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2018 The Short Choral Works of R. Nathaniel Dett Marques Lamar Aramis Garrett

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC

THE SHORT CHORAL WORKS OF R. NATHANIEL DETT

By

MARQUES LAMAR ARAMIS GARRETT

A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

2018 Marques L. A. Garrett defended this dissertation on April 13, 2018.

The members of the supervisory committee were:

André J. Thomas

Professor Directing Dissertation

Clifton Callender

University Representative

Kevin Fenton

Committee Member

Katarzyna “Kasia” Bugaj

Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

ii

To the memories of Royzell Dillard and Dr. Carl Gordan Harris, Jr.

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I acknowledge my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the head of my life. All praise, glory, and honor belong to Him for without Him, none of this would have been possible.

I owe the greatest amount of gratitude to my parents for giving me life, continually praying for me, acknowledging my gift and supporting my musical career and every endeavor, for moving me to and from many residences, and giving me challenging questions and statements that have shaped me into the man I am today.

I thank my brother, Troy, for being a source of inspiration. I love him more than he’ll ever know.

I thank Edryn J. Coleman for being a best friend who gave me encouraging words as we endured this process together. I would have never known eight years ago that we would have stayed connected, much less become best friends. I’m able to share my hopes, fears, and successes with you and know that you have my best interest at heart. I continually strive to be a great musician and educator as you are.

I thank my other best friend, Kelley Y. Johnson, for calming me when I stressed out on FaceTime and helped me organize my thoughts and life. You have been a rock in my life for so long.

The memories of Royzell Dillard and Dr. Carl G. Harris, Jr., will live with me forever. Those two men saw much more in me than I ever saw in myself while at Hampton. They gave me opportunities that propelled my career and gave me more in my time at Hampton than I could begin to describe.

I thank my Florida State teachers, Drs. Kevin Fenton, Judy Bowers, Clifton Callender, and Kasia Bugaj for their tireless dedication to my education. A special recognition goes to my advisor, Dr. André J. Thomas, for recognizing something special in me many years ago and allowing me to be a part of this amazing program. Without his words of wisdom, motivational talks, and hilarious stories, I would not have been able to endure the rigors of this life-changing experience.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Roland Carter. It is because of his dedication to the music of R. Nathaniel Dett that I learned about him from my teacher, Royzell Dillard, who was a student of Roland Carter. He is a wonderful example of staying true to your passion for black music. Thank you for helping me get the missing scores to analyze.

I continually look up to the amazing black men upon whose shoulders I stand. My many mentors include Drs. James Abbington; Marvin Curtis; Leo Davis, Jr.; Emmett G. Price III; and Raymond Wise. You are an inspiration to me. I hope to, one day, live a life as full as yours. iv

I cannot begin to describe the wonderful friendship that has developed with my classmate, Alex T. Favazza, Jr. Your unmerited, unwavering, and selfless friendship has kept me grounded, encouraged, and inspired. Thank you for listening to my many conversations about black classical music. It is an honor to call you a colleague and friend.

Lastly, I thank the additional host of other family members, friends, and colleagues who continually encouraged me through my many educational endeavors.

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ...... ix List of Figures ...... xi List of Examples ...... xii Abstract ...... xvi

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Introduction ...... 1 Brief Biographical Information ...... 4 Dett’s Legacy ...... 6 Timeline ...... 8 Definition of Terms ...... 8 Delimitations ...... 10 Choral Catalog Overview ...... 10 Publication Arc...... 12 Short Choral Works Catalog ...... 13 Review of Literature ...... 17 Books about R. Nathaniel Dett ...... 17 Books Containing Reference to Dett ...... 19 Dissertations Related to Dett’s Choral Music ...... 23 Dissertations Related to Dett’s Compositional Output ...... 28 Journal Articles about Dett ...... 30

2. BLACK FOLK MUSIC AND ITS USE IN THE LATE NINETHEETH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES ...... 35

Black Folk Music ...... 35 Spirituals ...... 35 An Early History of Historically Black Colleges and Universities ...... 37 Beginnings of the HBCU Choir ...... 39 Collections of Folk Songs ...... 41 The Writings of Dett on Black Music ...... 43 After the Plantation ...... 44 The Concert Stage ...... 47 Dett’s Use of Black Folk Music...... 49 Other Black Composers and Their Music ...... 53

3. ANTHEMS BASED ON BLACK FOLK MUSIC ...... 56

As Children, Walk Ye in God’s Love ...... 56 Communion ...... 60 vi Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us ...... 62 Go Not Far from Me, O God ...... 68 Listen to the Lambs ...... 72 O Hear the Lambs a-Crying ...... 79 O Holy Lord ...... 84 On That Sabbath Morn ...... 89 Sit Down, Servant, Sit Down...... 93 Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door ...... 97 Weeping Mary...... 102

4. MOTETS BASED ON BLACK FOLK MUSIC ...... 108

Deep River ...... 108 Don’t Be Weary, Traveler ...... 111 Don’t You Weep No More, Mary ...... 117 Dust, Dust and Ashes ...... 121 Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler ...... 126 My Way’s Cloudy ...... 131 Son of Mary ...... 135 Steal Away ...... 140

5. SONGS BASED ON THE SINGING OF INDIVIDUALS ...... 143

Baptism ...... 143 Heavenly Union ...... 145 I’ll Never Turn Back No More ...... 149 Music in the Mine ...... 155 O Holy Savior ...... 159

6. SONGS BASED ON EXISTING MATERIAL ...... 161

As by the Streams of Babylon ...... 161 Done Paid My Vow to the Lord...... 163 Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes ...... 167 Hew ‘Round the Tree ...... 173 I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway...... 176 O Mary Don’t You Weep...... 178 There’s a Meeting Here To-night ...... 181 Wasn’t That a Mighty Day? ...... 185

7. ORIGINAL MUSIC ...... 189

America the Beautiful ...... 189 Ascapezzo ...... 192

vii Ask for the Old Paths ...... 196 Ave Maria ...... 200 City of God ...... 202 Hampton! My Home by the Sea ...... 206 Juba ...... 208 The Lamb ...... 216 Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows ...... 219 So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving ...... 222 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross ...... 225

8. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH ...... 230

Conclusions ...... 230 Suggestions for Further Research ...... 232

APPENDIX ...... 234

A. EXTENDED INFORMATION ON DETT’S SHORT CHORAL WORKS ...... 234

References ...... 250

Biographical Sketch ...... 256

viii LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Formal design of “As Children, Walk Ye in God’s Love” ...... 58

Table 3.2 Formal design of “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us” ...... 65

Table 3.3 Formal design of “Go Not Far from Me, O God” ...... 70

Table 3.4 Formal design of “Listen to the Lambs” ...... 74

Table 3.5 Formal design of “O Hear the Lambs a-Crying” ...... 81

Table 3.6 Formal design of “O Holy Lord” ...... 86

Table 3.7 Formal design of “On That Sabbath Morn” ...... 91

Table 3.8 Formal design of “Sit Down, Servant, Sit Down” ...... 94

Table 3.9 Formal design of “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door” ...... 98

Table 3.10 Formal design of “Weeping Mary” ...... 104

Table 4.1 Formal design of “Deep River” ...... 109

Table 4.2 Formal design of “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler” ...... 113

Table 4.3 Formal design of “Don’t You Weep No More, Mary” ...... 119

Table 4.4 Formal design of “Dust, Dust and Ashes” ...... 123

Table 4.5 Formal design of “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler” ...... 128

Table 4.6 Formal design of “My Way’s Cloudy” ...... 132

Table 4.7 Formal design of “Son of Mary” ...... 137

Table 4.8 Formal design of “Steal Away” ...... 141

Table 5.1 Formal design of “Baptism” ...... 144

Table 5.2 Formal design of “Heavenly Union” ...... 146

Table 5.3 Formal design of “I’ll Never Turn Back No More” ...... 151

Table 5.4 Formal design of “Music in the Mine” ...... 157

Table 6.1 Formal design of “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord” ...... 164 ix Table 6.2 Formal design of “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” ...... 169

Table 6.3 Formal design of “Hew ‘Round the Tree” ...... 174

Table 6.4 Formal design of “I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway” ...... 177

Table 6.5 Formal design of “O Mary Don’t You Weep” ...... 180

Table 6.6 Formal design of “There’s a Meeting Here To-night” ...... 182

Table 6.7 Formal design of “Wasn’t That a Mighty Day?”...... 187

Table 7.1 Formal design of “Ascapezzo” ...... 193

Table 7.2 Formal design of “Ask for the Old Paths”...... 197

Table 7.3 Formal design of “Ave Maria” ...... 201

Table 7.4 Formal design of “City of God” ...... 203

Table 7.5 Formal design of “Hampton! My Home by the Sea” ...... 207

Table 7.6 Formal design of “Juba” ...... 212

Table 7.7 Formal design of “The Lamb” ...... 217

Table 7.8 Formal design of “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows” ...... 220

Table 7.9 Formal design of “So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving” ...... 223

Table 7.10 Formal design of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” ...... 226

x LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 R. Nathaniel Dett...... 2

Figure 1.2 Number of Published Songs Per Year ...... 13

Figure 2.1 Fisk Jubilee Singers ...... 40

Figure 3.1 “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” melody comparisons ...... 100

Figure 4.1 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” escape tones, mm. 111-114 ...... 117

Figure 4.2 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” bass imbedded melody, mm. 16-18 ...... 125

Figure 4.3 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” bass imbedded melody, mm. 24-26 ...... 125

Figure 4.4 “My Way’s Cloudy,” double scalar inverted arc, mm. 11 & 12 ...... 133

Figure 7.1 “So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving,” first-soprano imitation, mm. 3 & 16 ...... 224

xi LIST OF EXAMPLES

Example 3.1 “Dig My Grave Long an’ Narrow” ...... 63

Example 3.2 “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us,” mm. 1-4, Copyright MCMXXIV by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 66

Example 3.3 “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us,” mm. 25 & 26, Copyright MCMXXIV by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 67

Example 3.4 “Go Not Far from Me, O God,” mm. 49b-53 ...... 72

Example 3.5 “Listen to de Lambs,” Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro...... 75

Example 3.6 “Listen to the Lambs,” mm. 1 & 2, 17-22 ...... 76

Example 3.7 “Listen to the Lambs,” mm. 31-37, soprano solo ...... 76

Example 3.8 “Hear de Lambs a-Cryin’,” refrain, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro ...... 79

Example 3.9 “O Hear the Lambs a-Crying," mm. 16b-21, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 82

Example 3.10 “O Holy Lord,” The Story of the Jubilee Singers ...... 85

Example 3.11 “O Holy Lord,” mm. 25-28 ...... 87

Example 3.12 “O Holy Lord,” mm. 45-48 ...... 88

Example 3.13 “On That Sabbath Morn,” mm. 17-20 ...... 92

Example 3.14 “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” mm. 13-20, Copyright 1939 by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 99

Example 3.15 “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” mm. 123-127, piano, Copyright 1939 by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 101

Example 3.16 “Weeping Mary,” Afro-American Folk Songs ...... 103

Example 3.17 “Weeping Mary,” mm. 52a-55, soprano ...... 105

Example 3.18 “Weeping Mary,” mm. 3, 30, 32, 40, 42 ...... 106

Example 4.1 “Deep River,” mm. 1-4 ...... 110

Example 4.2 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” refrain, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro ...... 112

xii Example 4.3 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” mm. 1-6...... 114

Example 4.4 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” mixolydian melody, mm. 18b-24 ...... 114

Example 4.5 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” mixolydian melody, mm. 64-75 ...... 116

Example 4.6 “Dust an’ Ashes,” mm. 1-20, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro ...... 123

Example 4.7 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” motive, mm. 1-4 ...... 124

Example 4.8 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” melodic arcs, mm. 1-4 ...... 124

Example 4.9 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” scalar passage, mm. 5-8 ...... 125

Example 4.10 “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler,” mm. 8b-13, Copyright MCMXXVI by 129The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 129

Example 4.11 “My Way’s Cloudy,” mm. 27-34 ...... 134

Example 4.12 “Son of Mary,” bass, mm. 9-16, 21-24, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 137

Example 4.13 “Son of Mary,” mm. 73-80, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission...... 139

Example 4.14 “Steal Away,” mm. 17-19 ...... 142

Example 5.1 “Heavenly Union,” mm. 31-34 ...... 148

Example 5.2 “Heavenly Union,” mm. 54-56 ...... 148

Example 5.3 “I’ll Never Turn Back No More,” mm. 1-4a ...... 151

Example 5.4 “I’ll Never Turn Back No More,” mm. 7-9, 19-21, 51-57, 75-79, 88-92 ...... 153

Example 5.5 “Music in the Mine,” mm. 33 & 34 ...... 157

Example 5.6 “Music in the Mine,” mm. 35-38 ...... 158

Example 6.1 “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord,” mm. 24-28 ...... 165

Example 6.2 “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord,” mm. 44-46 ...... 166

Example 6.3 “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord,” mm. 12-16 ...... 167

Example 6.4 “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,” mm. 1-12 ...... 170

Example 6.5 “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,” mm. 13 & 14 ...... 171

xiii Example 6.6 “Hew ‘Round the Tree,” mm. 17-20 ...... 175

Example 6.7 “Hew ‘Round the Tree,” mm. 21-24 ...... 175

Example 6.8 “I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway,” mm. 47-50 ...... 178

Example 6.9 “O Mary Don’t You Weep,” mm. 5 & 6...... 180

Example 6.10 “There’s a Meeting Here To-night,” mm. 8 & 9 ...... 183

Example 6.11 “There’s a Meeting Here To-night,” mm. 36 & 37 ...... 184

Example 7.1 “America the Beautiful” ...... 191

Example 7.2 “Ascapezzo,” mm. 35-40a ...... 195

Example 7.3 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 9-17 ...... 198

Example 7.4 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 18-21a ...... 198

Example 7.5 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 64-67 ...... 199

Example 7.6 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 68-72 ...... 200

Example 7.7 “City of God,” mm. 22-29 ...... 205

Example 7.8 “Hampton! My Home by the Sea,” mm. 1 & 2 ...... 208

Example 7.9 “Hampton! My Home by the Sea,” mm. 15-16a ...... 208

Example 7.10 “Juba,” mm. 11 & 12, soprano, piano ...... 212

Example 7.11 “Juba,” m. 16, soprano, piano ...... 213

Example 7.12 “Juba,” mm. 20b-24, chorus ...... 213

Example 7.13 “Juba,” mm. 62-66 ...... 215

Example 7.14 “The Lamb,” mm. 7-12 ...... 218

Example 7.15 “The Lamb,” mm. 30-33 ...... 218

Example 7.16 “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows,” mm. 18b-22 ...... 221

Example 7.17 “So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving,” mm. 9 & 10 ...... 223

Example 7.18 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” mm. 21-24 ...... 227

xiv Example 7.19 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” mm. 29-36 ...... 228

Example 7.20 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” mm. 105b-109 ...... 229

xv ABSTRACT

This study shows the various compositional devices used in R. Nathaniel Dett’s short choral works. An analysis of each work with pertinent topical information is included for each song. The short choral works are catalogued. Additionally, a brief history of black folk music, its use during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and his many writings on black music provide context for his use of folk music in these works.

xvi CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) (Figure 1.1) was a black nationalist composer, educator, conductor, pianist, essayist, and poet who helped to change the impressions people had about black music during the early twentieth century. In a broad generalization, Dett is called “a classic figure in black-American music.”1 Clarence

Tocus mentioned Dett’s success when he said, “Only time will be able to decide who is the greatest present-day Negro composer, but for influence, achievement, and general recognition, R. Nathaniel Dett is particularly outstanding.”2 In the first extensive study of his life, Vivian Flagg McBrier said,

“The importance of Dr. Dett lies not only in his activities as a musician, but in his influence as teacher and leader. His music, which was dominated by the idiom of nineteenth-century Romanticism, found considerable popularity during his lifetime. It must be recognized, also, that he was a competent craftsman utilizing successfully the Negro spiritual in conventional art-forms.”3

Dett composed his choral music in a variety of styles including original patriotic songs and anthems, anthems and motets based on black folk music, chorale settings of black

1 Dominique René de Lerma, “Dett and Engel: A Question of Cultural Pride,” The Black Perspective in Music 1, no. 1 (Spring 1973): 70, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214128. 2 Clarence Spencer Tocus, “The Negro Idiom in American Musical Composition” (MM thesis, University of Southern California, 1941), 68, ProQuest (EP61767). 3 Vivian Flagg McBrier, Preface to R. Nathaniel Dett: His Life and Works (1882- 1943), (Washington: Associated Publishers, 1977), n.p. 1

Figure 1.1 R. Nathaniel Dett folk music, and a fantasy and an oratorio using several black folk songs as their basis.

Outside of the choral genre, he set black folk songs as art songs as well as composing many piano suites using either pre-existing material or themes of his own creation.

Dett regularly published music from 1914 until his death in 1943. He was a noted conductor who brought the Hampton Institute (now University) Choir to international fame with a well-documented European tour featuring the performance of his “Ave

Maria.” Church, high school, collegiate, and community choirs have continually performed his music because his music was widely published in G. Schirmer’s Octavo

Church Music Series and by the John Church Company, Hall & McCreary, Theodore

Presser, and J. Fischer & Bro.. In recent years, his choral-orchestral works, The Chariot

Jubilee and The Ordering of Moses, have been performed by college choirs and combined festival choirs. Many of his songs are dedicated to individuals who made significant contributions in his life, such as Dr. George Whitfield Andrews, his teacher, and fellow

2 composer Percy Grainger. He also dedicated songs to choirs such as the Elgar Choir of

Hamilton, Ontario, and his two choirs in Hampton, Virginia: the Hampton Choral

Union of the Hampton-Phoebus Community and the Institute Choir of the Hampton

Normal and Agricultural Institute.

Over the last 40 years, dissertations have been written on his life and work as well as The Chariot Jubilee, The Ordering of Moses, and his piano suites. The work of

Vivian Flagg McBrier in her dissertation titled “The Life and Works of Robert Nathaniel

Dett” and Anne Key Simpson’s book titled Follow Me are two of the most comprehensive studies on Dett. While the large works have been analyzed, much is lacking in the study of his short choral works; this music was the most frequently performed during his life and by many choirs touched by his influence, such as the choirs of Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Cheyney University, and the

105 Voices of History.

The ingenuity of Dett as a choral composer is ever-present in his many original songs and varied settings of folk songs. With more of Dett’s music entering the public domain, a new generation of choral conductors and educators can begin to learn the music of “one of several pioneering African American composers who championed the use of black folk song, especially the Negro spiritual, as the basis for Western classical compositions in the romantic-nationalist vein.”4 His goal of preserving black folk music in his writing serves as evidence that black folk music can be used in similar ways as did J. S. Bach with Lutheran chorales and Zoltán Kodály with Hungarian folk music.

4 Lawrence Schenbeck, Racial Uplift and American Music, 1878-1943 (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012), 108. 3 Brief Biographical Information

While he lived most of his life in the United States having taught and received his postsecondary education there, R. Nathaniel Dett was born in Drummondville,

Ontario, on October 11, 1882. He inherited his musical abilities from his parents. Both were singers with some additional instrumental skills in piano and guitar.5 His early music education showed promise of him becoming a superb musician because his first piano lessons were free of charge due to the skill he demonstrated at such an early age.

Mrs. Marshall, who first taught his brother Sam, discovered him repeating his brother’s piano exercises perfectly after she left the room. While he excelled at the piano, Dett noted that he often tended to improvise various compositions, which did not please

Mrs. Marshall as she wanted him to perform the music as written in the score.6 He later studied with Oliver Willis Halstead in Lockport, New York, in 1901.

Dett’s first piano composition, “After the Cakewalk,” was published when he was 19, three years before he enrolled at Oberlin in 1903 as a double major in piano and composition. He was the first black student to graduate with a double major. While at

Oberlin, he performed in many recitals, often playing some of his piano compositions, and he accompanied various students for their recitals. Other students also performed some of his piano, solo vocal, and instrumental works.

5 R. Nathaniel Dett, “From Bell Stand to Throne Room: A Remarkable Autobiographical Interview with the Eminently Successful American Negro Composer,” The Black Perspective in Music 1, no. 1 (Spring 1973): 73, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214129. 6 Dett, “Helping to Lay Foundation for Negro Music of the Future,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 21-22. 4 After graduation, Dett taught at Lane College in Tennessee and Lincoln Institute in Missouri before his most extensive tenure at Hampton Institute in Hampton,

Virginia. The music program at Hampton made significant changes and grew almost immediately under his leadership. In her book on the life and music of Dett, Anne Key

Simpson noted, “No grass grew under Dett’s feet as he plunged whole heartedly into the school’s musical activities.”7

In his first few years at Hampton, “Listen to the Lambs” was published and became Dett’s most famous choral composition rivaled only by “Juba” from In the

Bottoms, played by noted pianists like Percy Grainger. The St. Olaf and Westminster choirs, among others, regularly performed “Listen to the Lambs,” as did the Hampton

Choir multiple times under Dett’s leadership.

The Hampton Choir became famous under Dett with performances in and around Hampton, Virginia, as well as high-profile concerts at the Library of Congress on December 17, 1926, Carnegie Hall on April 16, 1928, and Symphony Hall in Boston on March 10, 1929. With their first European tour, they continued the tradition of international performances by black choirs set forth by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1873.

The choir’s 1930 European tour was an overall success with performances aboard ship in transport to Europe and in several concerts and other small performances in England,

France, Belgium, Holland, France, Austria, and Switzerland. Upon their return, Dett completed his time at Hampton without the full support of the administration.

7 Anne Key Simpson, Follow Me: the Life and Music of R. Nathaniel Dett (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1993), 41. 5 In his last ten years of his life, he resigned from Hampton then completed his

Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music. The Ordering of Moses, his only oratorio, can be considered the culmination of his life’s work in the use of the spiritual as it is based on the spiritual “Go Down, Moses.” Written for a full mixed choir with soloists and orchestra, it was premiered at the Cincinnati May Festival in 1937. Later, he taught private lessons, finished his teaching career at Bennett College in Greensboro,

North Carolina, and died in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1943.

Dett’s Legacy

His students and those who conducted the choir after he left Hampton are evidence of his legacy through performances and continued promotion of black music.

Two students made significant strides in classical music at Hampton and on the international stage. Dorothy Maynor was born in Norfolk, VA. While at Hampton

Institute, she sang in the choir and traveled to Europe under Dett. She was a featured soloist during much of her time at Hampton and later toured nationally and internationally as a soloist. In 1949, she performed for the inaugural gala of Harry S.

Truman.8 Eileen Southern listed her among other noted pioneering black concert artists such as Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, and Paul Robeson.9 Many schools recognized her talent by awarding her five honorary doctorates.

8 “Inaugural Gala Performer Dorothy Maynor,” Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum, https://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/view.php?id=45106. 9 Southern, “Maynor, Dorothy (1910-1996),” in Encyclopedia of African American Music, edited by Emmett G. Price III, Tammy L. Kernodle, and Horace J. Maxile, Jr. (Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood, 2011). 6 Another student who also traveled to Europe with Dett was Charles Flax. He graduated from Hampton in 1933.10 Flax returned to Hampton as choir director and organized the Crusaders Male Chorus. The Chorus continues to perform unpublished arrangements of spirituals and hymns by Noah Ryder, another Hampton student.11

While it is not clear whether he was a student of Dett or not, Noah Ryder began his studies at Hampton at the end of Dett’s tenure. He was born in Nashville, TN, to a musical family and first attended the University of Cincinnati at his father’s demand.12

After leaving the school, he began at Hampton Institute in 1931 where he excelled in music. In an early article on the life of Ryder, Marjorie S. Johnson described his musical skills by saying, “He remained most proficient on the piano, to be sure, but he also became a very fine organist and learned to play the bassoon sufficiently well to be able to give a full recital on the instrument.”13 He graduated in 1935 and returned to

Hampton in 1941 as choir director. Under Ryder’s leadership, the choir began to regain some of its lost glory after Dett left.14 He later started the music department at the

Norfolk Division of Virginia State College (now Norfolk State University) with his wife,

Georgia.15

10 Brandon A. Boyd, “The Life and Music of Roland Marvin Carter: American Composer, Arranger, Conductor, Educator” (PhD diss., Florida State University, 2017), 17, ProQuest (10261740). 11 Boyd, 18. 12 Marjorie S. Johnson, “Noah Francis Ryder: Composer and Educator,” The Black Perspective in Music 6, no. 1 (Spring 1978): 20, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214300. 13 Johnson, 21. 14 Johnson, 22. 15 Johnson, 24. 7 Timeline

The following timeline provides an overview of Dett’s life, including significant compositions, educational pursuits, and teaching appointments.

1882 – born in Drummondville, Ontario 1900 – After the Cakewalk, piano 1908 – first black student to earn a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory, majored in composition and piano 1908–1911 – taught at Lane College, Tennessee 1911–1913 – taught at Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, MO 1913 – summer study at Oberlin Conservatory 1913 – In the Bottoms 1913–1931 – taught at Hampton Institute, Hampton, VA 1914 – Listen to the Lambs 1921 – The Chariot Jubilee 1924–1926 – president of The National Association of Negro Musicians 1926 – honorary doctorate from Oberlin 1927 – Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute 1929 – summer studies at Columbia University and the American Conservatory of Music 1931–1933 – master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music 1933–1937 – taught private lessons in Rochester, NY 1936 – The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals 1937–1943 – taught at Bennett College, Greensboro, NC 1937 – The Ordering of Moses 1943 – died in Battle Creek, MI

Definition of Terms

The following terms will be used in the discussion of Dett’s choral music. air - a term used in England and France from the 16th century onwards, frequently and rather loosely as synonymous with 'melody,' 'tune,' or 'song.' The term was also consistently used in England from [1597] for published volumes of lute-songs.16

16 Nigel Fortune, David Greer, and Charles Dill, “Air (i),” in Grove Music Online, (Oxford University Press, 2013), article published January 20, 2001; online ed., 2001, https://www.doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48638. 8 anthem - a choral setting of a religious or moral text in English, generally designed for liturgical performance17 black - refers to any person of African descent choral art song - a song for choir and piano typically on preexisting text idyll - a literary description (in prose or verse) of happy rural life, applied by extension to a musical composition of a peaceful, pastoral character19 motet - a vocal composition in polyphonic style, on a biblical or similar prose text, intended for use in church service20

Negro - an historical designation of American people of African descent part-song - strictly any song written for several vocal parts, but in practice, a composition for male, female, or mixed voices (usually but not necessarily unaccompanied) which is not contrapuntal like the madrigal but has the melody in the highest part with accompanying harmonies in the other voices21

17 John Harper, et al, “Anthem,” in Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press), http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/00998. 19 “idyll,” in The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford University Press), accessed October 9, 2017, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e3383. 20 Paul Lagasse, "motet," in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 7th ed. (Columbia University Press, 2017), https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login? url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/motet/0?institutionI d=2057. 21 “part-song,” in The Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford University Press), accessed October 9, 2017, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7705. 9 refrain - a term originating in poetry, where it describes a recurrent phrase in the text, which can be applied to music in various ways22 spiritual - the genre of sacred folk song created by American slaves and disseminated through oral tradition; also known as Negro spirituals, African-American spirituals, and traditional spirituals

Delimitations

1. This study will not provide extensive biographical information as published

books and dissertations contain that information.

2. This study will not provide an in-depth study of his masterworks, The Chariot

Jubilee and The Ordering of Moses.

3. This study will only include settings of spirituals in The Dett Collection of Negro

Spirituals listed as an anthem or motet or those with unique written and musical

languages uncharacteristic of spirituals.

4. This study will not discuss multiple voicing of the same song.

5. This study will not discuss or seek to discover unpublished scores.

6. This study will not examine scores listed in catalogues and research where scores

are unavailable for study.

Choral Catalog Overview

To determine which songs would be included in this specific catalog, the author consulted several sources. The Library of Congress and International Music Score

22 Peter Wilton, “refrain,” in The Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford University Press), http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e5547. 10 Library Project (IMSLP) have public domain scores available on their respective websites. Both books by Vivian Flagg McBrier and Anne Key Simpson discuss several of Dett’s choral compositions and include a catalog of his works. Dominique-René de

Lerma’s website, Africlassical.com, includes an annotated bibliography of the oeuvre of several noted black composers.23 In addition to the online sources dedicated to Dett, a search using WorldCat provided additional titles. Lastly, Roland Carter, a graduate of

Hampton University and a student of Charles Flax, has completed extensive research on Dett’s choral music. He gifted copies of the remaining songs not available from other sources.

Unfortunately, some scores listed in Follow Me and de Lerma’s website were not available from any library or personal collection. These include “There’s a Star in the

East” for SSA choir, “Rise Up Shepherd and Follow” for SATB choir with piano and

TTBB choir with tenor solo and piano, and “Hew Down the Tree” for SSAA choir with contralto solo. “The Song of Miriam” is likely an excerpt from The Ordering of Moses which is for SSA chorus with Miriam as the soprano soloist.

Some difficulties arose in compiling a complete a list of the short choral works because no one source contained all his choral music as found in books and on websites.

Therefore, several searches had to be completed. Some publishing companies have changed names and did not respond to requests about his music. Despite these

23 Dominique-René de Lerma was an American musicologist who specialized in the music of black classical composers. He taught at the University of Miami, Indiana University, Morgan State University, and Lawrence Conservatory of Music. He also served as the director of the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago. 11 obstacles, his music is still available through online sources and libraries throughout the country including city, school, and personal.

The following scores are in the public domain and available for immediate review via online sources: “America the Beautiful,” “Done Made My Vow to the Lord,”

“Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” “I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway,” “Listen to the

Lambs,” “Music in the Mine,” “O Holy Lord,” and “There’s a Meeting Here To-night.”

The songs included in this dissertation are those published as single octavos or those from The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals that are listed as an anthem, a motet, or are of special interest due to compositional design. Therefore, no songs from Religious

Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute are included as these are considered hymns. Also, Dett’s extended motet, The Chariot Jubilee, and oratorio, The Ordering of

Moses, have been discussed and analyzed in other dissertations and theses. The selected songs were included to provide conductors and other musicians with working knowledge of the overall compositional output of the available music.

Publication Arc

The published, short choral works of Dett span twenty-eight years from 1914 until 1941 (figure 1.2). While working at Hampton Institute, Dett published nineteen songs. Ten of the songs published during his time in Rochester, NY, are from The Dett

Collection of Negro Spirituals. Due to the high number of songs in the collection, it is unlikely that the songs compiled in the four groups were written at the same time.

Lastly, the remaining songs were published while he taught at Bennett College with five of his eight songs for treble choir published during this time.

12 Short Choral Works 10 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

1914 1916 1918 1919 1921 1924 1926 1930 1933 1934 1936 1938 1939 1940 1941

Figure 1.2 Number of Published Songs Per Year

Unfortunately, most of the completion dates are not readily available. In Follow

Me, Anne Simpson did, however, surmise completion dates from letters Dett wrote to colleagues and friends. Therefore, the discussion of the songs is organized based on source musical material and compositional design and not to find any similarities based on chronology.

Short Choral Works Catalog

Dett’s catalog of short choral works (for the purpose of this dissertation) includes forty-three songs of varying style, religious nature, musical source, text source, and instrumentation. There are nineteen anthems, nine motets, six spiritual arrangements, four part-songs, one choral art-song (“Juba”), one folk-song scena (“Music in the

Mine”), one hymn (“O Holy Savior), one idyll (“The Lamb”), and one lute-air

13 arrangement (“As by the Streams of Babylon). Dett specifically categorized nineteen of these songs with the author providing other specifications based on similarity of style among Dett’s music.

While Dett most frequently used black folk music, he did, however, compose eleven songs using no existing musical material, five songs based on the singing of individuals as he transcribed, and one arrangement of a lute-air by Thomas Campion.

Some of the scores indicate specific sources of the folk music including his personal collection and published collections including Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at

Hampton Institute, Bahama Songs and Stories: A Contribution to Folk-Lore, and the Story of the Jubilee Singers. He also indicated five individuals to whom he listened and transcribed their singing such as his maternal grandmother for “Baptism.”

Unfortunately, several discrepancies exist in the scores. There are some missing attributions and indications of source material such as the old English air used for

“Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes.” Other times, the designation of “spiritual” is misleading as in the case of his treble-voice settings of spirituals with piano where he is not listed as an arranger. Lastly, while some songs indicate the author of the text, others do not, leaving specular for the researcher.

The most common source for text is the spirituals upon which the songs are based. Fifteen songs exclusively use the text of the spiritual. Dett, however, chose texts by seven authors whose words are typically used in hymnals including Charlotte Elliot

(1789-1871), Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676), Thomas Hastings (1784-1872), Ben Jonson (1572-

1637), Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), Isaac Watts (1674-1748), and Charles Wesley

14 (1707-1788). He also used the poetry of Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929), William Blake

(1757-1827), Lord Byron (1788-1824), and Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). No authors appear more than once. Additionally, Dett wrote the lyrics for three songs. Since Dett published a book of poetry in 1911 titled The Album of the Heart, the author speculates that three other songs whose texts do not appear in any collections are likely texts by

Dett. Nine songs use a combination of two sets of text such as a spiritual and speculated original text or a spiritual and hymn text. There is one anthem (“Ask for the Old Paths”) whose text is from the Bible exclusively.

Forty-two of the songs are exclusively in English. The only use of traditional

Latin text is for “Ave Maria.” Also, “Juba” and “Music in the Mine” use nonsensical syllables and words to imitate various sounds such as drumming, tapping, and stomping.

Eighteen of Dett’s songs include dedications. Ten are dedications to individuals such as family members, a friend, or a teacher. Eight songs are dedicated to choirs including his two Hampton choirs and other choirs in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Ontario. While dedications simply begin with “To,” others are more elaborate such as the memory of his beloved teacher and friend, Dr. George Whitfield Andrews in “Go

Not Far from Me, O God.” The most encompassing dedication is on his first published choral song, “Hampton! My Home by the Sea” which is to “All lovers of Hampton.”

While the entire dedication of the Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals is to his mother, he dedicated “Baptism” to his brother, Sam. The only known published choral commission

15 is “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” as the score shows that it was written by special request for Bennett College.

Most of the songs are for unaccompanied mixed choir. Of the thirty-four songs for mixed choir, none exclusively use divisi. The closest exceptions are “Don’t Be

Weary, Traveler” which begins for SSATBB then finishes for SATB and “O Holy Lord” which uses an eight-part divisi for most of the song until the end. Thirteen of the mixed- choir songs have extensive amounts of divisi.

Aside from the mixed-choir settings, there is one for TTBB choir (“As Children,

Walk Ye in God’s Love”) and eight for treble-voice choirs between SSA and SSAA.

