THE NEGRO SPIRITUAL A NATIONAL TREASURE

“The United States Senate unanimously approved a resolution introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) honoring the African American spiritual. Menendez originally introduced the measure last year, and has since gained Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) as co-sponsors. The House of Representatives also passed a resolution with language identical to the one drafted by Menendez.”

On February 7, 2007, The House of Representatives passed a Bill # H. Res. 120 recognizing the Negro Spiritual as a National Treasure. This body of music, which “sprang” into existence out of Africans expressing their dissatisfaction with their enslavement and the horrific conditions under which they were surviving, became powerful tools with which they were able to negotiate and endure everyday life situations.

More than 6000 of these quaint and poignant melodies were collected and preserved, detailing the accounts and reflections, in music on this unfortunate period of American History.

This American music has become one of the most respected and beloved genres of American music the world over having sustained its longevity and popularity for more than one hundred and thirty years once it came to publics awareness. Credit for bringing this genre of music to the publics attention is given to the Fisk Jubilee Singers and rightly so. However, the sustaining of this music tradition is certainly due to the continued performances of choirs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities across America, since the Fisk Jubilee Singers first brought these songs to the attention of America. Because of one valiant student who after a prayer was prayed, in a conference at Oberlin College, softly began to sing the spiritual, “Steal Away.” Since that one spontaneous moment these songs quickly became some of Americas most beloved music.

On February 7, 2007 the 110th Congress passed bill #H. Res. 120. without amendment making this music, “The Negro Spiritual,” a National Treasure.

Bill #H.Res.120:
2/7/2007--Passed House without amendment.

“Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) recognizes that African American spirituals are a poignant and powerful genre of music that have become one of the most significant segments of American music in existence; (2) expresses the deepest gratitude, recognition, and honor to the former enslaved Africans in the United States for their gifts to our nation, including their original music and oral history; and (3) requests that the President issue a proclamation that reflects on the important contribution of African American spirituals to American history, and naming the African American spiritual a national treasure.”

In 1872 a group of students from Fisk University and their white Choral Conductor, George L. White left Fisk University with a repertory of western European songs and Arias traveling to sing concerts in hopes of raising money to keep the doors of their school open. They call themselves, The Fisk Jubilee Singers. One of their concerts brought them to Oberlin College and it is here where the students, just by chance, began to sing the spiritual, “Steal Away,” as a prayer response. Before that time these quaint American slave songs had never been given a formal public hearing. Word quickly spread across America about this group of young students from Fisk University singing these slave songs. With the great popularity of the Fisk Singers singing these “New Songs,” others began to imitate them such as the Hampton Singers and pretty soon many others all calling themselves some kind of, “Jubilee Singer.” This began a frenzy of African American Singers all across America singing these songs of enslaved Africans detailing the plight of their horrific existence of American Slave Trade.

How have these songs maintained their longevity?

Early African American concert singer, Harry T. Burleigh, as a student at the National Conservatory sang many of these songs for the visiting composer Antonin Dvorak of Czechoslovakia who declared these songs to be the “true” American folk music. Burleigh arranged many of these songs and added them to his repertory as a classical Artist and began to close each of his concerts with, “Negro Spirituals.” He set a standard which became a tradition of African American Classical singers and which is still a tradition of African American recitalists today.

One might ask the question, how have these quaint little gems of American culture survived for more than a hundred years and still maintain such a strong popularity? One answer surly is because of the long-standing oral traditions that is so characteristic of the music of Africa and the truth these songs speak. They tell of real faith, confidence, hope defiance and struggle and finally an enduring determination to overcome every obstacle to get back home. Another answer would certainly be through the long-standing tradition of the singing of Negro Spirituals at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

This is a tradition that was started by the student group, The Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University and spread to other HBCU. These schools have been the keepers of this tradition which has been nurtured and honored for more than a hundred years. They have become a bedrock or the backbone of the tradition of keeping Negro Spirituals as a major part of their choral traditions.

Hampton University followed this tradition with its students quartet groups as well as it’s great music scholar R. Nathaniel Dett who contributed early scholarly writings and arrangements on the spiritual. Other schools like Howard University, Tuskegee, Morehouse College among many others all contributed significantly to development and maintain these gems of early African singing traditions in America.

Additionally significant in this growing tradition was, of course, Choral Conductors. These hard-core task Masters developed a tradition of singing the Negro Spiritual that to this day is still emulated the world over. The standards set by such great names as, William Dawson at Howard University and Tuskegee, John W. Work II at Fisk University, Hall Johnson and the Hall Johnson Choir, Jester Hairston, Roland Carter at Hampton University, Nathan Carter at Morgan State University, Kempel Harral at Morehouse, Willis James at Spelman College, Undine Smith-Moore at Virginia State, Alma Blackman at Oakwood College, all became great names at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities for setting and maintaining the long-standing American Choral tradition of singing the negro spiritual.

The survival of the Negro Spiritual has largely rested upon the shoulders of Choral Conductors and students of these American Institutions of higher learning and have brought many of these HBCUs to National and International recognition and fame for their unique arrangements and performances. They have maintained the struggle of keeping the negro spiritual in the Black Community and on the Concert Stages of some of the most prestigious Concert Halls in the World. They have fought the academic challenges of the, “Art Song purest,” who felt that these songs of struggles were not worthy to stand alongside the great Western European Art Songs of Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc or even American composers such as Samuel Barber and Ned Rorem.

Despite such opposition the Negro Spiritual has withstood these challenges on its own in being music that is powerful, sensitive, heart-felt and pleasing to the ear.

Congress and the United States Senate has honored the Negro Spiritual in making it one of the most respected genres of music in the American Music patchwork, and a National Treasure.

“A NATIONAL TREASURE”

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
February 7, 2007.

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the House of Representatives—

1. recognizes that African American spirituals are a poignant and powerful genre of music that have be- come one of the most significant segments of American music in existence;
2. expresses the deepest gratitude, recognition, and honor to the former enslaved Africans in the United States for their gifts to our Nation, including their original music and oral history; and
3. requests that the President issue a proclamation that reflects on the important contribution of African American spirituals to American history, and naming the African American spiritual a national treasure.

According to American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, the African American spiritual oftentimes took many forms and the lyrics appealed to a variety of emotions and sentiment, including: "sorrow, alienation and desolation"; "consolation and faith"; "resistance and defiance"; "deliverance"; "jubilation and triumph"; "judgment and reckoning"; "regeneration"; "spiritual progress"; and "transcendence."

References:

Menendez, Robert: Menendez’s African American Spirituals Resolution Passes Congress, Press Release of Senator Menendez, United States Senator, New Jersey.

GovTrack.us: H. Res. 120—110th Congress (2007): Recognizing the African American Spiritual as a national treasure, GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation)