Download or read book Choral Arrangements of the African American Spirituals written by Patricia J. Trice and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1998-02-12 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book A New Perspective for the Use of Dialect in African American Spirituals written by Felicia Raphael Marie Barber and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-06 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New Perspective for the Use of Dialect in African American Spirituals: History, Context, and Linguistics investigates the use of the African American English (AAE) dialect in the musical genre of the spiritual. Perfect for conductors and performers alike, this book traces the history of the dialect, its use in early performance practice, and the sociolinguistic impact of the AAE dialect in the United States. Felicia Barber explores AAE’s development during the African Diaspora and its correlations with Southern States White English (SSWE) and examines the dialect’s perception and how its weaponization has impacted the performance of the genre itself. She provides a synopsis of research on the use of dialect in spirituals from the past century through the analysis of written scores, recordings, and research. She identifies common elements of early performance practice and provides the phonological and grammatical features identified in early practice. This book contains practical guide for application of her findings on ten popular spiritual texts using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It concludes with insights by leading arrangers on their use of AAE dialect as a part of the genre and practice.
Download or read book So You Want to Sing Spirituals written by Randye Jones and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-10-14 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Influence of Choral Arrangements and Historical Performance Practices of African American Spirituals on Selected Choruses in George Gershwin s Porgy and Bess written by Arlecia Jan Taylor and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Gershwin (1898-1937) wrote an opera about black life, and he called it a "folk opera." This opera became the work now famously known as Porgy and Bess. But, rather than use traditional black folk music, Gershwin wrote his own music that emulated the African-American folk style. The result is a work comprising recitatives, solo arias, and ensemble and choral pieces that reference musical and stylistic features of the African-American spiritual. This paper will explore how Gershwin acquired knowledge of the musical materials and stylistic features of African-American choral arrangements of spirituals to influence his own representation of spirituals in Porgy and Bess. The paper will compare particular settings of spirituals published during the 1920s and 1930s. Works by such African-American composers as Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949), R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943), and Hall Johnson (1888-1970) will be examined in context with selected choruses from Porgy and Bess. Scholars agree that Gershwin had a special talent for employing black music idioms in his compositions and possessed a penchant for combining musical styles. As black music was popular during the Harlem Renaissance, it might be expected that Gershwin would effectively incorporate black folk music traditions in his opera. Gershwin lived and worked during this seminal period of the African-American spiritual. Prior to Gershwin's birth, the concert arrangement of the spiritual had gained prominence with its introduction by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1871, the singers achieved renown by their reputable fund-raising concert tours throughout the United States and abroad. In the 1920s and 1930s the Harlem Renaissance was in full flowering, and published arrangements of spirituals were widely distributed and commonly heard in concerts, on film, and on radio broadcasts throughout America. Simultaneously, musical theater was at its peak, and notable concerts, featuring concert music of black composers by black performers were staged in New York. Gershwin owned published collections of spiritual arrangements, and had professional and personal associations with black musicians and composers from which he could further draw inspiration for his work on Porgy and Bess. Gershwin traveled to South Carolina twice, with librettist DuBose Heyward as guide, between 1933 and 1934, to hear and absorb the musical traditions of the Gullahs, the people on whom Gershwin based the opera's characters. Some of the music (i.e. "Oh, Doctor Jesus") was directly influenced by what Gershwin heard in South Carolina. The Gullah, or low-country spirituals featured in Heyward's novel (and subsequent play Porgy) were influential as well. An examination of several choral pieces from the opera reveals also the impact Gershwin's exposure to African-American choral arrangements of spirituals had on his creative imagination. Shortly after the premiere of Porgy and Bess, Gershwin explained in a New York Times article that he composed his "own spirituals" for the opera rather than insert traditional African-American folk songs because he wanted the music to be "all of one piece." Implicit in Gershwin's statement is the desire to create consistency in musical sound and style. So, he wrote several pieces in the style of spirituals to ensure musical continuity throughout the opera. In particular, several of the choral pieces show clear evidence of the influence of the choral arrangements of spirituals by African-American composers. These spirituals proliferated just prior to and during the time that Gershwin composed the opera. Finally, this paper will review the performance practice of spirituals, as revealed through recordings and as described by noted black scholars. It is the belief of this author that such detailed information can provide performers and scholars with an historical basis for choosing, studying, understanding, and performing choral excerpts from Porgy and Bess in ways that accurately reflect African-American folk music traditions.
Download or read book Negro Spirituals and Folk Songs written by Jester Hairston and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Way Over in Beulah Lan written by André Jerome Thomas and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned choral conductor and educator Andr J. Thomas has crafted a book that the conductor of any choral ensemble-be it church, high school, university, or professional-will want close at hand when preparing to program any concert spiritual. Understanding the Spiritual, the first of the book's two sections, includes an exploration of the beginnings of the spiritual, its role in society and its transition into art music. Issues of interpretation-text, diction, rhythm and tempo-are addressed in the second section, Performing the Spiritual. In addition to interviews with noted conductors Dr. Anton Armstrong and Prof. Judith Willoughby as to matters of performance and selection, the centerpiece of this section is Dr. Thomas's personal reflections on several spiritual arrangements, including his rehearsal techniques (with specific examples and measure-number references to the included scores), as well as an insightful look into his decisions of interpretation.
Download or read book Sinful Tunes and Spirituals written by Dena J. Epstein and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Awarded both the Chicago Folklore Prize and the Simkins Prize of the Southern Historical Association From the plaintive tunes of woe sung by exiled kings and queens of Africa to the spirited worksongs and "shouts" of freedmen, in Sinful Tunes and Spirituals Dena J. Epstein traces the course of early black folk music in all its guises. This classic work is being reissued with a new author's preface on the silver anniversary of its original publication.
