The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-10-14

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION or THE
MUSIC or THE coLoRED PEOPLE.


usssing sengs-Orisin 81 nssrs mi.-
psrelsy-varieties 81 ssns.
Herr Oh. MiehIing, German, who has
given much attention to the history Of
the American negro song and music, re-
Gently read an essay on this subject before
German scientific society. His Treatise,
"Folksong and Folkmusic In America, I"
contains many interesting and partly
new views, which, though mot admissible
in some respects, are worth perusal and
may attract the leisure and labor Of the
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 unique feature Of Amer
lean "folk song" and form an interest
ing evidence Of innate musical talent Of
the negro. These negro songs, 70 distin-
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
scoiored race, inspired, ~ they were, under
the red hot fervor of religious excite
ment during the revivals in churches and
{ fGMIup tuCCbiHk1 ukC Va baAD bOEbs
On such occasions q kind Of religious
paroxysm will seize the blacks, which is
Of far greater violence than that OF their
white brethren. The parallels Of relig-
ious hermeneutics for the negro become
vested with flesh and blood, 20 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 ravens fed him tin the dawn come
Den he glib big jump and aew mp 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,"
- they prefer calling their hymns, may
possibly be traced back to the original
uncultured musical expressions OF their
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
0ivilixed ears cause torture and disgust.
The negroes imported from Africa ct once
drew Indictment from new musical inn
pressions their attentive and receptive
cars received in America, and soon en-
1iched their simple motives BY rearing
on this basis their own peculiar melodies,
Sonic Of which are . surprise even to the
professional composer.
The sources Of the negro songs may be
grouped under four sections: First, imi-
tationB of Irish and Scotch ballads, reels
and jigs, 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 rs the Hottentots of South
Africa are Mt present under tho spell Of
the lively hymns Of the Moravian colo
nists Of their country, while the sombre
tunes of the German Lutheran and Re-
formed missionary stations find little
favor with their melodions cravings.
As 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 RETAINS and from a partic-
ular characteristic Of the negro airs in
the interior OF Africa. Al 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. It Is noteworthy that
mot 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 meian-
choly melodies, are still exercising a Pc
culiar charm over both races.
Id this connection it is interesting to
note how the American popular tunes for
. regular folk-song can hardly be sa d
to exist in the United States-have been
influenced by the songs Of the coIored
E~kN-SS@N@ss SSAAAN Alby VI blAIy years
ago the negro minstrels, or serenaders,o
came into vogue. These, mostly white
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 |
20 an unwontsd degree. The musical
neid for u time was monopoIized 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 IL stiII.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 folk-song," whose day. is only
dawning.