Spirtuals and Ragtime

What did slave owners feel that it was their moral duty to do? What was this known as? What did some slave owners believe that christian teachings could do?

To teach black people about the Christian gospels. This was known as the second great awakening. It could make slaves more obedient 

What were their efforts to do in the 19th century? What are spirituals sometimes referred to as?

Efforts to christianize African-American slaves in the 19th century. Sometimes referred to as sorrow songs 

What were spirituals?

It was a non-commercial genre of music that had a massive outpouring of over 500 songs that were mostly anonymous and communal property

How were spirituals preserved?

Through oral tradition using accessible musical formulas (lining out, call and response, formulas based on repetition)

What are three examples of spirituals?

This little light of mine, wade in the water, Roll, Jordan Roll

How was This Little Light of Mine preserved? What image was created surrounding this song? What was the purpose of the song?

Preserved through a repetitive formula that anyone could learn. Domestic servant Ada Turner sings it while churning butter. Imbuing labour with spiritual value

What did Jordan River in Twelve Years a Slave serve as an emblem of? What does this appear in? What form is Roll, Jordan Roll in?

Emblem of freedom which appears in many spirituals. Verse chorus form 

What did the Mississippi and Ohio rivers serve as?

American parallels to the Jordan river in the Old Testament where Moses led the slaves across to freedom

What resonated with African American slaves?

Elements of Christianity

When was Swing Low, Sweet Chariot written? Who was it credited to?

Written in 1860 and credited to Wallace Willis who was a slave

Who recorded Swing Low, Sweet Chariot? What year?

Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1910 

When was Fisk University founded? Where? Why is it important?

In 1866 in Nashville and it is important because it was the first university open to Black people

What does jubilee date back to? How many years is it celebrated? What does it involve?

Dates back to the Old Testament and is celebrated every 50 years. It involves the forgiving of debts and granting freedom to slaves

What type of style is Swing Low, Sweet Chariot in?

Call and response style (no sheet music as short phrases that go back and forth between leader and group are used which builds a sense of community) 

How did Swing Low, Sweet Chariot go against blackface minstrelsy?

It was performed in classy vocal style, refined timbre, and perfect diction which is opposed to the dialect used in blackface minstrelsy

What was the chariot meant to symbolize?

Meant to symbolize death and it was bringing them home to heaven. But it could also be interpreted as an earthly freedom via the underground railway

Who was Go Down Moses written by? Who sung it? What year?

Anonymous but it was sang by Paul Robeson in 1860’s

What key was Go Down Moses in? What type of tone was used? What is the song associated with?

Minor key and in a refined, dignified tone. Song was associated with Harriet Tubman (Black Moses) who was the pioneer of the Underground Railroad

What did Harriet Tubman do? When was she born? What did she die?

She escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad and made 13 missions back to the South to lead over 70 slaves to freedom. 1822-1913

What were spirituals used as?

Coded messages during slavery to let them know Harriet Tubman was there. A common spiritual used was Wade in the Water. They were also used as means of survival

What was ragtime?

It was a popular music form originally for piano dating back as early as the 1870’s to the first decades of the 20th century (eventually there are pieces for ragtime band)

Where did ragtime originate?

Originates among African American itinerant pianists in southern and mid-western states such as Missouri (territory at western frontier town) and St. Louis 

What was the primary center of ragtime? What was St. Louis? What happened here?

Missouri. St. Louis is a frontier town where rule of law is not strictly enforced and anything goes attitude. Bars, saloons, sporting houses (gambling and prostitution) flourish and music a big part of all

What did ragtime borrow a lot from?

Band music especially march form

What emerged in the 19th century as another important musical institution in the US?

Military (originally affiliated with military units but soon becomes common) and town bands

What is middlebrow?

It was varied repertory of classical and popular material (band occupies this)

What did town bands play? What was the primary musical organization in most US towns?

They played concerts, dances, and parades. Military and town bands 

What were military and town bands considered to be?

Heyday of bands between Civil War (1861-65) and World War I (1914-1918)

What was the most successful band leader? When was he born? When did he die?

John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)

What did John Philip Sousa play? What was he considered to be?

He played classics (Bach, Wagner, Strauss) as well as marches and dance music. Considered to be the march king

Describe what march form is

It is arranged in strains (typically 16 measures each) with much repetition (especially for marching events). Have intro, A(repeat), B (repeat), C (Trio)(repeat), D (repeat), intro, A (repeat), B (repeat). The trio strain is typically more lyrical, often with reduced forces and usually often in subdominant 

What does ragtime mean?

From ragged time, which means syncopation

What did early ragtime musicians often perform?

Wellknown music but ragged the rhythms (played them with heavy syncopation)

What dance is ragtime associated with? What origins does it have? What was it adopted by?

