The Evolution of Eva Jessye's Programming As Evidenced in Her Choral Concert Programs from 1927-1982

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The Evolution of Eva Jessye's Programming as Evidenced in Her Choral Concert Programs from 1927-1982

Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation

Authors Jenkins, Lynnel

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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THE EVOLUTION OF EVA JESSYE’S PROGRAMMING AS EVIDENCED IN HER CHORAL CONCERT PROGRAMS FROM 1927-1982

Lynnel Jenkins

A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the

FRED FOX SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2016

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Document Committee, we certify that we have read the document prepared by Lynnel Jenkins, titled The Evolution of Eva Jessye’s Programming as Evidenced in Her Choral Concert Programs from 1927-1982 and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree.

______Date: 10/14/16 Bruce Chamberlain

______Date: 10/14/16 Elizabeth Schauer

______Date: 10/14/16 John Brobeck

Final approval and acceptance of this document is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the document to the Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this document prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement.

______Date: 10/14/16 Document Director: Bruce Chamberlain

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This document has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this document are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgment of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: Lynnel Jenkins

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to a number of people who have been influential in the culmination of this study. To my committee members, Dr. Bruce Chamberlain, Dr. Elizabeth Schauer, and Dr. John T. Brobeck, thank you for your guidance and support which has been essential to the success of this study. To the Eva Jessye Collections at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan and the Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University, thank you for making the materials of Eva Jessye available for this study and keeping her legacy alive. To my colleagues and friends, thank you for your friendship and encouragement throughout this project. To Dr. Lani Johnson, thank you for being an inspiration and a guiding light. I offer my deepest appreciation to my family for their continuous loving support, encouragement, and prayers throughout this academic and musical journey. Soli Deo Gloria

DEDICATION

To my parents, Dorothy and George Jenkins

CONTENTS

EXAMPLES ...... 8

TABLES ...... 9

FIGURES ...... 10

ABSTRACT ...... 11

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...... 12 Statement of Primary Thesis ...... 12 Justification for the Study ...... 12 Delimitations of Study ...... 13 Research Questions ...... 14 Definition of Terms ...... 14

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF SCHOLARLY LITERATURE ...... 16 Choral Concert Programming Techniques ...... 16 Eva Jessye, Choral Conductor ...... 21

CHAPTER 3: EVA JESSYE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 28

CHAPTER 4: EVA JESSYE’S APPROACH TO PROGRAMMING ...... 36 Organizational Schemes ...... 36 Music, Composers, and Arrangers ...... 51 Unity and Variety ...... 60 Philosophy ...... 64

CHAPTER 5: CREATING A CONCERT UTILIZING JESSYE’S PROGRAMMING . 68 Program Type ...... 69 Models ...... 70 Unity and Variety ...... 77 An Example ...... 79

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION ...... 85 Recommendations for Future Research ...... 87

APPENDIX A: CLASSIFICATIONS OF THIRTY-FIVE SELECTED FULL CONCERT PROGRAMS ...... 88

APPENDIX B: VOCAL WORKS FROM THIRTY-FIVE SELECTED FULL CONCERT PROGRAMS ...... 93

APPENDIX C: MOST FREQUENTLY PROGRAMMED TITLES AS IDENTIFIED IN THIRTY-FIVE SELECTED PROGRAMS (1927-1982) ...... 104

APPENDIX D: MOST FREQUENTLY PROGRAMMED COMPOSERS/ARRANGERS AS IDENTIFIED IN THIRTY-FIVE SELECTED CONCERT PROGRAMS ...... 105

APPENDIX E: PERMISSIONS ...... 108 Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan ...... 108 Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University ...... 110

APPENDIX F: JESSYE CONCERT PROGRAM EXAMPLES ...... 113

REFERENCES ...... 116

EXAMPLES

1 Excerpt from Program Featuring a Major Work, Go Where I Send Thee (1980, #34) ...... 43

2 Excerpt from Themed Concert Program, “The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama” (1982, #35) ...... 44

3 Excerpt from “A Program of Negro Music” Part I Spirituals (1935, #7) ...... 54

4 Excerpt from “A Program of Negro Music” Part II Secular Works (1935, #7) ... 56

5 Excerpt from Themed Concert Program, “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music” (1938, #9) ...... 58

TABLES

1.1 Jessye’s Early-Career Themed Programs ...... 37

1.2 Jessye’s Middle-Career Themed Programs ...... 39

1.3 Jessye’s Late-Career Themed Programs ...... 40

1.4 Jessye’s Special-Occasion Themed Programs ...... 41

1.5 Jessye’s Major Work Programs ...... 46

1.6 Jessye’s Free-Form Programs ...... 48

FIGURES

1 A Jessye-Inspired Themed Program and Concert Titles, Indicating the Unifying Concept for the Body of Music Selected for the Concert Program’s Intent/Purpose ...... 70

2 Concert Model One: Standard Indicating the Unifying Concept for the Body of Music Selected ...... 71

3 Concert Model Two: Standard Variation ...... 73

4 Concert Model Three: Festival of Spirituals ...... 75

5 Concert Model Four: Concert of Spirituals ...... 76

6 Jessye’s Programming Concepts for Incorporating Variety and Texture ...... 78

7 A New Concert Program Using Jessye’s Programming Concepts ...... 80

ABSTRACT

Eva Jessye (1895-1992) was committed to disseminating music by African

Americans through her choral concert performances and choral compositions. This study will examine and interpret Jessye’s programming practices as identified in concert programs representing fifty-five years of her professional choral career. The analysis of the tenets of her programming found in printed programs available between the years

1927-1982 will provide a model that can inform choral musicians who plan to program and perform music by African Americans.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Eva Jessye (1895-1992) has received acclaim for the imaginative and well- arranged programming of authentic music from her African-American heritage.1 As an exemplar of effective, purposeful programming, Jessye’s work deserves exploration. She left a legacy of scholarship and artistry that is virtually unknown in the choral world. Her approach to programming African-American music is an essential component of this legacy. Analysis of her programming can assist choral musicians to design programs of

African-American music. The results of this study will underscore Jessye’s significance to the fields of choral music and African-American studies.

Statement of Primary Thesis

In this document I will examine and interpret Eva Jessye's programming concepts, as identified in her concert programs representing a fifty-five-year professional period.

The analyzed programs will provide possible models for incorporating African-American music in choral concert performances.

Justification for the Study

A few researchers have discussed the role played by Eva Jessye in the preservation of Negro spirituals through her work as an arranger and composer of spirituals, as the conductor of a professional choir (the Eva Jessye Choir), and even as an

1 “Paradise Lost and Regained to be Given February 28—4:00PM,” The Courier: The Greater Lawrence Council of Churches 4, no. 1 (March 1954): n. p.

13 actress, but no one has focused upon her concert programming.2 A brief overview of the composers and genres that Jessye chose for selected concerts can be found, but there is no catalogue of the works that she programmed, and her methods and approaches to concert programming have not been studied. This study will focus on the development and significance of Eva Jessye’s programming from 1927 to 1982. A catalogue of works programmed, how these works were arranged on the program, and the scheme of organization used to unite the program will be provided. An examination of how her practices continue to impact programming of African-American music also will be discussed.

Delimitations of Study

The concert programs used for this study are housed in the Eva Jessye Collections at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg,

Kansas. The author accessed and selected available programs that showed evidence of being a full-length choral concert conducted and created by Eva Jessye. The thirty-five programs chosen represent each decade of Jessye’s active conducting career. Emphasis will be given to the organizational elements of her programs, using these to classify the specific program types and how these elements evolved over time.

