Classic reference; one of the first to make the general public aware of the dynamic power of slave folk songs.
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A pre-eminent theologian’s interpretation of the religious significance of the spirituals tradition, and its relationship to the blues.
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The most comprehensive treatment available of the historical roots of the religious culture of the “Gullah” community: African Americans living in the sea islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, where is it felt that many aspects of traditional African cultures are retained. Includes considerable attention to the role of traditional folk music. Prof. Washington is a Cornell University historian and an academic advisor to the Spirituals Project.
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The classic essay on spirituals written at the turn of the twentieth century by the famous activist-sociologist DuBois. “Must” reading for anyone interested in the spirituals.
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The most comprehensive reference available on the musicological and historical evolution of Black folk music in America (including an extensive treatment of the spirituals) up to the time of the Civil War. Carefully researched and well documented, the book begins with an examination West African music, including an illuminating discussion of ways in which music traditions were transmitted from West Africa through the Middle Passage. The complex issue of African retentions is given extensive treatment throughout the text.
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One of the first scholarly attempts at a thorough socio-cultural analysis of the cultural functions of the spirituals and other slave songs.
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A comprehensive treatment of the cultural and theological framework and musicological structure of the spirituals, written by a seminary-based ethnomusicologist.
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Thoroughly documented, powerfully written account of the beginnings of the long, Black-led freedom movement, beginning with the Atlantic slave trade and the crucible of American chattel slavery.
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Collection of some of the most popular spirituals, with simple arrangements by J. Rosamond Johnson and Leonard Brown. A historic introduction by the famous poet James Weldon Johnson. Includes an excellent discussion of the appropriate uses of Black dialect in the singing of spirituals.
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This article provides a general introduction to the cultural and psychological functions of the spirituals as they have evolved from slavery times to the present.
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Provides a comprehensive orientation to the cultural origins and functions of the spirituals, and an argument for why these songs and their teachings remain relevant in the twenty-first century. Comes packaged with a CD of selected songs recorded by the author and musical collaborators from The Spirituals Project organization.
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Levine, Lawrence. Black Culture and Black Consciousness. New York: Oxford Press, 1977.
In this, one of the best sources on the “essence” of Black American cultural traditions, historian Lawrence Levine includes in this book an excellent analysis of the place of the spirituals tradition in Black culture and history.
This is widely considered the most important single reference on the social and cultural significance and influence of the spirituals. It provides a thorough, scholarly and comprehensive literary analysis of spirituals lyrics, places them in historical context, and includes an extensive section on the worldwide cultural influences of the spirituals.
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A classic book on slave religion by an important Princeton University historian. Eminently readable, it also includes a section on the history, evolution and religious functions of the spirituals during slavery.
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Like Raboteau’s book on slave religion, this is another classic. Of particular importance to those interested in the spirituals is Stuckey’s analysis of the central role of the ring shout in the evolution of spirituals and their connection to nationalistically conscious elements of traditional African American culture.
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The go-to manual on the spirituals, specifically addressed to choral conductors and performers, by a pre-eminent choral conductor, composer and educator. Provides a musical and cultural historical sketch of the spirituals, beginning with their origins in slavery, as well as a practical guide to the performing these songs in concert.
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An important book by one of the veterans of the 1960’s freedom movement in America. Focuses on the historical role of the spirituals and other Black sacred music genres in supporting progressive social action and social change.
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The companion to the PBS Documentary Film, “The Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory,” this book provides the first ever comprehensive story of the first Fisk Jubilee Singers, whose international tours in the 1870’s introduced the world to the spirituals and raised money to save Fisk University from bankruptcy. It is a wonderful book that goes way beyond the normal romantic recounting of the Jubilee Story to include details accounts of the singers’ battles with racism, exploitation and physical fatigue.
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