Cakewalk dance which has plantation origins and was then adopted by white dancers

What was the cakewalk dance considered to be? What did it give rise to? Was there ambivalence about cakewalk dances within the black community?

Considered to be a fun and liberating dance. It gave rise to numerous animal dances such as the fox trot, bear hug, and turkey trot. Yes there was 

Who was Scott Joplin?

He was an African American born to former slaves in Texas, Middle-Class aspirations and genteel ambitions. He wrote ragtime and wrote 2 operas

What did Scott Joplin align himself with? What was he given free lessons by?

Aligned himself with European pianist/composers such as Chopin. By a German music professor impressed by his talent

Who reluctantly published Maple Leaf Rag? What year? Who wrote it? Why was he reluctant?

John Stark in 1899 and Scott Joplin wrote it. He was reluctant because he thought it was too difficult to be commercially viable but he ended up making a fortune as he sold over 1 million copies. 

What form did Maple Leaf Rag have?

Standard March form as it was arranged in strains

When was there a Joplin/ragtime revival? What year? With what song?

In the 1970’s with The Sting (1973) starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford

What song by Scott Joplin topped the pop charts after revival of ragtime?

The Entertainer

When did ragtime become popularized nationally?

In 1893 at the Chicago World Fair which had 20 million visitors 

Who played in the white city at the Chicago world fair? Who played in the midway plaisance? How many visitors did the Chicago world fair have?

White city: Sousa’s band and the Exposition orchestra led by Theodore Thomas of NY Phil, Chicago symphony Orch fame).

Midway Plaisance: Ragtime bands and other exotic music 

20 million visitors 

Did ragtime influence classical composed when it became a huge craze in US and Europe?

Yes it did

What did Tin Pan Alley pick up on? What was Tin Pan Alley?

It picked up on the ragtime craze. It was a centralized popular music industry; it was sheet music publishers in NYC

What was there extra focus on after the massive success of Charles K. Harris’s After the Ball? Why?

Popular music because it was the first song to sell 1 million copies of sheet music 

What was the term Tin Pan Alley coined by? What did they write?

Monroe Rosenfeld who wrote waltz hit Those Wedding Bells Shall Not Ring Out

Who was Hello! Ma Baby written by? In what year? What tradition did it follow?

Joseph Howard and Ida Emerson in 1899. It followed the tradition of a coon song

What form does Hello! Ma Baby use? What rhythms are used? What type of lyrics?

Verse-chorus form. Prominent ragtime rhythms. Topical lyrics that discuss ragtime and telephone which was a new invention that enabled new kinds of privacy (capitalized on the new telephone. It was urban, modern, and edgy.

What was Hello! Ma Baby used in?

One Froggy Evening cartoon with a cakewalking frog 

Who wrote Under the Bamboo Tree? In what year?

James Weldon Johnson and Bob Cole in 1902

What did Bob Cole start out doing?

Writing coon songs and doing minstrel-style performances

What was the first musical to be created, produced, and entirely owned by African Americans? Who wrote it? What year?

A trip to Coontown in 1898. Billy Johnson wrote it

What did Bob Cole publish in 1902?

An essay called The Negro and the Stage that went against minstrel imagery and coon songs 

What did Cole and Johnson do?

They established a classy vaudeville act and played classical music in formal evening dress

What was Under the Bamboo Tree a reworking of? What type of rhythm and musicality did it have? What form was it in?

Re-working of Negro Spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen. It had a ragged rhythm and musicality of African American dialect. It used verse-chorus form.

What do the lyrics reference in Under the Bamboo Tree? What did it become?

Reference African royalty and it became the Yale University fight song 

Who was Alexanders Ragtime Band written by? In what year? Was it his first hit?

Irving Berlin in 1911. Yes it was

Who was Irving Berlin? What is he known as?

He was a Russian-Jewish immigrant which had a disport community like African Americans. He was known as the King of Ragtime at the height of the ragtime craze

What was ragtime cleaned up and made respectable by?

Vernon (Englishman) and Irene Castle (American) with James Reese Europe (African American) as the band leader 

What were the Castles part of? What did they try to do?

Part of high society and were dance teachers. They aimed to elevate ragtime to the status of proper ballroom dance. They published dance Manuels with stringent rules

How did James Reese Europe enter high society? What did his band have to do? Why?

Through his distinguished military career and exemplary leadership during WWI. Had to feign musical illiteracy to conform to white audiences expectations

Who wrote castle walk? What year? What characteristics did it have?

James Reese Europe in 1914. It was fast with syncopation and it was difficult for large ensembles to play effectively. It was arranged in strains like ragtime piano pieces.