2 See Doris Louise Wilson, “Eva Jessye: Afro-American Choral Director” (EdD diss., Washington University, 1989); Donald Fisher Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye and Her Contributions to American Music” (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1986); Isaiah R McGee. “The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent Professional Black Choirs in the United States” (PhD diss., Florida State University, 2007). 14

Research Questions

Research questions guiding this study include:

1. How did Eva Jessye organize and sequence the selected repertoire for concert programs?

2. What is the significance of the genres of music represented in the concert programs?

3. What is the significance of the composers and arrangers represented in the concert programs?

4. How did Eva Jessye’s programming choices and organization change over time?

Definition of Terms

Concert programming refers to the “concert architecture” or scheme of organization, chiefly the repertoire sequencing and grouping. For the purposes of this study, programming and concert programming will be used interchangeably.

Sets, groups, groupings, and subgroups refer to a collection of music pieces on a concert program that are performed together without interruption of applause. For the purposes of this study, sets, groups, groupings, and subgroups will be used interchangeably.

Negro folk songs refer to songs sung by African-American slaves in America.

These songs include spirituals, work songs, plantation songs, and play songs that have been passed down through generations by way of an aural/oral tradition. The composer, in most cases, remains anonymous.

The term spirituals refer to folk songs with religious texts created and sung by slaves on American plantations beginning in the late seventeenth century.3

3 Patricia Johnson Trice, Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals Historical Overview and Annotated Listings (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998), xi. 15

The terms African-American, Afro-American, Black, and Negro refer to an

American of African descent. These terms will be used interchangeably regardless of time period.

The term non-spiritual compositions refer to musical compositions by African-

American composers who utilized western European stylistic traditions. These compositions are not based upon Negro folk songs, such as, William Grant Still’s

“Wailing Woman” and Undine Smith Moore’s “Mother to Son.”

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF SCHOLARLY LITERATURE

In this study I investigated the programming practices of Eva Jessye, whose choral concert performances of American and African-American music received national recognition throughout her extensive career in the mid-twentieth century. Major subjects directly relating to this study include choral concert programming techniques and Eva

Jessye, the choral conductor. In this chapter, the author will review doctoral documents and textbooks on concert programming in general, and academic literature that highlights her significance in the United States during the mid-twentieth century.

Choral Concert Programming Techniques

Research Models—Doctoral Documents

There are three academic documents that relate to the present study on choral concert programming. Jerry Eugene Giger investigates “Music Selection and Concert

Programming Practices of Christian College Coalition Touring Choirs.” David Alan

Hendricksen investigates the “Twentieth Century Choral Music Programming by

Concordia, Luther, and St. Olaf College Choirs, 1950-1986.” James David Spillane surveys festival choral concert literature of a select subset of such concerts in “All-State

Choral Music: A Comprehensive Study of the Music Selected for High School All-State

Choirs of the Fifty States from 1995-2000.”4 Giger and Hendricksen focus on the programming practices of college choirs during the twentieth century. Spillane’s comprehensive study, which analyzes five years of programming trends, includes the number of instances in which a choral work was programmed and its frequency of inclusion. The data collection, analysis, and results of these studies offer useful research models on choral concert programming, which is a sparse body of literature. Instrumental and solo recital concert programming receive more academic study.5

Historical Overview as Evidenced in Textbooks

The following authors—Cain, Ehret, Garretson, and Gordon—provide an historical overview of the programming trends used for choral concerts between 1930 and

1980. These sources were available to Eva Jessye in the mid-twentieth century. A review of these texts provides an account of the choral techniques and philosophies of that time

4 Jerry E. Giger, "Music Selection and Concert Programming Practices of the Christian College Coalition Touring Choirs" (D.M.A. diss., Arizona State University, 1991); David Alan Hendricksen, "Twentieth Century Choral Music Programming by Concordia, Luther, and St. Olaf College Choirs, 1950- 1986" (D.A. diss., Ball State University, 1988); James David Spillane, "All-State Choral Music: A Comprehensive Study of the Music Selected for High School All-State Choirs of the Fifty States from 1995-2000" (D.M.A. document, University of Arizona, 2004).

