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A 'spiritual' (or 'negro spiritual') was a song created by American slaves before emancipation, or a subsequent arrangement of such a song.

Contents

Historical background

Samples

Choirs, Bands, and Ensembles

External links

Historical background

Spirituals were often expressions of religious faith, although they may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white, American culture. They were originated by enslaved African-Americans in the United States. Slavery was introduced to the European colonies in 1619, and enslaved people largely replaced indentured servants as an economic labor force during the 17th century. This labor force would remain in bondage for the entire 18th century and much of the 19th century. They were released with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution by United States Secretary of State William Henry Seward on December 18, 1865. The Amendment was passed by Congress January 31, 1865, and was ratified by 27 of the then 36 states.
During slavery in the United States, there were systematic efforts to de-Africanize the captive Black workforce. Enslaved people were forbidden from speaking their native languages.
It was not long before further restrictions were placed on the religious expression of slaves. Rows of benches in places of worship discouraged congregants from spontaneously jumping to their feet and dancing. The use of musical instruments of any kind often was forbidden, and slaves were ordered to desist from the "paganism" of the practice of spiritual possession. Nonetheless, the Christian principles that teach those who suffer on earth hold a special place with God in heaven undoubtedly spoke to the enslaved who saw this as hope and could certainly relate to the suffering of Jesus. For this reason many slaves genuinely embraced Christianity.
Because they were unable to express themselves freely in ways that were spiritually meaningful to them, enslaved Africans often held secret religious services. During these “bush meetings,” worshippers were free to engage in African religious rituals such as spiritual possession, speaking in tongues and shuffling in counterclockwise ring shouts to communal shouts and chants. It was there also that enslaved Africans further crafted the impromptu musical expression of field songs into the so-called "line signing" and intricate, multi-part harmonies of struggle and overcoming, faith, forbearance and hope that have come to be known as "Negro Spirituals."
While slaveowners used Christianity to teach enslaved Africans to be long-suffering, forgiving and obedient to their masters, as practiced by the enslaved, it became a kind of liberation theology. The story of Moses and The Exodus of the "children of Israel" and the idea of an Old Testament God who struck down the enemies of His "chosen people" resonated deeply with the enslaved ("He's a battleaxe in time of war and a shelter in a time of storm"). In Black hands and hearts, Christian theology became an instrument of liberation.
So, too, in many instances did the spirituals themselves. Spirituals sometimes provided comfort and eased the boredom of daily tasks, but above all, they were an expression of spiritual devotion and a yearning for freedom from bondage. Songs like "Steal Away (to Jesus)", or "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" raised unexpectedly in a dusty field, or sung softly in the dark of night, signalled that the coast was clear and the time to escape had come. The River Jordan became the Ohio River, or the Mississippi, or another body of water that had to be crossed on the journey to freedom. “Wade in the Water” contained explicit instructions to fugitive slaves on how to avoid capture and the route to take to successfully make their way to freedom.[1] Leaving dry land and taking to the water was a common strategy to throw pursuing bloodhounds off one's trail. “The Gospel Train”, and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” all contained veiled references to the Underground Railroad, and ''Follow the Drinking Gourd'' contained a coded map to the Underground Railroad. The title itself was an Africanized reference to the Big Dipper, which pointed the way to the North Star and freedom.
''Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'' is one of the best known spirituals:
::(Refrain)
::Swing low, sweet chariot,
::Coming for to carry me home,
::Swing low, sweet chariot,
::Coming for to carry me home.
::I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
::Coming for to carry me home,
::A band of angels coming after me,
::Coming for to carry me home.
::(Refrain)
::If you get there before I do,
::Coming for to carry me home,
::Tell all my friends I’m coming, too.
::Coming for to carry me home.
::(Refrain)
::I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
::Coming for to carry me home,
::But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
::Coming for to carry me home.
::(Refrain)
::The brightest day that I can say,
::Coming for to carry me home,
::When Jesus washed my sins away,
::Coming for to carry me home.
::(Refrain)
:::: - Traditional
In the 1850s, Reverend Alexander Reid, superintendent of the Spencer Academy in the old Choctaw Nation, hired some enslaved Africans from the Indians for some work around the school. He heard two of them, "Uncle Wallace" and "Aunt Minerva" Willis, singing religious songs they had composed. Among these songs were ''Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'', ''Steal Away to Jesus'', ''The Angels are Coming'', ''I'm a Rolling'', and ''Roll Jordan Roll''. Later, Reid, who left Indian Territory at the beginning of the Civil War, attended a musical program put on by a group of Negro singers from Fisk University. Although they were singing mostly popular music of the day, Reid thought the songs he remembered from his time in the Choctaw Nation would be appropriate. He and his wife transcribed the songs of the Willises as they remembered them and sent them to Fisk University. The Jubilee Singers put on their first performance singing the old captive's songs at a religious conference in 1871. The songs were first published in 1872 in a book titled ''Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University'', by Thomas F. Steward. Later these religious songs became known as ''"Negro spirituals"'' to distinguish this music from the spiritual music of other peoples. Wallace Willis died in 1883 or 84.

Samples

★

★ of "My Good Lord Done Been Here", spiritual song from the Library of Congress' ''John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip''; performed by Aunt Florida Hampton on May 29, 1939, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. P.W. Tartt in Livingston, Alabama

★ of "Roll the Old Chariot Along", spiritual and sea shanty from the Library of Congress' ''Gordon Collection''; performed by unknown persons in the Bay Area of California in the early 1920s

★ of "Deep Down in My Heart", spiritual from the Library of Congress' Gordon Collection; performed by W. M. Givens in Darien, Georgia, on about March 19, 1926

Choirs, Bands, and Ensembles

★ Deep River Boys

External links

★ http://www.tnstate.edu/library/digital/FISK.HTM Fisk Jubilee Singers

★ "Coded Slave Songs," with an analysis of "Follow the Drinkin' Gourd"

★ Video and Audio Excerpts relating to Marian Anderson

★ [2] Publication "Steal Away to Jesus: African-American Spirituals in the Episcopal Church, by Rev. E. E. Asbury

★ Historical Notes on African American melodies, including 75 spirituals with downloadable arrangements for solo instrument