Music. https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/folk-spiritual, accessed 22 September 2024).
Examples of Folk Spirituals
Song Order:
- He Rose From The Dead
- Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?
- Blow, Gabriel
- Ella’s Song
History of Concert Spirituals
Concert spirituals is also known as an arranged spiritual and it evolved in schools to educate the enslaved after emancipation. It was created for performance on the stage by choral groups, solo singers, instrumentalists, and ensembles. These spirituals are the arrangements of spirituals composed by enslaved Africans in a western classical harmonic style. (History of concert spiritual. (n.d.). Timeline of African American Music. https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/concert-spiritual, accessed 22 September 2024).
Examples of Concert Spirituals
Song Order:
- We Shall Walk Through The Valley
- Rockin’ Jerusalem
- Roll Jordan Roll
One Response
I like that you included the video of The New Friendship Youth & Young Adult Choir. I think it’s important to highlight the ways this music genre, cultivated during the trying times of slavery and influencing the future of music, is still both important and prevalent in the Black community today. And watching modern-day youth sing that song really makes you reflect on all that has happened since the original artists created it.