Spiritual is a type of religious song made famous by the blacks of the Southern
United States. Spirituals are emotional songs and have a strong rhythm. They
are especially moving when sung by a group. A leader sometimes sings one or two
lines alone, and a chorus comes in with the refrain. Spiritual singers often
emphasize the rhythm by clapping their hands.
The melodies used in spirituals are
sometimes said to have originated in Africa. However, many spirituals are
unrelated to African songs. Such spirituals reflect a direct relationship to
evangelistic preaching among poor Southern whites that began at a Kentucky camp
meeting in 1800. These "revivals” also encouraged "white spirituals."
The blacks' love for song led them to put their feelings into their singing at
worship and at work.
The slaves based most of their spirituals
upon characters and stories from the Bible. The manner in which these stories
are told in black spirituals shows deep feeling, an original imagination, and a
simple faith.
Many slaves thought of themselves as
modern children of Israel and sought freedom from bondage. Their songs were
appealing and sincere. Well-known spirituals include "Go Down,
Moses," "Deep River," and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."
Spirituals were little known outside the
Southern States until after the blacks were freed from slavery. In 1867,
William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison, and Charles Pickard Ware published
a collection of black music called Slave
Songs of the United States.
In 1871, spirituals were introduced to
other parts of the United States by a group of blacks called the Jubilee
Singers, of Fisk University, Tennessee. They travelled throughout the United
States, and to England and Germany, giving concerts to raise money for their
college. Other black colleges followed their example. The black quartets from
Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), Virginia, and Tuskegee Institute
(now Tuskegee University), Alabama, became famous.
Spirituals are now one of the best-known
forms of American music. Major writers of spirituals include the black
composers Harry Thacker Burleigh, William Dawson, and Hall Johnson. Such black
singers as Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, and William Warfield helped make
spirituals popular.
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