A couple of years ago I wanted to program some spirituals on my graduate voice recital, but did not because of opposition from a black faculty member who felt it would be inappropriate (I’m white). She had two main points: 1) that spirituals have such a strong connection to black slavery that they are an integral part of that cultural heritage, and to extract them for purely musical reasons was to miss the point. 2) that for spirituals to maintain their basic musical and expressive properties they had to be done in a “black” style (mainly having to do with use of language and pronunciation), and that for a white singer to do that would be either silly or disrespectful.
Now that I’m out of school I have a continued interest in that music and I’m considering putting some on an upcoming concert. My question is:
are spirituals “black only” music?
My own feelings on the subject are conflicted. I think that spirituals have been with us for long enough that they are now part of a common cultural heritage, and therefore fair game. On the other hand, I can see her point about the larger cultural significance of the songs and my inability to bring that to a performance without intentionally “black” english. Thoughts?
“I don’t get any smarter as I get older–Just less stupid”
Gee, I hope the black faculty member makes sure to restrict him- or herself to spirituals, blues, and all that other jungle music.
He’d look simply ridiculous if he tried to perform something written by someone of European heritage. Have to make all those white hand gestures and stuff.
As posed, I agree. I’m probably overlooking the existence of factual information about “white” spirituals, but those guys over there are pretty smart, too.
My objection is not that it would be “disrespectful”, but that it just wouldn’t sound right. I think spirituals that are “cleaned up” and sung in proper English just sound forced. (I.e., “They ain’t got no soul.” Kind of like the Pat Boone covers of Little Richard songs.)
…Hmmm… I do remember that episode of The Andy Griffith Show where Rafe Hollister (the moonshiner) did real credit to “Look Down, Look Down That Lonesome Road”. He did use the southern idiom, though…
I’ve heard this same retort before, and in some instances I want to agree. But in fairness to her original objection, her point was not that black singers only should sing spirituals because they were originally sung and invented by black slaves. Rather, it was that, like much music of african extraction, the spiritual tradition had a broader social context that imbued the songs with a greater meaning, and that for a person outside of the community in which they were created to appropriate them on purely musical grounds robbed them of their essential quality.
Having said that, I tend to think that no person alive now–black or white–is any longer a part of that community, and so her point loses its validity.
Well, I disagree with that notion. “Look Down, Look Down That Lonesome Road” is a good example. The lyrics of that song speak to anyone who feels burdened by life. Though it may have been written to express the suffering of black folks, I think anyone who has suffered can relate to it.
I do agree with her point on the linguistic angle, though. I think the song has to be sung in the proper idiom to work. (I mean, how can you sing a line like “Weary totin’ such a load,” except with a southern/black accent? Who outside the south even uses the word “totin’”?
Well, yeah, but Elvis could pull it off because the language of southern whites and southern blacks is essentially the same. So Elvis sang the stuff with a southern accent, and with some soul. Pat Boone’s white-bread renditions of Little Richard songs, on the other hand, just don’t work. A white person can pull off spirituals, too, but they have to be delivered with some soul.
style and soul aren’t the problem–any committed performer can muster those qualities with the right kind of study and sensitivity to the material. The fact that Pat Boone was inherently square doesn’t have much bearing on the possibilities for white singers. Another question, though, is this: if a white singer can make it SOUND right, will it then LOOK wrong? The strongest historical precedent for whites mimicing black performing styles is the minstrel tradition (Al Jolson, etc.) adn that was laced with racism.
Sorry that came off so glib, aschrott. But it goes without saying that I agree with your final statement, that no one – black, white, or chartreuse – is directly linked to the original music anymore. So if anyone takes a shot at it, everyone should be free to.
If I were a Jewish singer, would I be expected to avoid Bach’s motets and cantatas?
Art Pepper’s autobiography, STRAIGHT LIFE, offers an interesting take on black/white musicians. In the late '40s and early '50s, black bebop musicians resented white men trying to play with them…bop was, on one level, an attack on the whites who co-opted jazz, making swing bands big show business propositions. It was pretty obvious that Benny Goodman was getting rich, and Count Basie wasn’t.
So Pepper, a supremely talented alto saxophonist, found himself on the receiving end of a lot of reverse discrimination. Being a hot-tempered bastard, he resented it a LOT. And he was so verbal about it that some folks now consider him a racist…
Interesting point. But, unlike the blues and rock, spirituals are largely a historical tradition now. The blues and rock managed a nice symbiosis because new material was being produced that incorporated elements of both. Any person performing spirituals now is dealing with a dead repertory. The music is alive and well, but no one is “writing” new spirituals. In fact, they were never written in the first place.
I’ve been well through this arguement in my milieu of the blues world. Can white boys sing the blues? Of course, it’s the exception that can do it as well as the native sons & daughters. But any feeling musician can give it a shot, hopefully with all due respect to of the tradition.
That carries on to the gospel tradition as well. You can attempt an interpretation, But be aware of the context. Black gospel music is the cradle of African- American culture. The Church was the one place that was allowed as a “safe” space that the dominant white culture would back off and allow people to have some autonomy. So, the music is very precious to those who have had this as their sacred space to call their own. It’s sanctified, and to sing these songs isn’t just a musical excercise, it calls forth all the power of that faith. So, to those who sing those songs in church every Sunday, they are precious; vehicles that have had the power to give strength in the face of a less than welcoming world.
So, approach it with the respect you would in interpreting any liturgical music. An in depth examination of the faith would be appropriate. Would you try to sing Catholic liturgy ? Give African-American gospel songs the same thoughtful treatment.
