–By Brandon “Under Pressure” arose from a jam session between Queen and David Bowie in Switzerland in 1981. This is one potential explanation for the improvisational opening of the song (arguably seeming more improvisational when a choir is singing all … Read More
–By Brandon As Choir of the Sound gets ready to rock out for spring quarter, our first Friday Factoid offers a transition from our winter gospel and spirituals concert to U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love).” The song, which … Read More
—By Cindy Jacobs Jestie Joseph Hairston (nicknamed “Jester” by a teacher) was born in 1901, the grandson of slaves from the Hairston plantation at Belew’s Creek, North Carolina. He attended Massachusetts Agricultural College, graduated cum laude from Tufts University with … Read More
–By David Horiuchi At first glance, “The Blue-Tail Fly” seems like an unusual choice for a concert featuring spirituals and gospel music, especially considering how frequently it’s performed as a children’s song retitled after the recurring phrase in its chorus, … Read More
—By Cindy Jacobs One of the most widely recorded songs in our Winter Concert program is “Poor Wayfaring Stranger.” Alternately titled simply “Wayfaring Stranger,” the song is thought to have originated in Appalachia in the late 18th or early 19th century. Although … Read More
–By Brandon Ray The spiritual “Go Down, Moses” is based on the story from Exodus, wherein God commanded Moses to journey to Egypt and demand that Pharoah release the Israelites from captivity. In a less Biblical context, the Israelites represent … Read More
–By Cindy Jacobs Although most of the pieces for our Winter Concert, “Raise Your Voice,” are spirituals, we will be presenting some other pieces that share similar stylistic aspects. One such piece is “Go Dig My Grave.” The “story” is taken … Read More
–By Brandon Ray “Roll, Jordan, Roll” was written in the 18th century by a Methodist preacher. The song’s original intention refers to the River Jordan, which the Israelites had to cross to enter the Promised Land, thus allowing a life … Read More
–By Cindy Jacobs In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, spiritual music had a profound influence on the development of “new American classical music” as well as perhaps its first effects on the embryonic beginnings of the 20th-century civil rights … Read More
–By Linda Freeman The songs we know as spirituals are generally thought of as religious music, but they represented much more to the people who created them. The Africans who were brought to the Americas to provide slave labor came … Read More