The Portland daily press., 1885-12-31
SLAVE MUSIC.
Or. PoweIi's Lecture in the Y. M. C.
A. Course.

A large audience gathered last evening at
the City Hall, to listen to the lecture by the
Rev. James Powell, d. d., of New York, up
on the unique and popular theme, "The
Slave Music of the South" The lecturer,
who has travelled extensively in the South,
and given especial study to the habits and
life of the negro race, was well qualified to
present with great force this subject. He
began by saying that though the subject was
new the subject matter was old as eternity.
Music is found in all things, but song is
found only in man. Song as representing
the emotions of the human soul. had a limit
less sphere before it for development. 1t ex-
pressed itself along the channel of tune and
poetry. The slave music of the South i'm
pressed the student first, with the intimacy
of the connection between the sentiment of
the words and the tune. The lecturer argued
that this was natural, inasmuch as the slave
music belonged to the early period of musical
development when verse maker, tune-com-
poser and verse singer were one and the
same individual. He illustrated this point
by an old colored woman, who at his request,
once improvised a song and tune:
''Oh, Marsa Jesus took my feet
From out the mire and clay;
And sat me in a rocking chair
To sing glory all the day."
Second-This music was born out of deep
feeling, another mark of its genuineness.
The religious and patriotic feelings are the
deepest, therefore music, religious and patri-
otto, is the best. The war and religion in
Spired songs, both of the ancient and modern
worlds, are the best we have. The negro
slave had no patriotism to inspire his song,
but he had religion; and the deeper his sor-
rows the sweeter came forth his songs. He
referred to the fact that the Jews, who, as a
people, have suffered most in the world have
been at the front in the production and pat
ronage OF the best music. These slave songs
were the expressions of soul pains felt from
the iron of oppression.
Third-This was the only unique Ameri-
can music that we have. Every other form
of music could be found in other countries,
but this nowhere else. The nature of the
negro, the circumstances in which he was
placed as slave and the influence of Chris
tianity accounted for this unique fact. The
negro is so musical that in his walk, in the
swinging of the whip, and the brushing of a
coat may be seen the movements OF tune
time. When the crack of the whip strikes
the mule, the lecturer said, it was nothing
but musical note, though the mule did not
think so.
Fourth-This music divides into three
classes-hymns, which express experience
and doctrine; spirituals, which express bibli-
cal narrative and biography; and religio-
sentimentals, which express common events
in religious phrase. These different classes
were illustrated by selections rendered by
the First Parish choir, and were explained
by anecdotes related by the speaker under
each head.
Fifth-In answer to the question what the
musical critical world thought of this slave
music he replied by pointing to the results
of the singing campaigns of the jubilee sing
erS in this country and in Europe.
The lecturer closed by drawing parallel
between the effect produced by the tabled
strains of Memnon and that produced by the
singing of the slave songs, establishment that
music so sweet could come from such a
sweetness was the assurance that the dark
ness of slavery was ended and the day of
freedom had come.
The choir rendered with most excellent
effect the following selections Turn Back
PharaoI's Army, THE Ten Virgins" and
"My Lords writing all the time" Sc
effective was the singing that the audience
each time called for more.