Talk:Spiritual (music)
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[edit] Article expansion
This article could be expanded:
- African roots of the musical form (call and response, blue notes, etc.)
- Role of the Jubilee Singers in spreading spirituals internationally, and their reception by the public. Importance of the music in keeping Fisk University afloat.
- Early recordings.
- Popularization of spirituals by Mahalia Jackson and Leontyne Price.
- Spiritual form as precursor to gospel. deeceevoice 12:43, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
- Agree, and more details about choral arrangements by such composers as Moses Hogan could be added. I suggest changing the heading of the second section from "Evolution of..." to "Choral arrangements of...".
- Also, the definition line should refer to black American slaves, not African-Americans in general. —Wahoofive (talk) 17:17, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I really need to find a certain spiritual song, but I am not sure of the lyrics; it has one person singing (almost a cappella) and other people 'answering' him, and part of the lyrics are something like:
Oh help me Lord (help me Lord) Cause I'm in need (I'm in need)
it was part of a rap song recently, but I don't know the name of that, either. Any help would be...ummm...helpful. Yes, I have tried Google. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.163.26.189 (talk • contribs)
The rapper K-os has a spiritual as a component to the song "Valhalla" but I doubt that's who you mean. His song does not have that lyric. He has two albums which I have not heard, which could have that song. Good luck.
I need the lyrics to the spiritual Come and See! I'm performing an organ piece by that name, which lists the composer as "Spiritual." BUT I cannot find words anywhere. I've searched all I know to search. 01:52, 30 July 2006 (UTC)joyc7578@starband.net
Isn't there too much historical background in this article? 68.197.174.49 02:32, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
What do you mean? Too much background for a musical genre? Or too much background for a historical phenomenon? Music like this is very particularly understood as tied to historical background, so separating it is a grave injustice to the genre.
This article might need to be either retitled or needs to have more broad info that the title suggests Dr.khangirl 18:04, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
Not more than a month ago, this article referred to the most "authentic" spirituals deriving from "the black keys" or as someone above may have been referring to, "blue notes" (is that what you meant i.e. black keys = black keys of the piano ...?). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.235.57.95 (talk) 11:01, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
Oops. It seems these comments still persist and have always been located int he "Samples" section... not that they belonge dthere... peace out.
[edit] when did spirituals start?
The spirituals that we know today, are they all from the 19th century or later? Jonathan Tweet 02:57, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
- No one wrote any spirituals down until after 1865 -- they were an exclusively oral tradition before that -- so there's no certainty of how early they started. Some analysts claim to have found elements of African music in them, which slaves might have brought over with them. —Wahoofive (talk) 06:55, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] What about secret codes?
Out of curiosity, why aren't the African secret codes mentioned in this article? During the time of the underground railroad, slaves that wanted to escape to the North used these "spirituals" to give directions and advice to other slaves. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" could be changed into one of these easily (I was taught this in college) with inferences to direction, when the chariot was going to come, where it was going, and what time to meet in order to jump on it and head for the North. Am I the only one who was taught that?
- I think most of the "secret codes" people have attributed to spirituals are mostly projection and wishful thinking. I don't think there's any solid evidence that these songs were used in this way. While there's no reason we can't mention such legends in Wikipedia (as long as they're indicated that way), I don't think it's essential. unsigned comment by User:Tarkaan
- Furthermore, they are mentioned. You didn't read the article completely. —Wahoofive (talk) 20:55, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] American European ?
I think the introductory language is a little confusing. Is the article about Spirituals in all Eurpopean colonies in the Americas or onlyc those colonies that ultimately became part of what is now the USA ? Slavery ended in different parts of the Americas over a long period. I think it is possible that the article is really about spirituals in the ante-bellum Southern United States =. That would be the implication of using the 13th amendment as an end point.
I don't know how to fix this but there is a clear problem. In the introduction we seem to be talking about the Americas (i.e. European colonies), but I think 1619 would be the date for English colonies, but not Spanish, Portugese or French. or Danish. Clearly the ending date is restricted to some of the states of the United States (most of which were part of the CSA )The content seems to be limited to the United States.
I don't know how to fix this. The easiest thing at this point might be to make it clear that we are discussin a much more restricted period and place. Conceivably something equivalent to spirituals was happening in Brazil or maybe not.
Hope that others can weigh in on this. It's a very important topic.
Peter Reilly (talk) 16:58, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
Very good point. I never thought about 'spirituals' an anything outside the U.S. But surely the phenomenon was not limited to the U.S. any more than slavery was. How to address this?.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.235.57.95 (talk) 10:57, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
- While of course, songs with spiritual lyrics are common worldwide, the term "spiritual" in this context refers to a very specific genre of music. If there is something relevant to say about something called "spirituals" in Brazil or wherever, then there should be a separate article on that topic. Any hypothetical Brazilian genre called "spirituals" does not necessarily have anything to do with "spirituals" in the sense meant in this article. Tuf-Kat (talk) 01:15, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] American/European
My suggestion is not to expand the article to cover other regions and time, but rather to mske it clear that what is being discussed is somehwat restricted in time and place. It would also be good to figure out some better lanuage. I really hate "de-Africanize the captive Black workforce" but don't have a ready substitute. Also "captive Africans" is probably not an apt description of someone who's parents and grandparents were born in Virginia. Referring to people as a "labor force" besides being possibly dehumanizing isn't even that accurate from the purported viewpoint of the master class.
Peter Reilly (talk) 23:43, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
