Sing it again: beloved old African American spirituals find a new following

Black Issues Book Review, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Ingrid Sturgis

"Sometimes, I have personally felt that our children would not receive this music very well, but you can tell from the expression on their faces that the music gets their attention," Kwami adds. "The Jubilee Singers is a strong drawing factor for students who come to Fisk. Each year between forty and fifty students try out. Those who cannot sing do attend our performances. I have a responsibility of helping to preserve the Negro spirituals with the Jubilee Singers."

The Spiritual Cybersource

Web sites about African American spiritual music:

Negro Spirituals www.negrospirituals.com, includes history, reference books, songs, singers, composers and link to Amazon.com for books about spirituals.

On the George Washington University's student produced African American Literature Web site www.gwu.edu/~e73afram/dw-ah-ek.html#origin is "A Tradition of Spirituals," by Dave Watermulder, J. Amber Hudlin and Ellie Kaufman. The site includes the history of spirituals, composers and performers, as well as a literary analysis of a select number of songs.

Melody Lane Illustrated Hymn Songbook www.melodylane.net/hymnsindex.html A private member Web site featuring Christian Hymns, Spirituals, and Religious Songs Index with links to songs.

The Negro Spiritual www.dogonvillage.com/negrospirituals is the news journal of Friends of Negro Spirituals, an organization that focuses on the history, teaching and activities related to Negro Spirituals.

The Art of the Negro Spiritual www.artofthenegrospiritual.com/ is a research prelect that examines the Negro spiritual, as written for solo vocal performance, with a discussion group component on Yahoo.

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers a lesson plan on spirituals. edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id 318

Other Noteworthy Titles

In Spirit and in truth: The Music of African American Worship by Melva Wilson Costen Geneva Press, November 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-664-22864-X

This book examines various genres of music used in African American worship, including hymns, and emerging trends in music ministry in African American churches. Dr. Costen is professor of Music and Worship at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Let the Church Sing!" Music and Worship in a Black Mississippi Community by Therese smith University of Rochester Press, August 2004, $45., ISBN 1-580-46157-3

Religion, church and music play an important role in the lives of many people in the Deep South. In this book, the small community of Clear Creek shares its religious songs in context with religious worship.

Readings in African American Church Music and Worship Compiled and edited by James Abbington GIA Publications, Inc., April 2002 $49.95, ISBN 1-579-99163-7

A book of essays and articles on music and worship by leading scholars, past and present, including Dr. W.E.B du Bois and Dr. Obery Hendricks, author of the critically acclaimed novel Living Water (see BIBR May-June 2003. FAITH). Section II. "Surveys of Hymnals and Hymnody," features five essays on the role of hymns in African American Christian worship.