born.1 As the songs passed from singer to singer and from one locality to another, they took on variants in words and melody; even to-day, two singers rarely sing a song in exactly the same way.
Like his African ancestors and in common with most simple people who live close to nature, the Negro sings at all times — at work, at play and at prayer. Into the "Spirituals," the prayer-songs of the days of slavery, was poured the aspiration of a race in bondage whose religion, primitive and intense, was their whole hope, sustenance and comfort, and the realm wherein the soul, at least, soared free. At stolen meetings in woods or in valleys, at secret gatherings on the plantations, the Negroes found outlet for their sorrows, their longings and their religious ecstasies. No one can hear these songs unmoved. The childlike simplicity of the verse in "Couldn't hear nobody pray"2 and "Ev'ry time I feel de Spirit," but throws into sharper relief the touching, poignant poetry — a poetry born of hearts that sang beneath heavy burdens, and of a faith as radiant and certain as the sunrise. The Negro "Spirituals" rank with the great folk-music of the world, and are among the loveliest of chanted prayers.
Only after long familiarity with this music and innumerable hearings of the songs have I dared, with the additional aid of a phonograph, to set my notations on paper. This work of record — a reverent and dedicated love-labor — is pursued under the auspices of Hampton Institute. May it become part of Hampton's mission of friendship between the different races of the earth. For music is a common tongue which speaks directly to the heart of all mankind.
NOTE: — This collection of Negro Folk-Songs consists of four books, each containing four songs for male quartet. As the books will appear separately in serial publication, the descriptive notes accompanying each song are arranged in such a way as to make each volume independent of the other. Any slight repetition of facts with regard to Negro singing will, therefore, be understood.
NATALIE CURTIS BURLIN.
1 The origin of the best-known old songs has been lovingly traced by John Wesley Work, A. M., President of Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee. His book, "Folk-Songs of the American Negro," is a fitting climax to the lifework of Fisk, which long ago sent out the "Jubilee Singers" with their offering of Negro songs. See also "Afro-American Folksongs," by H. E. Krehbiel (G. Schirmer : New York).
2 See Book II, this Series
ALL ROYALTIES FROM THE SALE OF THIS BOOK GO TO
HAMPTON FOR THE BENEFIT OF NEGRO EDUCATION.
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