Download or read book American Negro Songs written by John Wesley Work and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Authoritative study traces the African influences and lyric significance of such songs as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and John Henry, and gives words and music for 230 songs. Bibliography. Index of Song Titles.
Download or read book Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry written by Sandra Jean Graham and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2018-02-26 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirituals performed by jubilee troupes became a sensation in post-Civil War America. First brought to the stage by choral ensembles like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, spirituals anchored a wide range of late nineteenth-century entertainments, including minstrelsy, variety, and plays by both black and white companies. In the first book-length treatment of postbellum spirituals in theatrical entertainments, Sandra Jean Graham mines a trove of resources to chart the spiritual's journey from the private lives of slaves to the concert stage. Graham navigates the conflicting agendas of those who, in adapting spirituals for their own ends, sold conceptions of racial identity to their patrons. In so doing they lay the foundation for a black entertainment industry whose artistic, financial, and cultural practices extended into the twentieth century. A companion website contains jubilee troupe personnel, recordings, and profiles of 85 jubilee groups. Please go to: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/graham/spirituals/
Download or read book My Favorite Spirituals written by Roland Hayes and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty musical arrangements by noted African-American tenor recall biblical events in such well-known tunes as Deep River, Dry Bones, Steal Away, and Were You There? Perceptively written introduction to each song includes background history. Rich collection will appeal to lovers of great spirituals and the rich legacy of African-American song.
Download or read book Best loved Negro Spirituals written by Nicole Beaulieu Herder and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beloved spirituals include such lasting favorites as All God's Children Got Shoes, Balm in Gilead, Deep River, Down by the Riverside, Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, Gimme That Ol'-Time Religion, He's Got the Whole World in His Hand, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Steal Away to Jesus, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, This Train, Wade in the Water, We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? and many more. Excellent for sing-alongs, community programs, church functions, and other events.
Download or read book Expressions of Freedom written by René Boyer-Alexander and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the African American people was one of physical hardship and emotional anguish, yet the music arising from this struggle - the spiritual - was one of deeply-felt emotion. This collection of spirituals, arranged by Rene Boyer-Alexander for voices and Orff instruments, is much more than a mere song collection. It is a chronicle of expression that will enrich and uplift both children and adults in classrooms, choirs, community gatherings and churches. In three volumes or one complete edition, it includes arrangements of over 55 songs, historical background, suggested program uses and cultural connections. Available: Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Complete Edition. For all ages.
Download or read book Ready to Sing Spirituals written by Jay Althouse and published by Alfred Music. This book was released on with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wonderful variety of 11 favorite spirituals are featured in this new songbook. Included are: Gospel Train * Ride the Chariot * Kum Ba Yah * Down by the Riverside * Wade in the Water * Yes, My Lord! * Amazing Grace * Go, Tell It on the Mountain * Joshua * Good News! * Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen.
Download or read book Choral Music written by Avery T. Sharp and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an annotated bibliography to books, recordings, videos, and websites on choral music. This book will serve as an excellent tool for librarians, researchers, and scholars in sorting through the massive amount of new material that has appeared since publication of the previous edition.
Download or read book Hall Johnson written by Eugene Thamon Simpson and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2008-02-15 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During his lifetime (1888-1970), Hall Johnson's concert arrangements of spirituals have been performed and recorded by stellar singers, such as Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, and Denyce Graves, and were sung by school and concert choirs all over the world. The Hall Johnson Negro Choir was acclaimed in concert halls throughout America and Europe, on Broadway, on radio, and in Hollywood and can be seen and heard in movie classics like Lost Horizon, Jezebel, Dumbo, and Song of the South. Yet the story of Johnson's life and accomplishments as conductor, composer, arranger, violist, author, and teacher has never been told until now. Hall Johnson: His Life, His Spirit, and His Music is the first definitive biography of Hall Johnson, providing both a historical narrative of Johnson's entire life and work, as well as a comprehensive treatment of his movie career, his literary creations, his work in musical theatre, and a complete exploration of his music, with special emphasis on the larger works. Author Eugene Thamon Simpson, the curator of the Hall Johnson collection in New Jersey, has amassed important pieces of the collection, such as letters, reviews, interviews, and other documents by and about Hall Johnson, and referenced or published them here for greater accessibility. The book also includes personal recollections of Hall Johnson by people who knew him as teacher, conductor, or professional colleague. Over 20 photos, a discography, and a complete listing of Johnson's works help to document his achievements, making this a valuable resource for those interested in Black History Studies, the evolution of the Negro Spiritual, and blacks in American Cinema and musical theatre.
Download or read book Album of Negro Spirituals written by Harry T. Burleigh and published by Alfred Music. This book was released on with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One dozen spirituals arranged for solo voice with accompaniment. Preserved in Burleigh's arrangements are the essential characteristics of these songs that generally derived from spontaneous outbursts of intense religious fervor. Titles: * Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray * Were You There * Deep River and others.
Download or read book From Spirituals to Symphonies written by Helen Walker-Hill and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploding the assumption that black women's only important musical contributions have been in folk, jazz, and pop Helen Walker-Hill's unique study provides a carefully researched examination of the history and scope of musical composition by African American women composers from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focusing on the effect of race, gender, and class, From Spirituals to Symphonies notes the important role played by individual personalities and circumstances in shaping this underappreciated category of American art. The study also provides in-depth exploration of the backgrounds, experiences, and musical compositions of eight African American women including Margaret Bonds, Undine Smith Moore, and Julia Perry, who combined the techniques of Western art music with their own cultural traditions and individual gifts. Despite having gained national and international recognition during their lifetimes, the contributions of many of these women are today forgotten.