5 For example, a quick search on “programming music” on ProQuest Dissertation and Theses produced a plethora of programming with the instrumental sector. Here are just a few examples: Hector Aguero Jr., "Toward a Standardized Methodology in Programming Children's Concerts" (D.M.A. diss., University of Houston, 2010); Marc Friedrich Boensel, "Voices in the Wind: Unique Programming for Winds in Collaboration with Voices and Other Instruments" (D.M.A. diss., University of Maryland, College Park, 2008); David McKinley Hedgecoth, "Factors Influencing the Programming Practices of Conductors of Mid-Level Collegiate Ensembles" (PhD diss., The Ohio State University, 2012); Neal Edward McMullian, "Music Selection and Concert Programming of Concert Bands and Wind Ensembles in the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities" (D.M.A. diss., University of Georgia, 1997); Steven Paul Rothstein, "Aspects of Symphonic Concert Programming: A Composer's Thoughts on Context and Innovation" (PhD diss., University of California, 2006); James Patrick Smart, "The Programming Practices of Alarm Will Sound, the International Contemporary Ensemble and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players from 2004-2009" (D.M.A. research paper, Arizona State University, 2009).

18 and also a point of reference in which to compare Jessye’s choices of program types, organizing principles, and overall programming practices.

Noble Cain considers the three schools that founded the a cappella movement in the U.S. during the early twentieth century (Northwestern University, St. Olaf College, and Westminster Choir College) to be the trendsetters for choral music in communities and schools after World War I.6 Disciples of the a cappella movement focused on the performance of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century unaccompanied masterworks. The a cappella movement serves as the philosophical foundation for Cain’s 1932 text.

Cain identifies three program types: chronological, mood, and contrast. He refers to the chronological approach as old-fashioned and suggests that the mood approach allows for more varied repertoire.7 Although Cain determines that mood adds interest to a program, he prefers contrast to organize a successful program, therefore, he recommends varying dissimilar texts and moods.8

Walter Ehret suggests in The Choral Conductor’s Handbook that a conductor should program several a cappella pieces, and include fine contemporary unaccompanied masterworks in addition to those from the traditionally programmed polyphonic schools of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries.9 Ehret’s reference suggests that the a cappella movement still had an impact in 1959. His suggestion to give pitches for the next piece during applause has roots in the a cappella movement, specifically with St.

6 Noble Cain, Choral Music and Its Practice, with Particular Reference to A Cappella Music (New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1932), vi.

7 Cain, Choral Music and Its Practice, 101-102.

8 Ibid.,103.

9 Walter Ehret, The Choral Conductor's Handbook (New York: E.B. Marks Music Corp, 1959), 54. 19

Olaf College choirs.10 He recommends that instrumental and piano accompaniment occasionally be featured, and that pieces be grouped to make a unified concert program.

Music from the same period or style creates unity, says Ehret, while contrasting styles within the group create variety.11 He cautions against mixing comical and serious music within the same group and encourages building graceful transitions between sections of mood.12 Ehret only presents one program type, the thematic approach, in which an idea or subject (e.g., “Religious Music of Three Faiths,” “Musical Americana”) serve as the nucleus for the selected music.13

In his text Choral Music Education (1970), Paul Roe refers to programming as

“program building,” a commonly used term during the twentieth century.14 Roe’s text contains standard programming principles such as the importance of a planned sequence.