Three of the four for SSA use piano and are spiritual arrangements published in 1919 and 1921. Of the five songs published during his tenure at Bennett College, only one is for unaccompanied choir (“The Lamb”). The others are for SSAA and use divisi.

Lastly, twenty-five songs have at least one solo whether it is extensive or incidental. “Music in the Mine” uses light steel bars.

Included in this dissertation are nine songs from the Dett Collection of Negro

Spirituals. “Communion;” “Deep River;” “Dust, Dust and Ashes;” “My Way’s Cloudy,” and “Steal Away” are motets or anthem as designated by Dett that use the spiritual exclusively. “On That Sabbath Morn” combines the folk melody with speculated original text by Dett. The other three songs are of special interest. “Baptism” and “O

Holy Savior” use poetic lines not associated with traditional folk music. “Hew ‘Round the Tree” is a non-strophic setting of a two-tone melody.

16 Review of Literature

R. Nathaniel Dett and his music have been discussed in a variety of ways. A dissertation and two books chronicle his life and include either a brief mention or a simple analysis of his music. Several dissertations and journal articles analyze his pioneering work with the spiritual. The discussion of Dett’s writings and compositions as a catalyst for musical and social change is in several books and journal articles. Many newspaper articles reported critiques of his music and reviewed his many concerts with and without the Hampton Choir.

Books about R. Nathaniel Dett

Vivian Flagg McBrier wrote the first book on Dett, R. Nathaniel Dett: His Life and

Works (1882-1943). It is organized into six periods of his life including “The Early Years:

1882-1903,” “Oberlin Conservatory and the Formative Years: 1903-1913,” “First Years at

Hampton Institute: 1913-1922,” “Years of Achievement at Hampton: 1922-1930,” “Years of Crises and Challenge: 1930-1937,” and “Bennett College to His Death: 1937-1943.”

With Dett’s personal notebook in her possession, she provides details on his thoughts and insights on his own music.

McBrier discusses his music in chronological order based on publication dates.

While background information is given, there is only limited analysis of a few of Dett’s works with references to some overall characteristics of works published during various periods of his life. McBrier herself suggests further research: “For those persons interested in detailed study, an examination of the complete scores from which these

17 examples are taken will add to the understanding and appreciation of Dett’s works.”24

In Appendix V she does, however, provide examples of his techniques and styles.

Anne Key Simpson continued the work of McBrier in the largest published study on Dett and his music, Follow Me: The Life and Music of R. Nathaniel Dett. The book is “a non-critical study, structured chronologically in both biography and in discussion of musical compositions according to their dates of publication.”25 The three large sections of the book chronicle his life, discuss his musical works, and provide a catalog of printed and recorded music. Part I draws on many letters, programs, university archival materials, articles, and other books to detail his musical childhood, celebrated career as a composer, and sometimes tense career as an educator. Simpson divided his life into several periods based on significant events including preparation for the

Hampton Choir’s European tour. In discussing his music in Part II, she separated it by instrumental, solo vocal, and choral genres. An introduction to chapter 10 helps to explain how Dett felt about most of his choral music: “He explained that his works based on spirituals and folk songs were not ‘in any sense arrangements.’”26 The discussion of his works includes historical background on to whom the song was dedicated or from whom he transcribed a melody, an analysis of some text sources, and compositional details relevant to specific songs. There appears to be no overall formal design for the discussion of his music where some shorter songs have more information and a more detailed analysis than others.

24 McBrier, Dett, 134. 25 Simpson, Follow Me, xxi. 26 Simpson, Follow Me, 445. Original emphasis. 18 Books Containing Reference to Dett

Georgia A. Ryder contributed a chapter, “Harlem Renaissance Ideals in the

Music of Robert Nathaniel Dett,” to Black Music in the Harlem Renaissance: A Collection of

Essays. While Dett was not a member of the Harlem Renaissance, his choral music specifically represented the rebirth of the spiritual. Dett was an avid learner having studied throughout his life. His compositions matured as he continued to learn. While

After the Cake for solo piano was his first published composition, it was his use of the spiritual in choral works that prepared him for his largest achievement with The

Ordering of Moses. Ryder writes, “Of the forty-five published [short choral compositions] between 1914 and 1942, twenty-one have their source in Negro folk music. But, not unlike some poets and artists of his day, he consciously chose style and art forms as frameworks for many of his compositions.”27

On the score, Dett called The Ordering of Moses a “Biblical Folk Scene.” However,

Ryder showed how it is an oratorio with “its use of chorus and narrator as important elements” and a “clear intention to ‘fuse’ scripture and folklore in a work of such scope.”28 In addition to the use of two spirituals as its source, Dett used “melodic patterns such as the 5-6-1 progression or repeated minor thirds” to unify the work.29

Continuing with the concept of Dett’s unofficial contributions to the Harlem

Renaissance, Jon Michael Spencer gives most of the attention of his chapter to Dett in

27 Georgia A. Ryder, “Harlem Renaissance Ideals in the Music of Robert Nathaniel Dett,” in Black Music in the Harlem Renaissance: A Collection of Essays, ed. Samuel A. Floyd (Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press, 1993), 68. 28 Ryder, 64. 29 Ryder, 65. 19 The New Negroes and Their Music: The Success of the Harlem Renaissance. During the early twentieth century, minstrelsy created the expectation that black musicians would perform folk music, both sacred and secular, purely for the entertainment of white audiences even at the expense of degrading the music and creating caricatures. In “Wild

Dreams of Bringing Glory and Honor to the Negro Race,” Spencer discusses how Dett’s choice of compositional style and repertoire selections served to undo these negative stereotypes of black musicians. Also, he lists Dett among a class of “New Negroes,” those educated black citizens whose mission was to dispel the myths of how black

Americans were viewed in the United States and around the world. Even though white audiences primarily wanted to see black choirs to hear spirituals in a “primitive” way, the Hampton choir under Dett performed a variety of interpretations of spirituals as traditional songs, traditional arrangements, and anthems and motets based on the tunes. As Spencer notes, “It is in a median style—folk melodies set in elaborate

European art forms—that Dett distinguished himself.”30 For Dett, even the famed

European tour in 1930 was to display the “New Negro” and his music.

Spencer continually references Dett’s “two-tiered mastery,” by which he means a combination of the “mood and spirit” of the spirituals with the “form and mastery” of

Western classical music. Dett indeed was a master of this in that he believed there could be a marriage of the two styles; this synthesis would serve as a way of preserving the spirituals while also contributing to the challenge of creating music to which the “New

Negro” could relate in an attempt to distance oneself from slavery and minstrelsy.

30 Jon Michael Spencer, The New Negroes and Their Music: The Success of the Harlem Renaissance (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1997), 50. 20 Continuing with the concept of the “New Negro,” Lawrence Schenbeck discusses

“racial uplift theory” in Racial Uplift and American Music, 1878-1943, specifically how black musicians used their crafts to uplift their race. Dett’s music could speak to both black and white audiences in addition to being used as a preservation tool for the religious folk songs. A connection between black and white musicians was imperative.

Dett felt the need to present his people’s music on another group’s terms to help that group fully understand and appreciate it. Also, Schenbeck discusses how the overarching Christian ideology in spirituals could be accessible to anyone: “In reference to the Negro church’s domination of Negro life, [Dett] made it clear that his focus as a composer and performer was not simply musical but religious and social as well, perhaps overwhelmingly so.”31

Members of the black elite, namely those born and/or raised in the northern

United States, were most familiar with the “civilized” hymns of the more traditional

Christian denominations versus the “crude” songs of slavery. For the folk music to be appreciated and preserved through performance, it had to be transformed into a style of music that still retained its essential melodic, textual, and even symbolic essence.

However, his use of the spiritual was in no way to improve it.

Schenbeck notes how Dett used ethnosympathy to his advantage.32 Declaration of formal musical training and eloquence in his writing allowed him to legitimize himself to critical readers who may have disregarded his thoughts and opinions. His

31 Schenbeck, Racial Uplift, 145. 32 Ethnosympathy is the culturally-based emotion where those of the majority population feel moderate levels of guilt because of historic racism and discrimination. 21 music served as a vehicle of connection by presenting the traditional folk music in culturally-relevant forms. Schenbeck writes, “His project would be to arrange spirituals as art songs and program them with representative examples of great music from other

(i.e., white) cultures.”33 This “great music” includes the masterworks and standard repertoire seen on many programs.

Schenbeck also discusses how minstrelsy negatively impacted the way black and white audiences expected to hear black choirs perform. The comedic value of minstrelsy severely tarnished audience reception of the black choirs. However, Dett’s academic and musical training served him well as the Hampton choir received rave reviews not only of spirituals and the anthems and motets based on them but also of Renaissance and Russian music.

Much like Jon Michael Spencer, Schenbeck details Dett’s time at Hampton and how the administration was not always as supportive of his music and his use of the spiritual as he hoped. In the beginning, they mostly wanted traditional performances with improvised harmonies. Eventually, Dett and his national reputation as an essayist, composer, and performer persuaded them but only slightly.

The Hampton choir’s European tour brought about much tension between the administration and Dett. While the administration wanted the traditional spirituals in their most basic renditions, Dett did not want to allow the continued preconceived notions of what a black choir was supposed to sing to in any way dictate what his choir performed. Some members of the board of trustees were unhappy with the absence of

33 Schenbeck, Racial Uplift, 128. 22 traditional spirituals and the overabundance of classical music which included Dett’s newly composed anthems based on spirituals. After much deliberation, Dett compromised by including traditional spirituals as well. However, he did not bend on his “uplift” ideals of dispelling the notions that musicians of African descent were beneath the class of classical music usually reserved for the white cultural elites.

Throughout his career, Dett remained vigilant in raising awareness about the judgments some whites had about black music and black choirs as well as what they expected of black musicians. His musical life’s goal was to do all he could to change that, even by harshly criticizing a man who commissioned him to write music with racial flavor.34

Dissertations Related to Dett’s Choral Music

Terry Lee Fansler discusses anthems in five different styles in the first half of the twentieth century in “The Anthem in America: 1900-1950.” There are 27 composers discussed including a history of the anthem in each style. The final chapter discusses the use of the spiritual as an anthem. Fansler uses “Listen to the Lambs” and “Wasn’t

That a Mighty Day?” as representative examples of Dett’s style. While both anthems are mostly diatonic, the “subtle chromatic alterations create unpredictability in Dett’s harmonic progressions.”35 Similarly, the use of quasi-recitative and clever chromaticism point to the unexpected. She describes his style by saying that “his works are unique

34 This event is described in a later section of chapter 1. 35 Terry Lee Fansler, “The Anthem in America: 1900-1950” (PhD diss., North Texas State University, 1982), 200, ProQuest (8228035). 23 and often display unpredictable stylistic features. They are, for the most part, composed within a diatonic framework, but occasionally display bolder harmonic statements made up of short, quickly moving, chromatic passages.”36

In “European Classical Influences in Modern Settings of the African-American

Spiritual,” Cleveland Charles Clency demonstrates how black composers used their classical training in written theory and composition with the idiomatic melodic and rhythmic ideals common to black music. Clency writes, “As a result of the synthesis of the two musical traditions—the folk music of the Black tradition and the musical forms of the European tradition—we are now exposed to an ‘intercultural crossroads’ in the

United States enhanced by the integration of European-derived and African-derived expressions.”37

While Dett is among “The First Generation Pioneers” (a group of black composers born before 1900 who had major impacts on the classical music written and published by later black composers) with Harry T. Burleigh and Hall Johnson, he went beyond Burleigh and his arrangements by extending the folk music into traditional forms such as anthems, motets, and oratorios through the use of neo-Romanticism.

Clency analyzes “Listen to the Lambs” in terms of form, textual design, and compositional format while qualifying it as a spiritual among the other arrangements

36 Terry Lee Fansler, “The Anthem in America: 1900-1950” (PhD diss., North Texas State University, 1982), 197, ProQuest (8228035). 37 Cleveland Charles Clency, “European Classical Influences in Modern Choral Settings of the African-American Spiritual” (DMA essay, University of Miami, 1999), ii, ProQuest (9934215). 24 analyzed in the dissertation because “it uses melodic and harmonic designs typical of the Negro spiritual.”38

In her dissertation titled “The Influence of Choral Arrangements and Historical

Performance Practices of African-American Spirituals on Selected Choruses in George

Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,” Arlecia Jan Taylor includes Dett as one of the composers in the 1920s and 30s whose published settings and collections of spirituals influenced

Gershwin. She names him “among the earliest and best-known composers to use spirituals and other black folk music as a basis for art songs, motets, symphonies, operas, and other extended forms.”39 Gershwin’s chorus “Oh, Dere’s Somebody’s

Knockin’ at de Do’” uses the overlapped call as in “Better Be Ready” from The Dett

Collection of Negro Spirituals: Third Group.40 “Listen to the Lambs” is the inspiration for

Gershwin’s “Gone, Gone, Gone” and “Overflow” where both songs use folk song fragments.

Clarence Spencer Tocus completed his master’s thesis, “The Negro Idiom in

American Musical Composition,” towards the end of Dett’s life. Tocus notes that while at Hampton, Dett “wrote many fine settings of spirituals, and being constantly reminded by the marvelous singing of the student body of the real meaning of their

38 Clency., 73. 39 Arlecia Jan Taylor, “The Influence of Choral Arrangements and Historical Performance Practices of African-American Spirituals on Selected Choruses in George Gershwin's ‘Porgy and Bess’” (DMA doctoral essay, University of Houston, 2012.), 14, ProQuest (3536553). 40 In call and response, an overlapped call is where the response begins before the call completes. 25 music, his arrangements have never lost their primary and native intent.”41 He includes brief analyses of The Chariot Jubilee and The Ordering of Moses noting the use of several spirituals, climactic harmonies, and expressive orchestral writing. Tocus praised Dett for not using the term spiritual in promotion of the music. Among the smaller works of

Dett, Tocus briefly describes six octavos that use the spiritual as a theme.

In his dissertation “A Study and Performance of The Ordering of Moses by

Robert Nathaniel Dett,” J. Harrison Wilson mentions the success of the oratorio for ten years after its completion. There was a revival two decades later with performances across the country, three of which in California. The Ordering of Moses was “Dett’s first full effort to fulfill his idea of using the Negro spiritual in a larger form.”42 Scripture, folklore, and spiritual references combine to form the libretto. In analyzing the music,

Harrison describes the prelude as being “full of atmospheric color and shows strong

Wagnerian influences both in use of single instruments and in instrumental combinations.”43 In the dissertation, Wilson mentions several scholars and composers who discussed the origin of the opening motive stating that is of African origin while

McBrier believes that it was inspired by “Go Down, Moses.” Most of the vocal writing

(solo and choral) is syllabic. To invoke an Egyptian style, Dett used fourths while the augmented seconds used are typical of Hungarian music.

41 Tocus, “Negro Idiom,” 68. 42 J. Harrison Wilson, “A Study and Performance of The Ordering of Moses by Robert Nathaniel Dett” (DMA diss., University of Southern California, 1970), 20, ProQuest (7200584). This claim ignores The Chariot Jubilee as an extended work, originally with orchestral accompaniment, that uses one spiritual as its theme. 43 Wilson, “Ordering,” 28. 26 Harrison’s analysis then moves to the influence of spirituals throughout the work. The opening solo melody is from “Go Down, Moses” (words and music) with an added passing tone. The piece also includes a fugue that employs the same spiritual, which begins with a bass subject followed by a tenor answer a fifth higher as expected with a countersubject. Then the altos have the subject; the tenors have the countersubject; and the basses use a theme from a trio earlier in the oratorio. The final chorus uses the first phrase of “He Is King of Kings” followed by original text “which continues the mood of the spiritual.”44

Lastly, Wilson provides a final rehearsal and performance guide to assist in mounting the oratorio which he evaluates “is within the capabilities of the average good church choir.”45

The only dissertation on Dett’s first extended work is “A Study of Robert

Nathaniel Dett: His Creation of The Chariot Jubilee and a Setting of a New Accessible

Reduced Orchestration” by Jason Max Ferdinand. “Having a full orchestra at one’s disposal is not a reality for many; so it was that idea which spawned the concept of doing an instrumental configuration that was more accessible.”46 As Ferdinand notes, unfortunately, the original orchestration is lost. The published vocal score includes tenor solo, chorus, and organ (with registrations). However, Hale Smith recreated an

44 Wilson, 64. 45 Wilson, 67. 46 Jason Max Ferdinand, “A Study of Robert Nathaniel Dett: His Creation of The Chariot Jubilee and a Setting of a New Accessible Reduced Orchestration” (DMA diss., University of Maryland, 2015), 4, ProQuest (3711550). 27 orchestral accompaniment for a performance in 1998.47 After a chapter of brief biographical information, Ferdinand discusses the performance history of the work.

Interestingly, documentation is not found of any performances from 1921 until the end of the twentieth century. Like Wilson’s dissertation, Ferdinand provides a libretto of the work with quotes from “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” biblical scriptures, and free verse.

A table shows the libretto with hypothesized references of spirituals and scriptures. The final chapters include the process involved in creating the orchestration, the score, an analysis of the work, and the preparation and performance processes.

Dissertations Related to Dett’s Other Compositional Output

In addition to Dett’s many choral works, he composed several suites and individual scores for piano. In her master’s thesis, “An Analysis of Robert Nathaniel

Dett’s ‘In the Bottoms’,” Debra Ann Miles discusses how In the Bottoms and Magnolia are two of Dett’s suites that helped to propel him to fame as a composer. On several occasions, even before his choral compositions were known throughout the country, he and Percy Grainger both regularly performed his piano music.

In her analysis of In the Bottoms, his most famous suite, she mentions how

Antonín Dvořák encouraged the inclusion of native folk music in compositions as evidenced by gapped scales and syncopations. As with Dett’s choral music, In the

Bottoms contains elements of black folk music. Syncopated patterns are prevalent throughout the suite as integral motives of almost all the themes and motives. As a

47 Ferdinand, 16. 28 whole, Dett’s neo-Romantic style permeates his music through the use of remote key relationships, often a third apart, and extended chords.

One of the more recent dissertations on Dett’s music is Clipper Erickson’s “The

Six Piano Suites of Nathaniel Dett.” Erickson notes how historians have neglected Dett’s music even though he was an important figure in the study, interpretation, and preservation of the spiritual. Dett is “lauded as the first American composer to fuse

Negro folk music with European art tradition.”48 His musical influences are seen in the output of conductors and composers after him. Erickson provides an individual analysis of each piano suite paired in three parts chronologically showing the development of Dett’s musical language. The use of poetic quotations and extended descriptions precedes each movement of the suites and the use of descriptive titles showcases Dett’s love of poetry and literature. Erickson highlights Dett’s interest in diverse spiritual traditions: “Philosophical inquiry, Rosicrucianism, as well as

Christianity deeply attracted him. He was also interested in other cultures; ancient

Hebrew legends, African chants, tropical images and Hindu poets all have a place in his music.”49

Several key musical ideas pervade the suites. Rhythm is crucial in the performance of Dett’s music as much is based on black folk music. The pentatonic scale, another key element in spirituals, reoccurs throughout his music. Other points of interest are the alteration between cadences on vi and I, the use of minor seventh and

48 Clipper Erickson, “The Six Piano Suites of Nathaniel Dett” (DMA diss., Temple University, 2014), iii, ProQuest (3623149). 49 Erickson, 2. 29 augmented-sixth chords, and an interest in counterpoint evident in his use of imitations. Lastly, his affinity for voices shows in the lyricism of his piano music.

Journal Articles about Dett

Several journal articles provide not only critiques of Dett’s music but also theories as to why Dett was such a consummate musician, educator, and composer.

Within his first five years at Hampton, people began to take notice of the unusual nature of Dett’s music. An anonymous contributor to Canadian Music Journal writes,

“Dett’s contributions to American art are the religious folk-song choruses which are being developed by R. Nathaniel Dett, director of vocal music at Hampton Institute since 1913.”50

Dominique-René de Lerma wrote an entry on Dett in The Black Perspective in

Music upon request because of his research in black music. While at the Library of

Congress, de Lerma learned of a commission that Dett never completed. The communication between Dett and the person who commissioned him paralleled ongoing naiveté in the assumption that black music must have idiomatic elements for it to be authentic. Carl Engle, then Chief of the Music Division at the Library of Congress, commissioned Dett to compose a quartet for piano, violin, saxophone, and banjo with the express purpose of having idiomatic elements in the chamber music. Dett felt that the intended commission trivialized black music and cited the fact that the black church did not support the use of the saxophone or banjo in sacred music, as well as the fact

50 “Unique Folk-Song Choruses.” Canadian Journal of Music 5, no. 4 (August- September 1918): n.p. 30 that black music was then represented most vividly by spirituals. In the article, Dett’s letter to Engle is quoted as follows: “The fact that the Negro church has dominated

Negro life almost entirely would make use of the instruments which you suggest incongruous to the expression you seem to wish.”51

Just two years later, Georgia A. Ryder mentioned Dett among black composers writing larger works for choir. Cantatas, specifically, are more utilitarian than operas with the absence of costume, sets, and a pit orchestra. While the composer may have intended an orchestra, oftentimes, a piano reduction suffices and provides the necessary accompaniment for a successful performance.

There are times when the race of a composer garners special attention in the excitement of one’s music. Black composers often have the unique opportunity of incorporating idiomatic music such as spirituals and jazz in extended forms.

Polyrhythms, blues scales, and syncopation may prevail in some compositions as well.

Ryder suggested an additional look into the cantatas of black composers.

She gave attention to The Ordering of Moses, stating how choirs and audiences may forget the music of noted composers during a certain time period, yet a concert of their works or even one large work can revive attention to their oeuvre. “Out of this awakening came a swell of inquiry about each composer’s life and times, oeuvres, and compositions.”52 Performances of Ordering reminded conductors of the music of Dett:

51 de Lerma, “Dett and Engel,” 72. 52 Georgia A. Ryder, “Another Look at Some American Cantatas,” The Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 2, A Birthday Offering to William Grant Still (May 1975): 136, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214283. 31 “Recent performances of this oratorio have stimulated fresh waves of interest in Dett pieces among the members of a generation who know little or nothing of him or his music.”53 As with other authors, the unconventional use of spirituals in large works is of great interest to Ryder, who writes, “The powerful fugue on ‘Go Down Moses’ is a model of artistic fusion of folk and art styles and illustrates the way traditional music was assimilated by the composer into the general formality of the musical style and structure.”54

In “R. Nathaniel Dett’s Views on the Preservation of Black Music,” Jon Michael

Spencer highlights several of Dett’s writings discussing the preservation of black music through anthems appropriate for concert performance and church services which were to combat black churches abandoning the music of their heritage because it reminded them of slavery. Additionally, the article mentions how literary works could be based on folk songs and the need for more trained black musicians to carry Dett’s traditions.

The article uses many direct quotes from Dett’s published essays.

Later, Spencer published “The Emancipation of the Negro and the Negro

Spirituals from the Racialist Legacy of Arthur de Gobineau.” Gobineau’s “Essay on the

Inequality of the Human Races” shaped the perception many whites had about blacks, which influenced how black musicians were received. Spencer used newspaper reviews of the Hampton choir’s tour to Europe to show how Dett used his music and choir to dispel the theory that the skin color of a musician inherently makes one better than

53 Ryder, 138. 54 Ryder, 138. 32 another. “Dett’s concern for the compositional preservation of the distinctive musical features of black folk songs points to another means by which he gave his own students, and those in the generations that followed, some clue as to what African should mean to us.”55 Excellence in musicianship and sincerity of performance allowed the Hampton choir, Dett, and his music to transform the minds of the European audiences who expected one type of performance but were treated with the many anthems and motets of Dett along with the classical music expected of a trained choir. In response to a reviewer’s comments about one performance, Spencer said, “I suggest that the writer’s statement that the choir was a ‘wonderful revelation’ be understood as referring to

Dett’s masterful reimagining of the ‘Negro.’”56

Lastly, in 2008, John Silantien wrote about the partnership between the American

Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the Library of Congress in “MADE IN

AMERICA: A Library of Congress & ACDA Collaboration.” When ACDA first published the “American Choral Music” collection on the Library of Congress website,

Dett was the only black composer listed. In the article, the table of music available lists three of Dett’s earliest choral compositions. Dett was used as the one example of a composer profile available on the website. It provides a short biography and discussion of his octavos, major choral works, collections of spirituals, and a discussion of some of

55 Jon Michael Spencer, “The Emancipation of the Negro and the Negro Spirituals from the Racialist Legacy of Arthur de Gobineau,” Canadian Review of American Studies 24, no. 1 (Winter 1994): n.p. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost. 56 Spencer, n.p. 33 his essays on black music. Special attention is given to his career as a conductor and his views on performing spirituals.

34 CHAPTER 2

BLACK FOLK MUSIC AND ITS USE IN THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES

Black Folk Music

Folk music is the group of music created by the people of a country, region, city, or town, and where typically the composers of the music are unknown. Traditionally, this music has been taught and learned through the oral tradition and may have been altered over time based on interpretation, dialect, and regional considerations. Black folk music is then the sacred and secular music created by those of African descent to accompany times of work, worship, celebration, and social gatherings such as the birth of a child, death of an elder, and rites of passage from childhood to adulthood. One specific type of Black folk song that is generally secular is work songs, or those songs used by laborers to accompany their work.57

Spirituals

Black folk music in the United States was born out of slavery. The slaves expressed joy, heartache, longing, exhaustion, pain, sorrow, grief, and hope through song. After being converted to Christianity, the slaves then connected to many of the

Biblical characters, specifically the Hebrew slaves. Their conversion and later adherence to Christianity created the spiritual connection to the music they subsequently created.

57 Norm Cohen, “Work songs,” in Grove Music Online, (Oxford University Press, 2013), article published November 26, 2013; online ed., 2014, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2258732. 35 Folk song scholar John Wesley Work writes, “It was slavery that gave color to [the slave’s] music. Slavery was the starting point and Heaven was the goal of his life. The sorrows of slavery pierced his heart and it poured itself out in…lamentations.”58 The harsh conditions of slavery were the catalyst for this vast repertory of music. The spiritual is a direct expression of the marriage of slave life and Biblical stories.59

In 1927, Dett wrote, “As a chorale the spiritual finds its most natural expression, for as a chorale, the spiritual was born.”60 Continuing in the foreword to the third group in The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals, Dett asserted that in order to perform the spiritual, one must understand the circumstances surrounding its creation. Pain, suffering, heartache, and heartbreak were driving factors. He further posited that the performer’s race is irrelevant because people of every race can find similarities when searching for freedom or a connection to the Divine. As Dett himself writes, “The love of nature, the desire for companionship, the pain of parting from relatives or friends, the joy of reunion, faith in a Divine Providence, a fervent but never despairing cry for deliverance of soul and body from fetters both concrete and intangible, the balding of remarkable events,—all this has been the common experience of bards of all races and times.”61

58 John Wesley Work, Folk Song the American Negro (Nashville, TN: Press of Fisk University, 1915), 27. 59 R. Nathaniel Dett, Foreword to Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute (Hampton, VA: Hampton Institute Press, 1927, reprint), 262. 60 Dett, Foreword to The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals: First Group (Hall & McCreary, 1936), n.p. 61 Dett, “Understanding the Negro Spiritual,” in The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals: Second Group (Minneapolis, MN: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary, 1936), 3. 36 While the conditions that led to the creation of spirituals have not been contested, there was a time when some early anthropologists and musicologists posited that the slaves created spirituals by mimicking European songs and American hymns.

Dett, among other scholars of the time, vehemently denied these claims wondering how the true sense of Christianity could have been used as a reinforcement of slavery if the majority population simultaneously used it to keep other humans enslaved.62

An Early History of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Dett’s work environment played a pivotal role in composing his music. Having worked at two historically black colleges before his tenure at Hampton Institute, he understood the cultural significance of the music promoted at those schools. For this, an overview of the history of historically black colleges and universities is necessary.

In 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (first named the African Institute) became the first school whose mission was to provide education to black Americans.

Richard Humphreys, a Quaker, bequeathed a $10,000 grant “to instruct the descendants of the African race in school learning, in the various branches of the mechanic arts, trades and agriculture, in order to prepare and fit and qualify them to act as teachers.”63

This was a direct result of Humphreys witnessing struggling African Americans unable to find jobs. Seventeen years later, the Ashmun Institute (later Lincoln University)

62 Dett, “The Authenticity of the Spiritual,” in The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals: Third Group (Minneapolis, MN: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary, 1936), 3. 63 “About CU,” Cheyney University, accessed on April 17, 2017, http://www.cheyney.edu/about-cheyney-university/. 37 opened in Pennsylvania with a similar mission to educate black American men.64 By the mid-twentieth century, over 100 schools opened their doors to serve this specific population.

To provide a formal classification, the Higher Education Act of 1965 defines a historically black college or university (HBCU) as “any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans…”65 HBCUs were founded during times of legalized segregation. The majority of these schools are in the southern states where segregation was often the most prominent.

With a mission to educate freed slaves, many schools’ goal was to teach some level of primary or secondary education with later pursuits being to teach a trade or educate teachers as evidenced by some of the schools’ first names. For example, one of

Cheyney University’s former names is Cheyney Training School for Teachers. North

Carolina A&T State University was formerly the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race, while Hampton University was the Hampton Agricultural and

Industrial School.

White philanthropists and religious organizations such as the American

Missionary Association, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the African Methodist

Episcopal Church were among those who provided funding and land for these schools

64 “History,” Lincoln University, accessed on April 17, 2017, http://www.lincoln.edu/about/history. 65 “What is an HBCU?,” U.S. Department of Education, accessed March 25, 2018, https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and- universities/. 38 to be founded. Shortly after opening their doors, some schools began to suffer financial hardship, which became a persistent problem threatening the survival of the early

HBCUs.

Beginnings of the HBCU Choir

Fisk University nearly had to close its doors until George L. White, one of the school’s first music professors, selected nine students to form the original Fisk Jubilee

Singers (figure 2.1). This ensemble toured small towns performing concerts specifically to raise money for their school. The first planned tour of the Jubilee Singers was revolutionary. White audiences were only familiar with black singers on stage in the form of minstrelsy and not performing serious black music, including spirituals.66 Over the course of seven years, the Singers raised $150,000 to help build Jubilee Hall,67 which is now a national landmark.68 Concertgoers in the United States and Europe hailed the success of the Jubilee Singers. Eva Gauthier, an internationally-known mezzo soprano and voice teacher, lauded the choir on November 1, 1925, in a letter to the editor of the

New York Times after she heard them in Paris by saying, “What is important for us here to realize is that the demand concert at Windsor Castle and their reception all through

Europe were due, not to sentiment or to interest in an unusual type of music, but to the perfection of their rendition of songs which are imbued with the art of true music as

66 Southern, Music of Black Americans, 227-8. 67 Southern, 229. 68 “Our History,” Fisk Jubilee Singers, accessed March 25, 2017, http://www.fiskjubileesingers.org/our_history.html. 39

Figure 2.1 Fisk Jubilee Singers well as the spontaneity that gives life to any art,”69 and she added additional encouragement for fellow New Yorkers to attend their concert.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers created a model later replicated by other institutions.

Shortly after it was founded, Hampton Institute (now University) was in a similar financial situation as Fisk. General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, Hampton’s founder, created the Hampton Singers specifically to tour and raise money for the school.70 The

Hampton Singers completed a three-year tour across the United States bringing back

69 Eva Gauthier, “The Fisk Jubilee Singers,” New York Times, November 1, 1925, accessed March 27, 2017, https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/10344 8828?accountid=4840. 70 Lori Shipley, “Music Education at Hampton Institute, 1868-1913,” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 32, no. 2 (2011): 104, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41300416. 40 money to the school. After the first year of the tour, Virginia Hall was built and then dedicated on June 11, 1874.71 Hampton students learn that it “was partly sung up by the

Hampton Singers.”72

Collections of Folk Songs

In the same time that the Fisk and Hampton Singers toured, musicians began to preserve folk music in collections, because the challenge of the oral tradition is that songs could be lost over time if they are no longer being sung. Ethnomusicologists, choir directors, and other music teachers at HBCUs listened to their students, church members, and others in their travels and transcribed these songs.

Each collection that was created served a different purpose often stated in an introduction. The collections provided historical and musical notes about folk music including the history of the music, how the songs were collected, and some general notes about performance practice. There are variations of songs between and even within collections. Some songs have two versions in the same collection based on a state or region of proposed origin. While some collections included only the melodies, others included simple harmonies in a hymn-like style with the traditional four choral voices.

71 “Hampton University Chronology of Events,” Hampton University, accessed March 27, 2017, http://oar.hamptonu.edu/media/docs/20140116_153637_Hampton%20University%20 Chronology.pdf. 72 Lori Rae Shipley, “A History of the Music Department at Hampton University” (DMA diss., Boston University, 2009), 154, accessed March 27, 2017, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses; New students at Hampton University are taught in their University 101 class that the money raised by the Hampton Singers was used to pay for the construction of Virginia Hall. From this is derived the phrase “sung up.” 41 One of the oldest collections is the 1887 publication Jubilee and Plantation Songs:

Characteristic Favorites as Sung by the Hampton Students, Jubilee Singers, Fisk University

Students, and Other Concert Companies. There is no prefatory information in prose as is common with later collections. However, some songs have a brief note about its origin or the person who sang it for the transcriber.

Folk Song of the American Negro, published in 1915 by John Wesley Work II, contains more sets of lyrics and fewer notated songs. Chapter 6 of the collection talks about the folklore genesis of some spirituals complete with stories of particular events and their creators. Later, John Wesley Work III compiled 230 folk songs, both sacred and secular, in American Negro Songs (1940). This collection includes spirituals, blues, and work songs with most in the traditional hymn style with four voice parts. It includes songs with solos as well as call and response. There are only a few songs with only the melody.

In 1950, John Benson Brooks transcribed recordings from Alabama and

Mississippi for Negro Songs from Alabama. The goal was to include mostly unfamiliar songs not present in other collections. Each song includes the names of the performers

(individuals, families, and, in the case of the children, schools) and their cities of residence. The collection contains only melodies with occasional two-part harmonies or responses.

One of the more elaborate collections is the Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as

Sung at Hampton Institute. The first edition was by Thomas P. Fenner in 1901. Dett was the final editor of this collection and categorized the songs as hymns based on common

42 themes such as “Hymns of Aspiration, Christian Life, Meditation, Praise, and

Tribulation.” Dett’s goal was to make the collection both a hymnal for posterity and a practical resource for choirs and churches to use in worship services. The melodies and harmonizations are from the Hampton students singing and may have changed from each edition as singers from different states and decades learned them slightly differently. As Nancy B. McGhee notes in the introduction to the reprinted edition, he added “harmony voices to make the collection a practical songbook for a choir or a chorus” without changing the songs.73 Keeping in line with the singing of spirituals on the plantation and in the early black churches during slavery and after Emancipation, the hymns in this collection are intended for unaccompanied singing. The tradition at

Hampton during Dett’s tenure was for large groups of students and community singers to join in song, often singing spirituals. There were planned and spontaneous moments of communal singing at the school for many decades. Traditional performances and concert settings of spirituals and their widespread dissemination cannot be separated from the history of HBCUs and their choirs.

