Essay Database

Negro Spirituals Spirituals, a religious folk song of American origin, particularly associated with African-American Protestants of the southern United States. The African-American spiritual, characterized by syncopation, polyrhythmic structure, and the pentatonic scale of five whole tones, is, above all, a deeply emotional song. Spirituals are really the most characteristic product of the race genius yet in America. However, the very elements that make them uniquely expressive of the Negro make them at the same time …

…When a body of folk music is really taken up into musical tradition, it is apt to do more than contribute a few knew themes. For when the rhythmic and harmonic basis of music is affected, it is more than a question of superstructure; the very foundations of the art are in process of being influenced. Appreciating it as music of the past, we must nurture and welcome its contribution to the music of tomorrow.