Negro spiritual
African-American song with a religious text. Traditionally monophonic and a cappella, these songs are antecedents of the blues. They began on Southern slave plantations as work songs, sometimes with hidden messages of rebellion and escape from the slaves' owners.
The evolution of the spiritual
With the advent of Harry Burleigh (1866-1949), the spiritual began to develop into a sophisticated art form. Burleigh attended the conservatory in New York City that was founded by Jeannette Thurber. Seeking to attract a prestigious faculty, Thurber had asked Czech composer Antonín Dvořák to head her conservatory; Dvořák agreed to do so, on the condition that talented Native American or African American composers be allowed to attend without paying tuition. Burleigh was accepted as a student, and became Dvořák's protege, during which time he sang the traditional spirituals for Dvořák. With Dvořák's encouragement, Burleigh began to compose classical song and choral arrangements of spirituals, which were later made famous by artists such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Marian Anderson, Robert McFerrin Sr., and William Warfield. Another great composer of classical settings of spirituals was Hall Johnson (1887-1970).
Some examples of spirituals which were set in this way are "Ride On King Jesus," "Ain't Got Time to Die," and "Hold On."
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