Type of Submission
Performance
Proposal
African American spirituals are a distinctly crucial American genre of song. The anthems often provided comfort and eased the boredom of daily tasks. They were an expression of spiritual devotion and a yearning for freedom from the bondage that they experienced, but they were also a means of releasing suppressed emotions and expressing sorrow and loss. Even removed from slavery, certain denominations of evangelists expressed their praise through powerful songs of worship. There are few figures more influential for this genre during this time than Hall Johnson, Harry Burleigh, and Roland Hayes. They held a very influential yet distinct roles in the direction of choral and solo vocal music in America during the Civil Rights Movement. In this performance presentation, I will describe the impact of these figures and preform a spiritual from each of them.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Publication Date
2023
African American Spirituals of the Civil Rights Movement
African American spirituals are a distinctly crucial American genre of song. The anthems often provided comfort and eased the boredom of daily tasks. They were an expression of spiritual devotion and a yearning for freedom from the bondage that they experienced, but they were also a means of releasing suppressed emotions and expressing sorrow and loss. Even removed from slavery, certain denominations of evangelists expressed their praise through powerful songs of worship. There are few figures more influential for this genre during this time than Hall Johnson, Harry Burleigh, and Roland Hayes. They held a very influential yet distinct roles in the direction of choral and solo vocal music in America during the Civil Rights Movement. In this performance presentation, I will describe the impact of these figures and preform a spiritual from each of them.