The Writings of Dett on Black Music

Being an educated man who not only composed but also wrote poetry, Dett eloquently expressed his thoughts on Black folk music, its history, current state, and future in many essays published either in journals or as forewords or prefaces to different collections. Some of his most noted scholarly works include “Negro Music,” a

73 Nancy B. McGhee, Introduction to Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute (Hampton, VA: Hampton Institute Press, 1927, reprint), n.p. 43 collection of essays that won the Bowdoin Literary Prize Theses from Harvard

University in 1920; the preface to his edition of Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, which comprises nine sections that explain his work as editor of the collection; and each essay that precedes the four volumes of The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals. As a lifelong educator, Dett wrote program notes for concerts at Symphony, Carnegie, and Queen’s

Halls, which contained sections on different styles of Black music including the use of

Black melodies for anthems and motets.

As Dett shared in “The Authenticity of the Spiritual,” rhythm is one of the most essential elements of the spiritual. In its most natural form, the spiritual possesses clearly defined beats with the added rhythmic drive of syncopation which later influenced early twentieth-century American popular music. The harmonies usually included in collections of spirituals are stark deviants of the crude harmonies of open fourth and fifths. Records show that spirituals were among the few folk songs where simple harmonies abounded leaving the melody rarely unaccompanied even by one other vocal line.74 The comparison of dovetailed motives and themes in the music of

Palestrina and Bach are examples of less-defined rhythmic pulses unlike the defined beats black singers inherently exploited in performances of the spiritual.75

After the Plantation

When the Fisk Jubilee Singers and Hampton Singers first presented spirituals in a serious manner, audiences were both shocked and thrilled as the choirs challenged

74 Dett, “Authenticity,” 4. 75 Dett., 3. 44 their expectations. Many wondered how those of a race deemed inferior could produce such beautiful music in addition to learning the music by white composers past and present.76 The Jubilee Singers particularly helped to usher in a trend of audiences appreciating the serious nature of religious folk music. It was their introduction of spirituals to the American and eventually European public in concerts that helped garner said appreciation.77 Spirituals then became yet another source of material used by composers outside of the United States who appreciated and studied this American folk music. This is, however, in direct contrast to how blacks of the turn of the century felt about spirituals.

Blackface minstrelsy by white performers exploited black music through caricatures in physical appearance and musical style. The minstrels mocked the extemporaneous and exuberant praise in the black church. White visitors who were familiar with the stage presentations of the “happy Negro,” who danced, moved around the stage with wide gestures, and sang songs that mocked and mimicked spirituals, entered the church services with a jaded view of the worship experience.78

This lack of respect for the music caused some black people to resent much of the folk music created by their ancestors. Some black musicians did not see the value in the folk

76 Dett, “The Emancipation of Negro Music,” The Southern Workman 47, no. 4 (April 1918): 173, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044011494937. 77 Dett., 174. 78 Dett, Religious Folk-Songs, 261-2. 45 music. Minstrelsy also fostered an environment where white patrons expected all black music to be of a comic nature.79

In the early black church, congregations used spirituals as a primary source of service music during worship. While many slaves did not embrace Christianity at first, it is evident from the religious nature of most spirituals that there was a need to express their religious beliefs through song and dance. During the early twentieth century, many churches limited or completely abandoned the use of spirituals during their services. From his prize-winning essay “Negro Music,” Dett captured the thoughts of the use of the spiritual in worship by saying,

It occurred to the writer that if a form of song were evolved which contained all the acceptable characteristics of Negro folk music and yet would compare favorably in poetic sentiment and musical expression with the best class of church music, it would be a means of solving this peculiar problem, for, being created out of native material, it would save the Negro and his music all the peculiar and precious idioms, and as work of art would summon to its interpretation the best of his intellectual and emotional efforts.80

The spiritual in its natural form, void of formalized arrangements and more closely performed with limited harmonizations, was not present in the elite black churches where educated black citizens preferred to attend. It was a constant reminder of slavery. Most congregants preferred to move past this cultural heritage as some

79 Dett, “The Emancipation of Negro Music,” 172. 80 Dett, “The Development of Negro Religious Music,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 36. 46 spirituals had specific relevance to slave life, which was not applicable to those freed after Emancipation.81

The Concert Stage

Dett understood the disdain black people had for the spiritual and used Religious

Folk-Songs of the Negro as a way of elevating the music. He described the music in this collection by saying, In such a volume as this there is an opportunity, not only of experiencing the original psalms of suffering as born in the Negro breast, but also a greater opportunity of touching, as it were, the fringes of the robe of Grandeur, whose garments trail the dust but whose face, uplifted above the clouds, we are not yet permitted to see.”82 His hope was that the music would be used not as a painful reminder of slavery but as a reminder of the hope and endurance of the slaves in the midst of hardship and how that could serve as a parallel to the inequalities that persisted.

One of the events to which Dett credited the development of black music was the tours of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. They not only changed the thoughts of whites on what black music was but also began a trend of collecting spirituals using standard notation.

In describing some of the musical elements familiar to white audiences, he said, “Negro music was a distinct contribution, having motifs (syncopation), harmonies (the barber- shop chord), and forms (solo verse and mass chorus).”83

81 Dett, 34. 82 Dett, Religious Folk-Songs, 267. 83 Dett, “Negro Music,” in The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, ed. by Oscar Thompson and G. W. Harris (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1938): 1243. 47 Dett also credited Dvořák as one who advocated for the use of this music in greater musical compositions. While American composers had been writing for years, no school of American composers had developed a distinct American sound. Harry T.

Burleigh sang black folks songs to Dvořák who later stated that these melodies should be a source of inspiration for composition.84

During the early twentieth century, Dett noticed that American composers—and, more specifically, black composers—had not fully embraced the concept of using homegrown folk music as a source of inspiration for their music, especially in creating an American sound. Too often, the composers tried to emulate the European model, even going so far as to use foreign languages in their titles. Quite often, the public expected a particular sound if they knew that black vocalists, instrumentalists, and composers performed. Those included the idiomatic expressions of jazz, ragtime, spirituals, and even minstrelsy.85 Dett felt that if European composers could travel to

America and collect slave songs then use them in their own compositions, black composers needed to understand the wealth of music readily available.86

While he did, however, see a final awakening by the 1920s of black composers who began to understand the value of folk music, he surmised their stinted development.

84 Southern, Music of Black Americans, 267. 85 Dett, “Negro Music of the Present,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 42. 86 May Stanley, “R. N. Dett, of Hampton Institute: Helping to Lay Foundation for Negro Music of the Future,” The Black Perspective in Music 1, no. 1 (Spring 1973): 66, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214127. 48 Why even more has not been accomplished by Negro musicians in the development of their own music will appear from a study of the following facts: (1.) General indifference, amounting almost to contempt for things of native origin, and a slavish admiration on the part of the American composer, critics, and, to some extent, publishers, for European ideals in music and art. (2.) Lack of literary masterpieces of Negro themes, which as librettos of programs would be sources of inspiration for great idiomatic musical works. (3.) Lack of proper musical and academic training among Negro composers.87

The insufficient training most American composers received in learning the larger forms such as symphonies, operas, and oratorios paled in comparison to the intense training that performing artists received.88

Dett’s Use of Black Folk Music

Having spent his formative years in Canada, it is unlikely that Dett was too familiar with American black folk music. He, therefore, would not have had the deep personal connection to slavery and spirituals as those of his generational American counterparts. However, two significant events changed the course of his musical career.

As Anne Key Simpson noted in Follow Me, the defining moment of Dett’s compositional life was when he heard the Kneisel String Quartet play Dvořák’s

“American” Quartet.89 In “From Bell Stand to Throne Room,” Dett wrote, “Suddenly it seemed I heard again the frail sweet voice of my long departed grandmother, calling

87 Dett, “Negro Music of the Present,” 45. 88 Dett, “Negro Music,” in The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, ed. by Oscar Thompson and G. W. Harris (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1938): 1244. 89 Simpson, Follow Me, 20-1; Dvořák’s From the New World Symphony showed how black folk music could be used as inspiration for larger works. 49 across the years; and, in a rush of emotion which stirred my spirit to its very center, the meaning of these songs which had given her soul such peace was revealed to me.”90

Also, from his time at Oberlin until he arrived at Hampton, Dett had many opportunities to experience black folk music of all kinds. However, it was not until he began his tenure at Hampton that these ideas of using folk music began to come to fruition. May Stanley explains how Hampton’s picturesque campus was well-suited for use of the spiritual.

The broad grounds of Hampton Institute; the shaded walks; the satiny sheen of magnolia trees lifting up great, white blossoms to the June sunshine; the sparkling waters of Hampton Roads, seen at intervals through the trees, make up an ideal surrounding for one who is gathering and interpreting the melodies of the Southland.91

In black folk songs, Dett saw an “inestimable worth”92 where these songs could inspire the creation of new music. His goal was to “preserve” black folk music “because of its beauty and worth”93 and not to improve the music.94 Even though the folk songs had been removed from the plantation and given a new home in church and on the concert stage, he felt that the folk music reborn in more classical forms was still

90 Dett, “Bell Stand,” 77. 91 Stanley, “R. N. Dett,” 65. 92 Dett, Religious Folk-Songs, 260. 93 Dett, “Notes to the Hampton Choir at Carnegie Hall,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 74. 94 Spencer, “Emancipation,” n.p. 50 characteristic, just as Tchaikovsky’s works maintained its Russian character even through development.95

In his Carnegie Hall Notes, Dett plainly articulates why he used folk music. It was “a sincere effort and intent to preserve the spirit of Negro music as well as to inform somewhat as to the possibilities for its development.”96 Also, in “Helping to Lay

Foundation for Negro Music of the Future,” he sums up his philosophy on the use of the spiritual.

We have this wonderful store of folk music—the melodies of an enslaved people, who poured out their longings, their griefs and their aspirations in the one great, universal language. But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such manner that it can be presented in choral form, in lyric and operatic works, in concertos and suites and salon music—unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music which will prove that we, too, have national feelings and characteristics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long.97

He then embarked upon a journey unlike many of the other famous black composers of his time, such as Harry T. Burleigh and Hall Johnson. He intentionally labeled some of his settings of spirituals as anthems and motets instead of arrangements. This helped to legitimize his music to and educate those members of the black elite who had distanced themselves from spirituals – those who he felt needed to be reminded of the importance of black folk music.98

In these settings, Dett employed various techniques such as imitative counterpoint, motivic development, reharmonizations, and the use of a cantus firmus

95 Stanley, “R. N. Dett,” 66. 96 Dett, “Carnegie Hall,” 73-74. 97 Dett, “Helping to Lay Foundation,” 20. 98 Stanley, “R. N. Dett,” 66. 51 not unlike other sacred music of original themes or based on existing material. He used

“Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead us” and “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler” to refute the claim that the “Negro melodies are inherently so organized as to be incapable of being subjected to the kind of art which made the music of the twelfth to the sixteenth century both the model and the marvel of the succeeding ages.”99 The use of the spiritual as a cantus firmus also harkens to the original performances of spirituals where the slaves sang their own countermelodies.100 The Chariot Jubilee set Dett apart from other composers in that this extended work used “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” in many ways.

As with his anthems and motets, he used the spiritual as a theme for development. In describing these developments, he said,

“For the most part, both text and tune have been subjected to those mutations and transformations which time and tradition have established as trustworthy canons of art; absolute for relative repetition of the theme, expansion, contraction, variation, or inversion, of the melodic ideas; rhythmic diminution or augmentation, dismemberment, or enlargement—any or all of these devices have been used when it seemed expedient.”101

Dett could lead by example in his employment of spirituals in serious compositions, but he recognized that the future success of the spiritual in choral music depended on shifting not only the preconceived notions of black audiences and composers but also white audiences. The notes to the Hampton Choir at Carnegie,

Queen’s, and Symphony Halls contain some duplicated information among the three

99 Dett, “Notes to the Hampton Choir at Symphony Hall,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 75. 100 Dett, 75. 101 Dett, “Carnegie Hall,” 73. 52 sets of program notes, notably the section titled “Negro Idioms in Motets and

Anthems.” The final set of the April 26, 1928 concert at Carnegie Hall consisted of five songs under the set “The Negro Idiom in Motets and Anthems by R. Nathaniel Dett.”102

Dett used these notes because he believed that white audiences did not fully understand the totality of black music. Minstrelsy blinded them to its true beauty. They were accustomed to the comic value of minstrel performers mimicking and mocking not only the music but the religious services. Through these notes, Dett could educate his audiences.

Other Black Composers and Their Music

While Dett made strides in advancing the art of black folk music, he and other black composers in the United States and abroad made significant contributions to the world of classical music. According to Eileen Southern, Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949),

Will Marion Cook (1869-1944), Clarence Cameron White (1880-1960), and R. Nathaniel

Dett are among a group of black pioneering composers who were “the first composers to truly assimilate the characteristic idioms of Negro folksongs into a body of composed music.”103 These composers were products of their surroundings and used their unique cultural experiences to color the music in a way that combined European art forms with black folk music.

Burleigh is credited with being the first to set the spiritual as an art song. His arrangements are noted for having unobtrusive piano accompaniments. Also, his career

102 Simpson, Follow Me, 147. 103 Southern, Music of Black Americans, 275. 53 as an accomplished baritone aided him in composing over 100 art songs. As a black nationalistic composer, he used the poetry of black poets of his time. Passionale is a cycle of four songs for tenor with text by James Weldon Johnson, and “A Corn Song” is an art song with text by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

William Grant Still (1895-1978) holds the title “Dean of African American

Composers.” He composed operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber works, choral- orchestral works, and arrangements of spirituals. Symphony No. 1 (The Afro-American

Symphony), completed in 1930 and revised in 1935, uses black folk music, blues, and jazz as sources of inspiration. The symphony is programmatic based on a poem by Paul

Laurence Dunbar with subtitles for each movement.

While Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) lived in Europe, he visited the

United States on several occasions. White New York musicians nicknamed him the

“African Mahler” for his extended works that called for a large chorus and/or orchestra. The Song of Hiawatha, op. 30 (a set of three cantatas) and The Blind Girl of

Castél-Cuillé, op. 43 are two choral-orchestral works on the texts of Henry Wadsworth

Longfellow scored for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus, and orchestra. In 1905,

Coleridge-Taylor published Twenty-Four Negro Melodies, op. 59, for solo piano. Of the folk melodies from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States he uses in this work, over half are spirituals.

Florence Price (1887-1953), Hall Johnson (1888-1970), Edward Boatner (1898-

1901), and William L. Dawson (1899-1990) are among Dett’s immediate contemporaries who also used black folk music in a variety of ways. Folk music inspired many of

54 Price’s symphonies, concertos, and choral works. Johnson composed “Ain’t Got Time to

Die” for unaccompanied mixed chorus and solo in the style of a spiritual.104 Dawson composed the Negro Folk Symphony in 1934 and revised it in 1952. In similar fashion to

Still’s first symphony, this is inspired by folk music.

104 “Ain’t Got Time to Die” is often mis-catalogued as a spiritual arrangement. 55 CHAPTER 3

ANTHEMS BASED ON FOLK MUSIC

Throughout music history, the definition of certain genres became more fluid as composers continued to develop those styles. As listed in the first chapter, a motet typically employs polyphony. Therefore, Dett categorized those songs as anthem that use less polyphony than others to distinguish between an anthem and a motet. The exception is “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us.” Two of the songs are from the Dett

Collection. The author continued with this determining factor in categorizing the other songs with no specific designation. These anthems remain true to the character of the folk songs either through repeated use of the folk song melodies, motivic development based on the rhythms and melodic contour, or the use of characteristic idioms such as call and response, syncopation, and the use of pentatonic scales.

The eleven anthems in this chapter comprise a varied use of the folk music. Nine are for unaccompanied chorus while two are accompanied by piano. Four only use the text from the folk song while two use folk text combined with biblical text, one combines folk text with original text, three use original text, and one uses hymn text exclusively.

As Children, Walk Ye in God’s Love

“As Children, Walk Ye in God’s Love” is for unaccompanied TTBB choir with tenor and incidental second-bass solos. G. Schirmer published this setting in 1930. Anne

56 Key Simpson wrote that this song was written for SATB choir but did not mention a solo.105 However, that setting was not available for analysis.

As listed on the score, the song uses a “Traditional Negro melody.” Dett said that the song “achieves its climax by the addition of a counterpoint over the original tune.”106 The tenor solo has the melody in most of the song with the first tenor doubling the solo during the refrain. While the song is in A-flat major, the melody provides tonal ambiguity between the major and relative minor keys as the refrain begins on 6 with a subsequent arpeggio of an F-minor triad. Also, the opening fourth in each verse from 3 to 6 suggests the relative minor. The range of the refrain is an octave while the chorus is a perfect fifth.

The text Dett chose poses a problem. While the melody is from a black folk song, the text is uncharacteristic of a spiritual even though it is sacred. “For tho’ afar we wander” from the first verse and “Who would be Christ receiving” are not in line with the language used by slaves as most were forbidden to learn to read and write. It is then the conclusion of the author that Dett wrote this text based on Ephesians 5:1&2 (KJV) which says, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as

Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to

God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

(Refrain) As children walk ye in God’s love, For God Himself is love!

105 Simpson, Follow Me, 481. 106 Dett, “Carnegie Hall,” 70-73. 57 (Verse 1) For surely there’s no other, Who shows such tender care, For tho’ afar we wander, God’s love is ev’ry where.

(Verse 2) Who would be Christ receiving, So gentle, meek, and mild, Must humbly come believing, Ev’n as a little child!

“As Children” is in A B A B A form with a brief Coda at the end (table 3.1). Each

A is the refrain with the same text and musical material. Each B is a verse with different text but the same musical material. The Andante rubato tempo indication does not have a metronome marking. Several fermatas punctuate many phrases. The tenor solo begins with declamato immediately followed by rit. at the end of the first full measure while a tempo marks each entrance of the chorus.

Table 3.1 Formal design of “As Children, Walk Ye in God’s Love” Sections Measures Text A 1-21 Refrain B 22-29 Verse 1 A 30-50 Refrain B 51-58 Verse 2 A 59-79 Refrain Coda 80-87 God is love.

Section A opens with the tenor solo followed by the chorus harmonizing the melody for the rest of the phrase. The first three phrases begin with the same six pitches

(6 - 5 - 6 - 1 - 3 - 6) and continues with a short descending line. However, Dett harmonizes each phrase differently. The second tenor, first bass, and second bass each

58 have a chromatic descending line of varying lengths in the first and third phrases. The incidental second-bass solo has the first instance of the final phrase of the tune. The second tenor continues with the melody followed by the tenor solo doubled by the first tenor.

Section B provides marked contrast with the two verses only in the solo voice. In a call and response fashion, the solo sings a phrase followed by the choir’s response of a hum on a single quarter note chord held by a fermata. Like the refrain, each phrase of the melody ends on either 3 or 5 with a different chord each time. Dett shows how he can re-harmonize the same or similar passages for variety. The successive choral

ct punctuations are I (m. 23), V (m. 25), V (m. 27), and III (m. 29).

The Coda uses a truncated form of the last phrase of the refrain. Marked Adagio, it uses mostly half notes for a sense of resolution. Every measure has either a dynamic or expressive marking such as the mezzo forte in measure 80 followed by a decrescendo into piano in measure 81 followed immediately by a crescendo in measure 82 ending with mezzo forte again.

According to the author, “As Children, Walk Ye in God’s Love” is an easy song.

Other than the coda, musical material returns twice for section A and once for section B with a short Coda at the end. The homophonic texture throughout eliminates the need to address rhythmic issues with only one vocal section. The vocal ranges are quite conservative limited mostly to an octave. In each phrase, they are mostly limited to anywhere between a third and a sixth. For an ensemble without a strong second-bass

59 soloist, the conductor can choose to use a small group of second basses or the entire section as suggested by ad lib.

Additionally, there are many moments of syncopation that serve as rhythmic motives for the ensemble and/or tenor soloist. In the refrain, two rhythmic motives pervade all voice parts and can be used as a teaching tool to ensure rhythmic accuracy.

Also, the solo is made of a rhythmic palindrome in the first phrase which also includes syncopation.

The two most challenging aspects of the song are the many descending chromatic passages and rubato nature of the refrains. The chromatic lines may present intonation issues as vocalists can easily sing under the pitch without specific attention in warm-ups to descending chromatic lines. In measures 8 and 9, the lower three voices of the chorus have this in parallel motion. Also, a healthy balance between the rubato ritardando call by the soloist in the refrain followed by the a tempo response by the chorus may present some problems with unified onsets.

Communion

“Communion” is a setting of a Calhoun melody107 most commonly called “Let

Us Break Bread Together.” The range of the melody is somewhat large, spanning a perfect eleventh. This unaccompanied setting for mixed choir is “For Mr. Earnest Keys” in the fourth book of the Dett Collection. The text of the spiritual remains throughout with no added words.

107 The term “Calhoun melody” is a generic term given to some spirituals. It may be a reference to Calhoun, Georgia, where some spirituals may have been learned and recorded. 60 Let us break bread together, On our knees, yes, on our knees. When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us drink wine together, On our knees, yes, on our knees. When I fall…

Let us praise God together on our knees. When I fall…

The first two verses are strophic. The alto and tenor have voice crossing at the first two and a half full measures. The homophonic lower voices supporting the soprano draw the listener’s attention to the melody. The only use of chromaticism is in measure 6 with simultaneous descending passing tones in the tenor and bass.

The third verse occurs twice with two harmonic and textural treatments. In the first instance, the melody begins an octave higher and continues with a slight modification before returning to the same pitch classes as before. The lower three voices serve as chordal accompaniment with half notes before returning to a homophonic treatment in all voices. The third phrase has a descending scalar bass line from C4 to

A2. The use of several chromatic tones such as the secondary dominant in the second phrase and two secondary leading tones at the end of the third phrase create contrast.

The second treatment of the third verse maintains the same melody in the soprano. However, it begins with canonic imitation where the soprano and alto have a duet while the tenor and bass follow one measure later respectively. The canonic imitation reoccurs in the second phrase where Dett maintains the secondary functions to the dominant. The third and fourth phrases are an almost exact replica of the same

61 phrases in the previous section. However, it ends with a deceptive cadence where Dett extends the final cadence. Marked con summa devozione at measure 50, the extended cadence is expressive through harmonic shifts and tense chromaticism suggesting the sins for which the protagonist needs forgiveness. The repeated “have mercy” is the earnest plea for said forgiveness. The conjunct triplet in the tenor voice first introduced in measure 31, repeated in measure 47, and altered in measure 51 provide continuity.

According to the author, “Communion” is an easy song due to the repeated sections and limited use of chromaticism. While all voices extend to the upper parts of their ranges, they do not stay there for long. The only divisi lasts for the duration of one half note in both the soprano and bass. Dett provided an ossia D3 if the lower octave is too low for basses. Also, the two areas of concern that can be addressed by a conductor are the awkward descending leaps for tenor, the tritone in measure 12 and major seventh in measure 42.

Lastly, there are two errors in the alto. It is likely that the first beat of measure 43 should be B4 to match measure 27. Also, the slur in measure 54 should be for the first two pitches of the tenor in the same measure.

Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us

“Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us” is for unaccompanied mixed chorus with soprano solo at the end. Dett dedicated it to the Douglass Memorial Chorus in Oberlin,

Ohio. It was published by The John Church Company in 1924 with the subtitle “A

Bahama Folk Song in the form of an Anthem.” The melody is from a Bahama folk song titled “Dig My Grave Long an’ Narrow” located in Bahama Songs and Stories: A

62 Contribution to Folk-Lore, Volume 3 published by the American Folk Lore Society

(example 3.1). The original melody was lowered a minor third with augmented rhythmic values yet maintains the same time signature with only slight alterations to the melody. While the melody is mostly in the soprano, the tenor shares the repeated melody in first and last sections.

Example 3.1 “Dig My Grave Long an’ Narrow”

Speaking specifically about “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us” in his “Notes to the Hampton Choir at Symphony Hall,” Dett said, “The melody of an entire spiritual appears as cantus, to which counterpoints made of characteristic material have been added.”108 This material is first seen in the alto where he used syncopation typical of

108 Dett, “Symphony Hall,” 75. 63 spirituals. Continuing in these program notes, he said, “There is nothing extraneous in this treatment of a Negro melody, since we know that the originators themselves often improvised counter- melodies in moments of abandonment, which were ejaculated without apparent regard for the general flow of the song.”109

The text is by Thomas Hastings who completed it in 1831 with revisions in 1850.

The hymn tunes AUTUMN, GREENVILLE, and TALMAR commonly use the Hastings text which speaks of how one needs God to lead them through all the downtrodden times of life including pain, anguish, and death. However, the hope that is that after death, He will welcome them to their eternal rest.

(Verse 1) Gently, Lord, O gently lead us, Pilgrims in this vale of tears. Thru the trials yet decreed us, Till our last great change appears.

(Verse 2) When temptation’s darts assail us, When in devious paths we stray, Let Thy goodness never fail us, Lead us in thy perfect way.

(Verse 3) In the hour of pain and anguish, In the hour when death draws near, Suffer not our hearts to languish, Suffer not our souls to fear.

(Verse 4) And when mortal life is ended Bid us in Thine arms to rest, Till by angel bands attended, We awake among the blest.

109 Dett, “Symphony Hall,” 75. 64 “Gently” is in A B C A form with a Coda (table 3.2). Section A begins with the soprano cantus firmus (from measures 1-4 of the Bahamian melody) with staggered entrances by alto then tenor then bass where all have the “Gently” motive begun by the alto (example 3.2). The rhythmic motive is used with a homophonic texture in the lower three voices. As the soprano continues with the cantus firmus, running eighth notes use the text from the next statement of the cantus firmus by the tenor. Reversed staggered entrances by bass then alto then soprano support the tenor cantus firmus in measures 9 through 16. In measures 13 through 15, the alto and bass maintain the same counterpoint from measures 5 through 7.

Table 3.2 Formal design of “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us” Sections Subsections Measures Text A 1-16 Verse 1 1 1-8 Gently, Lord… 2 9-16 Thru the trials… B 17-24 Verse 2 C 25-50 1 25-32 Verse 3 2 33-40 Verse 4 3 41-50 Gently, Lord… A’ 51-72 Verse 1 1 51-58 2 59-72 Coda 73-83 Amen

Section B returns the cantus firmus to the soprano using measures 5 through 8 of the Bahamian melody. However, measure 22 is altered from the second half of measure

7 of the original. The full choir’s use of repeated eighth notes as a rhythmic motive are

65

Example 3.2 “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us,” m. 1-4, Copyright MCMXXIV by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

derived from measure 17 of the soprano melody. The only modification of the melody is where Dett uses secondary functions.

Section C keeps the cantus firmus in the soprano from measures 9 and 10 of the original melody. This developmental section containing two subsections uses an eighth- note subdivision throughout. Motives develop from the descending eighth notes in the melody in measure 25. In measures 25 and 26, the alto inverts the motive while the tenor and bass have both a real and tonal imitation of the motive respectively. The tenor later has a tonal imitation at the end of measure 26 (example 3.3). While measure 27 begins like measure 25, it alters the end to shift to the dominant. When the musical material from measure 29 returns at 31, it is transposed as a cadential function in C major. The only changes in the double period in measures 33 through 40 are the text and final tenor measure.

66

Example 3.3 “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us,” mm. 25 & 26, Copyright MCMXXIV by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

Subsection 3 is all original material yet derived from the melody. The ascending lines contrast the descending stepwise portions of the melody. Cadences occur harmonically and rhythmically with larger note values. The vocal lines in measure 43 begin a chord tone higher (dominant seventh) with tonal sequences in all voice parts.

Measure 49 is the only unison which provides power and declamation to the title text.

Section A’ is modified from the first yet begins with a recapitulation. Measure 64 begins with a parallel sixth duet in the upper voices and continues up the scale. The cadence extends with quarter and half notes and repeats “Till our last great change appears.” It ends with the entrance of the soprano obbligato solo over a sustained tonic chord.

The “Amen” Coda begins in measure 73. The chorus has three identical Amens over a pedal tone. The solo begins with a single C then adds an F and ends with the

67 opening line of text using a pentatonic melody. The song comes to a calm ending marked molto allarg. e sempre diminuendo.

According to the author, “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us” is of moderate difficulty. There are many moments of stepwise motion and use of rhythmic and melodic motives with limited use of chromaticism. In addition to the “Gently” motive first introduced by the alto, the use of running eighth notes in a measure and repeated eighth notes for half a measure provide continuity. Many of the smallest phrases are quite symmetrical being either two or four measures. However, there are measures with large leaps, chord skips, and some notes very low in the range such as the B-flat in measure 8.

The only error found is the final note of the bass in measure 12. It should be a D which matches the piano reduction. Changing this note creates a complete triad and matches the recapitulation of this section where the bass has a D in measure 62.

Go Not Far from Me, O God

“Go Not Far from Me, O God” is for unaccompanied mixed chorus with divisi and baritone solo. Dett wrote it in “memory of [his] beloved teacher and friend, Dr.

George Whitfield Andrews.” J. Fischer & Bro. published it in 1933.

Dett likely wrote the text for this anthem loosely based on Psalm 6 with portions of the first and sixth verses quoted. The juxtaposition of this text with a disjunct melody shows a contradiction in that it is about God not going far, yet there are two large leaps in the melody before “God.” However, it suggests that one does not want God to be far

68 even when going astray. While the first stanza uses the rhyme scheme ABCB, the other two use ABAB.

Go not far from me, O God, Cast, O cast me not away, Fling around me thy salvation O hear me while I pray!

I am weary with moaning, Sore my soul and sick with fears; Dawns the daytime on my groaning, Falls ev'ning on my tears.

O now to be my comfort hasten now to be Thou origin and end time; Not in thy hot displeasure chasten, God of mercy, God sublime!

The anthem is “based on two traditional Negro melodies” from Dett’s collection.

The most recognizable melody is “L’Envoi” from Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro. Dett set the melody sung by Dr. Robert Moton, principal at Tuskegee Institute, as a chorale including this in the text of the appendix:

For the closing piece of this volume, I have chosen a melody given me some years ago by Dr. Robert R. Moton, principal of Tuskegee Institute, while he was yet Commandant at Hampton. For several reasons its inclusion, especially as L'Envoi, seems appropriate: first, because of the contributor who, probably more than any other person, has had the greatest experience in conducting these songs under circumstances most conducive to bringing out the best in them; second, because of the beauty of both tune and words; and last, because it seems to best express briefly the crux of that philosophy characteristic of the Negro in his rudest estate, which in a most remarkable way sensed and voiced the transitory nature of human existence.110

With “L’Envoi,” he maintained the triple meter but changed the pulse to the quarter note and only changed a few rhythms.

110 Dett, Appendix to Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute, 239. 69 “Go Not Far from Me, O God” begins in D minor which sets up the pleading prayer using “cast me not away” and “I am weary with my moaning.” The parallel major in the final section invokes a joyful praise.

The form is A B (table 3.3). Marked Larghetto con molt’espressione, this section begins with a fugue-like section where the soprano introduces the subject followed by the alto answer with a simultaneous scalar passage in the soprano. The tenor and bass then have the same subject and answer. After all voices have entered, the soprano melody has the first apex on a high A in measure 10 imitated in the next measure by the tenor. The choir comes to a homophonic moment to show pleading to God where they repeat “not far” for emphasis. The decreased rhythmic motion then allows the listener to feel the importance of the text.

Table 3.3 Formal design of “Go Not Far From Me, O God” Sections Subsections Measures Text A 1-57 1 1-15 Go not far… 2 16-29 Cast, O cast… 3 30-37 I am weary… 4 38-57 Go not far… B 58-73 O now to be…

The baritone solo then introduces the melody from “L’Envoi” supported by a mostly homophonic SATB accompaniment in subsection 1. The solo begins in the upper part of the range and is marked Un poco declamato. In measure 24, the section continues with an original solo melody that ascends to “God” on the highest note of the solo for

70 more pleading. The final 6-5 suspension in the solo continues the earnest plea as the baritone solo hovers over the soprano.

Subsection 3 is a transcription of “L’Envoi” with different text and no solo. In the first full measure, the bass has an ascending scalar line. The chorale continues unaltered from Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro except for minor rhythmic changes.

The opening line returns in measure 37, however, in the bass with a return of the first tempo to begin subsection 4. This fugue-like treatment has slightly altered subjects and answers from before. The tenor answer uses octave displacement from the alto to avoid awkward cross voicing that would interrupt the ascending scalar bass line. After the alto and soprano enter, the motion slows down with longer note values for the homophonic and homorhythmic repeated “O God” where the highest note of the song is on the word “God” in measure 46.

At the end of section A, there is a change of texture with the soprano-tenor octave doubling and alto-bass response in parallel sixths with the characteristic descending chromaticism (example 3.4). Dett continues the exploitation of the large leaps from the opening subject. “Amen” closes this section which is a prayer.

Section B is full of praise and is marked Un poco più moto. The baritone returns with an anacrusis where the choir dovetails the solo. The texture thickens with six choral parts and octave doublings. The choir is non legato and mostly accompanimental.

The song ends with full divisi featuring three tenor parts and three bass parts (with an optional fourth part) preceded by a pentatonic melody in the soprano marked molto cresc. ed allarg. molto.

71

Example 3.4 “Go Not Far from Me, O God,” mm. 49b-53

According to the author, “Go Not Far from Me, O God” is rather difficult. The large leaps in the disjunct subject and answer can present intonation issues where lesser-trained singers may not be able to maneuver the shifts in vocal weight presented by the pitch differences. Also, the chorus and solo use extreme ranges. For example, the full soprano section sustains a high B-flat for two beats. The ending with full divisi indicates that Dett intended for this song to be sung by a rather large chorus.

Listen to the Lambs

Dett’s most famous song is “Listen to the Lambs.” Moses Hogan, noted contemporary arranger of spirituals, included it in The Oxford Book of Spirituals. “Listen to the Lambs” is also one of only three songs by a black composer in Ray Robinson’s

Choral Music: A Norton Historical Anthology. Originally scored for an eight-part chorus of unaccompanied mixed voices with soprano solo, this “Religious Characteristic in the

72 form of an Anthem” is available in other choral versions published by G. Schirmer after the original publication in 1914.

