[Detail] Training School for Wives and Mothers, Baton Gouge, La. 1888 
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Music: African American Spirituals
“Of the Sorrow Songs,” Chapter XIV of W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, is devoted to Negro Spirituals. In 1903 Du Bois wrote
Little of beauty has America given the world save the rude grandeur God himself stamped on her bosom; the human spirit in this new world has expressed itself in vigor and ingenuity rather than in beauty. And so by fateful chance the Negro folk-song--rhythmic cry of the slave--stands to-day not simply as the sole American music, but as the most beautiful expression of human experience born this side of the seas. It has been neglected, it has been, and is half despised, and above all it has been persistently mistaken and misunderstood; but notwithstanding, it still remains as the singular spiritual heritage of the nation and the greatest gift of the Negro people.
- Why did Du Bois hold African American folk songs in high regard?
- Why do you think he believed that these “sorrow songs” were “half despised” and misunderstood?
In the introduction to the book, Slave Songs of the United States, William Allen writes that he wanted to preserve typical slave songs before they were lost with the passing of elders. The editor provides a thorough discussion of the songs included in the collection and directions for singing the songs. The book includes lyrics and musical scores for 136 spirituals and secular songs from ten Southern states. Funeral songs and songs in lament of a soldier’s death are also included. The words and music to fifty “Cabin and Plantation Songs” often sung by students at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Virginia, are included in the appendix to Hampton and Its Students. The school’s music director arranged the songs for inclusion in the book.
Examine the lyrics of several spirituals. What were the messages conveyed? Can you make connections between these lyrics and what you have learned about the role of religion in the African American community? If you can read music, sing some of the songs or play them on a keyboard. How do the melodies and harmonies help convey the meaning of the lyrics?
Last Updated: 01/12/2010