In our text, Henry Louis Gates points out the nebulous line between the 'spiritual' and 'gospel' music. This line, according to Gates "is so slight that it seems contrived" (19). The Spirituals that are featured in our text represent the early modes of coping during the early days of slavery. Spirituals such as "Go Down Moses" were the means by which slaves articulated their earthly sufferings and covertly militated against the horrors of bondage. These songs were not restricted to the church, but were integrated into the daily life of the slave. For the slave of the plantation, there was no finite distinction between 'the sacred and the secular,' for spirituality was part of daily existence. Gates quotes Lawrence Levine who observed that for the slave, "the concept of the sacred signified a strong will to incorporate 'within this world all the elements of the divine'": a characteristic thread that connected the generations back to their origins in West Africa (8).
Gospel music, like the early spirituals, is yet another vernacular form in which performers have signified on European traditions. The early hymns of Isaac Watts have, over time, been re-presented in a "Gospel Manner," that features the "highly percussive, polyrhythmically syncopated, and bluesy" form that is associated with this musical form (19). What is noteworthy about the gospel tradition here, is that the emphasis lies in a redemption that aligns heaven with freedom, drawing from the Exodus and Mosaic myths to envision the soul being elevated from a lifelong toil and oppression, to freedom with God.
Spirituals: Tuskegee Institute Jubilee Singers
Fisk University (Nashville): Founded in following the Civil War to educated freed slaves.
The Fisk Jubilee singers were organized by the university's treasurer, George L. White, as a means to garner income for the university as it was facing bankruptcy. In the fall of 1871, the group which consisted of nine members (two quartets and a pianist) commenced a multi-state tour throughout northern and midwestern cities.
In 2002, the Library of Congress honored the Fisk singers by including their 1900 recording of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" to the U.S. National Recording Registry. Below is a reproduction of that recording:
