{"id":280,"date":"2015-02-24T02:30:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T08:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=280"},"modified":"2015-03-18T15:34:17","modified_gmt":"2015-03-18T20:34:17","slug":"are-there-unreal-slave-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2015\/02\/24\/are-there-unreal-slave-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Are There “Unreal” Slave Songs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the music review in The Scranton tribune<\/em>, 1899, with the growing of market of black slave songs and spiritual songs, some composers (non-black) started to produce these kinds of black music. However, the critique pointed out that many of these \u201cnew productions\u201d were obvious \u201cfake\u201d, by failing to use \u201ccorrect\u201d words for pop black culture. Among these new productions, the song \u201cOld Black Joe\u201d was one of the few successful examples that true to African American\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOld Black Joe\u201d is a song composed by by Stephen Forster\u00a0(1826\u20131864) and it was published by\u00a0Firth, Pond & Co.\u00a0of New York in 1860. Foster wrote it as a synthesis of his ideals for stage and parlour ballads. The lyrics for the song was from first person recount, describing sadness of losing friends \u201cin the cotton fields\u201d, without any use of Black slangs or tones. The oldest version of notated music of \u201cOld Black Joe\u201d that held in Library of Congress showed a solo male voice line (marked as Joe) with chorus of SATB. Audiences can hear \u201ccall and response\u201d in the music in a specific Jubilee Singer\u2019s performing style.<\/p>\n

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Recording:\u00a0http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/jukebox.1814\/#rights-and-access<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the \u201creal negro music\u201d, described by the writer of Modern Negro Songs<\/em>, should be in chorus setting rather than solo and should be sung by men rather than women. As the writer said, \u201cIt seems absurd for a female to sing the song of a Negro man, for it is well known that in every age of the Negro song the Negro has prided himself on his bass.\u201d However, evidence from members of The Jubilee Singers and recordings of early work songs can prove he\u00a0wrong.<\/p>\n

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Women sang a work Song:<\/p>\n