“Listen to the Lambs” was an instant success. Dett conducted a 900-voice choir singing it at Hampton Institute comprised of Hampton Choral Union members and

Hampton Institute students including members of the Institute Choir.111 In the

Canadian Music Journal, the success of the song was coupled with the mention of performances by “the choir of the Church of the Ascension, New York, under Jessie

Craig Adams; the Columbia University Chorus under Walter Henry Hall; the Music

School Settlement Chorus, under Mrs. Laura Elliott; and the Syracuse University

Chorus, under Howard Lyman. It has had a dozen important hearings in New York within a few months.”112

The anthem is in A B A form (table 3.4) where the theme of this anthem is from the repeated phrases in the chorus of the spiritual. Section A is an expansion and modification of the opening motive and central theme of the lambs “all a-crying” from the spiritual while Isaiah 40:11 serves as the text for section B. The Isaiah text speaks of lambs as a flock which matches the spiritual.

Listen to the lambs! All a-crying!

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and carry the young lambs in his bosom.

Amen.

111 Dett, “The Development of Negro Religious Music,” 37. 112 “Unique Folk-Song Choruses,” Canadian Journal of Music 5, no. 4 (August- September 1918): n.p. 73 Table 3.4 Formal design of “Listen to the Lambs” Sections Subsections Measures Text A 1-30 Listen to the lambs… 1 1-12 2 13-30 B 31-78 He shall feed… 1 31-37 2 38-44 3 45-52 4 53-59 5 60-74 6 75-78 A’ 79-100 Listen to the lambs…

For section A, the only portion of the spiritual used is the three repeated measures (example 3.5). The call and response nature of many spirituals occurs immediately. The soprano and alto have a duet using the same pitches from the spiritual as notated in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro but with altered rhythms. The melody of the first measure of the anthem is never altered. However, Dett altered the response throughout. Example 3.6 shows two variations of the spiritual call and response from example 3.5. The first variation relates closely to the original spiritual.

The latter variation is more elaborate showing Dett’s compositional skill. The call and response is therefore antiphonal with soprano and alto on the call and divided tenor and bass on the response. The first response by the tenor and bass in measure 2 is mostly stepwise. The subsequent response in measures 4 and 5 is a variation with longer note values. The third variation in measure 7 uses chord skips imitated in the next measure by the soprano. This repetition of “All a-crying” is the first instance of the tutti chorus. Each response also creates increased intensity with a wider interval

74 between soprano and bass (P5 in m. 2, m7 in m. 4, m10 in m. 7, and P12 in m. 8). The unison chorus precedes an alto-bass duet in parallel sixths.

Example 3.5 “Listen to de Lambs,” Religious Folk-Songs

Subsection 2 begins with a reversed antiphonal call and response with a slightly thicker texture than before using three parts for each. The bass has the melody (call) with a tenor open fifth above where the soprano-alto response increases in intensity as before. The first response in measure 14 is mostly stepwise; the second response in measure 16 uses chord skips; the third response uses the full choir. This response begins with six parts and opens to eight parts reaching its climax at measure 21 with the first soprano on an A6 and the bass descending to A2 (example 3.6). This section ends with unison D – C – D – D.

Section B begins immediately with the soprano solo singing an original pentatonic melody in the relative major key of F (example 3.7). The humming of solo tenor, first bass, and second bass support the eight-measure melody. The tutti chorus follows in measure 38 where the solo begins in the soprano, moves to the alto in measure 40, then returns to the soprano at the end of measure 41. 75 (a)

(b) Example 3.6 “Listen to the Lambs,” mm. 1 & 2, 17-22

Example 3.7 “Listen to the Lambs,” mm. 31-37, soprano solo

76 Most conductors interpret subsection 3 faster than the previous subsection. It uses the same text and is homophonic yet has a new melody that is not pentatonic. The only divisi is in the soprano and alto. This section begins with parallel octaves in the opening four measures in the first soprano and second alto then in the tenor and bass.

The solo returns in subsection 4 with the original melody from measure 31. However, the full choir accompanies the soloist with sustained chords. Closing to the “m” of

“bosom” produces a hum that will not intrude on the solo. A unison two-measure link in measures 60 and 61 derived from the solo melody connects to the extended cadence to the closing subsection 5. Measures 62 through 74 use two duets. The first duet with alto and tenor uses tied whole notes where the alto has a descending chromatic line.

The other duet uses a pedal tone in the bass while the soprano and solo double.

The transition to the modified A begins with a unison line suggesting the key of

A major. It is immediately followed by two measures on the dominant of D minor marked forte with doubled soprano and tenor divisi where the chorus is to “prolong the

‘n’ of the last syllable of ‘listen’ into a hum” as indicated on the score.

Section A’ begins with a semi-chorus of soprano and alto marked mezzo piano followed by tutti chorus marked mezzo forte continuing the call and response from before. However, the response uses the full chorus for contrast. The final measures beginning at 85 begin with the tenor and bass in parallel octaves with the only use of

“Listen to the lambs a-crying” by the same voice parts. The two marcato measures beginning at measure 85 drive to the climax in measure 87 where the soprano begins on a high A sustained for two tied whole notes. The tenor and bass continue with diatonic

77 parallel sixths while the soprano diatonic line descends with the same rhythm of tied whole notes. In measure 92, the alto imitates the bass from two beats earlier with its own descending scalar line. The anthem ends with a unison “Amen.”

Dett strategically used the spiritual in more ways than just the pitches. While he maintains the call and response nature, he also used “Listen to the lambs…all a-crying” three times as in the original spiritual. The augmented and diminished rhythms in the responses and the alternations of texture in both A sections create variety.

In other ways, Dett altered the spiritual to fit texture and harmonic needs.

Rhythmically, the accents on “lambs” and first syllable of “crying” emphasize the text.

Also, they diminished the concept of strong-weak-moderate-weak beat patterns by giving the third beat the same weight as the first beat. Lastly, the augmented sixth chords (mm. 8, 23, and 83) draw the listener’s attention to the ends of phrases.

In the spiritual as notated in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, the lambs cry, “I want to go to heaven when I die.” With the use of the Isaiah text and removed line from the spiritual, Dett repurposes the crying. He now suggests that the lambs have a need that is present (care) instead of a need for something in the future (care after death). The pentatonic scale used for the soprano solo, marked molto espress., shows Dett’s way of incorporating a specific African element in this section having no derivation from the spiritual.

According to the author, “Listen to the Lambs” is of moderate difficulty. The repeated melodies, unison passages, and sustained notes are not challenging. Also, there are very few high notes for any voice type. Aside from the final soprano line, all

78 voices rarely sustain pitches that lie in the upper part of the range. On the other hand, the divisi and sometimes minute changes to the “all a-crying” responses may present problems.

O Hear the Lambs a-Crying

“O Hear the Lambs a-Crying” was dedicated to the Oratorio Society of New

York, Albert Stoessel, conductor and published in 1926 by The John Church Company.

It was written for unaccompanied mixed choir with divisi limited to the tenor and bass.

This lower-voice divisi mimics the full setting in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro

(example 3.8).

Example 3.8 “Hear de Lambs a-Cryin’,” refrain, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro

The melody of the refrain is in the soprano. However, Dett altered some rhythms with augmentation and changed four pitches in the second and fourth phrases. For the

79 call and response verse, the melody begins in the solo and transfers to the soprano for the response both times.

As with “Listen to the Lambs,” Dett added a contrasting section with less polyphony. The text of this section, based on John 21:17, mirrors the second half of the first verse as listed in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro.113 The original melody, however, is unlike the spiritual.

O hear the lambs a-crying, (3x) “O shepherd, feed-a my sheep!”

The Saviour spoke these words so sweet; “O shepherd, feed-a my sheep!” Saying “Peter, if you love me feed my sheep,” “O shepherd…”

Lord, I do love Thee, Thou dost know; O teach me, Lord, to love Thee more; Lord, I do love Thee, Thou dost know I love Thee.

“O Hear the Lambs a-Crying” is in A A B A C A form with a short Coda (table

3.5). The opening A is the refrain where the soprano and alto have a homophonic duet.

The tenor-bass divisi is an antiphonal response that dovetails the opening. All four phrases of the refrain have dovetailed entrances. However, the final phrase is the only one that ends with homophony. In this phrase, Dett did not add the dialectical syllable for bass in measure 15 because their note stays the same.

113 “He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” KJV 80 Table 3.5 Formal design of “O Hear the Lambs a-Crying” Sections Measures Text A 1-16 O hear the lambs… A’ 17-32 O hear the lambs… B 33-44 The Saviour spoke… A 45-60 O hear the lambs… C 61-78 Lord, I do love Thee… A’ 79-94 O hear the lambs…. Coda 95-101 O shepherd…

Contrast in section A occurs with the use of different dynamic gradations and the different contours in the antiphony. As the soprano and alto have a decrescendo in measure 3 and 4, the tenor and bass begin their crescendo. Also, where the soprano and alto move mostly in parallel motion, the divided lower voices have more contrary motion in their lines. A rhythmic drive also occurs where the tenor and bass move on the second beat while the soprano and alto sustain a whole note.

Section A’ modifies the musical material of the previous section only in the addition of the soprano solo. The countermelody begins with a descending scalar passage beginning on 5 and ending on 5 an octave lower. This provides a new three- part texture of solo, soprano-alto duet, and tenor-bass quartet (example 3.9). Whereas the opening section A begins mezzo piano and has crescendos and decrescendos throughout, this modified section begins piano and has no dynamic gradations for the choir. The final rit. marks the end of this section.

Section B is the verse of the spiritual in call and response. The call is a continuation of the biblical text while the response is the final phrase of the refrain. As was common with some performances of spirituals, the solo joins the response instead

81

Example 3.9 “O Hear the Lambs a-Crying," mm. 16b-21, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

of chorus alone. However, the solo begins lower than the alto, crosses below the tenor, and finishes on 5 between the alto and tenor. For continuity, Dett uses the second measure of the final phrase of the refrain as the solo counterpoint in the verse an octave lower. The mezzo forte is the loudest dynamic thus far in the song. The call and response repeats with different text for the call.

Section A returns unaltered. While there is no rit., the use of a whole note brings this section to a close.

Section C is in the form of a chorale for a quartet or semi-chorus marked un poco piu mosso sed molto tenerezza. While the spiritual from the previous sections is in A minor, the original material of the chorale is in the relative major. The homophony in the lower three voices supports the soprano melody. The first three measures have a pedal tone in the bass that emphasizes Peter’s love for Jesus.

82 The third phrase begins a call and response between the upper three voices and the bass with an arched melody. The soprano sings “Lord” at the beginning of each phrase to provide text on the accented non-chord tones in measures 71 and 73. This is another example of the use of slightly different texts in homophony where there is one additional or one removed note. The final measures use a parallel half-step motion in the soprano and tenor and two instances of alto-bass voice exchange between measures

75 and 77.

The chorale ends with an E-major triad that serves as the dominant of A minor to return to the section A’ which returns to the original tempo. The only change in this section is in the solo countermelody in measure 85. Whereas the apex is 7 in the first modified section, it is now 1.

The Coda serves as the final call to the shepherd. Dett uses mode mixture with the raised 6 to create IV. The solo responds to the choral call with the same melodic response each time. The song ends with rhythmic augmentation in the two antepenultimate measures marked molto allarg. with fermatas over the downbeats of the final two measures.

Overall, Dett ensures that the spiritual is highlighted. The use of non-divided soprano along with a mostly parallel alto helps to draw the listener’s attention to the theme. In altering the rhythms of the spiritual, he maintains the dotted half and quarter note relationship which continues in the tenor-bass antiphonal response in the refrain.

According to the author, “O Hear the Lambs a-Crying” is of moderate difficulty for several reasons. The ranges are quite accessible for the choir. There are no high notes

83 for the soprano. The low E is optional for the bass with the ossia octave suggested. Also, the song is exclusively diatonic in both the relative major and minor keys except for the one descending chromatic tone in the tenor in measure 99. The divisi and voice crossing may present some problems for smaller ensembles. In the refrains, there are moments of voice crossing between alto and tenor as well as second tenor and first bass. However, aside from the two tempo indications, there is very little tempo change.

Only two errata are present. The rehearsal piano part in measure 71 is missing the bass part. And while the bass text is “feed-a” in measure 99, this is likely a typesetting error where the text was copied from the upper three voices. The bass should hold “feed” on the whole note.

O Holy Lord

“O Holy Lord” is one Dett’s few songs for an eight-part choir of unaccompanied mixed voices, especially where there are few moments of little to no divisi. It is dedicated to “The Elgar Choir of Hamilton, Ont., Mr. Bruce Carey, conductor.” G.

Schirmer published this anthem in 1916.

As listed on the score, Dett uses the melody of the chorus from The Story of the

Jubilee Singers (example 3.10) and omits the verses. The only modification to the original melody is the use of a triplet in the second measure. The range of the melody is rather wide being an octave plus a fourth. The opening octave range comprises the first three phrases of the melody which are only used in tenor then soprano. The final phrase of the melody then transfers to first bass then alto doubled by first bass since the melody extends lower by a perfect fourth.

84

Example 3.10 “O Holy Lord,” The Story of the Jubilee Singers

The text comes from the spiritual. Most of the text uses the first line of the spiritual with some melodic variation and original material. However, the melodic material of the last line of the spiritual is used exactly as in the spiritual except for the final statement in the song.

O holy Lord, (3x) Done with sin and sorrow; Holy, holy, holy, Done with sin and sorrow, Holy, holy is the Lord. Done with sin and sorrow.

“O Holy Lord” constantly alternates between G major and the relative minor with a brief section in C major. This comes from Dett’s interpretation of the first three phrases being in G major always settling on the note G while the last phrase begins and ends on the note E.

The form of the song is A A A B where each section A is a slight variation of the theme (table 3.6). Each section includes original transitory material using a repeated

“Holy” or “Holy is the Lord” before it ends with “Done with sin and sorrow.” Section B is the most extensive with a key change to C major and the only use of “Done with sin and sorrow” without the melody of the spiritual.

85 Table 3.6 Formal design of “O Holy Lord” Sections Measures A 1-16 A’ 17-34 A’’ 35-44 B 45-73

The song opens with the melody in the first tenor supported by a divided bass line of mostly moving quarter notes. The second tenor is almost exclusively homophonic with the melody. The form of the melody is a b a c using two-measure phrases. The second a mimics the first a with the exception of the cadence on vi. The melody then moves to the first bass marked mezzo piano while the other three voices sustain an E-minor triad marked piano.

The second half of section A is a transition. The alto is added using only two notes. Dett continues with the use of “Done with sin and sorrow” in the first bass. With the next four measures, the melody remains the same with a slightly more elaborate harmonization. The first bass ends the phrase with “Done with sin and sorrow” again.

Section A’ begins with an exact duplication of the first three measures of the song but in the soprano and alto. The bass maintains a tonic pedal open fifth where the tenor separates and adds a counterpoint in measure 19 using the altered triplet from Dett’s modification of the spiritual. As Clipper Erickson notes, “’Prelude-Night’ from In the

Bottoms, ‘Dance of Desire’ from Enchantment, and ‘Madrigal Divine’ from Eight Bible

Vignettes all similarly use open fifth drones.”114 The end of the first half of this section

114 Erickson, “Piano Suites,” 44. 86 returns with a sustained E-minor triad in the soprano, tenor, and second bass. The first bass doubles the alto with “Done with sin and sorrow.”

The next transition exploits the use of the full choir with 8-part divisi (example

3.11) then reharmonizes “Done with sin and sorrow.” The melody from the previous transition moves to the soprano an octave higher. This section also has the first instance where “Done with sin and sorrow” is not in the alto or bass. In addition to using the soprano, Dett reharmonizes this phrase using a final dominant chord ending with an augmented fifth. Both phrases end using a second-soprano suspension with a resolution of a half step.

The final section A is the longest beginning with a recapitulation of measures 17-

24 with only minor changes. The most noticeable change is the starting high G in the soprano for the first and third phrases. While Dett retains the same pitches in measure

37, he revoices the triplet moving it to the second alto. Measures 43 and 44 have the only use of the chorus singing “Done with sin and sorrow” in unison.

Example 3.11 “O Holy Lord,” mm. 25-28

87 Measure 45 begins in C major. Example 3.12 shows the opening minor third melodic interval derived from both the spiritual melody and the transition melody in measure 9. Dett also exploits the full choir in this example with eight parts reminiscent of full organ chords. The sustained chords in the upper voices beginning in measure 53 start the transition back to G major. “Done with sin and sorrow” returns in the unison bass. The upper voices diminish from six parts to three with a final E minor triad in measure 63. Dett uses the spiritual as a harmonic link back to the original key.

Example 3.12 “O Holy Lord,” mm. 45-48

The song returns to G major in measure 65 using a dominant chord. The upper three voices begin an ascent using parallel triads. The deceptive cadence at measure 67 and final E minor triad suggest that the song is in E minor. The final “Done with sin and sorrow” is the only instance where the spiritual melody is not used. Also, the longer note values and molto rit. e dim. prepare the listener for the end of the song. The repeated soprano notes provide syllabic text declamation for intensity. 88 According to the author, “O Holy Lord” is an easy anthem. While the song uses the full chorus almost exclusively, the rhythms and vocal lines present few problems.

Therefore, a large chorus will likely not have many problems rehearsing or performing this song.

On That Sabbath Morn

“Based on a traditional Negro spiritual of the 1860 period,” “On That Sabbath

Morn” is an unaccompanied anthem for mixed choir from the fourth group of the Dett

Collection. The song is for SSATBB choir with no solo. The divisi in soprano and bass occurs as homophony when those voices are not singing the melody during the refrains.

The melody is from the spiritual “Soon-a Will Be Done.” In each verse, the full melody is in unison tenor and bass followed by unison soprano and alto. Each refrain begins with the melody in the tenor followed by the melody in the soprano. There are only two small changes to the melody. In the third measure of the verses, the third beat is an eighth-note triplet. Also, there is an added upper tone in the second measure of the first three phrases of the refrains.

Throughout the song, Dett strategically highlights the melody to make it prominent to the listener. In the verses, the unison melody is doubled by another voice contrasted by a simultaneous, three-part texture as accompaniment. The melody is later highlighted with short rhythmic values that contrast the longer note values of the accompaniment in each refrain.

Dett called this setting an anthem because he used the folk song melody accompanied by text of an unknown source. The Easter morning text was likely written

89 by him following the rhyme scheme AABB for each verse. The text of each refrain quotes the spiritual but ends with the most repeated phrase of the song, “Hallelujah,

Christ arose,” which also ends each stanza of the verses serving as the crux of the song.

This text mirrors the overall sentiment of the spiritual which is about living in Heaven with departed loved ones after a tumultuous life.

(Verse 1) On that Sabbath morn, for her task of love and care, Mary sought the tomb, but lo! her Lord, He was not there! Said the angel, “Why seek Life where the dead repose?” Hallelujah, Christ arose!

“He’s not here but risen, See the stone is rolled away; Folded are the clothes where late within the grave He lay. Glorious His triumph over sin and all His foes!” Hallelujah, Christ arose!

(Refrain 1) No more weeping and a-wailing; (3x) Hallelujah, Christ arose!

(Verse 2) Blest art thou, O Tree, to thy breast my Savior clung, Blessed be thine arms outspread where crucified He hung. Point me to the sims where the saints with God repose: Hallelujah, Christ arose!

Thank we now our God who gives us the victory, Through our Savior Jesus Christ who died to set us free. That we too shall rise, Nature by her vesture shows. Hallelujah, Christ arose!

(Refrain 2) There’ll be singing and a-shouting; (3x) Hallelujah, Christ arose!

The form of the song is A A B B A A B B with a Coda where each A is a verse and B is a refrain (table 3.7). Section A begins with the unison melody in the tenor and

90 bass with block-chord accompaniment in the divided soprano and alto using

“Hallelujah.”115 In section A’, the choral parts switch where the unison melody is in the soprano and alto while the block chords are duplicated in the tenor and divided bass.

The final two measures alter the tenor and bass to provide a more traditional harmonic ending (V-I). The alto uses a truncated “Hallelu” in measure 15 to avoid a repeated E for “Hallelujah.”

Table 3.7 Formal design of “On That Sabbath Morn” Sections Measures Text A 1-8 Verse 1A A’ 9-16 Verse 1B B 17-24 Refrain 1 B’ 25-38 Refrain 1 A 39-46 Verse 2A A’ 47-54 Verse 2B B 55-62 Refrain 2 B’ 63-76 Refrain 2 Coda 77-80 H’m

In section B, the homophonic accompanied contrasted with longer note values supports the tenor melody (example 3.13). The final measures of this section have an altered melody with an ascending, diatonic line in the soprano to end on a half cadence.

This is also the first instance of homophony in the full chorus and uses the loudest dynamic, forte. Then section B’ transfers the melody to the soprano with similar block chords. It ends, however, with a unison tenor-bass melody twice followed by an imitation in the soprano and alto with parallel motion. The final statement is

115 In churches that observe the liturgical season of Lent, there is typically no mention of Hallelujah or Alleluia until Easter, the subject of this song. 91 homophonic and mostly homorhythmic. The melody returns to the soprano using rhythmic augmentation.

Example 3.13 “On That Sabbath Morn,” mm. 17-20

The successive four sections are a strophic repetition ending with an optional soprano divisi on the penultimate beat in measure 74. The Coda has the only humming in the song using an original melody and mostly homophonic writing for the lower voices.

According to the author, “On That Sabbath Morn” is of easy difficulty for several reasons. The strophic nature allows for a quicker rehearsal process as all notes are the same for the first and second halves of the song excluding the Coda. Unison melodies doubled by adjacent voices can aid in easier learning as well.

For the conductor, a clear differentiation between the dotted-eighth-sixteenth patterns and eighth-note triplets must be established so that the former rhythm is not

92 performed as a swung triplet. Also, there are unnecessary slurs, likely a typesetting error, in addition to the two incorrect pitches in the rehearsal piano in measures 60 and

80.

Sit Down, Servant, Sit Down

The folk anthem, “Sit Down, Servant, Sit Down,” is a programmatic scene describing “a weary ‘Mammy,’ dozing by the fireside, [who] dreams that the Lord of

Heaven bids her ‘rest a little while.’” Written for SATB mixed chorus and tenor solo, it is the only anthem based on a folk song that uses piano accompaniment. The tenor solo serves as “The Lord.” G. Schirmer first published the song as a solo song with piano in

1932. Dett later revised it with the addition of the chorus. The choral version was published in 1936.

At least two melodies exist for the spiritual with the same title. The major-mode melody Dett selected is mostly in the solo but is used sporadically in other parts of the song. In most cases, the melody is virtually unaltered. However, one developmental section uses the first phrase as a motive imitated throughout.

(Refrain) Sit down, servant, sit down; (Sit down) (3x) Sit down, rest a little while.

(Verse 1) I know you’re tired, Sit down; (3x) Sit down, rest a little while.

(Verse 2) I too was tired, (Sit down,) (3x) Weary with the burden of the sins of the world; Sit down, rest a little while.

93 With an introduction, the form of the song is A A B A B A A A where A is the refrain and B is a verse (table 3.8). The first ten measures are the piano introduction in a call and response fashion with the first phrase of the melody in octaves followed by a syncopated response using chords. This previews the call and response nature of the song where the tenor serves as the call and the chorus typically responds.

Table 3.8 Formal design of “Sit Down, Servant, Sit Down” Sections Measures Text Introduction 1-11 n/a A 12-19 Refrain A’ 20-27 Refrain B 28-35 Verse 1 A’’ 36-43 Refrain B’ 44-51 Verse 2 A’’’ 52-57 Refrain A’’’’ 58-69 Refrain A’’’’’ 70-82 Refrain

Dett exploits the call and response nature of the spiritual with both the chorus and piano providing the response, sometimes simultaneously. Also, he manipulates the melody with motives derived from the spiritual such as the use of the echo throughout.

The first moment of imitation uses the first half of the first phrase of the melody in measure 5 followed by a sequence a fourth lower still in octaves. And most of the refrains use the echo in either the chorus or piano.

Section A begins with a call and response between the solo and chorus with reharmonzied subsequent phrases. The piano has a sparse texture with three to four notes per chord and tonic octaves doubling the response of the chorus. The moving

94 parts in the piano are in parallel thirds. The final phrase ends with a bass echo of the melody in octave displacement doubled in the piano.

Section A’ uses longer note values in the chorus to paint the text “rest” where the bass provides the first response doubled by the piano. The piano texture begins to thicken with fuller chords often with octaves and sevenths in both hands. Measure 25 introduces the first moment of chromaticism with the choir.

Section B is the first verse where the choir mostly hums and provides the “sit down” echo in either one or all voices doubled by the piano. In the first phrase, Dett provides a note describing the unusual syllabification of the word “tired.” “The division of the word tired recognizes the common pronunciation: ‘ti-erd,” which the spelling fails to indicate.” Beginning with the first phrase of this section, there is an increase in the amount of chromaticism which continues to increase throughout the song.

The refrain returns in section A’’ but begins at a softer dynamic, pianissimo. The arpeggiated piano mimics a harp as the choir’s new response is “Rest a while.” This provides a link to the verse in section B’ which uses the same melody in the tenor from section B but incorporates new text, “Weary with the burden of the sins of the world,” not from the spiritual in the chorus yet explains why the “servant” is tired and should sit down. The piano and chorus echo the final phrase in unison dovetailing the next refrain.

Section A’’’ is the shortest. The truncated melody moves to the unison chorus with the second phrase in measure 54. Also, in measure 56, the alto and bass (with optional divisi) have a different set of words but are doubled by the piano colla parte.

95 The descending chromatic lines in thirds help to prepare the listener for the intense chromaticism to ensue in the following section.

Dett explains the chromaticism and faster tempo of the section A’’’’ in a note.

“From here to the return of the first motif at Tempo IO, this passage essays to reproduce, so far as is possible, the ‘moan’ or ‘tone’ (intoning) of a Negro exhorter or preacher, and it should be delivered with unction and a considerable ‘carrying of the voice.”116 The chromaticism for intensity and tonal ambiguity are a stark contrast to the “rest” being called for. However, in these churches, the pastor tends to increase the volume of their preaching towards the end of the sermon.

In this section, the piano and tenor double the solo in the first three measures with echo motives in the piano in measures 59 and 61. The downbeat of the first two phrases add more intensity with the accented non-chord tones. The final four measures return to the tonic key with no accidentals. The final measure is a notated embellishment in an improvisatory style.117

The final section returns the spiritual melody to the solo. The use of only half and whole notes in the chorus create the sense of rest. The final phrase of the solo uses rhythmic augmentation and few embellishments. The song ends with the piano colla parte with the chorus.

116 This style of preaching is still used in many black churches today where the pastor intones the final minutes of the sermon typically accompanied by a Hammond organist. 117 Vocal embellishments were a common practice in spirituals. However, the elaborate nature as in measure 69 is atypical of the style. 96 According to the author, “Sit Down, Servant” is moderately difficult due to the intense chromaticism as the song progresses. The piano assists the chorus well in that it is never distracting and rarely has chord notes not sung by the chorus.

Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door

Another folk anthem, specifically given that title by Dett, is “Somebody’s

Knocking at Your Door.” The original solo version was published in 1919 and is in the public domain available from ISMLP. The choral version is accompanied with some divisi and a soprano or tenor solo. This version was published in 1939 by The John

Church Company.

The melody is from the spiritual of the same name where it remains mostly in the solo voice. The protagonist in the spiritual is a Christian speaking to someone they want to convert by saying that Jesus is knocking on the figurative door of their heart. Dett adds text from Revelation 3:20 spoken by Jesus. This is to provide clarity on who is knocking since the spiritual only says that the knocking is “like Jesus.” This text may have been the inspiration for the spiritual originally.

Somebody’s knocking at your door, Somebody’s knocking at your door; O sinner, Why don’t you answer? Somebody’s knocking at your door!

Knocks like Jesus. Somebody’s knocking… Knocks like Jesus; Somebody’s knocking… O sinner, Why don’t you answer? Somebody’s…

Behold, I stand at the door and knock

97 If anybody hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, And I will sup with him, and he with Me;

Somebody’s knocking…

The song begins with a piano introduction, is in A B A B A form, and ends with a

Coda (table 3.9). The piano introduces the spiritual quoting the first 4-measure phrase.

In section A, the solo has the melody while the chorus provides a homophonic accompaniment. All three phrases that use “knocking” have one of three rhythmic motives using repeated notes. This “knocking motive” is in the piano in measures 14,

15, and 19 (example 3.14).

Table 3.9 Formal design of “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door” Sections Measures Text Introduction 1-12 n/a A 13-28 Somebody’s knocking… B 29-54 Knocks like Jesus… A’ 55-70 Somebody’s knocking… B’ 71-88 Knocks like Jesus… A’’ 92-132 Somebody’s knocking… Behold, I stand… Coda 133-149 Somebody’s knocking…

The first verse in section B begins with the call and response between chorus and solo. The soprano has the melody doubled by the bass with a duet in the inner voices unaccompanied. The knocking motive punctuates this phrase and the accompanied response by the solo. The second call and response continues with the melody in the soprano but doubled by the tenor. The alto-bass counterpoint is in parallel thirds doubled at the octave. The texture thickens with the solo response accompanied by the

98

Example 3.14 “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” mm. 13-20, Copyright 1939 by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

full chorus and piano. Beginning in measure 45, the choral text is offset by one measure where Dett adds a measure between the final two phrases of the melody to allow the

99 solo and chorus to end homophonically.

Section A’ is for solo and piano in the parallel minor beginning on the lowered

VI. The modified melody in the melodic minor mode is a variation of the original melody (figure 3.1). In measures 64 and 66 of the third phrase, the piano echoes the solo.

The only use of the knocking motive is in the phrases with “knocking.”

Figure 3.1 “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” melody comparisons

Section B’ using the second verse modulates the melody to B-flat major which is the lowered 3 in G major. Eliminating the response from the previous section B, the text repeats and returns to the tonic key. The dominant in measure 75 extends through the end of this section in measure 88 ending on a half cadence. The subsequent modified melody retains the same rhythms. The final phrase uses a unison ascending melody marked molto marcato ending with four instances of the knocking motive.

100 The final section A’’ begins with the refrain melody in the solo accompanied by an arpeggiated accompaniment. When the piano echoes the melody, the chorus has a dovetailed response using the third line of text and is homophonic. The end of the third phrase has a modified melody in preparation for the additional of original material.

Measure 109 begins an accompanied recitative using Revelation 3:20 with many repeated notes in the melody. The knocking motive returns in measure 111 after the word “knock.” For continuity, Dett incorporates the spiritual in measures 115 through

117 in the piano taken from the first phrase of the refrain melody. He continues with an echo in the piano in measures 120 through 122. The repeated text “and he with Me” emphasizes the desire of Jesus not to sup alone. As in many other songs, Dett uses descending chromatic lines but in the piano seen simultaneously in the lower three voices of the four-part texture in measures 123 through 127 (example 3.15). The recitative ends with the return of the spiritual on an off-beat entrance.

Example 3.15 “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” mm. 123-127, piano, Copyright 1939 by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

Continuing with the spiritual, the Coda uses homophony and knocking motives.

The accel. in measure 139 creates both for urgency in the upcoming repeated “knocks” 101 and allows the solo to sustain the high note for five measures. The ossia in measure 142 is both showmanship with the highest note for the solo and if the soloist runs out of breath. The slower ending after the fermata is a rhythmic augmentation from the final phrase of the refrain melody in the solo.

“Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door” is unique for two reasons. It is one of only two anthems based on a folk song that uses the piano. The accompaniment then overtly exploits the knocking motive using the three defined rhythmic patterns and occurring only around the text about knocking. Also, in no other song does Dett have two sections for solo voice with no chorus.

According to the author, the song is of moderate difficulty. There is limited use of high notes for the chorus. The choral writing is mostly homophonic and homorhythmic. The piano part has several moments of idiomatic writing including the arpeggios throughout.

Weeping Mary

“Weeping Mary” is for an unaccompanied mixed choir with incidental solos for soprano, alto, and tenor. Dett dedicated it to “My esteemed friend, Mr. Bruce Carey.”

This anthem was published by J. Fischer & Bro. in 1918.

As indicated on the score, the melody is from Afro-American Folk Songs where it is a solo melody with chordal piano accompaniment. Henry Krehbiel notes that the spiritual is from Boyle Co., Kentucky and was transcribed by Miss Mildred J. Hill, of

102 Louisville.118 The melody is unique in that while it is in the minor mode, it uses the raised 3 and 6 (example 3.16). In this anthem, the melody remains unchanged until the final phrase of the refrain.

Example 3.16 “Weeping Mary,” Afro-American Folk Songs

Dett only used the first verse while the other two verses replace “weeping Mary” with “praying Samuel” and “doubting Thomas.” The final stanza, however, does not appear in the spiritual. It is likely Dett’s expansion based on the verse. It asks a question using dialect with “a-weeping” and completes the stanza with the same line.

Is there anybody here like weeping Mary? Call upon your Jesus and He’ll draw nigh.

O, glory, glory hallelujah! Glory be to my God, who rules on high! Is there anybody… Call upon your…

Weeping Mary, why so long a-weeping? Call upon your Jesus, and He’ll draw nigh.

Is there anybody…

118 Henry Edward Krehbiel, Afro-American Folksongs (New York: G. Schirmer, 1914), 157. 103 Call upon your… The form of “Weeping Mary” is A A B A C A A A (table 4.10). The melody is in the soprano in the opening refrain marking section A. This four-measure section is a mostly homophonic harmonization of the spiritual using text painting in the second measure. The continuous eighth notes in the tenor evoke the many tears of one weeping. The next four measures mark section A’ beginning with the solo trio. This change of texture using the solo voices keeps the melody in the soprano with a similar harmonization. The chorus returns for the final phrase.

Table 4.10 Formal design of “Weeping Mary” Sections Measures Text A 1-4 Is there anybody here… A’ 5-8 Is there anybody here… B 9-12 O, glory… A 13-16 Is there anybody here… C 17-25 Weeping Mary… A’ 26-29 Is there anybody here… A’’ 30-37 Call upon your Jesus… A’’’ 38-62 Is there anybody here…

Section C marks the original material Dett added to this anthem. The original melody begins in measure 17 inspired by the spiritual using the same rhythms in measure 19. The chordal accompaniment of the choir ends with a palindromic unison.

The first half of the new melody later returns in the tenor with an obbligato soprano solo that soars above the chorus beginning on a high A flat. This section ends with the repurposed A natural. As the raised 6 in C minor, it is now 2 in G minor where the phrase cadences in G minor in measure 24.

104 Dett develops the motive “Call upon your Jesus and He’ll draw nigh” in section

A’’. This call and response begins with the soprano and alto in octaves as a real imitation a perfect fourth higher with a full chorus response in homophony. The next call and response uses the same octave treatment in the soprano and alto but alters the melody slightly. The response is also at a higher pitch class.

