The Sampson Independent
Clinton, North Carolina
September 13, 2019
This Sunday afternoon, Graves Memorial Presbyterian Church in
downtown Clinton is pleased to welcome Mr. Daryl Duff and Miss Bridget
Capparuccia for its final summer concert in the series. The theme of
this concert will be Negro Spirituals, a genre of music that is both
distinctly American and influenced most other American music.
In the late 1800’s, H. T. Burleigh began collecting and arranging the
Negro Spirituals in order to preserve them for posterity. Famed
Hungarian composer Antonin Dvorak met Burleigh, and they struck up a
close friendship. So-taken with the beauty of the Negro Spiritual, he
commented, “I am satisfied that the future of music in this country must
be founded on what are called the Negro melodies.” Before sailing back
to Hungary, Dvorak told Burleigh, “God has called you to take the music
of your people and combine it with the music of my people to give the
world something entirely new from this great nation that He has raised
up. Through slavery these songs were given by God as a gift to your
people. Now you must take your grandfather’s legacy and share it with
the world. Harry, give these melodies to the world.”
So, how are the Spirituals foundational for most American music? Mr.
Duff explains, “After the Civil War, former slaves relocated from
southern plantations to urban American cities. They worshiped in
storefront churches singing spirituals as a congregation; creating the
‘congregational spiritual’. Jazz and blues musicians attended these
storefront church services and got saved. Though these musicians gave
their life to the Lord, they retained their musical skills and added
them to the congregational spiritual. In time, the simple melodies,
rhythms and chord progressions were enhanced by the skills of these
former worldly musicians transforming congregational spirituals into
Black Gospel music. In short Negro Spirituals progressed to
Congregational Spirituals which then progressed into the Black Gospel
Music genre we know today.” In addition, we can also easily trace the
lineage of R&B, Hip-Hop, and Rock-n-Roll back through the
progressions and rhythms of Jazz and blues – all distinctly American
genres of music.
Another characteristic of the Spiritual is, of course, the spiritual
aspect as most all Negro Spirituals include Judeo-Christian elements.
Lyrics rooted in Scriptural themes and deeply Christian fundamentals
also bear the wide range of human emotions as experienced through that
lens of faith. From doleful phrases of longing to the rapturous
expressions of freedom and triumph, the lyrics are quite capable of
taking the listener “beyond” the present all the while speaking directly
to the hurts and joys of today. Perhaps, then, as we reflect on the
origins of this significant and “distinct combination of traditional
West African and Western European aesthetic” we can say with the Old
Testament hero, Joseph, “[They] may have meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good.”
E. Daryl Duff is an Assistant Professor of Commercial Music and Voice
at Liberty University School of Music in Lynchburg, Va. Having served
23 years as soloist, vocalist and Leading Chief Petty Officer with the
United States Navy Band Sea Chanters Chorus, he has sung before four
U.S. Presidents, the Department of the Navy, and numerous other
government officials. Mr. Duff has been a featured soloist on seven U.S.
Navy Band recordings and several U. S. Navy Band concerts televised by
the Armed Forces Network.
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