First of all, Mods - I put this in here because it is related to an issue with music. If it’s more appropriate for another forum, by all means shift it along.
I attended a concert today. The conductor talked about the composer. Anton Dvorak lived in the USA in the early 1980’s. He apparently travelled the USA for a short time, in addition to running the National Conservatory in New York City.
The conductor today said that Dvorak admired many forms of music that he encountered including Negro music and Native American music.
Here’s the question- did the conductor use that phrase because he was quoting from a biography so old that the phrase “Negro music” was still appropriate? Is is appropriate to refer to music created by African Americans during that period of time as Negro music? And, if so why? Because those folks were once referred to as Negroes? I do not know that they were referred to as such during the 1890’s. ( Was that the pronoun used during that period? ).
It surprised me when he said it, but I’ve been thinking about it since the concert. Is it a bad P.C. move to say such, or is it historically ( or music historically ) accurate?
Same thing occured to me, in the context of ‘Four Negro Spirituals’ a la Michael Tippett. In that case, I feel the historical usage of the term, added to the fact that this is the title given by the composer, is enough. And ‘negro’ is being used as an adjective for the music, not for people.
The latter point is pertinent. Talk of Dvorak’s encounters with Negro music is about the music, not people. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a description of Dvorak being influenced by ‘African American music’ (although I don’t doubt that it exists somewhere!)
I agree that “Negro music” is appropriate here, but not for exactly the same reason as GorillaMan. I think that “Negro” does in fact describe the people, as well as the music. “Negro music” is “music created and played by the Negroes”. This has a certain connotation; it is not the same as “music created and played by African Americans/black people/persons of color”. It refers not only to people with a certain skin tone, but also living in a particular place and time (the American South in the 18th/19th centuries, for the most part).
For me:
“Negro music” implies spirituals
“Black music” would be 70’s soul
“African American music” connotes rap/ hip hop
Personally, I would not be likely use any of these exact terms, but I have referred to “Negro spirituals” in music conversations in the past.
Very good point, about ‘Negro’ evoking a specific context. And it seems to me that this is only possible because the word has fallen out of favour in everyday usage.
That genre of music has been consistently called “Negro Music” since academia took notice of it. It wouldn’t make much sense to change musicological terminology every time irrelevant cultural fashions fluctuate.
When we performed Tippett’s *A Child of Our Time * last year, the conductor, the program notes and the reviewers all used the term Negro spirituals. I think it’s simply a recognised musical genre.
R&B was originally a term for black rock and roll, I think, but today it pretty much means “black pop music.” The blues was originally billed as “race music.”
Just a nit: he lived in the U.S. in the 1890s, not the 1980s.
To me, the word “negro” is simply old-fashioned or archaic, not offensive. I don’t know why the conductor decided to use the modern term “Native American” but not say “African American” - perhaps he thinks the word “Indian” is offensive while “negro” isn’t.
BTW, the term “Native American” seems to confuse some non-Americans, as they think it means someone born in this country. “Indigenous American” would be more descriptive, but it’s not a widely-used phrase.
Oops, sorry for the date typo. Hey, I agree- I wasn’t outraged. I just wanted to know what was considered acceptable. I have never heard anyone refer to " African-American Spirituals ".
Suburban Plankton’s descriptions sit very well with me- we really do apply certain terms to certain eras.
Jewish Folk Music means something different than Israeli Folk Music. ( sometimes, anyway).
Jeff, I sit corrected- and a bit humbled. Here I am asking about being P.C., and I use an out of date phrase for Indiginous American peoples. My bad.
Recently the hymnals in church replaced “Negro spiritual” with “African-American song” or something like that in their descriptions of the songs in question. I feel that does take away from the context and history of where those songs came from.
As far as I know, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” is still referred to as the “Negro National Anthem”.
I wasn’t trying to correct you (or anyone) about this. I was just pointing out that, to people who don’t know the context, the term “Native American” can be misinterpreted. The term isn’t out-of-date or politically incorrect as far as I am concerned, and no one I know actually says “Indigenous American.”
The old term “Indian” isn’t exactly politically incorrect, either - it’s still used by the American Indian Movement.