The final measures of this section begin with a textual repetition on the word

“call” for emphasis. This command uses sforzandos, an accented unison in the tenor and bass, and the upper tessitura for all voices. The subsequent rhythmic augmentation leads into a half cadence before the new section begins.

Section A’’’ begins with a three-part texture like before but with the chorus instead of solos. The melody is in the alto with a tenor duet while the soprano repeats the previous text homophonically. There are several sustained pitches against the spiritual melody either in its original or modified forms (mm. 42-45, 51 & 52, 53 & 54).

This section ends with one of the few melismatic passages in any of Dett’s songs.

The melody in the soprano in measures 53 and 54 (example 3.17) is lower in measures

58 and 59 and doubled at the octave for all voices before the song ends with “Amen.”119

Example 3.17 “Weeping Mary,” mm. 52a-55, soprano

119 The erroneous dot in measure 53 (not shown in example 3.18) in the soprano and rehearsal piano is incorrect as it adds an additional half beat to the measure and is not present in measure 58. 105 “Weeping Mary” begins with a harmonization of the spiritual melody in the soprano. In later sections, he develops motives from the spiritual. “Call upon your

Jesus” is introduced in measure 3 then developed in measures 30, 32, 40, and 42

(example 3.18).

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e) Example 3.18 “Weeping Mary,” mm. 3, 30, 32, 40, 42

106 According to the author, this anthem is of moderate difficulty and is reminiscent of the spiritual. The more disjunct vocal writing is uncharacteristic as compared to many of his other songs that have more conjunct lines. Contrast is achieved through the alternation of full chorus and solo trios as well as the imitation of sections using the full chorus instead of the trio. Also, Dett’s ideal of remaining true to the folk music he can be seen in the pentatonic melisma.

107 CHAPTER 4

MOTETS BASED ON FOLK MUSIC

The motets described in this chapter use more polyphony than the anthems of the previous chapter, hence their designation. While Dett specifically labeled “Deep

River,” “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” “Let Us Cheer the Weary

Traveler,” “My Way’s Cloudy,” and “Steal Away” as motets, two other songs based on folk music use a similar style of polyphony. The author continued with this determining factor in categorizing those with no specific designation. Four of the songs are from the

Dett Collection. All the motets retain the character of the folk songs in many of the same ways that the anthems use the folk song melodies or motivic derivatives but with more counterpoint. Dett explored the use of more imitation, specifically the use of fugue such as in “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler” and “Son of Mary.”

The eight motets in this chapter comprise a varied use of the folk music. All are for unaccompanied mixed chorus. Five use only the text of the spiritual while one uses a hymn text and the other two combine the text of the spiritual with either biblical or original text.

Deep River

Located in the first group of the Dett Collection, “Deep River” is for unaccompanied mixed choir with soprano solo. Dett set the motet, based on a spiritual of the same title and tune, “especially for this book.”

108 “Deep River” is one of the most popular of all spirituals. Harry T. Burleigh is remembered most for his setting for voice and piano. The melody of the spiritual is rather large (perfect 11th) from C4 to F5. The text speaks of crossing the Jordan river into the promised land. This spiritual served as a sign of hope that the slaves will cross into a land of freedom where slavery did not exist.

Deep river, My home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.

O Don’t you want to go to that gospel feast, That promised land, Where all is peace? Lord, I want to cross over into campground! “Deep River” is a short motet with a simple form of A A B A where each A is the refrain and B is the verse (table 4.1). Terraced entrances abound in the refrain. This polyphony gives it the designation of motet.

Table 4.1 Formal design of “Deep River” Sections Measures Text A 1-8 Refrain A’ 9-16 Refrain B 17-26 Verse A’ 9-16 Refrain

Section A begins with the soprano and alto on a major third followed by the alto’s opening motive imitated a measure later by the tenor then the bass (example 4.1).

Throughout the refrain, the eighth-note subdivision and conjunct moving lines invoke the water of the Jordan river. The ascending paired vocal lines in the alto and tenor in

109 measure 3 occur simultaneously with the octave leap in the melody. The lines ascend to represent going to Heaven which is one destination of freedom. As the spiritual continues and repeats the musical material for “Deep river” in measures 5 and 6, Dett brings back the alto line from measure 2 into measure 6. Additionally, the first five notes of the tenor line become the bass line an octave lower. Section A’ adds a solo soprano obbligato above the chorus which repeats the same musical material. This line uses more and larger leaps than those for the choir.

Example 4.1 “Deep River,” mm. 1-4

Section B is in stark contrast to the previous section. The dotted rhythms are used in every measure providing more rhythm. The texture changes to more homophony and paired voices. The melody begins in the soprano. However, the final phrase is in the bass at measure 21 with no other voices present. The upper three voices respond homophonically with a higher melody in the soprano for increased intensity.

For continuity, the responses use the same rhythm as the call. The soprano remains 110 pentatonic for this section keeping the highest line in a folk style that mirrors the pentatonic nature of the spiritual melody. The song then ends with a return of the section A’ eliminating the first measure of the obbligato.

According to the author, “Deep River” poses little trouble for a chorus of moderate size. There is limited use of notes in the extreme parts of the range of any voice. The solo adds an additional line of counterpoint for the repeated section where the chorus essentially only must learn two sections of music.

Don’t Be Weary, Traveler

In 1920, Dett received the Francis Boott Prize at Harvard University for “Don’t Be

Weary, Traveler.” A year later, The John Church Company published it in the series titled “Negro Spirituals. Folk Songs of the South, Adaptations of Original Melodies by

R. Nathaniel Dett.” Dedicated “To the Honorable George Foster Peabody with grateful acknowledgements,” this motet for six-part unaccompanied chorus of mixed voices is based on “Negro Folk Song Motives.” There is a substantial solo for baritone or tenor

(likely baritone since it is notated with the bass clef) and has incidental soprano and alto solos.

In his “Notes to the Hampton Choir at Queen’s Hall,” Dett said that “Don’t Be

Weary, Traveler” “had its inception in the Negro folk idea of the ejaculatory solo phrases which are to be found in practically all Negro spirituals.”120 The melody can be found in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as a monophonic line (example 4.2). In

120 Dett, “Notes to the Hampton Choir at Queen’s Hall,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 82. 111 addition to the use of the spiritual, Dett used the famous passage from Matthew 11 where rest is the goal of those who are weary. With the addition of the biblical text, Dett repurposed the spiritual as if Jesus is now speaking. In the original spiritual, the slave is speaking as evidenced by the verse “Where to go I do not know, Ever since He freed my soul.” Keeping in line with the call and response verses of the spiritual, Dett replaced the call with the biblical text and kept the response.

Don’t be weary, traveler, Come along home to Jesus! (with thy burden)

All ye that labor, Come along home to Jesus! And are heavy laden, Come along home to Jesus! Take my yoke upon you, Come along home to Jesus! and learn of me; Amen! For my yoke is easy, My burden is light, And ye shall find rest unto your souls; Amen!

Example 4.2 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” refrain, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro

112 The form of the song is A B C with the first two sections in B minor and the final section in B major (table 4.2). In section A, the refrain is separated into two-bar motives which are further developed in the first 48 measures. Most of this section uses variations of the text “Come along home to Jesus.” There no moments of monophony as the choir is grouped often in upper voices and lower voices in antiphony.

Table 4.2 Formal design of “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler” Sections Measures Text A 1-48 Don’t be weary… B 49-92 All ye that labor… C 93-126 Don’t be weary…

The opening six measures display much of what is to come in this section

(example 4.3). It begins with the melody in the first soprano supported by similar motion in the second soprano and alto. The tenor and first bass respond with “Come home!” The elongated “home” symbolizes a prolonged welcoming gesture to say that it does not matter how long it takes one to get home. The homophonic tenor-bass trio in measures 5 and 6 imitate the soprano-alto trio in measure 3 and 4. The short descending line on the word “traveler” is not only derived from the melody but also shows Dett’s intention of the traveler coming to a place of rest.

Following the dovetailed antiphony between the upper and lower voices in measures 7 and 8, the second soprano contrasts the rest of the chorus’s quarter and half notes with an urgency displayed in an ascending 3-note sequence. Measures 10 through

113

Example 4.3 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” mm. 1-6

12 have short moments of divisi in the first soprano, tenor, and second bass, some of which may be revoiced to aid in balance.

Measure 13 begins an extended dominant passage through measure 24. The upper-voice trio returns with an imitation of the first measure but with smaller range in the melody followed by an imitation of “Come home” as before but with all three voices in the lower-voice trio. The tenor-bass trio in measure 17 is a revoiced imitation of the previous upper-voice trio. The first-soprano melody is in F-sharp mixolydian further emphasizing the extended dominant (example 4.4).

Example 4.4 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” mixolydian melody, mm. 18b-24

114 Following an open fifth on the dominant in measure 24, the tenor-bass trio returns with the opening-measure trio down an octave with a different articulation and louder dynamic. The melody continues in the tenor with octave displacement in measures 27 and 28 to keep the melody in the upper part of the range since the first soprano is at the top of the range ending. Unlike the opening measures, the song returns to i where measure 5 uses III. The spiritual motive also develops in the first soprano beginning in measure 35 where the first half of the spiritual refrain truncates the text at the beginning and end. The first solo entrance in measure 39 mimics the minor third introduced by the first soprano in measure 38 and previews the call and response and new text for section B.

The last two measures of the spiritual finally appear in the first soprano in measures 41 and 42 where Dett alters the rhythm from the spiritual and delays the pitch change by one beat for emphasis on the word “home.” The unison alto and bass in measures 43 and 44 is the first instance of monophony in the song. Section A closes with an ascending scalar, unison bass line beginning in measure 45 and repeated ritardandos in measures 46 and 47.

Modeled after the verse of the spiritual, Section B uses call and response between solo and chorus. While the baritone (or tenor) solo calls with an original melody using the biblical text, the choral response has the spiritual melody in the soprano (mm. 51 and 52); unison soprano, alto, and tenor (mm. 55 and 56); and bass (mm. 59 and 60). The first response has a characteristic alto-tenor duet with mostly parallel thirds. The running eighth notes provide not only contrast the spiritual but also create intensity.

115 An extended cadence begins in measure 63 which goes through measure 92.

However, the solo prepares the open fifth of the chorus with the leap in measure 61.

The recitative-like solo is set in F-sharp mixolydian (example 4.5) like the extended cadence in section A. In the final text of the solo, “Ye shall find rest unto your souls,”

Dett elongates the word “souls” in measures 75 through 78 to emphasize rest. The text of the spiritual returns with the incidental soprano and alto solos beginning in measure

85 also in the mixolydian mode. In measure 88, the alto solo imitates the previous measure of the soprano solo.

Example 4.5 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” mixolydian melody, mm. 64-75

The spiritual returns in Section C but in the parallel major marked Con anima non troppo allegro. While most of this section is in four parts for the chorus, there is a brief return of the divisi from the beginning with the use of parallel thirds in measures 97 and 98.

In measure 109, Dett begins a short fugato using a short subject in the bass followed by a real answer in the tenor. The bass counterpoint beginning in measure 111 uses as series of escape tones (figure 4.1). The slower tempo, tranquillo marking for each subject and answer entrance, and opening monophonic line in major allow the listener

116 to visualize the traveler walking to their rest before the “Come home” with extended rhythms which ends the song.

Figure 4.1 “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler,” escape tones, m. 111-114

“Don’t Be Weary, Traveler” frequently develops motives from the spiritual of the same name. Dett uses two-bar phrases from the refrain and truncates them, follows the melodic contour, or provides counterpoint beneath or around them. The motet features simultaneous lines inspired by the musical material or the sentiment of the spiritual.

According to the author, the song is of moderate difficulty where the diatonic lines with reserved, large leaps pose only a few problems. The divisi in section A is manageable for a small choir. The solo can be sung by either a baritone with a developed upper range or by a tenor with impressive low notes.

Don’t You Weep No More, Mary

“Don’t You Weep No More, Mary” was published by G. Schirmer in 1930. This motet for unaccompanied mixed chorus is “based on a Negro melody in the collection of R.N.D.” The song of jubilation tells of the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. 117 As no source material was found using this text, it is likely text of Dett “based loosely on biblical text from John 20:11 and 11:17-27, I Corinthians 15:14, Acts 5:30, and

Matthew 28:2-3.”121

(Refrain) Don’t you weep no more, Mary, Sigh-a no more, Martha, Jesus rose, third day in-a that morning!

(Verse 1) My Jesus went to Galilee, Because he promised for to set me free, Rose third day in-a that morning.

(Verse 2) They nailed Him to that cursed tree, And there He hung for you and me. Rose third day in-a that morning.

(Verse 3) The angel came down from above, He came down on the wings of love; Rose third day in-a that morning.

(Verse 4) O hallelujah, on that day, The angel rolled the stone away. Rose third day in-a that morning.

The form of the song is A B A B A with a Coda (table 4.3). Each A is the refrain unaltered where each B is a call and response. The call is the alto melody that comprises two verses where each verse has a modified recapitulation of the final phrase of the refrain as the response. The alto melody begins with ascending notes as an anacrusis that pushes to the downbeat. All sections have straightforward four-bar phrases.

121 Simpson, Follow Me, 477. 118 Table 4.3 Formal design of “Don’t You Weep No More, Mary” Sections Subsections Measures Text A 1-9 Refrain B 10-25 1 10-17 Verse 1 2 18-25 Verse 2 A 26-33 Refrain B’ 34-49 1 34-41 Verse 3 2 42-49 Verse 4 A 50-57 Refrain Coda 58-75 He rose third day…

Section A, in D minor throughout, begins with a soprano-alto duet with the melody in the soprano. The tenor and bass have terraced entrances one measure apart respectively with the opening soprano melody. The refrain ends with a 2:3 rhythm in the alto and tenor.

The first verse in Section B begins with the alto alone. The tenor duet at the sixth begins one measure later continuing the terraced entrances from the refrain. The soprano obbligato hum on a single pitch solidifies the tonicization of the relative major key used for subsequent verses as well. The homophonic response in measure 14 returns to D minor with an almost exact return of the final phrase of the refrain. This homophony suggests the gravity of the resurrection described by the text “Rose third day in-a that morning.”

The second verse similarly uses the terraced alto-tenor duet. While the soprano enters on the same pitch as before, the obbligato hum is slightly elaborated and begins simultaneously with the tenor entrance.

119 After section A returns without repeat, section B’ begins with a new motive. The third verse remains in the alto with a four-note motive in the soprano imitated by the tenor and bass with terraced entrances a measure apart. After the bass entrance, they divide creating a parallel trio for alto, tenor, and first bass. The first bass continues in measure 37 with an echo of the melody.

Subsequently, the fourth verse begins with the motive in the tenor then continues as a duet with the alto as in section B. The bass enters with the motive one measure later. The soprano begins on a sustained C as in section B then continues with the motive and ends with a quintuplet that gives a soloist turn to the line. While the final response uses the melody as before, the harmonies change where the alto has the triplet in the lowest part of the range and the bass rhythm changes from half notes to quarter notes.

After the final return of section A, the Coda begins with two homophonic phrases using the same melody with different harmonizations punctuated by two double-measure grand pauses. Both phrases end on the dominant. Augmented rhythms, accents, and a marcato drive bring the song to a close with a penultimate high

A for soprano ending forte sempre.

The terraced motivic entrances contrast the alto melody which remains the same for all verses. Also, the section B motive creates unity among the accompanying voices.

The terraced entrances in the refrain and verses and the recapitulation of the refrain then unify the song further.

120 According to the author, “Don’t You Weep No More, Mary” is of moderate difficulty. The repeated melodies and 4-note motive in the verses and unaltered chorus repetitions make for ease of learning. Rhythmic accuracy with the moving eighth notes as well as the differing counterpoint in the verses may be a challenge in the rehearsal process. However, the Moderato tempo allows for the eighth notes in the refrain not to get rushed. The mezzo forte poco a poco dim. may be difficult to achieve over the eight measures of the refrain.

Dust, Dust and Ashes

“Lined and set as a motet for four mixed voices,” “Dust, Dust and Ashes” is from the second group of the Dett Collection. In Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, Dett listed the spiritual, from which this song is based, as a “Hymn of the Resurrection” (example 4.6).

It is one of the longest and most elaborate in the collection. For this motet, Dett augments the rhythms, changes the time signature to common time, and alters and combines verses to allow for more rhyming. The joyous text of the spiritual may seem incongruous with the lives of slaves knowing that death was likely imminent. However, the slave related their own death to that of Jesus and how He was raised from the dead and later returned to Heaven.

(Refrain 1) Dust, dust and ashes Fly over on my grave; And the Lord shall bear my spirit home.

(Verse 1) They crucified my Savior, He, on the cross was slain, And Joseph laid his body, Where none before had lain;

121 An angel came from heaven And rolled away the stone, And the Lord shall bear my spirit home.

(Refrain 2) He rose from the dead, And the Lord…

(Verse 2) O Mary came a running, Her Savior for to see, “He’s not here,” Said the angel “He’s gone to Galilee. Behold the place where lately, He lay within the tomb!” And the Lord…

The form of the song is A B C B C (table 4.4). Section A is the first refrain comprised of four-bar phrases. The first two phrases include many of the characteristics of the motet including the use of motives (example 4.7), melodic arcs (example 4.8), and scalar passages (example 4.9). The alto opening motive is imitated in the tenor and bass.

The third and fourth beats of the alto line in measure 4 are a rhythmic diminution of the melody in measure 2 which is later imitated by the bass in measure 5. The alto arc in measures 5 and 6 mimic the melodic arc of the first phrase which symbolizes dust blown upward and settling to the ground upon rest. The arc is later seen in the alto

(mm. 9 and 14), tenor (m. 13), and inverted in bass (m. 12). The long, scalar bass line beginning in measure 4 descends to the lowest note on the word “grave” for text painting.

Section B begins with a tenor-bass duet where the two-tone melody is in the tenor. The bass counterpoint has an imbedded melody with an upper pedal tone (figure

4.2). The melody then moves to the soprano with homophony with all voices. This

122

Example 4.6 “Dust an’ Ashes,” mm. 1-20, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, mm. 1-20

Table 4.4 Formal design of “Dust, Dust and Ashes” Sections Measures Text A 1-16 Refrain 1 B 17-32 Verse 1 C 33-52 Refrain 2 B’ 53-68 Verse 2 C’ 69-88 Refrain 2

alternation continues through the third phrase where the imbedded melody returns in retrograde in measure 24 (figure 4.3). 123

Example 4.7 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” motive, mm. 1-4

Example 4.8 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” melodic arcs, mm. 1-4

Section C, marked Quasi giojoso, is the second refrain which begins in the dominant key. In a similar fashion to the call and response nature of section B, the upper three voices begin the phrase before the bass joins in the homophonic response.

This continues for the subsequent two phrases. In measure 33, the tenor introduces a new motive for this section used in all voices that do not have the melody.

124

Example 4.9 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” scalar passage, mm. 5-8

Figure 4.2 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” bass imbedded melody, mm. 16-18

Figure 4.3 “Dust, Dust and Ashes,” bass imbedded melody, mm. 24-26

The tonic key returns in section B’ which is the second verse. This section combines the terraced entrances of section A with the melody of section B. The alto motive introduced in measure 53 and used in all lower voices for the first two phrases

125 supports the melody. Unlike the previous section B, this section has the running eighth notes from the final phrase of section A.

Section C’ uses the same melody of the second refrain but in the tonic key. The higher pitch level serves as text painting where Jesus has risen. This section varies from the previous section C with the addition of a soprano solo above the chorus and additional lower-voice counterpoint. While the “He rose” motive from before is used, it does not appear as frequently. As the composer suggests on the score, the soprano

“obbligato may be given to a semi chorus of sopranos if necessary.” The final phrase of the song does not have an extended cadence through rhythmic augmentation.

However, it is marked molto allarg. and the obbligato returns and ends on a high G.

As one of the lengthier settings in the Dett Collection, “Dust, Dust and Ashes” has several unifying features. Scalar passages, chord skips, simple rhythms, and motivic counterpoint allow for easy preparation. The melodic arc from the spiritual melody is seen in other voice parts. Also, Dett paints the text two ways using running eighth notes. They imply either the unsettled dust such as in section A or Mary running in the modified section B.

Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler

“Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler” is “a Negro spiritual in the form of a short unaccompanied motet for mixed voices.” The John Church Company published it in

1926. Dett used the melody from Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro. In his “Notes to the

Hampton Choir at Queen’s Hall,” Dett states that this spiritual “was widely used by the

126 slaves as a signal that one of their number was being helped to escape to freedom.”122

The text of the refrain is a clarion call to encourage the slave who is no longer in their presence. While the first verse is the escaped slave speaking of how they will blow the trumpet likely to help warn others, the second verse returns to the slaves giving specific encouragement to the escape slave.

(Refrain) Let us cheer the weary traveler Along the heavenly way.

(Verse 1) I’ll take my gospel trumpet, And I’ll begin to blow, And if my Saviour helps me I’ll blow where ever I go.

(Verse 2) And if you meet with crosses, And trials on the way, Just keep your trust in Jesus, And don’t forget to pray.

In a similar fashion to “Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us,” “Let Us Cheer the

Weary Traveler” uses the spiritual as a cantus firmus. However, the melody remains in the soprano. The only change to the melody as printed in Religious Folk-Songs of the

Negro is the penultimate note in the verses which now avoids a dissonance on the dominant seventh chord. The form of the song is A A B A B A where each A is the refrain and each B is a different verse (table 4.5).

122 Dett, “Queen’s Hall,” 82. 127 Table 4.5 Formal design of “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler” Sections Measures Text A 1-8 Refrain A’ 9-16 Refrain B 17-24 Verse 1 A 25-32 Refrain B 33-40 Verse 2 A’’ 41-58 Refrain

Marked Moderato molto maestoso and più marcato, section A opens with the first half of the melody doubled in the bass and similar motion in the alto and tenor, mostly parallel thirds. Measures 5 and 6 keep with the similar motion. However, the soprano and bass divide for a 6-part texture using parallel octaves. At Hampton Institute, the spiritual was often performed with a “leader” singing the first two and half measures followed by the full chorus.123 Dett imitated this by delaying the full chorus effect with divisi until the third phrase of the melody. While the use of doubling the melody in the bass creates less stability, the similar motion keeps the harmonic function at the tonic.

The final phrase marked sempre forte senza rit. contrasts the previous phrases with the use of contrary motion. This marking also avoids the common interpretive ending and

Romantic-era performance practice tendency of slowing down at the ends of sections.

The sempre forte is used to keep encouraging the “weary traveler.”

The second refrain, section A’, uses the spiritual as a cantus firmus. The melody begins with the anacrusis in the melody. The alto-tenor duet in parallel sixths begins in measure 9 with an ascending line used to point toward Heaven. The eighth-note

123 Dett, Religious Folk-Songs, 30. 128 subdivision serves as a rhythmic motive for the polyphony. After the bass enters by outlining a tonic triad and settling on 5 as a pedal tone, the parallel-sixth alto-tenor duet returns in measure 11. All voices continue in measures 12 and 13 with different text, dynamic gradations, and the eighth-note subdivision (example 4.10).

Example 4.10 “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler,” mm. 8b-13, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

129 Section B marks the first verse. It resembles the terraced entrances of the previous section with a simultaneous entrance of the alto and tenor followed by the bass. The tenor and bass begin their first two phrases with a perfect fourth leap imitated from the melody in the soprano. This section contrasts the previous section in texture and rhythmic values. While all four voices are used, the texture is thin due to the use of solo. This section can be performed by an octet or semi-chorus depending on the size of the ensemble. The sed semplice above each part is achieved through the use of quarter notes instead of the running eighth notes as in the second refrain. The tutti chorus returns in the final measure of the verse. After the return of section A, section B uses the same musical material as before but with the second verse text.

In section A’’, the musical material of section A’ returns marked Molto fervente poco meno mosso except for the reverse octaves in the bass in measure 47. Beginning in measure 49, Dett extends this section by bringing back the material that ends section A using a deceptive cadence. The final phrase extends the word “along” with a sustained

C in the soprano for four and a half measures and rhythmically augmented counterpoint with quarter and half notes in the other voices. In keeping with the theme of “encouragement” of the song, Dett used più accel. and più marcato quasi stretto in the extension. The descending chromatic bass line beginning in measure 52 ends with an inverted German augmented sixth chord before the additional rhythmic augmentation of the refrain melody.

Dett displays his compositional skills by harmonizing the same melody twice using many non-chord tones in the counterpoint with the running eighth notes for

130 rhythmic intensity. He also uses contractions for single pitches (mm. 17 and 23) to avoid repeated notes. Lastly, he connects the two refrains with the use of the unaltered melody in soprano and connects the modified refrain to the verses with duetting voices

(alto-tenor in refrain and alto-bass in verse).

According to the author, “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler” presents few issues for an ensemble and is therefore an easy song. There is minimal divisi; the sections repeat; the vocal ranges avoid most of the extremes; and most of the leaps are limited to a third.

My Way’s Cloudy

“My Way’s Cloudy” was set as a motet specifically for the Dett Collection (third group) and is for an unaccompanied chorus of mixed voices with no divisi. The spiritual may be interpreted as there being a cloudiness obscuring the slave’s view. An angel, who likely has large wings, could clear away the fog.124 The slave then asks God to “send an angel down.” Dett chose the verse that uses “angel” and “light” to provide context to the refrain and the verse about a “heaven’ly ladder” which makes references to where God and the angels live.

(Refrain) O bretheren, my way, my way’s cloudy, my way, Lord, send an angel down.

(Verse 1) An angel that shall set me free; Send an angel down;

124 Ezekiel 10:5 (KJV): And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. 131 And light my way to heav’n and Thee, Lord, send an angel down.

(Verse 2) That heav'nly ladder I would climb; Send an angel down; That Jacob dreamed of in his time, Lord, send an angel down.

The motet is in A B A B A form where A is the refrain and each B is a separate verse (table 4.6). In section A, the melody is in the soprano for the refrain beginning with a monophonic anacrusis. The full chorus enters on the downbeat of the first full measure. The alto rhythm in measure 1 not only repeats but also returns in the refrain.

Keeping with the idea of help, Dett groups voices together beginning with a tenor-bass duet in measures 3 and 4 followed by an alto-tenor duet in measure 5 and continuing with a lower-voice trio in measure 6. The refrain ends with a full measure of sixteenth- note subdivisions in measure 7 with a final alto neighbor group in measure 8. Dett also uses the lowest pitches of the song here where the downbeat is on the word “down.”

The refrain repeats with the dovetailing soprano anacrusis.

Table 4.6 Formal design of “My Way’s Cloudy” Sections Measures Text A 1-9 Refrain B 10-17 Verse 1 A 1-9 Refrain B 10-18 Verse 2 A’ 19-40 Refrain

After the repetition, the first verse begins in section B. This section in call and response uses the melody in both the soprano and bass. The melody of the first call is in

132 the soprano where the alto begins with the same rhythm of their entrance in the refrain.

Leading into the response is a double scalar inverted arc in the tenor and bass (figure

4.4). Following the tenor neighbor group imitated from the alto in measure 8, the bass continues with the melody. Then in terraced entrances, each voice imitates the perfect fourth in the melody. The melody of the response returns to the soprano with a recapitulation of all voices from measures 7 and 8 with the dovetailed entrance of the refrain where section A returns unaltered and section B returns with the second verse.

Figure 4.4 “My Way’s Cloudy,” double scalar inverted arc, m. 11 & 12

Section A’ begins with a recapitulation of the refrain. The deceptive cadence at measure 26 extends section A with original material based on the spiritual. The motive introduced by the tenor in measure 27 derives its melody from the melody in measures

3 and 4 and the rhythm of measure 7. As seen in example 4.11, all voices have the motive at least once. The nontraditional resolution of the German augmented sixth chord in measure 30 is a first-inversion tonic triad in measure 31 which shows that the song is not ending and continues with the extension motive. Measures 35 and 36 have parallel descending chromatic triads characteristic of Dett’s choral writing. After a

133 grand pause in measure 37, Dett modifies the ending of the section A refrain with similar alto-tenor counterpoint over the bass repeating 5 as the dominant.

Example 4.11 “My Way’s Cloudy,” mm. 27-34

According to the author, “My Way’s Cloudy” is an easy song. The two repeated sections are mostly diatonic. There is no divisi. There are not many leaps for the alto

134 and tenor. The counterpoint using many eighth and sixteenth notes is mostly stepwise.

The D.S. repeat of the refrain after the first verse should be sung only once continuing with the second ending into the second verse.

Son of Mary

Written for unaccompanied mixed chorus, “Son of Mary” was published by The

John Church Company in 1926. It was dedicated to the Oberlin Musical Union, Oberlin,

Ohio, Dr. George W. Andrews, conductor. At Oberlin, he was Dett’s composition teacher, of whom Dett spoke most highly.

He was one of the most modest of men but a very great teacher. I believe that, had this man had a publicity agent, he would have been ranked with the foremost teachers of composition of all countries… He had an uncanny gift of reading the minds as well as the most complex scores of his pupils, and his great selfishness and devotion to Christian principles gave a rare vitality to all he said or did.125

Dett used a hymn text by Rev. Henry Hart Milman to set the “traditional Negro melody” from his personal collection. While the text is in various publications such as newspapers and hymnals with several alterations, the text as Dett set it, with one change, is listed in Annotations Upon Popular Hymns by Charles Seymour Robinson as follows:

1 When our heads are bowed with woe, When our bitter tears o'erflow, When we mourn the lost, the dear, Jesus, Son of Mary, hear! Thou our feeble flesh hast worn; Thou our mortal griefs hast borne; Thou hast shed the human tear: Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

125 Dett, “Bell Stand,” 77. 135 2 When the heart is sad within. With the thought of all its sin; When the spirit shrinks with fear, Jesus, Son of Mary, hear! Thou the shame, the grief hast known; Though the sins were not thine own. Thou hast deigned their load to bear: Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!

3 When our eyes grow dim in death; When we heave the parting breath; When our solemn doom is near, Jesus, Son of Mary, hear! Thou hast bowed the dying head; Thou the blood of life hast shed; Thou hast filled a mortal bier; Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!126 The hymn is a prayer to Jesus, the “Son of Mary,” asking Him to listen to the many woeful moments of life including the death of loved ones, the internal weight of sin, and the impending death if living in one’s sins. Dett divides each stanza into two parts creating a total of six verses all ending with “Jesus, Son of Mary, hear!”

The form is the song is A B C with a Coda (table 4.7). Section A further divides into three subsections creating a ternary form with strophic text. The first two sub- sections use a different pentatonic melody in the soprano which is likely the “traditional

Negro melody” mentioned on the score. The original melody at the end of the subsection 2 is the first departure from the pentatonic mode. However, measure 38 is a retrograde inversion of the melody in measure 29.

Several motives further unify the subsections of A. Subsection 1 uses a syncopated motive, derived from the melody in measure 19, in the tenor at the end of

126 Charles Seymour Robinson, Annotations Upon Popular Hymns (New York: Hunt & Eaton, 1893), 373. 136 Table 4.7 Formal design of “Son of Mary” Section Subsection Measures A 1-56 1 1-16 2 17-40 1 41-56 B 57-72 C 73-119 Coda 120-136 the first phrase later imitated in the bass (m. 7) and alto (m. 8). This motive reverses the rhythms and pitches. In subsection 2, the alto echoes the melodic motive in measure 20.

The same motive is then altered in the alto in measure 24.

Lastly, the bass unifies both subsections and repeats melodic material in subsection 2. While each subsection uses a descending bass line, the first uses chromaticism to extend the line for eight measures while the second is diatonic and lasts for only four measures (example 4.12). Also, the repeated melodic material in measure 31 is from the melody in measure 29.

(a)

(b) Example 4.12 “Son of Mary,” mm. 9-16, 21-24, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission.

137 In contrast, the two subsections differ in their use of repeated material and cadences. Subsection 1 has no repeated material while subsection 2 repeats the first four measures at measure 25. Subsection 2 ends with a V chord while subsection 1 ends with a I chord.

Furthermore, section B continues the contrasts with homophony, a slower tempo

(ben ritmo sed poco allargamente), a new time signature, remaining mostly diatonic for all voices, and set in the relative minor, F sharp. Beginning in measure 64, Dett intensifies the use of personal pronouns with the mostly unison phrases. Text painting then occurs in measure 67 where the highest note of the phrase is on the word “parting” providing strength to the “parting breath” before death. The first two phrases of section B return in measure 68 with a slight ornamentation of the melody on the antepenultimate syllable.

Section C begins with a fugato based on original musical material using the last four lines of text (example 4.13). The subject, in the tenor, begins and ends with half notes and has two measures of syncopation in the center. The alto enters at measure 77 with the answer while the tenor continues with rhythms that provide a quarter-note subdivision for the first three measures. The eight-measure episode (mm. 81-88) provides two musical links. The two subject-answer entries are separated by a rising sequential melody in the alto (mm. 81-83). Also, the melody of measures 1 and 2 returns a perfect fourth lower in the alto (mm. 85 and 86) tonicizing E major.

The final measures of the fugato include an episode of chromaticism (mm. 101-

108) with the soprano melody of measures 1 through 4 modified in measures 105

138

Example 4.13 “Son of Mary,” mm. 73-80, Copyright MCMXXVI by The John Church Company, Used by permission. through 108. Section C then closes with a recapitulation of the final eight measures of section A.

The “Amen” Coda uses both musical material and text from the stanza. The tenor melody begins with mostly half notes then accelerates with quarter notes while a pedal bass supports the descending parallel sixths in the soprano and alto. When the soprano recapitulates the opening melody and text, the lower voices decrescendo with a repeated A-major chord.

According to the author, “Son of Mary” is of moderate difficulty. While vocal ranges are wide for alto and tenor, they never remain in the extremes for extended periods of time. The use of repeated musical material and motives throughout aid in providing unity in and between sections. The homorhythmic section B not only provides contrast but also ease of learning as compared to the more polyphonic sections.

Some challenges for the ensemble may include intonation and rhythm. The chromatic descending bass line and repeated tenor notes of several measures may be difficult to keep in tune. There are also moments of triple-against-duple rhythms.

139 Steal Away

From the third group of the Dett Collection, “Steal Away” is for unaccompanied mixed chorus with an incidental soprano solo. Dett set the spiritual of the same name “as a short motet for this book.”127 The melody is in either the soprano voice or the solo. As with many of these songs, Dett intentionally provides more elaborate vocal accompaniments to the melodies for them to be appropriate both on the stage and in church. At the end of the refrain and verses, the final line of text can be substituted with

“They sorrow long who stay here” as indicated in a footnote on the score.

(Refrain) Steal away, Steal away, Steal away to Jesus; Steal away, Steal away home! I ain’t got long to stay here. (They sorrow long who stay here.)

