Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Shekinah Ball

Date

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts

Department

Music

Committee Chair

Martin McCain

Committee Member

David Spencer

Committee Member

John Cooper

Committee Member

Zachary Corpus

Abstract

The African American spiritual is a sacred folk genre that was created by African American slaves in the 18th century. These songs are the foundation of past and present forms of American Popular Music. Throughout my studies as a classical musician (Euphonium and Trombone), I have not had the opportunity to learn about or play solo literature based on this unique form of American music within traditional music academia. I was first exposed to African American spirituals while studying at Florida A&M University. I joined the choir during the fall semesters, after resigning from the marching band. It was there, through a vocal tradition that I was introduced to this genre by another classically trained musician. This introduction spurred my musical curiosity but also uncovered a rich and complex history surrounding the creation and development of the African American spiritual. This is not the first paper on African American spirituals, but I do want to carefully highlight its origins and evolutions with consideration to American social and political culture of its time. In each chapter, the reader will find important historical and social context surrounding the creation and development of the African American spiritual. Unfortunately, a major theme in this paper is the dehumanization of Africans which evolved into racism in the United States. This cannot be hidden or overlooked because it is simply apart of the experiences of the creators and preservers of this body of music. What is astonishing is that from the African American spirituals creation to its evolutions in art music, is it served a larger purpose than other forms of Western Music. It affirmed the humanity and suffering of its creators and preservers and ultimately gave each generation hope. The first three chapters trace the history and development of the African American spiritual from its creation as a folk tradition, to its evolution in an arranged choral format to the last evolution of the art song. Chapter Four is an anthology of existing recordings and arrangements of African American spirituals for low brass. The final chapter discusses my pedagogical approach of performing and arranging the African American spiritual for low brass before arriving at the conclusion. The purpose of this paper is twofold: First, to provide a thorough yet concise history of the development of African American spirituals from its folk origins to its evolutions in Art Music; Second, to examine the need of preserving African American spirituals in solo low brass repertoire. I believe as a musician it is important to understand the history and vocal tradition of this music to properly integrate it into low brass repertoire.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open access

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