Comments on 'Deep River,' Spiritual Arranged by Henry T. Burleigh (1866-1949)

[Deep River: Songs and Spirituals; Oral Moses, bass-baritone; Ann Sears, piano; Troy 332 (1999) by Henry T. Burleigh (1866-1949)]

On April 1, 2012 AfriClassical posted: “'Deep River (H.T. Burleigh) edt. by Cantus' Uploaded to YouTube April 1, 2012.” The following comments have been received:

Dominique-René de Lerma http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

Someone should investigate the lineage of Deep river. Burleigh's setting, which we all know, calls for a range well beyond that of an untrained voice ("Oh don't you want to go...") and, unlike most spirituals is in ballad form (AABA).

Barbara Wright-Pryor

Hello Bill and All, 

This is wonderful!

Michael S. Wright

Dominique,

I am glad that you brought this up. I have been similarly puzzled by the form and composition techniques shown in ‘Deep River’. However, I never really looked further as I put it down to the arrangement. The question is what the ‘original’ version was. Could it have been derived from two spirituals?

Dominique-René de Lerma http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

Mike,

That possibility seems to me remote, but an exploration of the melody could prove the point. There is an earlier (published) version within Coleridge-Taylor's 24 Negro melodies, as we probably all know, but his treatment is elaborated.