I don’t know much (nothing, actually) about any of the
artists on tonight’s record which is an Australian pressing from the early
1960s. But it is a pleasure to share
nonetheless.
Growing up our family music collection included several
records of massive choirs singing Negro Spirituals. I’ve searched high and low for one in
particular: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir (or was it the Normal Luboff Choir?)
singing my favorite spiritual, There is a Balm in Gilead. Alas even ebay comes up blank.
This record doesn’t include that particular song but is full
of wonderful renditions of some of the most famous Negro Spirituals. Some are
done as choral arrangements, others (and my favorites) are the solos. A solitary voice singing direct to God
somehow seems to encapsulate what Negro Spirituals are all about. A
conversation with the Almighty.
The very
first Negro Spirituals were inspired by African music even if the tunes were
not far from those of hymns. Some of them, which were called “shouts” were
accompanied with typical dancing including hand clapping and foot tapping.
After regular a worship service, congregations used to stay for a “ring
shout”. It was a survival of primitive African dance. So, educated ministers
and members placed a ban on it. The men and women arranged themselves in a
ring. The music started, perhaps with a Spiritual, and the ring began to move,
at first slowly, then with quickening pace. The same musical phrase was
repeated over and over for hours. This produced an ecstatic state. Women
screamed and fell. Men, exhausted, dropped out of the ring.
 |
| Doing a ring shout in Georgia. Ca 1930 |
Some African
American religious singing at this time was referred as a “moan” (or a
“groan”). Moaning (or groaning) does not imply pain. It is a kind of blissful
rendition of a song, often mixed with humming and spontaneous melodic
variation.
In the early
nineteenth century, African Americans were involved in the “Second Awakening”.
They met in camp meetings and sang without any hymnbook. Spontaneous songs were
composed on the spot. They were called “spiritual songs” and the term
“sperichil” (spiritual) appeared for the first time in the book “Slave Songs of
The United States” (by Allen, Ware, Garrison, 1867).
As Negro Spirituals
are Christian songs, most of them concern what the Bible says and how to live
with the Spirit of God. For example, the “dark days of bondage” were
enlightened by the hope and faith that God will not leave slaves alone.
By the way,
African Americans used to sing outside of churches. During slavery and
afterwards, slaves and workers who were working at fields or elsewhere
outdoors, were allowed to sing “work songs”. This was the case, when they had
to coordinate their efforts for hauling a fallen tree or any heavy load. Even
prisoners used to sing “chain gang” songs when they worked on the road or on
some construction project.
But some
“drivers” also allowed slaves to sing “quiet” songs, if they were not
apparently against slaveholders. Such songs could be sung either by only one
soloist or by several slaves. They were used for expressing personal feeling
and for cheering one another. So, even at work, slaves could sing “secret
messages”. This was the case of Negro Spirituals, which were sung at church, in
meetings, at work and at home.
The meaning
of these songs was most often covert. Therefore, only Christian slaves
understood them, and even when ordinary words were used, they reflected
personal relationship between the slave singer and God.
The codes of
the first Negro Spirituals are often related with an escape to a free country.
For example, a “home” is a safe place where everyone can live free. So, a
“home” can mean Heaven, but it covertly means a sweet and free country, a haven
for slaves.
The ways
used by fugitives running to a free country were riding a “chariot” or a
“train”.
The Negro Spirituals
“The Gospel Train” and “Swing low, sweet chariot” which directly refer to the
Underground Railroad, an informal organization who helped many slaves to flee.
The words
of “The Gospel train” are “She is coming… Get onboard… There’s room for
many more”. This is a direct call to go way, by riding a “train” which
stops at “stations”.
Then, “Swing
low, sweet chariot” refers to Ripley, a “station” of the Underground Railroad,
where fugitive slaves were welcome. This town is atop a hill, by Ohio River,
which is not easy to cross. So, to reach this place, fugitives had to wait for
help coming from the hill. The words of this spirituals say, “I looked over
Jordan and what did I see/ Coming for to carry me home/ A band of angels coming
after me”.
Spirituals
were sung at churches with an active participation of the congregation (as it
is usual in a Pentecostal church). Their lyrics mainly remain similar to
those of the first negro spirituals.
They were
often embellished and they were also called either “church songs” or “jubilees” or “holy roller songs”. But some hymns were changed by
African American and became “Dr Watts”.
The
particular feature of this kind of singing was its surging, melismatic melody,
punctuated after each praise by the leader’s intoning of the next line of the
hymn. The male voices doubled the female voices an octave below and with the
thirds and the fifths occurring when individuals left the melody to sing in a
more comfortable range. The quality of the singing was distinctive for its
hard, full-throated and/or nasal tones with frequent exploitation of falsetto,
growling, and moaning.
The beats
of Dr Watt’s songs were slow, while there are other types of spirituals.
These beats are usually classed in three groups:
- the “call and response
chant”,
- the slow, sustained, long-phrase melody,
- and the syncopated,
segmented melody,
- “Call and response”
For a “call
and response chant”, the preacher (leader) sings one verse and the congregation
(chorus) answers him with another verse.
An example
of such songs is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.
Track
Listing:
01 Jericho (The
Linden Singers)
02 Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (Geoffrey
Taylor)
03 Little David (Martin Lawrence)
04 Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (Isabelle
Lucas)
05 Lily of the Valley (George Brown)
06 Gospel Train (George Brown)
07 He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (The
Linden Singers)
08 Sadrak (The Linden Singers)
09 Go Down Moses (Martin Lawrence)
10 Deep River (Geoffrey Taylor)
11 Sweet Little Jesus Boy (Isabelle Lucas)
12 Heaven (George Brown)
13 Swing Low Sweet Chariot (George Brown)
14 Standing in the Need of Prayer (The Linden Singers)
