LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Spirituals: Negro Spirituals
built 642 days ago
Negro spirituals were the first uniquely American music to come out of this country. European classics, Anglo ballads, hymns, and Irish jigs and reels dominated American music until the slaves created their songs of sorrow and hope to sustain them while the institution of slavery lasted. Spirituals were created over a 200-year period, but not until after the Civil War were most Americans aware of their existence. This music, so rich and varied, so deeply emotional and expressive, is a testament to the strength and tenacity of the African people who adapted to and enriched all of American culture.
Source:
As traditional negro spirituals continued to be sung, new Gospel songs were created. The lyrics of these new songs dealt with praising the Lord, with personal improvement and with brotherly community life. Many of them were inspired by social problems: segregation, lack of love, drugs, etc.
Source:
Friends of the Negro Spiritual based in Oakland, California, the group publishes a newsletter and sponsors performances and lectures on spirituals. They ... announce upcoming activities around the country via their mailing list.
Source:
After 1985, negro spirituals are sung at church, by the congregations and by invited singers. But many soloists and choirs sing negro spirituals for concerts and special events. So, for example, Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle include traditional spirituals in their repertoire.
Source:
Today the spirituals are caught between folklore and art-form. Their ever-mounting popularity has brought a very dangerous tendency to sophistication and over-elaboration. Even Negro composers have been too strongly influenced by formal European idioms and mannerisms in setting the spiritual.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Negro Spirituals