Robert Garretson continues Ehret’s discussion on thematic programming in

Conducting Choral Music, which is guided by his philosophical focus to achieve unity and variety.15 Variety should be achieved by contrast in style, mood, length, mode, key, and performing forces. Unity is achieved by selecting repertoire that falls into three or more groups with the same literary or stylistic basis. His other considerations, programming chronologically and serious to lighter moods, have roots in traditional practice. His various program models suggest progressive thought. This is exemplified in

10 Ibid., 53.

11 Ibid., 54.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid., 52.

14 Paul Roe, The Choral Music Education (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970), 199, 330-331.

15 Originally published in 1961. There are eight editions. In keeping with this study’s time line, the closest edition to 1982, the fifth edition published in 1981 was reviewed. 20 a program in which he begins with a choral prelude, moves to folk songs, and ends with sacred music.16 Regardless of program type, the opening and closing numbers of a program, according to Garretson, must be both effective and memorable, and a planned sequence is essential for a well-paced program.

In his 1989 text Choral Director’s Rehearsal and Performance Guide, Lewis

Gordon introduces two additional program types to the discussion: a featured major work partnered with other smaller works or smaller work, and a general program, which is a program that does not have a specific theme.17 He asserts the need for a good structural thought process in order to build an effective general program since there is no connection to a theme.18 Gordon suggests these program types, as well as chronological, thematic, and contrast, which can be used in various combinations.19

Finding Applicability to this Study

These musicians agree that, while the choir’s ability and quality music are essential, it is the sequence of the music that separates a competent concert program from an outstanding one. All stress that the conductor should consider his or her singers and audience members when selecting repertoire and structuring a program.20 Although substantial information was published in the mid-twentieth century on concert

16 Robert L. Garretson, Conducting Choral Music (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 252.

17 Lewis Gordon, Choral Director's Rehearsal and Performance Guide (West Nyack, NY: Parker Pub. Co., 1989), 32-33.

18 Gordon, Rehearsal and Performance Guide, 33.

19 Ibid., 31.

20 Ibid.

21 programming, it was still considered to be the least developed skill among choral conductors of that time.21 In contrast to the common practices of the mid-twentieth century, Jessye utilized creative programming techniques that were exhibited by her professional group, the Eva Jessye Choir.

Eva Jessye, Choral Conductor

Cain and Ehret cite the importance and impact of the a cappella movement on choral singing after World War I. Unaccompanied singing became common in colleges, high schools, and churches. Professional choirs also emerged during the late 1920s.

Choral conductors Kathy Saltzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey credit “visionary conductors” Eva Jessye (1895-1992), Fred Waring (1899-1986), Roger Wagner (1914-

1992), Robert Shaw (1916-1999), and Margaret Hillis (1921-1998) as significant forces in the choral community because of their “innovative programming, commissioning, recording, touring, and outreach.”22 Their ground-breaking tour programs and radio broadcasts led to the advancement of professional choirs.

Eva Jessye is recognized as “the first black woman to win international distinction as a professional choral director.”23 Jessye’s role in the emergence of the professional choir in the United States during the twentieth century has been documented in the dissertations of William Robert Bucker (“Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles,

21 Gerald R. Hoekstra, “Thematic Choral Programming.” The Choral Journal 20, no. 2 (October 1979): 20.

22 Kathy Saltzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey, “A Multiplicity of Voices: Choral Music in the United States,” The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music, ed. André de Quadros, 1st ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 124.

23 Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, 3rd ed. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997), 422.

A History of Chorus America—Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles”) and

Isaiah R. McGee (“The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent Professional

Black Choirs in the United States”).24 Bucker traces the history of the professional choir during the fifty years prior to the formation of Chorus America in his 1991 dissertation.25

He acknowledges conductors Hugh Ross, Eva Jessye, Hall Johnson, Jester Hairston, Fred

Waring, Albert McNeil, Robert Shaw, Leonard de Paur, and others for their role in developing the concept of the professional choir.26

McGee lists professional Black choirs from 1926 to 1960, including the Eva

Jessye Choir, the Hall Johnson Choir, the Wings Over Jordan Choir, and the Leonard de

Paur Infantry Choir in his dissertation.27 These choirs were selected by national reputation and influence in the development of the professional Black choir. They were formed primarily to preserve spirituals.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers were the first to introduce spirituals to the northern

United States and Europe on tours from 1871 to 1878.28 George L. White, their first director, found it necessary to persuade singers to perform spirituals, because many associated spirituals with slavery.29 They sang unaccompanied arrangements of spirituals

24 William Robert Bucker, “Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles, A History of Chorus America –Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles” (D.M.A. diss., The University of Missouri, 1991.); Isaiah R McGee, “The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent Professional Black Choirs in the United States” (PhD diss., Florida State University, 2007).