(Verse 1) My Lord, He calls me; He calls me by the tender; The trumpet sounds within-a my soul, I ain’t got long to stay here. (They sorrow long who stay here.) Green trees are bending, Poor sinner stands a-trembling; The trumpet… I ain’t got… (They sorrow…)

(Verse 2) Tombstones are bursting, Poor sinner stands a-trembling; The trumpet… I ain’t got… (They sorrow…) My Lord, He calls me; He calls me by the lightning;

127 Dett, “Steal Away,” The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals: Third Group (Minneapolis, MN: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary, 1936), 20. 140 The trumpet… I ain’t got… (They sorrow…)

The formal design of the song is slightly problematic. While the refrain is A and the verse is B, the Da Capo in the last measure contradicts the second half of each verse beginning in measure 17. For this reason and the fact that Dett listed this as a “short motet,” it is the opinion of the author that section B be repeated before returning to the beginning each time. The form of the song is A B B A with repeated sections for the strophic text (table 4.8).

Table 4.8 Formal design of “Steal Away” Sections Measures Text A 1-16 Steal away… B 17-26 My Lord…thunder B 17-26 Green trees… A 1-16 Steal away… B 17-26 Tombstones… B 17-26 My Lord…lightning A 1-16 Steal away…

In a similar fashion to “Deep River,” Section A has the soprano melody supported by moving lines with quarter-note subdivisions in all but two measures. The descending alto line in the first measure continues with successive entrances by the tenor and bass. The bass entrance continues the scalar descent begun by the tenors. This four-note descending motive, used eleven times in the lower voices, is also inverted and/or shortened.

141 In addition to the descending motion, Dett continues with staggered entrances in the second phrase beginning in measure 5 but with quicker entrances. Also, the alto and bass are in parallel thirds and sixths throughout section A. After the fermata in measure

12, the final phrase continues with staggered entrances and the most chromatic motion in the song which uses the raised 4 and 5 to tonicize vi in the antepenultimate measure.

While section B uses the verses of the spiritual, the choral accompaniment remains connected to the refrain. First, the alto and tenor have a duetting accompaniment that enters one measure after the soprano and use the rhythm derived from the melody (example 4.14). After the solo responds with “The trumpet sounds within my soul” over a sustained tonic chord, the final four measures of the refrain return to end the refrain with an optional low G in the bass.

Example 4.14 “Steal Away,” mm. 17-19

According to the author, this simple setting with occasional low notes for alto, tenor, and bass can be used as an introduction to the choral music of Dett and is appropriate for church choirs. The slow tempo marked Lento espressivo and limited rhythms shorter than a quarter note eliminate the barrier of difficult rhythms. The abundance of stepwise motion gives the ensemble a better chance of success. 142 CHAPTER 5

SONGS BASED ON THE SINGING OF INDIVIDUALS

In a similar fashion to the use of existing folk material, Dett transcribed the singing of individuals and used their melodies as source material. The five songs in this chapter constitute different genres including a folk-song scena and a hymn. All songs are unaccompanied and for mixed chorus. Three include solos. For each song, Dett listed the person who sang the melody for him. He then used either original, folk, or hymn texts when creating each song.

Baptism

From the fourth group of the Dett Collection, “Baptism” is for unaccompanied mixed chorus. This anthem, dedicated to his brother Sam, is based on the singing of

Mrs. Harriet Washington, his maternal grandmother. In “From Bell Stand to Throne

Room,” Dett recalled how his grandmother sang spirituals to him as a child. However, the simplicity of those songs and the fact that he was most familiar with the hymns at white churches contributed to his initial lack of appreciation for spirituals.128

The text, inspired by Matthew 3:13-17, speaks first of the baptism of Christians then of Jesus’ baptism. The second verse is a poetic interpretation of Matthew 3:17 (KJV) where a voice from heaven says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The score indicates that Dett set this tune “with supplied lines especially for this book”

128 Dett, “Bell Stand,” 75-76. 143 which implies that the text is original as there are no present sources with any lines from this song.

It’s down into the water That we as converts go, To serve our Lord and Master in humbleness below; I have receiv’d my bounty, And all my marital dress, The ring of love and favor, The robe of righteousness.

’Twas down into the Jordan The Savior went with John; The Father spoke from heaven, “Behold my well-lov’d Son! Earth-born to save the sinner, Salvation’s way to tell, O’er sin and death the winner, And Me, He pleases well!”

The form of the song is A B A with repeated sections for the strophic text (table

5.1). The two sections contrast each other greatly where section A is somewhat polyphonic, and section B is homophonic with the strophic text.

Table 5.1 Formal design of “Baptism” Sections Measures Text A 1-7 H’m B 8-24 It’s down… A 1-7 H’m B 8-24 ‘Twas down… A’ 25-31 H’m

Section A, sung on a hum, begins with the opening soprano melody used as a motive. The supporting lines then have less rhythmic motion than the motive. The staggered entrances of alto and tenor, separated by one measure, use the motive in their octave. While the bass does not have the motive, the alto then imitates the motive in the penultimate measure.

144 Section B is a homophonic harmonization of the melody which separate into four

4-measure phrases, a a’ b a. While the first phrase of the melody is used almost exactly three times, the harmonizing voice leading is different for each phrase. The apex of the melody is in the third phrase at measure 18. This rather simple melody with the same rhythms for each phrase alternates between F minor and the relative major.

The final section returns to the hum from the beginning and uses the same staggered entrances and motivic repetitions. However, the bass entrance is the point of variation where it imitates the motive in measure 28. The other voices then have different melodic lines to end the song in F minor whereas the opening section A ends on a dominant chord in the relative major.

According to the author, this short anthem poses few problems. The soprano uses almost the full range in the first three measures with a high A flat on a hum in the third measure. Inexperienced singers may have difficulty producing a beautiful tone with closed lips. Therefore, the author suggests substituting an “oo” or “oh.” Also, the phrase markings are different for all voices in section A. In contrast, the homorhythmic nature of section B will alleviate potential rhythmic issues.

Heavenly Union

“Heavenly Union” is for unaccompanied baritone or tenor solo and mixed chorus with minimal divisi. Mills Music published this setting in 1941. While Dett listed this song as a “spiritual,” the tune is a traditional folk hymn. Therefore, he transcribed the improvised singing of Mrs. James F. Wright of the Ghent area of Norfolk, VA and used it as the basis for the verses. The last three lines of second verse and all lines of

145 third verse are from “Come, Saints and Sinners, Hear Me Tell,” a hymn text of unknown origin. Hymnary.org states that some hymnals list Charles Albert Tindley as the author even though the text was published in several hymnals before Tindley was born.129 The form of the song is A B C B C B C with slight variations on the latter sections (table 5.2).

Table 5.2 Formal design of “Heavenly Union” Sections Measures Text A 1-6 Hum B 7-30 The saints I heard… C 31-46 Hallelujah B’ 47-70 “O Lord, have mercy,”… C 71-86 Hallelujah B 87-110 And when I hated… C’ 111-126 Hallelujah

The soprano melody of section A comes from the folk hymn tune where Dett uses the opening ascending measures and extended it using the pentatonic mode. The alto moves in similar motion throughout this introduction while the tenor and bass move in similar, homorhythmic motion. The extended ascent and simultaneous duets signify the heavenly union.

The solo enters in section B supported by choral accompaniment on a hum which mostly serves a harmonic function. Dett provides a note saying, “The humming

129 “Come, saints and sinners, hear me tell,” Hymnary.org, accessed March 10, 2018, https://hymnary.org/text/come_saints_and_sinners_hear_me_tell. 146 accompaniment should be as smooth as possible with a slight accent on repeated notes.

At no time should the accompaniment dominate the solo part.”

Section B continues with the duetting “union.” The alto and tenor have parallel thirds and sixths in measures 14 through 17. Also, the bass doubles the solo beginning with the anacrusis of measure 24 where the crux of the song, its title, occurs in measure

24. Then the first alto repeats the final phrase of the melody with an augmented rhythm in measure 28.

Original material dominates section C with the many chord skips and leaps which contrast the more conjunct melody of the hymn folk tune. The soprano melody, however, remains mostly in the pentatonic mode. Since only one word is used, the author labels this the “Hallelujah Refrain.”

While the disjunct melody contrasts the verses, the dotted rhythms in all voices, as seen in example 5.1, are derived from the final phrase of section B. This dotted eighth-sixteenth rhythm gives a joyful effect matching the texting.

The transcribed melody returns in the section B’ in the soprano. It begins with a homophonic harmonization of the first few verses then uses the sixteenth-note triplet as a rhythmic motive. The motive then develops as two duets (m. 54), in parallel triads (m.

54), as a rhythmic intensifier (mm. 54-56, tenor), and in contrary motion (m. 56)

(example 5.2). The section ends with a return of the homophonic texture. The use of the parallel diminished chords not only musically depicts the union but is in a characteristic descending fashion as in most of Dett’s songs.

147

Example 5.1 “Heavenly Union,” mm. 31-34

Example 5.2 “Heavenly Union,” mm. 54-56

After the return of the “Hallelujah Refrain,” section A returns with the third verse text. The only change is the use of an alto solo in measure 106 through 110 for the repeated melodic phrase instead of an alto divisi.

148 The final “Hallelujah Refrain” returns as before with one change. The final two measures begin with an ascending melody for a joyous ending on a tonic triad in open position versus the closed position at the end of the previous refrains.

I’ll Never Turn Back No More

“I’ll Never Turn Back No More” is an unaccompanied anthem for mixed voices with an incidental soprano (or tenor) solo.130 The top of the score shows Dett’s dedication: “Affectionately dedicated to my two choirs, The Hampton Choral Union of

Hampton-Phoebus Community, and The Institute Choir of the Hampton Normal and

Agricultural Institute.” Dett included this on the Hampton Choir’s European tour when they sang at the Theatre Champs Ulysses in Paris. After an enthusiastic response to the choir’s performance that evening, he chose this song to bring the concert to a somber close. However, the opposite occurred. He later shared, “It was here that having been recalled a number of times, we sang the motet, ‘I’ll Never Turn Back No More,’ on a

Negro theme, hoping thereby to terminate the demonstration, but the result was an ovation which even continued after the fire curtain had been lowered.”131

Shortly after its publication by J. Fischer & Bro. in 1918, an unknown contributor to the Canadian Music Journal said, “The folk-song material on which the chorus is built was collected by the composer at Hampton Institute. Mr. Dett has made use of the

Negro long meter to produce an anthem of telling effect. This is the first instance of the

130 In measure 45, Dett indicated that both should solos should not be used. 131 Dett, “A Musical Invasion of Europe,” in “R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music,” ed. Jon Michael Spencer, special issue, Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology 5, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 88. 149 use of a Negro meter tune as the foundation of a classic music composition.”132 Dett based the tune on the singing of Mr. Dola Miller.

The text of the anthem combine the words from the traditional theme with text by Charles Wesley. “Sinners! Turn, Why Will You Die?” was written in 1742 and traditionally uses the hymn tunes PLEYEL’S HYMN, MARTYN, and BENEVENTO. The title refrain text is of one who was converted to Christianity. All other texts speak to those not yet converted, as a missionary may ask those in hopes of converting.

I’ll never turn back no more. No more, my Lord! I’ll never turn back no more.

Sinners, turn; why will ye die? God, your Maker, asks you, why; I’ll never turn back no more.

Will you let Him die in vain? Crucify your Lord again! Why, ye ransomed sinners, why, will you slight His grace, and die?

I’ll never turn back no more. No more, my Lord! I’ll never turn back no more. Amen.

The form of the song is A B C A with a Coda (table 5.3). The title refrain, measures 1 through 4a (example 5.3), occurs a total of seven times in all sections including the Coda—six in the tonic key, once in the dominant. While the refrain unifies

132 “Unique Folk-Song Choruses,” Canadian Journal of Music 5, no. 4 (August- September 1918): n.p. 150 the song, the opening descending three-note passage in the soprano serves as a motive for the entrances of the lower three voices to unify the refrain itself.

Table 5.3 Formal design of “I’ll Never Turn Back No More Sections Measures A 1-12 B 13-24 C 25-56 A’ 57-83 Coda 84-96

Example 5.3 “I’ll Never Turn Back No More,” mm. 1-4a

The refrain serves two purposes. First, it is the declamation of the song to say that regardless of the circumstances in life, one will not stray from the decision of exercising and living one’s Christian faith and not returning to sinful ways. The weak cadences (example 5.4) preceding the title refrain after its initial entry suggest one’s feeble attempts to go one’s own way. Second, reusing the refrain without modification

151 is a steadfast reminder of not turning away from God which results in death as illustrated in the Wesley text.

The use of the title refrain to begin and end section A creates a ternary form. The middle section uses a contrasting melismatic ascent in the unison soprano and alto then tenor and bass on the word “no” for text declamation.

Section B sets the first two lines of the Wesley text excerpt homophonically. The lower voices support the soprano melody in homorhythm and mostly stepwise motion.

The harmonic pulse of measures 13-20 is the dotted half note for each measure.

Section C begins homophonically as in the preceding section and continues primarily with the same harmonic pulse. While the preceding sections remain in the tonic key, this moves to the relative minor using the natural minor scale supporting the text about Christ’s crucifixion. Wesley’s text asks a question used as guilt when speaking about how Christ’s death was for the salvation of the world, yet people not accepting that salvation would mean that his death was in vain while their death would be eminent as well.

When the text repeats in measure 40, Dett deviates from the homophony beginning with ascending paired voices (soprano-tenor, alto-bass) in thirds. The preceding cadence in A minor (m. 39) allows for the common-chord modulation to C major (dominant of F major). The melody beginning in measure 40, altered slightly from measure 36, is a third higher for the modulation to C major.

The final measures of section C use the incidental solo in a call and response manner with the choir. The brief solo of this section is a clarion call with the use of a

152 (a)

(b)

(c) Example 5.4 “I’ll Never Turn Back No More,” mm. 7-9, 19-21, 51-57, 75-79, 88-92 153 (d)

(e) Example 5.4 – continued

high tessitura and limited range. The solo is more declamatory with the modified repetition using an accented passing tone and chord skip. In the same way that the solo repeats with modification, the second choral response uses a similar melody modified to a perfect authentic cadence unlike the imperfect authentic cadence in measures 47 and 48. The choral repetition also uses extended diatonic harmonies versus the simple

154 V-I from before. This section ends with the title refrain in C major which then serves as a common-chord modulation to return to the tonic key.

Section A’, beginning with the title refrain in the tonic key, is an embellished version of the opening section. Dett not only increases the ranges of all voices but also uses extended text declamation from measures 5 through 8, a real (modulated) sequence, and repeated text to emphasize the title text of not turning back.

The final “Amen” Coda begins with a retrograde of measures 76 and 77 as the melody. While an “Amen” typically marks the end of a song or prayer, Dett ends the

V two-fold Amen on vi and returns with the title refrain for closure. The final refrain slightly extends the cadence through rhythmic augmentation. Lastly, the solo returns with “Amen” on 5.

According to the author, “I’ll Never Turn Back No More” is of moderate difficulty. The repeated title refrain and use of homophony and paired voices aid in the music-learning process. There are, however, a few moments of quickly-ascending lines and the use of notes in the upper part of the vocal range.

Music in the Mine

“Music in the Mine” is an unaccompanied folk-song scena for tenor solo and a chorus of mixed voices. Incidental solo passages for soprano and alto occur as sporadic texture changes. Light steel bars constitute the accompaniment used for most of the song. G. Schirmer published the song in 1916. Dett dedicated it to “My dear friend and fellow composer, Mr. Percy Aldridge Grainger.”

155 The song musically depicts parts of the workday of a miner and is based on traditional airs transcribed by Dett after the singing of Mr. Ralph Stoney and one unknown person.133 Hampton Institute was familiar with dramatizations of black secular music such as work songs. The Hampton Folk-Lore Society performed such dramatizations at a Carnegie Hall concert on March 7, 1902, with repeat performances in Hampton. In The Southern Workman, Dett said, “The effect of the secular songs has often been intensified by the use of appropriate and carefully worked out drama.”134

Dett would have been familiar with these dramatizations early in his career at Hampton which would have had a great influence on how the music could be presented.

The form of the song is A B (table 5.4) with most of the text in the beginning. The text of section A sets the tone of the work day of the miner represented by the tenor solo. The miner sings about the sun rising, an early morning, the tool he’ll use, and his occupation. He even greets his boss before going to work. In section B, the nonsense syllables are the music in the mine from the hammers striking rocks.

Early in the morning Sun begins to shine, Hammer on my shoulder, Set out for the mine.

Bid my boss “Good morning! Sir, I’m here on time!” Hammer stars to ringing, Music in the mine!

Dum dna li kling klang

133 Dett, Music in the Mine (New York: G. Schirmer, 1916): 1. 134 Dett, “The Emancipation of Negro Music,” 175. 156 Table 5.4 Formal design of “Music in the Mine” Sections Measures A 1-30 B 31-117

Section A begins with the melody in the solo. The opening eight measures serve as the melodic motive. The solo repeats the motive with a different harmonization later transposed up a major third and perfect fifth to move to the dominant. The people of the camp (chorus) either harmonically support the solo or respond with echoes or unison lines such as the soprano-tenor unison (mm. 6-8), later augmented by the full chorus (mm. 14-16).

Marked Grazioso con moto, section B uses the alto, tenor, and bass of the chorus as accompaniment using an ostinato rhythm and similar articulations. Example 5.5 shows the “workday ostinato” codified by the author. The light steel bars strike on the downbeat of each measure used as both an aural depiction of the sounds in the mine and constant rhythm keeping the workers in tempo.

Example 5.5 “Music in the Mine,” mm. 33 & 34

157 In measure 35, the tenor solo, soprano section, and lower three voices create a three-part texture where attention rarely shifts from either the solo or soprano section.

When the solo sustains, the soprano moves, and vice versa, creating a conversation between the two (example 5.6). In the conversation, the two melodies are mostly pentatonic and often have a syncopation on the second beat.

Example 5.6 “Music in the Mine,” mm. 35-38

Dett economically used the soprano melody (mm. 35-50) which is reminiscent of a folk song. The form is A B A B with the only change being in the final two pitches.

With the harmonic shift to the predominant key of D-flat major, the melody is slightly altered, retaining the same contour. The one rhythmic change is the use of an anacrusis in measure 62.

Measure 75 marks the first significant shift from the rhythmic and melodic motives of section B. While the “workday ostinato” rhythms remain, the vocal lines change. Also, the soprano melody changes with additional sixteenth notes and a repeated two-bar motive.

After a return to the musical material from measures 47 through 50, the soprano incidental solo begins a call and response with the soprano section. The first call in

158 measures 83 and 84 is shorter than the extended call in measures 87 through 90 where the response beginning in measure 91 uses the material from measure 75 in all voices.

The apex of the song occurs at measure 95. The soprano doubles the solo. Not only do all voices begin on the highest note of the song for each part but the lower three voices also have descending similar triads. The steel bar rhythms change for two measures then return to downbeat strikes at measure 97 where the “workday ostinato” returns as well.

The song’s conclusion begins with the solo echoing the soprano with an embellishment. The monophonic final solo line ascends with a diminuendo depicting the workers leaving the bellows of the mine to return home. Lastly, the soprano returns with the final phrase of the melody of section A.

According to the author, “Music in the Mine” is of moderate difficulty. There are many repeated melodic phrases and rhythmic motives. The choral tessitura is also moderate with limited use of the extremes. The tenor solo, however, often sings above the staff.

O Holy Savior

From the fourth group of the Dett Collection, “O Holy Savior” is a hymn for a chorus of mixed voices. While it includes no accompaniment, this hymn would likely be performed with a keyboard instrument doubling the voices. Dett adapted a hymn text by Charlotte Elliott from 1834 to the minor-mode melody Mr. Ulysses Elam of

Hampton, Virginia, sang. Each verse ends with “cling to Thee” which is about

159 remaining close to Christ in both the joyful and sad times. The most common hymn tune used is FLEMMING.

O holy Savior! Friend unseen, Since on Thine arm Thou bid’s me lean, Help me, thruout life’s changing scene, By faith to cling to Thee!

What though the world deceitful prove, And earthly friends and joys remove? With patient, uncomplaining love Still I would cling to Thee.

Though faith and hope awhile be tried, I ask not, need not aught beside: How safe, how calm, how satisfied, The souls that cling to Thee.

The hymn is a simple homophonic harmonization of the tune where all four-bar phrases begin with 5 − 1. The four melodic phrases create the form A B A C with more progressive harmonies in the return of A. Most of the chromaticism is from the melodic minor mode. Most measures use a half note followed by a quarter note for the rhythmic pulse. The final phrase adds more quarter notes in the lower three voices.

160 CHAPTER 6

SONGS BASED ON EXISTING MATERIAL

In addition to Dett’s settings of folk music as anthems and motets, he also created arrangements of folk music and other existing material, most of which were not intended as anthems or motets. The eight songs in this chapter comprise a varied use of the existing material. Of the six settings of folk songs, three are for treble chorus with piano accompaniment while the other three are for unaccompanied mixed chorus. The other two unaccompanied settings are of a lute air by Thomas Campion and an anonymous English air with traditional hymn text. Six of the songs in total use either substantial or incidental solos.

As by the Streams of Babylon

“As by the Streams of Babylon” is an arrangement of the lute-song by Thomas

Campion (Campian). The original song was published in the First Book of Ayres published together and undated with the second book. Edmund H. Fellowes edited these books for the Stainer & Bell publication of 1925. The song is in G minor with note values half of the original. This arrangement was published by G. Schirmer in 1933 for solo voice with unaccompanied mixed voices.

According to Fellowes, Campion’s prefatory statement shows that the songs could be performed by solo voice with three voices singing the lute accompaniment.135

135 Edmond H. Fellowes, ed., preface to First Book of Airs: Circa 1613, by Thomas Campian (London: Stainer & Bell, 1925), n.p. 161 Therefore, Dett’s adaptation (arrangement) of the lute accompaniment for mixed choir follows the performance practice of the original song. For this arrangement, Dett maintains the vocal melody as a solo.

This strophic arrangement uses the first three verses of the lute-song. The first and third verses use humming as the choral accompaniment while the second verse adapts the text from the solo for the choir. Each verse begins with a one-measure introduction derived from the penultimate measure of the lute-song. While Dett omits the repeat from the original, he maintains the key of G minor as in the Fellowes edition.

For the choral accompaniment, Dett makes minor changes from the lute accompaniment. The tenor line in measures 5 through 7 not only adds additional rhythms but also switches from the bass clef of the original accompaniment to the treble clef for voice leading. The alto’s added E flat in measure 6 creates parallel octaves between the alto and bass. However, the soprano’s added F in measure 8 creates easier voice leading as it changes the leap from a perfect fifth to a major third.

In addition to the accompaniment changes, Dett either adds or changes expressive markings. Bell & Stainer’s tempo indication is “Rather slow” where Dett uses “Slowly.” The only tempo change in the song begins at measure 30 where the solo has con passione e rit and the choir has rit. with a subsequent a tempo. Also, there are hairpins, slurs, and breath marks for phrases in the accompaniment.

According to the author, “As by the Streams of Babylon” is of easy difficulty. The vocal ranges for the solo and chorus are rather moderate. While the song is not completely homophonic, the voice leading is mostly stepwise motion with repeated

162 notes that do not present many rhythmic issues. Attention should be given to the breath marks and hairpins that are not homorhythmic. The bass decrescendo in measure 2 begins two beats later than the rest of the chorus. Lastly, the dynamics differ for the solo and chorus. The order of dynamics for the chorus is p, mp, and pp while the solo has mp, mf, and pp.

Done Paid My Vow to the Lord

“Done Paid My Vow to the Lord” is a spiritual arrangement for treble voices with piano accompaniment and baritone or contralto solo. The John Church Company published this setting in 1919. On the score, Dett notes that this is “A song much beloved by Booker T. Washington.” The melody is from the collection of G. Lake Imes.

This arrangement differs from others of the same spiritual in that it uses “paid” instead of “made.”

(Refrain) Done paid my vow to the Lord, And I never will turn back, I will go, (I) shall go To see what the end will be.

(Verse 1) When ev’ry star refuse to shine, I will go, (I) shall go To see what the end will be. I know King Jesus will be mine! I will go, (I) shall go To see what the end will be.

(Verse 2) When I was a mourner just like you, I will… I mourned, and I mourned ‘till I come thru, I will…

163 The form of the song is A A B A B A with a brief piano introduction (table 6.1).

The piano introduction with octaves, full chords, and low bass writing uses the harmonic minor scale in its eight measures in preparation for the harmonic writing in all sections with augmented triads and augmented sixth chords.

Table 6.1 Formal design of “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord” Section Measures Text Introduction 1-8 n/a A 9-16 Refrain A’ 17-24 Refrain B 25-36 Verse 1 A’ 37-44 Refrain B’ 45-58 Verse 2 A’’ 59-67 Refrain

Each section A serves as a refrain using the same text with musical alterations throughout. The first section A is for solo voice and piano with block chords. The subsequent section A’ begins with the treble voices in homophony with the melody in the first soprano. The second phrase uses polyphony for the second soprano and alto.

The final two phrases then use a countermelody for the return of the solo with homophony in the treble voices.

The first verse constitutes section B using a double call and response. The first call begins in measure 24 in the solo voice with an ascending progression in the accompaniment. The subsequent response, continued in the solo voice, serves as the second call where the treble voices respond in measure 27 (example 6.1). The second double call and response begins in measure 30. The piano accompaniment then changes using a descending progression. The subsequent responses use the same musical

164 material except for the static second-soprano line in measure 35. Dett maintains the voice crossing of the alto above the second soprano in the final penultimate measure of each subsection.

Example 6.1 “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord,” mm. 24-28

Continuing with the repetition of duplicated musical material, section A’ returns in measure 36. The only change is the added syncopation in measure 43 for second soprano and alto. The rhythms match that of the solo and first soprano.

Section B’ uses the second verse of text but begins with the treble voices for the call. The use of diminished chords in much of the homophonic writing (including the colla parte piano accompaniment) and the descending chromatic line of the alto creates text painting of the “mourning” (example 6.2). The double call and response from section B continues but reverses using the treble voices for the calls and the solo voice for the responses.

165

Example 6.2 “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord,” mm. 44-46

The second subsection of the verse beginning in measure 50 extends the mourning with a fermata in measure 51, the use of whole notes, and an embellished alto countermelody. While the choral writing is duplicated from before, the piano accompaniment uses fuller chords with mostly contrary motion in the outer voices and is not colla parte. Section B’ ends with the last four measures of A’ serving as a recapitulation before the final refrain.

The grandiose section A’’, marked Molto Allargamente, begins on a VI chord which suggests happiness about the vow. This section uses the highest notes of the song in all the choral parts. The solo has the melody with homophonic choral harmonies. The final phrase of this section begins with the only moment of homophony with the solo

(mm. 62-64). This change of texture using perfect unison serves as a declaration of faith.

The piano accompaniment begins with the choral parts then deviates with idiomatic writing for the piano in measures 63 and 64.

166 According to the author, “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord” is of easy difficulty.

The piano accompaniment helps to support the choir with the highly chromatic writing using the harmonic minor scale. Measures 12 through 14 show the uses of chromaticism such as the extended dominant chord (m. 12), use of the raised 6 (m. 13), and augmented sixth chords (m. 14) seen in subsequent sections (example 6.3). Even though the alto sings low G often, those with some difficulty on the lower notes can sing the second-soprano line which may help to balance the treble parts.

Example 6.3 “Done Paid My Vow to the Lord,” mm. 12-16

Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes

“Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” is a setting of an old English air by an unknown composer. It is for unaccompanied mixed choir and was published in 1933 by

J. Fischer & Bro. Dett dedicated it “To my ‘American Choir’ of Station WHAM,

Rochester, N.Y.”

The existing tune is most commonly set to the text “I Heard the Voice of Jesus

Say” by Horatius Bonar (1846). However, the text has also been paired with the text by

Ben Jonson, originally titled “Song. To Celia.” The Assembly Hymn and Song Collection 167 sung for use in chapel, assembly, convocation, or general exercises of schools, normals, colleges, and universities (3rd edition, 1914), Songs of Service for use in the assemblies of young people and older boys and girls (1918), and Seth Parker’s Hymnal (1930) use this text and tune pair but with different harmonizations.

Drink to me only with thine eyes And I will pledge with mine. Or leave a kiss within the cup, And I’ll not ask for win. The thirst that from the south doth rise, Doth ask a drink divine, But might I of Jove’s nectar, sip, I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath, not so much hon’ring thee. As giving it a hope that there, It could not withered be! But thou thereon didst only breathe, And send’s it back to me, Since when it grows and smells I swear not of itself but thee!

The form of the song is A A with a 12-measure introduction (table 6.2). Each section divides into subsections based on the sectional nature of the melody which uses the first eight measures three times constituting subsections 1, 2, and 4.

As he previously set folk songs, Dett uses the existing melody as a cantus firmus with polyphonic lines supporting it. The cantus firmus stays in the highest voice of each subsection. Subsections 1, 2, and 4 have an eighth-note subdivision as the rhythmic motive while subsection 3 uses a quarter-note subdivision.

The introduction, sung completely on a hum, serves as an overture to the song as it comes from the existing melody. The melody of subsection 1, occurring most

168 frequently in the song, is used the most as seen in the soprano (mm. 1-4 and 6), tenor

(mm. 5 & 6), and bass (mm. 9-11) (example 6.4). The descending thirds of the alto and bass in the first measure come from the other eight measures of the melody in subsection 3.

Table 6.2 Formal design of “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” Section Subsections Measures Introduction 1-12 A 13-48 1 13-20 2 21-32 3 33-40 4 41-48 A’ 49-92 1 49-56 2 57-66 3 67-74 4 75-92

Dett further unifies the introduction by using sequences, paired voices, and imitation. The descending thirds first used as a pair between bass and alto appear as sequences through measure 4 in the bass. The melodic skips of the soprano in measure 5 are imitated almost exactly in the alto in measure 6. The alto in measure 8 then imitates the bass figure in measure 7. Also, the ascending scalar line of a minor seventh in the soprano measure 4 is reversed in the tenor in measure 8 to a descending minor seventh.

While each vocal line has independence as evidenced by the differing breath marks, they are not in opposition.

169

Example 6.4 “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,” mm. 1-12

Section A begins with a choral trio of tenor and bass divisi. The cantus firmus is in the tenor while the two bass voices provide a countermelody motive using eighth notes. The first-bass motive is sequenced in measure 14. Example 6.5 shows the plethora

170 of non-chord tones (circled) used to create the countermelody motive which is later as a duet in measure 19.

Example 6.5 “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,” mm. 13 & 14

Subsection 2 has the cantus firmus in the soprano. The tenor doubles the melody at the beginning. The countermelody motive begins in the alto but occurs in all contrapuntal voices, rarely in more than one voice simultaneously. As the soprano sustains the final pitch for five measures, the lower voices use mode mixture to begin their homophonic harmonization of the tonic pitch.

The cantus firmus remains in the soprano for subsection 3. However, Dett continues the homophonic harmonization from the previous section in a three-part texture where the alto divides. This subsection is canonic in nature where the tenor and bass divisi trio begin the canon one measure later. After the short canon, the tenor doubles the melody at the octave for two measures with the same rhythms as the melody but different text.

Section A’ begins similarly as section A. The three-part tenor and bass divisi has the cantus firmus in the tenor. However, the countermelody motive is only suggested

171 by the eighth-note subdivision and descending step of the measure. Also, the harmonies shift the tonal center to the relative minor while maintaining the unaltered melody.

Subsection 2 continues in E minor. While the cantus firmus is in the soprano as before, the eighth-note subdivision occurs in multiple voices simultaneously. Also, the first bass doubles the melody with one change in measure 61. This doubling reinforces the cantus firmus drawing the listener’s attention to the melody while the other voices have more rhythmic lines.

In keeping with the same textural plan, subsection 3 begins similarly with the three-part texture in the soprano and alto. However, instead of a canon, it moves to a four-part mixed texture with more progressive harmonic language using chromaticism.

The final subsection 4 reharmonizes the final phrase of the cantus firmus in the soprano concluding with a deceptive cadence. Several measures of original material connect the end of the cantus firmus melody with a recapitulation of the final four notes of the melody (mm. 87-89). While the song ends with the eighth-note subdivision combined with the original material, measure 87 marks the first measure not at the end of a phrase that does not use a constant rhythmic pulse. However, Dett continues with the use of a quarter note on the second beat of the final measures.

According to the author, “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” is a difficult song in terms of vocal lines, range, and divisi. There are many scalar passages, skips of a third in the contrapuntal lines, and some leaps larger than an octave (tenor – mm. 25,

27; bass – m. 86). While the same melody occurs throughout the song in the same voices, the contrapuntal voices change harmonies and abound with chromaticism and

172 leaps. Also, divisi exists for both alto and bass. The alto divisi is limited mostly to subsections 3. The bass divisi requires the second bass to extend below the staff frequently. A larger bass section may need to be used to balance the bass divisi with the rest of the choir and to be able to successfully cover the divisi in the second bass creating a three-part divisi.

Hew ‘Round the Tree

“Hew ‘Round the Tree” is a setting of a two-tone melody from Dett’s personal collection. The melody of the refrain and verses are F and A flat using similar rhythms and different sets of repeated pitches. Dett set this song for unaccompanied mixed voices and solo for the fourth group of the Dett Collection. In Follow Me, Anne Key

Simpson mentions a setting of “Hew Down the Tree” which uses the same two-tone melody.136

(Refrain) Hew, hew, hew ‘round the tree.

(Verse 1) Yonder tree so wide, so high, Hew, hew, hew ‘round the tree; Where it falls there shall it lie; Hew, hew…

(Verse 2) Wicked man is like the tree, Hew, hew… Great shall his destruction be; Hew, hew…

136 Simpson, Follow Me, 512. 173 The form of the song is A B A (table 6.3). Each A is a refrain which begins with forte dynamics and continues with dim. poco a poco over eight measures until the piano dynamic at the end of each refrain. Section B uses call and response with a solo of any voice type singing the call followed by a choral response.

Table 6.3 Formal design of “Hew ‘Round the Tree” Sections Measures A 1-8 B 9-16 A’ 17-25

Section A has simultaneous duets. The melody is in the soprano with a pedal- tone alto. The tenor-bass countersubject duet begins with a perfect fifth then expands to parallel tenths with chromaticism. The tenor line is pitched above the alto for this refrain. All four-bar phrases use F to E flat melodically in a countersubject voice. This head motive countersubject then continues with a descent to either D flat (bass) or D natural (soprano, tenor). The descending line depicts the hewing process which ends with the tree falling like the wicked man’s destruction described in the second verse.

Section B constitutes both verses with a repeat. The monophonic call uses the two-tone melody with modified rhythms from the refrain. The choral response is the last two measures of the refrain.

