HUMN 303 Week 5 Music and Dance

Sample Answer

The selected music movement is the Negro Spirituals which entails a period when African Americans sang songs during slavery and before the Emancipation Proclamation. According to Martin and Jacobus (2018), pieces like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” by Wallace Willis written in 1862 and recorded by the Jubilee singers who also published another spiritual song that the African American slaves sang, “Wade in the Water” (Granger, 2021).

Historians believe that African-American slave communities sang these songs to tell their suffering stories and provide clues that slaves could use to escape to freedom, especially during the construction of the Underground Railroad. Many of these songs have similar themes of seeking for freedom, the hope of ending the suffering, and the belief that a higher power will assist the people who endured the maltreatment.

The reality of the world and cultural situation influenced the rhythm and melodies of black spirituals and gospel songs. Most of the tunes of early black spirituals had similar hymn tunes and got inspiration from African music (Uitti, 2023). They referred to some of these songs as “shouts” and entail dance motions, hand clapping, and tapping of feet. The devotional songs by African Americans, especially at the time entail “moaning” and “groaning” with no pain implied (Music, 2024).

These aspects, moaning and groaning, only emphasized the ecstatic nature of the singing as it was frequently accompanied by humming and impromptu melodic alteration. Many African Americans believed that these songs were special to their parents and could not be included in the repertoire. They were religious songs used by parents to cry for the end to their enduring suffering (Scheyer, 2022).

According to a member of the Fisk Jubilee singers, Ella Shepherd, “It was only after several months that gradually our hearts opened up to the influence of these friends, and we began to appreciate the wonderful beauty and power of our songs” (The Spirituals, 2021). On his part, the famous Frederick Douglas critically examined the movement and the essence of the Negros spirituals at the time.

Douglas asserted, “Slave songs told a story that was then entirely beyond my limited comprehension; they were tones, loud, lengthy, and deep, breathing the supplication and complaint of souls boiling over the bitterest suffering. Every tone was a protest against slavery and a prayer to God for freedom from captivity.”

References

• Granger, C. (2021). Speaking of Rivers Spirituals, Poetry, and Relationality. The Langston Hughes Review, 27(2) 188-214. https //doi.org/10.5325/langhughrevi.27.2.0188
• Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. A. (2018). The humanities through the arts. New York McGraw- Hill Education.
• Music, R. (2024 September 20). The Most Beautiful Negro Spiritual Songs.
  https //www.ranker.com/list/famous-negro-spiritual-songs/ranker-music
• Scheyer, L. (2022). African American spirituals and their legacy. In A companion to American poetry, 39-50. DOI 10.1002/9781119669760.ch5
• The Spirituals (2021). Wade in the Water. Wade in the Water Live. The Spirituals (Official Music Video). YouTube. https //www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxZ4H-gq_lc
• Uitti, J. (2023 February 3). Behind the Meaning of the Classic Gospel Song “Wade In The Water”. https //americansongwriter.com/behind-the-meaning-of-the-classic-gospel-song-wade-in-the-water/