Carnegie Hall

PART 1: Introducing Spirituals and Their Many Purposes

Starting in 1619, people in Africa were forcibly removed from their homelands by white enslavers and transported to the Americas. This forced bondage continued in America until 1865, and many spirituals were written by Black Americans while enslaved or living within an extraordinarily oppressive society. African American spirituals, the history of American music, and the US as a whole, are deeply intertwined with the legacy and impact of these years of slavery.

Here are two notable perspectives on spirituals:

Musician and musicologist Harry T. Burleigh, writing in the early 1900s, in an introduction to his important collection of spirituals says:

“The plantation songs known as ‘spirituals’ are the spontaneous outbursts of intense religious fervor and had their origin chiefly in religious services conducted by slaves and free Blacks, camp meetings, revivals, and other religious exercises. Success in singing these folk songs is primarily dependent upon deep spiritual feeling. … Through all these songs there breathes a hope, a faith in the ultimate justice and brotherhood of man. 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.”— Harry T. Burleigh (1866–1949), The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh

Historian and musicologist Portia Maultsby, writing in 2005, says:

“Spirituals can be separated into two primary classifications, folk spirituals and concert arrangements of the Negro spiritual. Some folk spirituals are sung in a call-and-response style, while others are based on repetitive courses or a verse-chorus format. Most folk spirituals are accompanied by hand clapping and foot stomping with singers encouraged to contribute spontaneous expressions, including moans, cries, and hollers. Concert arrangements of the Negro spiritual are the post–Civil War form of folk spirituals that emerged from Black colleges established to educate the emancipated slaves. Choral directors arranged the folk spiritual using four-part harmony and other Western-based vocal techniques and styles. To preserve the spiritual tradition, however, the fundamental elements remained—a call-and-response structure, repetitions of melodies and texts, and percussive vocal timbres.”— Portia Maultsby, Professor Emerita, Indiana University

What are some of the reasons, according to these two authors, spirituals are important? How has understanding of this importance changed over time and what effect did it have on the musical style, performance, and meaning? How do you feel the understanding of spirituals’ role in American society might continue to evolve?

PART 2: Listening to Concert Spirituals

Based on the discussion of folk spirituals and concert spirituals described above, listen to the following concert spirituals “Goin’ Up to Glory (No More Auction Block for Me),” “Wade in the Water,” and “Rise, Shine, For Thy Light Is a’ Comin’.”

“Goin’ Up to Glory (No More Auction Block for Me)” is a concert spiritual that contrasts a life of forced labor with the hope of “goin’ up to glory.” Many spirituals had double meanings: “Goin’ up to glory” could mean dying and going to heaven, or it could mean escaping from slavery to freedom. The auction block was a platform where people were sold into slavery to the highest bidder. Families were often separated as a result of American slavery, and sometimes free Black Americans were kidnapped and sold at auctions.

• Where do you notice the singers creating unity in this performance?
• What words stand out as you listen?
• What kind of moods or feelings do you hear expressed by the singers?

“Wade in the Water” is an example of a concert spiritual with coded instructions for a successful escape. On the surface, the song refers to a number of biblical stories involving water. In focusing on the role of water in spiritual salvation (such as in baptisms), the song also implies that waterways are a means to find freedom from slavery. Crossing rivers, wading, or swimming enabled enslaved laborers to evade the search dogs used to track them.

• In this choir do you hear sopranos and altos, tenors and basses, or all of the above?
• Black American songs often include a soloist who sings an independent part while a choir sings something else. Which voice type is this singer using?
• What message is the choir emphasizing? What does the soloist seem to be saying? Where do you hear unity in this performance?

“Rise, Shine, For Thy Light Is a’ Comin’” is a concert spiritual celebrating freedom. According to a law in the Hebrew Bible, every 50 years is a “year of jubilee.” In the jubilee year, nobody worked, the enslaved were set free, and all stolen land was given back to its original owner. Many spirituals imagine the year of jubilee as a way of expressing hope for freedom.

• How does this spiritual’s mood compare to “Goin’ Up to Glory (No More Auction Block for Me)” and “Wade in the Water”?
• At one point the soloist sings, “I intend to shout and never stop until I reach the mountaintop.” In addition to speaking, the word “shout” refers to an energetic circle dance used in Black American Christian traditions. What does “Rise, Shine” have in common with dance music that you know?
• All of these spirituals include meaningful messages. Singing these songs unites the singers by having them proclaim the same message together. What are some messages you would like to hear people sing about today?