The refrain of section A’ uses two different sets of simultaneous duets. For the first four measures, the alto and bass sing the melody in octaves against the soprano- tenor octaves using the head motive countersubject. Measures 17-20 contain Dett’s

174 characteristic descending chromaticism in the soprano-tenor countersubject (example

6.6). In the second four-bar phrase, the melody returns to the soprano with the pedal- tone alto as in section A. The tenor-bass countersubject duet begins with material from measure 5 and 6, has one modification in measure 23, then finishes with the same material as measure 8 (example 6.7). The song ends with the only divisi where the second alto and first tenor have voice crossing.

Example 6.6 “Hew ‘Round the Tree,” mm. 17-20

Example 6.7 “Hew ‘Round the Tree,” mm. 21-24 175 According to the author, “Hew ‘Round the Tree” is of easy difficulty. The melody consists of only two pitches and uses syncopation at the end of each two-bar phrase. Each voice always is in a duet pair with another voice homophonically. The alto line is the easiest having only four pitches and the pedal tone for more than half of the song. The greatest amount of difficulty will be in tuning the descending half steps in the countersubject voices.

I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway

“I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway” is a spiritual setting for three-part treble chorus with piano accompaniment. Dett used the spiritual from his personal collection which is also included in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro. The John Church Company published this setting in 1919. The text of the song is repetitive with the final phrase of each section using a familiar text common to the spiritual “Hush, Somebody’s Calling

My Name.”137

I’m so glad Trouble don’t last alway, (3x) O my Lord, O my Lord! What shall I do!

Make more room, Lord, in my heart for Thee! O my Lord…

The form of the song is A A A (table 6.4) using the same melody in the soprano each time. The piano introduction of each section dovetails the next section by one measure. The first two sections use homophony in the choral writing while the final section uses some polyphony for variation.

137 It was common for different spirituals to share familiar texts and portions of the tunes as the songs were passed down through the oral tradition. 176 Table 6.4 Formal design of “I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway” Sections Measures A 1-20 A’ 21-40 A’’ 41-67

Sections A and A’ have some similarities. Both begin with the same piano introduction to set the mood. The introduction uses no quotes of the spiritual. When the chorus enters, the accompaniment is purely chordal using full chords with added arpeggios for section A’. The use of Quietly and Prayerfully respectively for each section suggests the sacred nature of the setting. The text becomes more personal and introspective in section A’. The only choral difference between the two sections is in the alto in measure 31 while the only change in the accompaniment is the fuller voicing in measure 40.

Section A’’ deviates from the previous sections with the modification of the final measure of the piano introduction where it transitions to the submediant. The accompaniment then has more motion with quarter notes used throughout. This provides variation from section A as they both use the same text. The accompaniment also supports the conjunct countermelodies added to the melody that remains in the soprano. The piano is sometimes colla parte with the lower voice interjections or creates a duet a third (or sixth) away (example 6.8).

The end of the song begins with a secondary dominant with an added ninth in measure 60 preceded by gradual tempo changes. The only change to the melody creates an apex in measure 60. The dovetailed introduction returns as a coda.

177

Example 6.8 “I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway,” mm. 47-50

According to the author, “I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway” is an easy song for most treble-voice choirs. The song uses limited syncopation and conservative ranges (except for one low F for alto which may be taken up the octave, if necessary).

The musical material repeats for the first two sections while the melody repeats for the final section with sparse counterpoint.

O Mary Don’t You Weep

“O Mary Don’t You Weep” is a spiritual Dett harmonized for unaccompanied mixed choir with an incidental solo. C. C. Birchard published this setting in 1919. At only seventeen measures, this is one of Dett’s shortest published octavos. A simpler harmonization of the same spiritual is in Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro.

178 In both the refrain and verses, the melody is in the highest voice (soprano and solo, respectively). The melody of the second half of the refrain ends each verse as is common in some spirituals. The range of the melody is a minor seventh (Eb4-Db5).

The text of the song presents some issues with the fact that it references biblical characters of both the Old and New Testaments in the refrain. Pharaoh enslaved the

Jews who were later freed by Moses while Mary is the mother of Jesus.

(Refrain) O Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn, O Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn, Pharoh’s [sic] army got drowned, O Mary, don’t you weep!

(Verse 1) The way of evil doing is-a wide and far, And many, many, many they who perish there; Pharoh’s army got drowned, O Mary, don’t you weep!

(Verse 2) There was a mighty man who came on earth to save, Thro’ Him are stem the tide of tribulations wave; Pharoh’s army got drowned, O Mary, don’t you weep!

With repeated sections, the form of the song is A B A (table 6.5). Section A is the refrain for chorus. Section B is each verse with solo and chorus. However, some key elements of the form are missing from and/or unclear on the score. In measure 7,

“pause last time only” is not for the repeat of section A. Also, there are two verses and no indication of when to sing the second verse. Therefore, there is an implied return to section A before the second verse. Lastly, the fermata in measure 7 and Fine of measure

8 occur on the final occurrence of section A.

179 Table 6.5 Formal design of “O Mary Don’t You Weep” Sections Measures Text A 1-9 O Mary, don’t you weep… B 10-17 The way of evil doing… A 1-9 O Mary, don’t you weep… B 10-17 There was a mighty man… A 1-9 O Mary, don’t you weep…

Section A is a mostly homophonic harmonization of the refrain. The bass occasionally has some counterpoint consisting of chord skips and passing tones. The text painting of Pharaoh’s army shows Dett’s attention to text. In measure 5, all voices have different rhythms depicting the vast number in his army and how they were scattered when they drowned in the Red Sea (example 6.9).

Example 6.9 “O Mary Don’t You Weep,” mm. 5 & 6

Since the melodic contour of the verse is like that of the refrain, Dett provides contrast in section B by changing the texture using the melody in the solo accompanied by humming. The layered texture begins with alto followed by the bass imitated from 180 the alto. When the tenor enters, it creates a duet with the alto using mostly parallel sixths. The soprano is tacet measures 10 through 13.

When the melody of the refrain returns to end the verse, the soprano reenters with the melody while the lower three voices recapitulate the harmonization of measures 5 through 8. The voice leading is slightly altered, however, with reversed dynamics from before where it now begins fortissimo and ends pianissimo. Also, Dett adds a chromatic half step in the tenor and bass in measure 15 and removes the syncopation in measure 16.

According to the author, “O Mary, Don’t You Weep” is one of Dett’s most accessible songs. There is repetition of musical material between both sections, limited range in all voices, and limited chromaticism exclusively approached and resolved by step. Lastly, the conservative use of counterpoint reduces the chance of rhythmic issues as homophony prevails in the song.

There’s a Meeting Here To-night

“There’s a Meeting Here To-night” is a setting of the spiritual for three-part treble chorus and soprano solo with piano accompaniment. It was published by The

John Church Company in 1921. Dett dedicated it to the Cecilia Society of Boston,

Massachusetts. This spiritual references one’s “daily walk” and reaching Heaven while reminding them about a forthcoming meeting. The meeting could be a religious gathering or serve a double purpose letting the slaves know about a planned meeting to escape from a plantation.

181 (Refrain) Get you ready, There’s a meeting here tonight, Come along, There’s a meeting here tonight; I know you by your daily walk, There’s a meeting here tonight.

(Verse 1) My heavenly breth’ren, How do you do? There’s a meeting here tonight; And does your love continue true? There’s a meeting here tonight.

(Verse 2) You say you’ve set out for the skies, There’s a meeting here tonight; Why don’t you stop your telling lies? There’s a meeting here tonight.

The form of the song is A A B A B A A with a brief piano introduction (table 6.6).

Each A is a variation of the refrain using call and response with the melody in the first soprano and solo. The solo sings the response with the chorus. Both B sections are the verses continuing the call and response between the solo and chorus but without the doubling by the solo in the response.

Table 6.6 Formal design of “There’s a Meeting Here To-night” Section Measures Text Introduction 1-4 n/a A 5-11 Refrain A’ 12-19 Refrain B 20-27 Verse 1 A 28-35 Refrain B’ 36-43 Verse 2 A 44-51 Refrain A’’ 52-64 Refrain

182 Section A begins and ends with homophony which serves as text painting for the

“meeting.” The homophonic choral responses are mostly diatonic with the chromaticism mostly limited to the chordal accompaniment. The piano doubles the alto’s stepwise countermelody in measures 8 and 9. The second soprano imitates the first beat of the alto countermelody then continues with a duet of parallel thirds

(example 6.10).

Example 6.10 “There’s a Meeting Here To-night,” mm. 8 & 9

While section A’ continues with the use of the countermelody duet and call and response, the piano accompaniment is pitched higher. Also, instead of homophony in the responses, there is a new countermelody with the second soprano and alto. Using

“Hallelu,” this duet has longer note values than in the previous section and crosses

183 above the melody. When the countermelody duet returns in measure 16, it has different text while the piano doubles both parts.

Sections B and B’ are more expressive than the refrains. The piano accompaniment which does not double the solo marked meno mosso and più espress. uses more chromaticism than in the refrain. The second verse has parallel descending chromaticism (example 6.11). A fermata punctuates each two-bar phrase.

Example 6.11 “There’s a Meeting Here To-night,” mm. 36 & 37

After a return of section A, the final refrain (section A’’) is the most expressive of all sections. While the melody remains in the first soprano, there is no solo for the call and response. The full chorus sings the refrain homophonically. The piano accompaniment expands from the rhythmic echoes of repeated sixteenth notes in

184 previous sections to a melody using continuous sixteenth notes. In the penultimate phrase beginning in measure 56, the rhythms are augmented with chordal accompaniment using full chords. This phrase also has the only divisi in the song and a characteristic descending chromatic alto line. After echoes in the piano over four octaves, the final phrase has the only modification to the melody and uses homophonic, similar motion.

According to the author, “There’s a Meeting Here To-night” has many elements that categorize it as an easy song. There is limited use of chromaticism in the vocal writing and piano doubling. The homophony and repetition of rhythms, melodies, and countermelodies aid in faster learning by the ensemble. The use of some notes in the lower range of the alto and second soprano may be better achieved by an ensemble with more developed vocal ranges.

Wasn’t That a Mighty Day?

“Wasn’t That a Mighty Day?” is the only spiritual in Dett’s oeuvre listed specifically as an arrangement on the score. In 1933, G. Schirmer published this arrangement for unaccompanied mixed chorus with alto and baritone incidental solos.

While there is a separate baritone line for the first nine measures, Dett indicates on the score that “this number can be performed by a Solo Quartet by omitting the first eight measures.” If using this option, the baritone line of measure 9 should be omitted as seen in the rehearsal piano part.

The melody is from Dett’s personal collection. In this arrangement, the refrain melody is in the baritone and soprano while the verse melody is in the alto and bass

185 which can be sung as solos. The text of the verses and refrains are likely from the spiritual. However, the melody and text of the bass in the final four measures is likely original as the tune does not use 7 or the AA rhyme scheme of the verses.

(Refrain) Wasn’t that a mighty day (3x) When Jesus Christ was born? (So lowly!)

(Verse 1) God sent Jesus into this world to come as a little child; In a manger they laid Him low, And His mother was both meek and mild. (O bow low!)

(Verse 2) Those shepherds heard that angel song, It come down from the sky: “Peace on earth good will to men,” And the heavens join in the cry, (All singing:)

…of Mary, a virgin; and because there was no room in the inn, she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger!

The form of the song is A A B A B A A (table 6.7) where each section A is a refrain and each section B is a verse. This ternary form mirrors the form of “There’s a

Meeting Here To-night” with the repeated refrains.

The refrain of section A uses a three-part texture. The melody, marked mezzo forte, is in the baritone. The counterpoint in the tenor and bass is mostly homophonic with disjunct lines in measures 4 and 5. All voices have the same gradations of dynamics with a final crescendo at the end.

186 Table 6.7 Formal design of “Wasn’t That a Mighty Day?” Sections Measures Text A 1-8 Refrain A’ 9-16 Refrain B 17-24 Verse 1 A’ 25-32 Refrain B’ 33-40 Verse 2 A’ 41-48 Refrain A’’ 49-61 Refrain

Section A’ has the melody in the soprano. It begins with chordal accompaniment in the lower three voices with the basses in unison. The tenor and bass unison in measure 12 imitates the melody from the previous measure. The next two measures repeat the musical material that began this section with a final homophony of all voices.

The three-part texture returns in sections B and B’. In section B, the melody is in the alto with a tenor-bass duet accompaniment at the third and sixth using even quarter and eighth notes to contrast the syncopations of the melody. The melody of section B’ is in the bass with a soprano-alto duet accompaniment that begins with a hum. This accompaniment quickly moves from half notes to quarter notes to eighth notes with the text echoing the melody.

Section A’’ increases the intensity of the refrain. Linked by “Hallelujah” in measure 48 with fermatas and marked molto allarg., it keeps the melody in the soprano but set an octave higher. It begins homophonically at higher pitch levels for all voices.

Also, the final phrase uses augmented rhythms with fermatas in measures 56 and 57.

Dett provides a note saying that the optional divisi can be sung in measure 57 if using a

187 large chorus. The song ends with a quickly-moving, mostly conjunct, original bass melody marked rapido e con fervore using the only triplets in the song.

According to the author, “Wasn’t That a Mighty Day” is of moderate difficulty.

There are disjunct contrapuntal lines in accompanimental voices. The soprano line in measure 39 with quick and large leaps is more instrumental than vocal. While the verses have some high notes, the final refrain is set in the upper part of the range for all voices for most of the section. The repeated refrains and the use of unaltered melodies balance the difficulty of the disjunct lines and use of extreme ranges.

188 CHAPTER 7

ORIGINAL MUSIC

This chapter discusses the music with no known existing tunes. The eleven songs in this chapter are rather diverse. Six songs use sacred text including one Latin motet.

Dett chose different types of text. Four songs use existing poetry; three songs use original text by Dett; two songs use text traditionally associated with hymns; and one uses text from the Bible. The five songs for treble voices are for unaccompanied choir and were published while he worked at Bennett College including one song written specifically for the school.

America the Beautiful

“America the Beautiful” is a part-song written for unaccompanied mixed voices.

J. Fischer & Bro. published it in 1918. It uses a traditional patriotic text written by

Katherine Lee Bates first completed in 1893.138 Dett’s attention to text is evidenced by the open octaves in the first two measures for the “spacious skies” and the running eighth notes in measure 15 on for the “sea.” Also, the apex of the melody is on the second “America” in measure 10 where all verses have the same text.

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee,

138 “America the Beautiful,” Library of Congress, accessed March 21, 2018, https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000001/. 189 And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw Confirm thy soul in self control Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for glorious tale Of liberating strife When valiantly for man’s avail Men lavished precious life. America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot’s dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea.

The song is a series of four four-bar phrases. In the second phrase of this homophonic setting, the bass movement mostly aligns with the harmonic rhythm of a whole note. The stepwise motion of the bass in the final phrases creates more intensity towards the end of the song. Example 7.1 shows the song in its entirety as it is only 16 measures.

The strophic setting of the four verses of the poem using homophony and conservative ranges shows that Dett did not intend this song for thunderous applause

190

Example 7.1 “America the Beautiful”

but as an accessible setting of the familiar poem. The only expressive markings are two accents and one crescendo. However, there are no dynamics printed.

191 Ascapezzo

“Ascapezzo” is an unaccompanied part-song for SSAA choir with divisi. The title is inspired by its dedicatee, Gene Buck, president of ASCAP (American Society of

Composers, Authors and Publishers). J. Fischer & Bro. published the song in 1940. The text by Dett is atmospheric and descriptive about music and the soul’s desire to express.

All stanzas use an ABAB rhyme scheme. The song is mostly a syllabic setting of Dett’s poetry with typically no more than two notes per syllable in the melody.

Begin, my soul, those lofty themes Of inspiration born, God calling thee from holy dreams, To glories of the morn;

Sing of the rosy, vibrant ray, Flung from the robes of night, Who, late-star gath’ring, hastes away From dawn’s pervading light.

Sing of the silent, dreaming lake, Beneath a golden sun, Of music sweet that zephyrs make, The rushreeds playing on.

Sing of the awful avalanche, When loosened mountains roar, As rock and pebble, root and branch, Down thund’ring canyons pour!

Unwind, my soul, the cosmic lines, Command to thy control Each flame, till round thee rapturous shines Sweet music’s aureole!

And hymn thee, too, of our estate, The hopes and fears of men, What love, what grief, alas, what hate Has filled our hearts, and then,

192 Haste to declare thy soul-born themes, Cast ev’ry fear away; Boldly proclaim what in thy dreams, Thy God dost bid thee say.

The form of the song is A B A with two subsections per section (table 7.1). All subsections 2 repeat lines of their respective stanzas while subsections 1 do not. The song begins on a major third with an immediate departure to the extreme ends of the treble-voice ranges (first soprano – G5, second alto – E3). However, they both extend further later in the song. While the low D for the second alto in measure 7 is characteristic for Dett’s vocal writing for unaccompanied treble choirs, it sits far below the normal range for vocal writing. Subsection 2 repeats and elaborates on musical material from measure 9 and 10 and measures 13 through 16.

Table 7.1 Formal design of “Ascapezzo” Sections Subsections Measures Text A 1-20 1 1-8 Stanza 1 2 9-20 Stanza 2 B 21-60 1 21-28 Stanza 3 2 29-60 Stanzas 4 & 5 A’ 61-88 1 61-68 Stanza 6 2 69-88 Stanza 7

Section B’s unifying features are measures of similar motion and repeated notes against scalar passages. Measure 23 imitates measure 21 where the melody is a step higher. The pedal tone remains in the first soprano. Subsection 2 continues the use of repeated notes but with doubled divisi at the octave between first soprano and first alto. 193 The second soprano and second alto begin with octave doubling of the countermelody.

Measures 33 and 34 repeat these features.

The “thund’ring canyons” are represented in measures 35 through 40 (example

7.2). The descending parallel triads (m. 35) are the falling of water in a canyon. The repeated text in measures 37 through 40 is the first instance where a line repeats immediately imitating echoes that occur in a canyon. Also, measure 37 transposes the previous melody down an octave with octave displacement at the end. Lastly, the final homophony through measure 40 with dissonance on the extended chord represent the intensity of the “thund’ring canyons.”

Subsection 2 continues with the next two-bar phrase imitated three times. The final measures then incorporate the first use of eighth-note triplets and polyphony. The triplets then augment in the second soprano in measure 57 with an inverted imitation in the first alto in the subsequent measure.

Section A’ begins with the same musical material as section A. However, Dett adds a fermata in measure 74 at the end of the phrase. Also, it is the opinion of the author that the third beat of measure 74 in the second soprano is missing an accidental to match measure 14. Measure 77 marks the musical departure from section A. The beginning melody is reminiscent of measure 14. However, the lower voices have different voice leading and use more polyphony.

The song’s conclusion begins in measure 81, marked più allarg. This is in addition to the inherent allargando because of the longer note values where the chorus has the first use of repeated half notes. The subsequent Allegro with unison lines continues with

194

Example 7.2 “Ascapezzo,” mm. 35-40a

harmony in the repeated melody before the final Molto allargamente with separated eighth notes ending with the full divisi marked fortissimo.

195 According to the author, “Ascapezzo” is a difficult song. It requires a large chorus to balance the divisi in all voices except second alto. Also, the second alto line sits in the lowest part of the treble voice rarely going above middle C.

Ask for the Old Paths

“Ask for the Old Paths” is an anthem for unaccompanied mixed voices with tenor solo and incidental tenor and bass solos which may be performed by the chorus.

Mills Music published it in 1941. The text is from Jeremiah 6:16 (KJV) and omits the last sentence of the verse where the children of Benjamin ignore God’s decree. The text speaks of the “old paths” where they will find peace by following the “good way.” The use of fugue directly relates to the old style (“old paths”) as was common with composers using the stile antico such as the Classical and Romantic composers who paid homage to their predecessors.

Thus saith the Lord, “Stand ye in the ways and see and Ask For The Old Paths,139 where is the good way, and walk there in and ye shall find rest for your souls.

The form of the song is A B C (table 7.2). Section A serves as an introduction. The tenor solo represents the Lord as evidenced by the text following “Thus saith the Lord.”

The chorus precedes the solo with divisi on the first word beginning on IV announcing

God’s presence. Beginning in measure 3, the choir responds with truncations of what the Lord says. The choir also adds depth in texture through homophony augmenting the voice of the Lord which is commonly set as a bass. The descending lines with

139 The capitalization from the score emphasizes the title text. 196 chromaticism and longer note values than before begin in measure 9 before settling to a place of rest (text painting) on V in measure 17 (example 7.3).

Table 7.2 Formal design of “Ask for the Old Paths” Sections Subsection Measures Text A 1-17 Thus saith the Lord… B 18-68 Ask For The Old Paths… 1 18-51 2 52-68 C 69-112 and ye shall find rest… 1 69-84 2 85-92 3 93-112

Section B begins with a fugato marked Andante con moto. This walking tempo represents the path. The bass begins the fugato with the subject on an off-beat entrance

(example 7.4). The apexes of the first two phrases are on the descriptors “Old” and

“good.” The apex of the subject is on the word “good” with an accent. The tenor follows with a real answer. After the alto entry with the subject, the soprano’s answer is accompanied by alto homophony creating a duet. While the subject reenters only once in the bass, Dett uses the first two phrases as motives used in the soprano in measures

38, 43, and 45 and in the tenor in measure 48.

After the fugato, section B continues with call and response between the tenor and bass solos respectively and the chorus. The bass solo’s melody in measure 59 begins an octave lower than the tenor solo’s entrance in measure 51.

After the polyphony of the fugato and homophony of the call and response, Dett changes the texture again using homophony to close section B. This unison has a leap 197

Example 7.3 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 9-17

Example 7.4 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 18-21a 198 for the alto in measure 64 to avoid the F5. The bass, however, doubles the tenor on F4 in the same measure. This subsection does, however, have augmented seconds, a diminished fourth, and a major ninth (example 7.5).

Example 7.5 “Ask for the Old Paths,” soprano, mm. 63-67

Marked Molto tranquillo ed dolce, Section C is the section focused on rest. It begins in G major after section B tonicized G minor at the end. The opening measures change the texture from the monophonic line that ended the previous section to an antiphonal call and response between the upper and lower voices with divisi. After the call using

“and ye shall find rest for your souls,” the lower voices use the rhythmic motive from the fugato for the response (example 7.6). After a second call and response, the full choir finishes this subsection in homophony with and alto-tenor duet in parallel motion at the sixth where the alto has a descending chromatic line like the bass movement. The call and response from measures 51 through 55 return in subsection 2 in G minor as before.

The fugato subject returns in subsection 3. All voices sing it in their appropriate octave with dovetailed entrances every two measures. The subject remains in the tonic key. After the fortissimo with the same divisi from the opening chord, the song ends with a gradual decrescendo over the final measures.

199

Example 7.6 “Ask for the Old Paths,” mm. 68-72

According to the author, “Ask for the Old Paths” is of moderate difficulty. The use of homophony balances the polyphony of the fugato. While there are some notes in the upper register of the tenor, there are not as many in the soprano above the staff.

Also, the augmented seconds and awkward leaps in subsection 2 of section B are uncommon in Dett’s music.

Ave Maria

On their European tour, the Hampton Choir toured Mozart’s tomb and the

Cathedral of Salzburg. When their tour guide asked them to sing, he lowered his voice when requesting that they not sing jazz. Dett, being a devout Christian, was hesitant to perform as people were in the cathedral praying. However, he decided to have the choir perform “Ave Maria.” After they left the church, the tour guide asked whose setting it was. Dett quietly replied, “Mine.”140

140 Dett, “Musical Invasion,” 90. 200 “Ave Maria” is an unaccompanied motet for mixed voices with baritone solo.

The traditional Latin text is a Catholic prayer to the virgin Mary. G. Schirmer originally published the song in 1930. However, Hinshaw Music now prints the edition with an

English text, not a translation, by Frederick H. Martens.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus frutas ventres tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, mater Dei, Ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

This through-composed motet (table 7.3) is somewhat uncharacteristic of Dett in that there is only one motive in the song used sparingly. The soprano introduces the motive in the first two measures. This motive appears later in the bass with simultaneous imitation in the soprano and alto (mm. 32-34), in the alto (mm. 39-41), and in the bass (mm. 42 & 43). Two other unifying features include the initial pitches of all entrances in section C and the many scalar passages (tenor and bass – mm. 1-3, tenor – mm. 9-12 with octave displacement, alto and tenor – mm. 11 & 12, alto and bass – mm.

14-16, bass – m. 16-18).

Table 7.3 Formal design of “Ave Maria” Sections Measures Text A 1-8 Ave Maria… B 9-16 benedicta tu… C 17-24 Sancta Maria… D 25-32 Ave Maria… E 33-52 Ave Maria…

According to the author, “Ave Maria” is of moderate difficulty. Section A exploits the low register of all voices while section E has the apex of the soprano melody

201 with a preceding arpeggio. There are optional first-bass octaves (mm. 15, 16, 28, 31) if the pitches are too low. Section B has several minor-seventh leaps (tenor – m. 10, bass, m. 12, tenor m. 15). The bass leap is preceded by a major-sixth leap in the opposite direction. The song ends with the tenor sustaining the final “amen” above the soprano on middle C. Throughout the motet, Dett uses short tonicizations quickly moving from one tonal center to another.

Finally, when interpreting the song, Dett marks “Ave Maria” as Molto moderate e con espressione. He ensures expression with many hairpins and ritardandos accompanied with diminuendos at cadences. Traditionally, conductors add a fermata on the third beat of measure 8. The song concludes with the baritone solo, marked con espress. ma recitando, chanting several lines of text on a single pitch over different chords with a descending, chromatic bass line. The solo chant is reminiscent of preachers in some black churches who intone the end of their sermons while an organist accompanies with various improvised chords.

City of God

“City of God” is an anthem for mixed voices with piano accompaniment. There are incidental solos for soprano, mezzo soprano, and baritone (or tenor). The anthem is dedicated to Reverend Richard Lungren of Rock Spring, Wyoming. J. Fischer & Bro. published it in 1941. The text by Samuel Johnson from 1860 most commonly appears with the hymn tunes RICHMOND and NOX PRAECISSIT.

City of God, how broad and far Outspread thy walls sublime!

202 The true, thy chartered free-men are, Of ev'ry age and clime.

How gleam thy watch-fires through the night, With never fainting ray! How rise thy towers, Serene and bright, To meet the dawning day!

How purely hath thy speech come down, From man’s primeval youth! How grandly hath thine empire grown, Of freedom, love, and truth! In vain the surge’s angry shock, In vain the drifting sands; Unharmed upon th’eternal Rock Th’eternal city stands.

The form of the song is A B A with a four-measure piano introduction (table 7.4).

Both subsections of section A use the same melody, first in the baritone solo then in the soprano. Subsection 2 harmonizes the melody with similar motion between pairs of voices.

Table 7.4 Formal design of “City of God” Sections Subsections Measures Text Introduction 1-4 n/a A 5-20 1 5-12 Stanza 1 2 13-20 Stanza 2 B 21-38 1 21-29 Stanza 3 2 30-38 Stanza 4 A’ 39-87 1 39-46 Stanza 1 2 47-87 Stanzas 1 & 4

203 In section B, both subsections begin with a solo (mezzo soprano and baritone respectively) followed by a choral response using the next line of text. The choral response of measure 22 serves as a new call where the solo dovetails the response where the chorus and solo finish simultaneously (example 7.7). Also, the monophonic choral responses support the text “primeval” which suggests basic and simple. The second and third calls and responses (mm. 22-29) begin with the same off-beat entrance using three eighth notes which then form the eighth-note triplet (m. 28) used as a rhythmic motive in the piano (mm. 28 & 29) and in the chorus and piano in subsection

2. Subsection 2 follows a similar pattern with the dovetailed calls and responses.

The melody of section A returns in section A’ but as a soprano solo with a similar piano accompaniment and baritone solo countermelody. The first three beats of the melody serve as the motive of subsection 2 (“City of God” motive) seen in four consecutive pairs of soprano-alto and tenor-bass beginning in measure 47. The eighth- note triplets also return but not in the descending pattern as in section B. They do, however, predominate measures 53 through 56 in the chorus and continue through measure 69 in the piano.

In measure 67, the texture changes from polyphony and paired voices to homophony through the end of the song. A brief, unaccompanied soprano solo crescendos through half notes preceding the text painting of “how broad and far Out- spread thy walls, sublime” using half notes exclusively, open voicing in the choir, full chords in the piano, and divisi on the final chord of the phrase in measures 77. The

“City of God” motive returns in measure 78 and 79 where the upper and lower voices

204 are paired in similar motion with an ascending scalar bass line. The piano then echoes the soprano-alto pair before the final choral phrase. The song ends with a combination

Example 7.7 “City of God,” mm. 22-29

205 of the “City of God” motive and triplet arpeggios in the piano underneath a sustained tonic triad in the chorus.

When considering the difficulty of “City of God,” the use of piano, repeated melody, monophonic passages, and limited use of divisi and extreme vocal ranges make the anthem of moderate difficulty.

Hampton! My Home by the Sea

“Hampton! My Home by the Sea” is a patriotic part song for unaccompanied mixed voices dedicated to “All lovers of Hampton.” In the early years of Dett’s appointment at Hampton, the school published this setting of original text in 1914.

Hampton University’s nickname is “Our Home by the Sea” as the school is located on the Hampton/Newport News peninsula.

(Verse 1) When the glorious day has paled away, Great moons in splendor shine, At Hampton; Hark! how sweetly on the air, Then the bells of evening chime! At Hampton! Now, the night o’erflown with gladness, Pours its joy from shore to shore; The dreaming waters sparkle, And old caves of ocean roar! All the world is filled with music Echo answers o’er an do’er, “Hampton!”

(Refrain) Shout, shout the chorus, o’er mountain, vale, and plain, The noble deeds, the hearts that would be free! Then, in a sweeter, yet more tender strain, Sing Hampton, my home by the sea!

206

(Verse 2) As a dove in flight, so flies the night, The stars fade o’er the brim, At Hampton; How the soul is stirred within, As we sign each old, old hymn! At Hampton! Say, what is the spell of magic That doth ev'rywhere abound? What tones divinely tragic, Ring with high celestial sound! ’Tis the blood of all “The Martyr’d Faithful” crying from the ground, “Hampton!”

In similar fashion to “America the Beautiful,” this song is a strophic setting of the two verses. However, there is a refrain. The form of the song is A B (table 7.5). The first subsection of section A uses two calls and responses with both being punctuated by “At

Hampton.” In the responses, the lower voices imitate the rhythm of the upper voices.

While not referencing any spirituals, this song is influenced by spirituals with the subtle syncopations and use of call and response.

Table 7.5 Formal design of “Hampton! My Home by the Sea” Sections Subsections Measures Text A 1-16 Verse 1 1 1-8 When the glorious day… 2 9-16 Now the night o’erflown… B 17-24 Refrain A 1-16 Verse 2 1 1-8 As a dove in flight… 2 9-16 Say, what is the spell… B 17-24 Refrain

207 In Follow Me, Anne Key Simpson considers the song to be in “typical barbershop and old timey Glee Club sytle.” This is seen in the chromatic passing tones in the alto and tenor (example 7.8). Also, the successive use of secondary dominants creates the characteristic descending chromaticism (example 7.9). The use of homophony, conservative vocal ranges, and limited syncopation makes “Hampton! My Home by the

Sea” an easy song.

Example 7.8 “Hampton! My Home by the Sea,” mm. 1 & 2

Example 7.9 “Hampton! My Home by the Sea,” mm. 15-16a

Juba

The fifth movement of In the Bottoms, “Dance-Juba,” is Dett’s most famous piano piece. It quickly gained success after Percy Grainger’s many performances on recitals.

Dett’s original dedication of the suite is “To My Friends The Honourable and Mrs. Fred 208 H. Goff This Suite is Gratefully Dedicated.” After Clayton F. Summy Co. published the suite in 1913, Dett’s choral transcription for mixed voices and piano with incidental soprano solo was published by the same company in 1934.

In his dissertation on Dett’s piano suites, Clipper Erickson writes that “Dance-

Juba” was inspired by the dancing of some of Dett’s students at Lane College which resembled the New Orleans dance of the same name. He later shows that the left and right hand parts of the piano mimic the dancing and fiddle, respectively, associated with the dance. “A foot stomp, followed by two quick hand claps, is represented in the left hand, the fiddle part in fourths in the right.”141 As with each movement of the suite and the suite as a whole, Dett wrote the following program notes for “Dance-Juba:”

Dance - This is probably the most characteristic number of the Suite, as it portrays more of the social life of the people. “Juba” is the stamping on the ground with the foot and following it with two staccato pats of the hands in two- four time. At least one-third of the dancers keep time in this way, while the others dance. Sometimes all will combine together in order to urge on a solo dancer to more frantic (and at the same time more fantastic) endeavors. The orchestra usually consists of a single “fiddler,” perched high on a box or table; who, forgetful of self in the rather hilarious excitement of the hour, does the impossible in the way of double stopping and bowing...A word of warning cannot be suppressed in regard to the tempo of the "Dance." Do not take it too fast! Much of the dancing in the bottoms is done with a grace and finish that a Presto tempo never could suggest.142

The choral part-song, “Juba,” uses the original piano part and adds original text by the composer. The text describes the life of King Juba and the dancing of the people in celebration of their “sweet” life. Included in the poetry are the nonsense words

“rattattat,” “patapat,” and “trrrattattat” imitating the sounds of drums and feet

141 Erickson, “Piano Suites,” 86. 142 Dett, The Collected Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett (Evanston, IL: Summy- Birchard, 1973), 42. 209 stomping. The prevailing rhyme schemes are ABAB and AABBCCD(D). The strong and weak beats of the music match both the metric pulses of the poetry.

A thousand years since, more or less, So runs the legend true; King Juba ruled in happiness, As real kings seldom do.

And Africa loved Juba well, For he was glad and gay; Not worrying a bagatelle, Save for to dance and play.

Rattattat! Boom! Now strikes King Juba’s drum; Rattattat! Boom! Now quick the dancers come; Rattattat! Boom! They all join in a ring; Rattattat! Boom! And loud they clap and sing. Rattattat! Boom! They dancing, swing and sway, Rattattat! Boom! More wild the drummers play; Happy Juba is the mater of the holiday.

Rattattat! Boom! In the dust a dancer fell; Rattattat! Boom! Leaps again with frenzied yell. Rattattat! Boom! Faster, faster moves the ring; Rattattat! Boom! Pitapat, Each foot a-fling; Rattattat! Boom! Ragged rhythm now holds sway; Rattattat! Rattles and marimbas play; Juba dancing, Juba praising in a high hey-day.

And Juba sings that life is sweet, A merry monarch, he; When drum and arimba rhythmic beat A jingle jungle jubilee.

What a merry, merry court has Juba, And how very, very sportive, Juba, Bead and fuzzy feather, Shaking all together, Big and little drum, End and middle drum, Beating patapat, Rattattat.

