The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-10-21
AMERICAN FOLK SONGS.
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION or The
MUSIC or THE C0L0ReD PEOPLE
Peculiar Melodies of the Soutb
Vegroes-PIantationD itties and "a.
Meeting songs-origin of Mcgee stt,-
ureisy-yariefies OF song


Herr Oh. MiehIing, German. w5o -.
given much attention to the histore =
the American negro song and music "a
Gently read an essay on this 81 beet befo-a
a German scientific society. H.s frsassaa
"Folksong and Folkmrsic in Ainerjcs !
contains many interesting and oarsl,,
new views, which, though not adniss IS
in some respects, are worth perasal and
may attract the leisure and labor OF tba
competent to study which, strange to
say, has not as yet received the attention
of the native scholar.
The origin and the evolution of the
songs OF the colored people of the United
States describe a unique feature of Amer
lean /" folk song," and form an interest,"
ing evidence of innate musical talent 81
the negro. These negro songs, to distjn-
guish them by that title, not to be con-
founded with the minstrelsy of our
theatres, are never created by way of ar
tistic composition, but spring into life
| ready made. The sacred songs OF the
colored race, inspired, as they were, under
the red hot fervor of religious excite
ment during the revivals in churches and
camp meeting, are of this sort.
On such occasions a kind of religions
paroxysm will seize the blacks, which il
of far greater violence than that of their
white brethren. The parallels OF relie-
ious hermeneutics for the negro become
vested with flesh and blood, 50 to speak:
he takes everything literally, and his
vivid Imagination sometimes leads him
to the most fantastic illustrations. ST.
| Johns Punishment to the Island of Pat
mos, for instance, as related by st. Jerome
receives the following description in one
of these hymns:
In de days of the great tribulation.
On big island the Philistines put John,
But the avens fed him till the dawn come
| roun,
| Den he glib big jump and few up from the
| groun';
o, come down, come down, John
The negroes of the United States being
! descended from various African tribes.
many peculiarities of their "spirituals,''
rs they prefer calling their hymns NAV
possibly be traced back to the original
uncultured musical expressions of theiz
respective ancestors. These consisted of
only three or four notes necessarily re-
peated. The endless repetitions of the
| same tunes may be compared to practic-
ing for hours on the piano the same
monotonous fugue, and, of course, to
| civilized ears cause torture and disgust
| The negroes imported from Africa at once
| drew Indictment from new musical i'm
pressions their attentive and receptive
ears received in America, and soon en-
| riched their simple motives by rearing
on this basis their own peculiar melodies
some of which are a surprise even to the
| professional composer.
The sources of the negro songs may be
grouped under four sections First, imi-
tations of Irish and Scotch ballads, reels
and iigs, which the blacks listened to on
the Mississippi steamers or in the dane
Ing halls of New Orleans, st. Louis and
other places. Second, imitation of Meth
odist and Baptist hymns. The negroes
were particularly attracted by the camp
meeting songs of the Methodists, in the
same way as the Hottentots of South
Africa are at present under the spell OF
the lively hymns of the Moravan colo
nists OF their country, while the sombre
tunes of the German Lutheran and Re-
| formed missionary stations find little
| favor with their meiodious cravings.
! AS a third division may be mentioned
| the recitative style, or airs more closely
adhering to the original African type,
despite their having expanded in melody
! and rhythm. Noticeable among these
are the especially so-called " Shouts"
| violent outcries of incoherent words,
which, for rhythmical reasons introduced
| into the songs, are again interrupted by
the melodious refrains and from partic-
| ular characteristic of the negro airs in
| the interior of Africa. fourth source
of the songs of the colored people OF the
| United States is to be sought for in the
French Creole tunes of New Orleans and
its neighborhood. 1t is noteworthy that
not one of these four types is entirely free
| of African influence.
| The abolition of slavery has changed
many things in the South, and it has not
! been without influence on the music and
singing of the colored people Moody
and Sankey hymns and other songs of
whites are spreading among the blacks,
but, as OF old, the plantation songs, with
their partly merry and partly MEAN
choly melodies, are still exercising Pc
culiar charm over both races.
In this connection it is interesting to
note how the American popular tunes-for
regular q folk-song " can hardly esaid
to exist in the United States-have been
influenced by the songs of the colored
population. Some fifty or sixty years
ago the negro minstrels, or g sereneders,"
came into vogue. These, mostly white
I people with blackened faces, pretended to
represent the plantation life of the slaves
in song and dance.
Despite their plantation songs" be-
ing very different from the genuine they
pleased the people OF the United States
to an unwonted degree. The musical
field for q time was monopolized by these
Ministries. Able foreign musicians who
came to this country during the Fourth
and fifth decade of this century had to
submit to negro mimicry to make their
living.
Yet these Ministries or serenaders caused
the formation of new kind of music,
singing and dancing, which is still in ex-
istence, and, strange though it may seem,
the plantation songs OF the negro slaves
gave the impetus to the creation Of native
American g folk-song," whose day is only
dawning.
ais Experience YVES the sam
Mrs. BGnting-Here's paragraph
which says that more men are worn OUT