New-York tribune., 1922-04-04
Old Slave Chants
Rendered by Negro
Singing Society
Sound Methods Disclosed in
Rendition of Spiriiuals,
With Little Evidence of
Feeling for Their Sincerity
By II. +. krehbiel

DY n. T.. hrcnDlCl
1t is a long time since Nato Sauls-
bury had big out of doors show (in
South Brooklyn, wo think), at which.
with the help of several hundred col
orcd folks, field of cotton group
of cabins representing slave quarters
and big open-ar stage, he repro
duced pictures of plantation life
"befo' the wah.' A long time, twenty
years or SO, yet that was The last time
we heard Afro-American music. sung
as it ought to be sung. Twenty years
before that we had listened to the first
concert given north Of the Ohio River
by the original choir of Fisk Jubilee
Singers, who, with a large infusion of
art but still conserving the spirit of
the slave "spirituals." disclosed first
to the people Of the Eastern states and
soon after to audiences of cultured
music lovers in England and Germany
the beauty of the songs which during
centuries of slavery had grown up on
the plantations Of the South.
Ever since VIC have watched the
growth Of interest in that expression
of the folksong spirit in the strong
belief and hope that out of it would
bo developed something which would
place American folIsong by the side Of
that created by the cultural peoples Of
Europe. In fancy we saw a fruition as
significant, if not as rich and beautiful.
as that disclosed by some of the ma
t'onal schools of the Old World. That
1t would take time was obvious and it
has been our good fortune to chronicle
some striking results. Along with
served the deterrent effects which have
followed the decay of tradition in per-
formance and the growth of sonhistica-
ton.
Little Feeling for Spirit of Songs
The fact is deplorabc, but it was in
cvitable. 1t was illustrated at the two
ambitious attempts at pageant in
Carnegie Hall two or three months
ago, and again at the concert given
IN the safnc room last night by
the Negro Singing Society for the
benefit Of the Manassas Industrial
School. A return to sound methods
was disclosed by the singing of some
spirtuals in something approaching
their primitive simplicity, but though
the songs were unspirited in the set
tings there was little evidence of feel
ing for their spirit, for the spon-
The leader, Daisy Tapley, tried to
make the choir sing like band Of ar
lists and her principal device to that
end was to achieve precision in utter
ance. She seemed to think she had
attained to this when she made them
bite off the ends of the phrases. She
forgot sll about the free swing and
undulation of the mclodic line, and
the inspiriting outbursts of the char
| a, -,cfi nf
There were strange misconceptions of
tempo also, and it was obvious to the
listeners familiar with the music that
such songs as 30 rock me, Julie" Ga
Mississippi River chanty of striking
character because Of its use Of the
wholetone scale) and the three Creole
songs. "Remon," "Musieu Banjo" and
"Amore Pradalrc.' which were sung in
unison, some by the men, some by the
ductor and her singers as they would
have been to a visitor from Spain.
Women's Choir Better Than Mems
The female contingent Of the choir
was much better than the male, but
choirs all over the country and need
not be dwcit on. 1t is creditable to
our negro follow citizens that they arc
, making so honest an effort to cultivate
choral music. The compositions of
Harry T. Burlcigh, r. Nathaniel Dett
and j. Rosamond Johnson, in which
artistic use is made Of Afro America n
folksong clements, were an interesting
disclosure Of the grounds on which
our expressed hope Of coming school
of music is based High artistic at,
tainmcnt along the same lines in piano
forte music was evidenced by the
pianoforte prescriptions Of Co|cridec-
Taylor Germ Troubled in Mind and
"Bamboula'o and also III Mr.. Dctt's
"Juba,' played in good taste and with
considerable skill by Miss Andrades
Lindsay. There is somo ine part writ
ing in Mr.. Burleigh's Deep River,
Dig My Grave" Ghis melody came
from the Bahamas) and "Acthiopia' 8
Pean of ENaltation, and Mr.. johnson
showed appreciation of the value Of
exotic tone (a fatted SEVENTH in his
harmonization of "A Great Camp
mcetin'.' Our negro musicians arc still
feeling their way and some medium
better than "jazz" bands ought to be
found for their encouragement.