210 Beat the drum, boom, Ev’ry one, zoom, On that stump, Give a thump,

Juba! What a happy Juba! King Juba dancing, Tripping, prancing,

Never was there such a king, before, Nor since the day, when Juba made himself The prince of frolicking, By ruling, rollicking, And measure all the day.

Bang the tam, bam, Chuck the jug, thug, Dusty feet Must repeat Each rhythmic beat.

Round with a happy fling, Bound in a happy ring, On, Juba dancing.

A bass drum like a tuba, Keeps time with dancing Juba; Trrrattattat, A poohbah. And round and round the circle goes, With bobbing heads and tinkling toes; While Juba, King of dance and song Is gayest of the throng.

Then, all hail to Juba, happy king, Great banisher of woes; Whose soul is in the dancing ring, Whose heart is in his toes.

Dance, Juba, dance! What a celebration Of the Africanish nation, With the tintinnabulation, Syncopated jubilation! Hail, King Juba! Hail!

211 The form of the song is A B A C A A with a four-measure piano introduction using the first four measures of the left hand part as an extended Introduction (table

7.6). The most challenging aspect of the compositional process for Dett was creating vocal lines to complement the melody already written in the original piano version. In addition to the completely original melodies, Dett also derives portions of the soprano lines from the piano part as seen in section A (examples 7.10, 7.11). When the musical material repeats in measures 13 through 20, syncopation is added. Also, the first phrase of the melody transfers to the tenor and is initially doubled by the bass in measure 13.

Table 7.6 Formal design of “Juba” Sections Measures Text Introduction 1-4 n/a A 5-20 A thousand years since… B 2-48 Rattattat! Now strikes… A’ 49-56 And Juba sings… C 57-74 Juba! What a happy… A’’ 75-90 A bass drum… A 91-98 All hail… Coda 99-121 Dance, Juba, dance…

Example 7.10 “Juba, mm. 11 & 12, soprano, piano

212

Example 7.11 “Juba,” m. 16, soprano, piano

Section B, in the dominant key of C major, uses a three-part texture in the beginning where the bass has the melody from the left hand of the piano accompanied by a dialogue between the tenor and treble voices (example 7.12). The treble-voice divisi is from the piano and represents the shakers or jewelry worn by those striking the drum which is represented by new material in the tenor. The unison bass accompanied by octaves and sixteenth notes in the left hand provide weight and intensity to the ascending melody in a low register imitating a melodic drum.

Example 7.12 “Juba,” mm. 20b-24, chorus

213 When the accompaniment repeats beginning in measure 35, Dett adds more text to the texture. The melody is in the first soprano with harmony in the second soprano and alto. The second-bass melody is in contrary motion while the tenor and first bass are voiced using the left hand of the piano followed by the mostly stationary “booms” as the tenors had before. Section B ends with the same musical material in measures 33 and 34. The truncated section A returns in measure 49 in the tonic key but using the second half of the first section A as section A’.

Section C, in the predominant key of B-flat major, is the only section of four-part polyphony (example 7.13). When the piano part crosses hands, the right hand has the melody below the left hand. However, Dett gives most of the text to the alto countermelody. The alto and tenor countermelodies and bass melody are from the three voices of the piano while the soprano part is a descant. All the vocal lines are in a low tessitura.

The only section in a minor key is section A’’ in the parallel minor of section C.

The musical material, however, is based on section A. In section A’’, the chorus sings off-beat affirmations using “Ewei, Eyei” which are, as Dett wrote on the score, “African words meaning ‘Yes, yes,’ or ‘That’s so’ or the equivalent.” While the bass part can easily be mapped from the left hand of the piano, the solo melody has no derivation from the piano. Section C ends with a brief four-measure transition in C major imitating material from section A. The final return of section A in the tonic key is truncated with the addition of a soprano obbligato on a high C with a brief doubling of the piano part in measure 94.

214

Example 7.13 “Juba,” mm. 62-66

The Coda begins with off-beat entrances by all voices with an alto-bass and soprano-tenor dialogue in unison for each pair. After four measures, it changes the dialogue to upper-voice and lower-voice pairs in parts. The two dialogues have a crescendo from piano until the forte homophony in measure 107. The rhythmic drive of the dialogues continues by using repeated sixteenth notes in the chorus replacing the piano’s sixteenth-note rhythms from the previous measures. The divisi in the upper voices supports the upper register of the piano part in measures 107 through 110. The song ends with a gradual rhythmic diminution in the chorus as the piano part descends before a final “Hail! Eyei!”

215 According to the author, “Juba” is the most difficult song in Dett’s oeuvre. The mostly disjunct vocal writing and extreme ranges including the many pitches above the staff for the soprano contribute to the taxing nature of the song. There is also a lot of text which is, however, almost an exclusive syllabic text setting. Lastly, the fast tempo may present some issues with the syncopations.

The Lamb

“The Lamb” is an idyll for unaccompanied SSA choir. Dett learned portions of

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” as a child for recitation.143 This is likely from where he learned the term and later used it as a description for this song. Dett dedicated it to Mr. Davidson Taylor. It was published in 1938 by J. Fischer & Bro. The text is from one of William Blake’s most famous poems.

Little lamb who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Gave thee life, and bid thee feed By the stream and o’er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee; He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a lamb. He is meek, and he is mild, He became a little child. I a child, and thou a lamb,

143 Dett, “From Bell Stand to Throne Room: A Remarkable Autobiographical Interview with the Eminently Successful American Negro Composer,” The Black Perspective in Music 1, no. 1 (Spring 1973): page-page, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214129 216 We are called by His name. Little lamb, God bless thee!

The form of the song is A A (table 7.7). This through-composed, syllabic setting is mostly homophonic and homorhythmic. Sequences occur frequently and follow the rhyme scheme. Section A begins in E minor on an inverted half-diminished seventh chord in relatively close intervals on the text “Little.” The second two-bar phrase is a slight variation of the previous phrase. The second set of phrases have a descending chromatic line in the alto against the mostly static soprano lines.

Table 7.7 Formal design of “The Lamb” Sections Measures Text A 1-25 Stanza 1 A’ 26-56 Stanza 2

Section A uses many sets of paired voices. The two sopranos have parallel motion in measures 5 through 8 followed by duetting thirds in the second soprano and alto. This later expands to descending parallel diatonic triads in measures 13 through

16. Additionally, the sequences in section A continue in the paired voices as well.

Example 7.14 shows two sets of duets and sequences. Also, the even eighth-note rhythms that contrast the dotted eighth and sixteenth notes from the previous measures create the contrast coupled with tranquillo in measure 9.

In measure 17, the first two lines of text return with the same rhythms (sixteenth notes and syncopation) in the first soprano. This contrasts the evenly distributed rhythms in the second soprano and alto recapitulated from measures 9 through 12. The

217

Example 7.14 “The Lamb,” mm. 7-12

final repetition of “who made thee” reinforces the question with longer rhythmic values and ends on a half cadence.

While the questions of the first stanza are in the minor mode of section A, the answers and subsequent blessing are in the parallel major mode of section A’. Dett brings back the use of sixteenth notes and syncopation followed by even eighth notes.

However, he then creates tonal instability through chromaticism beginning in measure

30. Here, the alto has ascending chromatic lines, in a very low register, uncharacteristic of the descending lines that Dett favors (example 7.15). Measure 36 also breaks from the rhythmic sequencing based on rhyme scheme. The instability resolves to a suggested tonicization of vi in measure 37 but has a major chord. The anacrusis of measure 40 through measure 41 are an imitation of the previous two full measures in C-sharp minor, the relative minor of E major, which is how he returns to the tonic of section A’.

Example 7.15 “The Lamb,” mm. 30-33 218 When the poem reaches the blessing on the text “God bless thee,” the first soprano sings the apex of the melody with contrapuntal lines beneath it. The final measures of the song use the text “Little lamb, God bless thee” with “little lamb” repeated seven times for text declamation. The first repetition repeats the text but with embellishments. The subsequent lines ascend using parallel triads and shorter rhythmic values for intensity and drive to the end of the song.

According to the author, “The Lamb” is a moderately difficult song. While sequences and repeated rhythms occur frequently, the low register for the alto for most of the song is not for developing voices. Also, the highly chromatic passages may present tuning issues in the rehearsal. And advanced treble-voice choir will likely have more success.

Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows

“Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows” is a hymn anthem for unaccompanied

SSAA choir. J. Fischer & Bro. published this setting in 1938. The text by Paul Gerhardt, written in 1648, is mostly commonly paired with the hymn tune INNSBRUCK. It follows the rhyme scheme AABCCB. Unlike “The Lamb,” the musical material does not match the rhyme scheme where most phrases end with a dominant-functioning chord.

The only repeated text is the last line of both stanzas.

Now rest beneath night’s shadows, Man, beast, town, woods and meadows, The world in slumber lies; But thou my heart, awake thee, To pray’r and song betake thee, Let praise to thy Creator rise.

219

Lord Jesus, who dost love me, O spread thy wings above me, And shield me from alarm! Tho’ Satan would devour me; Let angel guards sing o’er me: This child of God shall meet me no harm!

As Dett labeled this a hymn anthem, it repeats the same musical material for both stanzas. However, the second section embellishes the final measures. The form of the song is A A (table 7.8). Most of the phrases end with a whole note to rhythmically punctuate each phrase.

Table 7.8 Formal design of “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows” Sections Measures Text A 1-38 Stanza 1 A’ 39-78 Stanza 2

Section A begins with a static first-soprano melody with parallel descending triads in the lower three voices. The second alto has a scalar descent in the first five measures from E flat to F. This later reverses in measure 12 where the second soprano and first alto ascend chromatically against the static first soprano. Their ascending duet paints the text “awake.”

After the opening unison of the next phrase, the first soprano ascends to the apex of the song before the second soprano’s new revolving motive beginning in measure 19

(example 7.16). This motive not only repeats the text “Let praise to rise” but also centers around the tonic pitch with quarter notes against the longer note values in the other three voices. The motive then transfers to first alto while the other three voices continue 220 with the same rhythmic structure. When all voices sing “Let praise to thy Creator rise” beginning in measure 26, the second soprano has a countermelody against the static predominant chord. These three phrases (mm. 18b-22a, 22b-26a, 26b-30) ascend in pitch level (3 − 4 − 6) matching the text about rising. The parallel descending triads from the opening return in measure 31 before the final phrase. In this phrase, the upper three voices ascend and descend in parallel motion with a second-alto imitation one measure later.

Example 7.16 “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows,” mm. 18b-22

As stated previously, section A’ using the same musical material but with the second stanza. In the final six measures, the phrase begins similarly in measure 73.

However, the ascent continues in measure 74 to the high tonic note. The song ends with same perfect authentic cadence that ended section A.

221 According to the author, “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows” is of moderate difficulty. None of the rhythms are difficult. The repeated musical material reduces the note-learning process in half. While the song does not use any notes in the extreme parts of the vocal range for second soprano and first alto, the first soprano sings above the staff a few times while the second alto sings repeated low E flats. The song does, however, allow them to sing above middle C more, in contrast to “Ascapezzo.”

So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving

“So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving” is an unaccompanied part-song for SSAA choir with divisi dedicated to Elise who was likely his wife as her middle name is Elise.

It was published by J. Fischer & Bro. in 1940. This poem by Lord Byron speaks about a love which has ended. The lovers will no longer be able to enjoy each other’s company.

So, we’ll go no more a-roving So late into the night, Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath, And the soul outwears the breast, And the heart must pause to breathe, And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving, And the day returns too soon, Yet we’ll go no more a-roving by the light of the moon.

This relatively short song is in A A’ form where the section A’ is a modified repetition of section A (table 7.9). Section A features a mostly syllabic text setting for the first-soprano melody. The poetic lines are set with speech-like rhythms where the

222 strong musical pulses match the poetic rhythm. Shorter note values lead to the longer values at cadences. Homophony predominates this section with the occasional second- alto pedal tones (example 7.17). The second alto often has either a purely melodic tag or elongated text leading to cadences which echoes the text of the upper voices.

Table 7.9 Formal design of “So, We’ll Go No More Roving” Sections Measures Text A 1-17 Stanzas 1 & 2 A’ 18-46 Stanzas 3 & 1

Example 7.17 “So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving,” mm. 9 & 10

The song begins with the second soprano below the first alto in the first phrase.

The second alto descends from C4 to D3 in the first three measures. The melody in measure 5 then imitates the first measure with a three-part texture where the sopranos

223 in divisi create one group against the altos in two separate lines. As the text becomes more descriptive in measure 7, the second soprano and second alto have a musical duet at the sixth before the octave doubling in measure 9. The subsequent three phrases use the same rhythms from measure 9 while the second alto responds with pedal tones on

E3. The third phrase in measure 13 is a third higher than measure 11 with third- inversion, parallel seventh chords. The final phrase about love and rest use longer rhythmic values. The apex of the melody is on the word “love.” The lower second- soprano line in the penultimate measure of section A imitates the melody of measure 3

(figure 7.1).

Figure 7.1 “So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving,” first soprano imitation, mm. 3 & 16

Section A’ begins with a strophic recapitulation of the first twelve measures of section A. Measure 30 continues with the rhythmic motive of measure 28 for all voices followed by the contour of the second alto line from measure 29 in measure 31. This formula repeats before a return of the first stanza. The following phrase beginning in measure 36 repeats the musical material from the previous phrase using parallel thirds doubled at the octave in the altos with embellishments and chord skips.

224 V The deceptive cadence in measure 41 begins the end of the song. The IV allows the material from measure 38 and 39 to return. The melody then embellishes in measure 42 with added divisi in both sopranos to account for the high C in the first soprano. The song ends with the same musical material at the end of section A. For choirs where B5 and C6 are impractical for first soprano, Dett provides an ossia with the lower three voices remaining the same.

According to the author, “So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving” is moderately difficult. While the second alto descends to Dett’s lowest vocal writing for alto, there are some moments above middle C. The first alto also sings and occasional E3. There are no difficult rhythms. Additionally, the rhythmic motive in measure 9 and 10 returns repeatedly. While there is chromaticism, it is approached and left by step. There are, however, two awkward leaps for first soprano in measure 12 into 13 and second alto in measure 13.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is for unaccompanied SSAA choir with divisi. Dett composed this anthem by request for the dedication of the Annie Merner

Pfeiffer Chapel of Bennett College. Mills Music published this anthem in 1941.

Typically, this familiar text by Isaac Watts is set to the tunes HAMBURG,

ROCKINGHAM (Miller), and HARIST (Woodbury).

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory died My richest gain I count but loss And pour contempt on all my pride. 225

See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e’er such love and sorrow meet Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

The form of the song is A B A (table 7.10). Section A begins with the melody in the soprano. The two sixteenth notes tied to a dotted quarter serve as the unifying rhythmic motive. It only occurs in the sopranos and often as a duet in thirds as in measure 2. The third phrase beginning in measure 9 has a pedal-like first alto with octave leaps and an embellishment using an upper neighbor tone while the two sopranos are in homophony. The fourth phrase expands the duets to the altos where the two duets move mostly in parallel thirds.

Table 7.10 Formal design of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” Sections Measures Text A 1-28 Stanza 1 B 29-58 Stanza 2 A’ 59-116 Stanzas 3 & 1

Section A ends with four iterations of the final line of the first stanza. The duets continue in measure 17. In the second phrase beginning in measure 20, the second- soprano countermelody contrasts the homophony of the first soprano and two altos

(example 7.18). The final phrase begins with octave doubling in measure 25 before

226 ending on a first-inversion tonic triad with the altos singing below the staff for most of the phrase.

Example 7.18 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” mm. 21-24

The duetting of section A develops in section B. The unison soprano begins similarly to the third phrase of the previous section. The altos echo each other on a low

F sharp for the first phrase (example 7.19). The second alto continues with the pedal tone while the upper voices have similar motion in triads. The first three phrases of section B use the same rhythms and a similar melodic contour.

The final two lines of the second stanza repeat twice with differing musical material. The first phrase continues the second-alto pedal and upper-voice similar motion. The second phrase begins with parallel thirds in the sopranos doubled at the octave by the altos then continue with similar triadic motion in the lower three voices supporting the first-soprano melody which sequences down. The final phrase begins 227

Example 7.19 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” mm. 29-36

with slower rhythmic motion using even quarter notes. Measures 52 and 53 use repeated musical material with an embellished melody. In these measures, the two duets are first soprano with second alto and second soprano with first alto. The final half cadence prepares for the recapitulation of section A.

Section A’ uses the first 25 measures of section A with slight rhythmic changes and pitch variations such as the added suspension in the first alto in measure 74.

Measures 83 through 86 are a modified sequence of two measures.

As with the previous sections, the final lines of text repeat with different musical material. Measure 87 uses a duet of mostly thirds doubled at the octave before a full divisi of eight parts in measure 90 with the apex of the song. The anthem then reduces to four parts.

228 Dett inserts twelve measures of humming before the end of the anthem. It is a conversation between the first soprano and second alto, mostly pentatonic, while the second soprano and first alto sustain two-bar hums. This humming section serves as a contemplation and reflection on the gravity of the text speaking about Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

The anthem ends with a return of the first stanza in measure 105 using syllabic text declamation. The grandiose ending occurs with divisi in the first soprano and first alto with octave doubling between soprano and alto (example 7.20). The final measures continue with similar triadic motion.

Example 7.20 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” mm. 105b-109

According to the author, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is of similar difficulty to Dett’s other unaccompanied music for SSAA choir. The use of divisi and extreme low notes for altos require a larger ensemble with more developed voices.

229 CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Conclusions

R. Nathaniel Dett composed his choral music to fit different genres. The forty- three songs discussed include anthems, motets, part-songs, spiritual arrangements, a lute-air arrangement, a hymn, a choral art-song, a folk-song scena and an idyll. His anthems and motets based on black folk music use the melodies either in part or in whole. As a collector of folk music, he transcribed the singing of individuals and choirs to preserve this music. The songs based on the singing of individuals use many of the same compositional techniques evidenced in other anthems and motets. His arrangements typically keep the melodies unaltered and in an upper voice or solo to keep the melody prominent. His original songs explore various extremes in vocal ranges and full textures from the ensemble.

Folk music prevails in these works. When using folk melodies but not the text, he preferred melodies with few repeated notes such as “Dig My Grave” for “Gently, Lord,

O Gently, Lead Us” and the traditional melody from his personal collection for “Son of

Mary.” Additionally, his use of folk songs with no additional text allowed for the music to serve as service music in churches and to elevate the music above its folk intent while still maintaining the folk nature.

Several unifying features exist among his works. He frequently used diatonic scalar passages and contrasted them with descending chromatic lines in most of the

230 songs. Additionally, he grouped voices often in pairs at the third or sixth. All the songs begin and end in the same keys except for some that begin in the minor mode and end in the parallel major and “O Holy Lord” whose melody suggests the major and relative minor modes. Even with the few modulations, the songs are tonal with very few moments of tonal instability and uncertainty. Some of the most striking compositional devices used are fugues and motives derived from melodies and countermelodies. The motives serve to unify individual songs.

In terms of text, most of the songs based on folk music retain the folk text.

However, he did combine folk texts with hymns and biblical texts while also writing his own sacred texts based on the Bible. The use of hymn text shows his intention for the music to be performed in church. He also penned his own texts with none coming from his published poetry collection. Additionally, he altered words and used longer note values when the notes do not change in one voice as compared to others.144

Overall, Dett used Italian markings not only for expressions and tempos but also to legitimize his music among his non-black contemporaries. This is in addition to use folk music as source material much in the same way that J. S. Bach used chorales and

Zoltán Kodály used Hungarian folk music.

Lastly, Dett’s vocal writing is quite expressive and expansive. The vocal lines use the full range without sitting in one part of the voice for an extended portion of time.

His four-part writing for treble choirs, however, frequently uses the lower extremes for alto where the second alto rarely sings above middle C. A future editor can conceivable

144 Measure 15 of “O Hear the Lambs a-Crying” is an example.

231 revoice the music for mixed choir, lowering the key between a whole step and a fourth, where the second-alto line would work for bass unaltered.145

Suggestions for Further Research

The research into Dett’s choral music presents additional paths for future research. The music of black composers continues to emerge in conversations about diversity in repertoire selection. Concerts during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and Black History Month frequent concert seasons of community, professional, and school ensembles. Therefore, a comparative study of Dett’s music with his black predecessors and contemporaries would shed light on the potential cultural elements in their music.

Dett’s most famous tenure was at Hampton Institute. He shined as a composer and educator. The music of Hampton graduates and subsequent choir directors at

Hampton should be chronicled and analyzed. Noah Ryder, Roland Carter, and Nathan

Carter are graduates whose careers continued at other schools such as Norfolk State

University, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Morgan State University.

Their music continues to be performed, namely their spiritual and hymn arrangements.

While Lori Rae Shipley researched the history of the music department at

Hampton, there is no study specifically about the repertoire choices of the official choral ensembles at Hampton and those that have been affiliated with the school such as the

Hampton Choral Union and the Crusaders Male Chorus. On a broader scale, the history

145 A manuscript arrangement by Wendell P. Whalum exists of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” for unaccompanied mixed choir. 232 of the repertoire choices of historically black colleges and universities is an untapped resource as these choirs traditionally champion the music of black composers including spirituals and original works of idiomatic and non-idiomatic natures. Several questions can be answered such as the following: Are there trends among HBCU choirs? What repertoire choices are common among the schools? How does their repertoire differ from that of their predominantly white counterparts?

When researching Dett’s music, one cannot escape reviews of the choir. In many articles, reporters and critics mention the overall demeanor of the choir including stage presence and off-stage deportment. This can be chronicled in a history of several noteworthy HBCU choirs including the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Morgan State

University Choir who has performed on every habitable continent.

233 APPENDIX A

EXTENDED INFORMATION DETT’S SHORT CHORAL WORKS

Title: America the Beautiful Genre: patriotic part song Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-D5 Alto Range: B3-C5 Tenor Range: G3-E4 Bass Range: G2-C4 Beginning Key: C major Ending Key: C major Text: Katherine Lee Bates Religious Nature: secular Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1918

Title: As by the Streams of Babylon Genre: lute-air arrangement Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-Bb4 Alto Range: A3-F4 Tenor Range: F#3-D4 Bass Range: G2-Bb3 Beginning Key: g minor Ending Key: g minor Text: Thomas Campion Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1933

Title: As Children Walk Ye in God’s Love Genre: Voicing: TTBB Solo: tenor Accompaniment: none Tenor 1 Range: Ab3-Ab4

234 Tenor 2 Range: F3-F4 Bass 1 Range: Db3-Db4 Bass 2 Range: G2-Ab3 Beginning Key: Ab major Ending Key: Ab major Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1930

Title: Ascapezzo Genre: part song Voicing: SSAA divisi Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: E4-A5 (B5) Soprano 2 Range: B3-E5 Alto 1 Range: G3-Bb4 (B4) Alto 2 Range: D3-F4 Beginning Key: C major Ending Key: C major Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: secular Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1940

Title: Ask for the Old Paths Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: tenor Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-A5 Alto Range: G3-D5 Tenor Range: C4-G4 Bass Range: F2-F4 Beginning Key: Bb major Ending Key: Bb major Text: Jeremiah 6:16 Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Mills Music Year: 1941

Title: Ave Maria Genre: motet

235 Voicing: SATB Solo: baritone Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-A5 Alto Range: G3-Bb4 Tenor Range: C3-G4 Bass Range: E2 (C2)–A4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: Traditional Latin Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Hinshaw Music Year: 1930

Title: Baptism Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: Eb4-Ab5 Alto Range: Bb3-C5 Tenor Range: Eb3-F4 Bass Range: F2-Db4 Beginning Key: f minor Ending Key: f minor Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1930

Title: City of God Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano, mezzo soprano, baritone (or tenor) Accompaniment: piano Soprano Range: D4-A5 Alto Range: G3-D5 Tenor Range: D3-G4 Bass Range: G2-D4 Beginning Key: D major Ending Key: D major Text: Samuel Johnson Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro.

236 Year: 1941

Title: Communion Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-A5 Alto Range: A3-D5 Tenor Range: D3-G4 Bass Range: D2-D4 Beginning Key: G major Ending Key: G major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: Deep River Genre: motet Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: C3-F4 Bass Range: F2-C4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: Don’t Be Weary, Traveler Genre: motet Voicing: SSATBB Solo: soprano, alto, baritone (or tenor) Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: C#4-A5 Soprano 2 Range: C#4-G#5 Alto Range: A3-C#5 Tenor Range: C#3-G#4 Bass 1 Range: F#2-E4

237 Bass 2 Range: F#2-D4 Beginning Key: B minor Ending Key: B major Text: spiritual; Matthew 11:28-30 Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Year: 1921

Title: Don’t You Weep No More, Mary Genre: motet Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: D3-F4 Bass 1 Range: F2-D4 Bass 2 Range: D2-D4 Beginning Key: d minor Ending Key: d minor Text: spiritual; R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1930

Title: Done Paid My Vow to the Lord Genre: spiritual arrangement Voicing: SSA Solo: baritone or contralto Accompaniment: piano Soprano 1 Range: D4-G5 Soprano 2 Range: C#4-Eb5 Alto Range: G3-D5 Beginning Key: g minor Ending Key: g minor Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Year: 1919

Title: Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes Genre: anthem Voicing: SSATBB Solo: none

238 Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-G5 Alto Range: G3-D5 Tenor Range: D3-A4 Bass 1 Range: G2-D4 Bass 2 Range: D2-D4 Beginning Key: G major Ending Key: G major Text: Ben Jonson Religious Nature: secular Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1933

Title: Dust, Dust and Ashes Genre: motet Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-A5 Alto Range: A3-D5 Tenor Range: D3-G4 Bass 1 Range: E2-D4 Bass 2 Range: D2-D4 Beginning Key: G major Ending Key: G major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-G5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: Bb2-G4 Bass Range: F2-E4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: Thomas Hastings Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church

239 Year: 1924

Title: Go Not Far from Me, O God Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: baritone Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C#4-Bb5 Alto Range: G3-D5 Tenor Range: D3-A4 Bass 1 Range: E2-F#4 Bass 2 Range: E2-E4 Beginning Key: d minor Ending Key: D major Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1933

Title: Hampton! My Home by the Sea Genre: patriotic part song Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-F5 Alto Range: Ab3-Bb4 Tenor Range: C3-F4 Bass Range: F2-Bb3 Beginning Key: Ab major Ending Key: Ab major Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: secular Publisher: Hampton Institute Press Year: 1914

Title: Heavenly Union Genre: spiritual Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: alto, baritone or tenor Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: F3-G4 Bass Range: F2-E4

240 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: traditional folk hymn Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Mills Music Year: 1941

Title: Hew ‘Round the Tree Genre: spiritual arrangement Voicing: SATB Solo: unspecified Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: F4-F5 Alto Range: Ab3-Ab4 Tenor Range: Ab3-F4 Bass 1 Range: Ab2-Ab3 Bass 2 Range: F2-Ab3 Beginning Key: f minor Ending Key: f minor Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: I’ll Never Turn Back No More Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano or tenor Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-A5 Alto Range: A3-D5 Tenor Range: C3-G4 Bass Range: F2-E4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: folk; Charles Wesley Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1918

Title: I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway Genre: spiritual arrangement Voicing: SSA Solo: none

241 Accompaniment: piano Soprano 1 Range: F4-F5 Soprano 2 Range: C4-Bb4 Alto Range: F3-F4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Company Year: 1919

Title: Juba Genre: choral art song Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: soprano Accompaniment: piano Soprano 1 Range: Bb3-C6 Soprano 2 Range: Bc3-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor 1 Range: C3-A4 Tenor 2 Range: D3-G4 Bass Range: F2-F4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: secular Publisher: Clayton F. Summy Year: 1934

Title: The Lamb Genre: idyll Voicing: SSA Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: B3-A5 Soprano 2 Range: A#3-E5 Alto Range: E#3-B4 Beginning Key: E minor Ending Key: E major Text: William Blake Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1938

242 Title: Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler Genre: motet Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: ad lib Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: C4-E5 Soprano 2 Range: B3-E5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: C3-G4 Bass Range: F2-E4 Beginning Key: C major Ending Key: C major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Company Year: 1926

Title: Listen to the Lambs Genre: anthem Voicing: SSAATTBB Solo: soprano, tenor, bass 1, bass 2 Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-A5 Alto Range: A3-D5 Tenor Range: C3-G4 Bass Range: F2-D4 Beginning Key: D minor Ending Key: D minor Text: spiritual; Bible Religious Nature: Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1914

Title: Music in the Mine Genre: folk-song scena Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano, alto, tenor Accompaniment: light steel bars Soprano Range: C4-Ab5 Alto Range: Bb3-C5 Tenor Range: C3-Ab4 Bass Range: F2-Eb4 Beginning Key: Ab major Ending Key: Ab major

243 Text: Ralph Stoney; unknown Religious Nature: secular Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1916

Title: My Way’s Cloudy Genre: motet Voicing: SATB Solo: non Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: F4-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: C3-F4 Bass Range: F2-C4 Beginning Key: F major Ending Key: F major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadows Genre: hymn anthem Voicing: SSAA Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: Eb4-Ab5 Soprano Range: Bb3-F5 Alto Range: G3-Ab4 Alto Range: Eb3-F4 Beginning Key: Ab major Ending Key: Ab major Text: Paul Gerhardt Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1938

Title: O Hear the Lambs a-Crying Genre: anthem Voicing: SATTBB Solo: soprano Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: E4-F#5 Alto Range: A3-C5

244 Tenor 1 Range: E3-F4 Tenor 2 Range: C3-F4 Bass Range: E2-C4 Beginning Key: a minor Ending Key: a minor Text: spiritual; biblical Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Company Year: 1926

Title: O Holy Lord Genre: anthem Voicing: SSAATTBB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: D4-A5 Soprano 2 Range: D4-F#5 Alto 1 Range: A3-C5 Alto 2 Range: G3-A5 Tenor Range: D3-F#4 Bass 1 Range: E2-B3 Bass 2 Range: E2-A3 Beginning Key: G major Ending Key: E minor Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1916

Title: O Holy Savior Genre: hymn Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C#4-E5 Alto Range: G#3-G#4 Tenor Range: C#3-C#4 Bass Range: F#2-G#3 Beginning Key: C# minor Ending Key: C# minor Text: Charlotte Elliott Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

245

Title: O Mary Don’t You Weep Genre: spiritual arrangement Voicing: SATB Solo: soprano Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: Eb4-Db5 Alto Range: Ab3-Bb4 Tenor Range: Db3-F4 Bass Range: Ab2-Db4 Beginning Key: Ab major Ending Key: Ab major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: C. C. Birchard Year: 1919

Title: On That Sabbath Morn Genre: anthem Voicing: SSATBB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: B3-G5 Alto Range: B3-B4 Tenor Range: B2-D4 Bass Range: F#2-D4 Beginning Key: B minor Ending Key: B minor Text: R. Nathaniel Dett Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: Sit Down, Servant, Sit Down Genre: folk anthem Voicing: SATB Solo: tenor Accompaniment: piano Soprano Range: E4-G#5 Alto Range: C4-D5 Tenor Range: E3-Ab4 Bass Range: G2-E4 Beginning Key: C major Ending Key: C major

246 Text: spiritual; biblical Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1936

Title: So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving Genre: part song Voicing: SSAA divisi Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: E4-B5 (C6) Soprano 2 Range: B3-F5 (G5) Alto 1 Range: E3-A4 Alto 2 Range: D3-G4 Beginning Key: C major Ending Key: C major Text: Lord Byron Religious Nature: secular Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1940

Title: Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door Genre: folk anthem Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: soprano or tenor Accompaniment: piano Soprano Range: B3-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: D3-G5 Bass 1 Range: G2-D4 Bass 2 Range: D2-D4 Beginning Key: G major Ending Key: G major Text: spiritual; biblical Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Company Year: 1939

Title: Son of Mary Genre: motet Voicing: SATB Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C#4-F#5

247 Alto Range: A3-D#5 Tenor Range: B2-G#4 Bass Range: G#2-D#4 Beginning Key: A major Ending Key: A major Text: Henry Hart Milman Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Company Year: 1926

Title: Steal Away Genre: motet Voicing: SATB Solo: unspecified Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: D4-E5 Alto Range: G3-B4 Tenor Range: C3-D4 Bass Range: F#2-G3 Beginning Key: G major Ending Key: G major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Schmitt, Hall & McCreary Year: 1936

Title: There’s a Meetin’ Here To-night Genre: spiritual arrangement Voicing: SSA divisi Solo: soprano Accompaniment: piano Soprano 1 Range: Eb4-F5 (G5) Soprano 2 Range: Bb3-F4 Alto Range: G3-Bb4 Beginning Key: Eb major Ending Key: Eb major Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: John Church Company Year: 1921

Title: Wasn’t That a Mighty Day? Genre: spiritual arrangement Voicing: SATBB

248 Solo: alto, baritone Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-Ab5 Alto Range: G3-Db5 Tenor Range: C3-Ab4 Bass Range: f2-C4 Beginning Key: F minor Ending Key: F minor Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: G. Schirmer Year: 1933

Title: Weeping Mary Genre: anthem Voicing: SATB divisi Solo: soprano, alto, tenor Accompaniment: none Soprano Range: C4-A5 Alto Range: G3-C5 Tenor Range: C3-A4 Bass Range: F2-C4 Beginning Key: C minor Ending Key: C minor Text: spiritual Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: J. Fischer & Bro. Year: 1918

Title: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross Genre: anthem Voicing: SSAA divisi Solo: none Accompaniment: none Soprano 1 Range: B3-A5 (B5) Soprano 2 Range: B3-A5 Alto 1 Range: F#3-B4 Alto 2 Range: E3-A4 Beginning Key: D major Ending Key: D major Text: Isaac Watts Religious Nature: sacred Publisher: Mills Music Year: 1941

249 REFERENCES

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255 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Name: Marques L. A. Garrett Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia Date of Birth: June 4, 1984 Higher Education: Doctor of Philosophy (2018) Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida Master of Music (2010) University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina Bachelor of Arts (2006) Hampton University Hampton, Virginia Professional Experience: Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Cheyney, Pennsylvania Director of Choral Activities, 2010-2015 Recent Publications: Ring Out, Ye Bells (2018) Beckenhorst Press – BP 2157

Ride On, King Jesus (2018) GIA Publications – G-9579 Wasserfahrt (Mendelssohn edition) (2017) Hinshaw Music – HMC2534 Invitation to Love (2017) Santa Barbara Music Publishing – SBMP 1455 Sit Down, Servant (2016) G. Schirmer – 50600744 Were You There? (2015, 2018) GIA Publications – G-8911, G-9588 Seek Ye First (2012, 2014) GIA Publications – G-8233, G-8375 Give Me That Old-Time Religion (2012) Hinshaw Music – HMC2291 Till I Die (2011) GIA Publications – G-7959 256