25 William Robert Bucker, “Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles, A History of Chorus America –Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles” (D.M.A. diss., The University of Missouri, 1991).

26 Ibid., 25.

27 McGee, “Prominent Professional Black Choirs,” v-vi.

28 Sandra J. Graham. "The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Concert Spiritual: The Beginnings of an American Tradition" (PhD diss., New York University, 2001), 1.

29 Ibid., 2.

23 in the four-part homophony characteristic of hymns. The Jubilee Singers and other collegiate groups, such as The Hampton Institute Singers, created a need for the arrangements of spirituals.30

In his dissertation “The Development of the Negro Spiritual as Choral Art by

Afro-American Composers with an Annotated Guide to the Performance of Selected

Spirituals,” Arthur Lee Evans praises arrangers who retained “the warmth, spirit, and character of the original Spiritual” during the transition from the simple four-part harmonization used by Fisk Jubilee Singers.31 His list of arrangers who, in the beginning of the twentieth century, developed the spiritual as choral art include Eva Jessye, Harry

T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, William Dawson, Hall Johnson, Leonard de Paur, John

Work, Jester Hairston, Undine Smith Moore, Edward Boatner, and others. Evans finds

Jessye’s use of word-painting and rhythmic spontaneity characteristic of her style as well as her preference for piano accompaniments to provide a controlled, rhythmic force. The influence of Jessye’s compositional style is examined in Leo H. Davis’s research document, “The Choral Music of Moses George Hogan.” Davis performs a comparative analysis of Jessye’s “Who is Dat Yonder?” and Hogan’s “Ride On, King Jesus.” He documents the similarities of the controlled and rhythmic treatment of the piano accompaniment in the spiritual arrangements, one of Jessye’s compositional signatures that may point to her influence on the prolific twentieth-century composer.32 Of further

30 Ibid., 26.

31 Arthur L. Evans, “The Development of the Negro Spiritual as Choral Art Music by Afro- American Composers with an Annotated Guide to the Performance of Selected Spirituals” (PhD diss., University of Miami, 1973), 60.

32 Leo H. Davis, “The Choral Music of Moses George Hogan” (D.M.A. research doc., The University of Memphis, 2006), 28.

24 significance, ethnomusicologist John Lovell attributes Jessye’s programming of her own arrangements in national concerts as leading to a broader appreciation of spirituals as a developing choral genre.33

Jessye’s contributions to choral music, theater, and the literary arts are recorded in five academic writings with particular focus on Jessye.34 These academic works provide a comprehensive survey of her accomplishments and contributions to the choral profession.

Masters theses “Eva Jessye, Afro-American Woman: Her Contributions to American

Music and Theatre,” by Dawn Cooper, and “A Catalogue of the Eva Jessye Afro-

American Music Collection,” by Catherine M. Blanding, lead the academic discussion in the 1970s.35 Dissertations “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye and Her Contributions to

American Music,” by Donald Fisher Black, and “Eva Jessye: Afro-American Choral

Director” by Doris Louise Jones Wilson, follow in 1986 and 1989 respectively.36 The most recent academic writing that demonstrates Jessye’s significance is the previously discussed dissertation by McGee, “The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent

Professional Black Choirs in the United States” in 2007.37

33 John Lovell, Black Song: The Forge and the Flame; the Story of How the Afro-American Spiritual Was Hammered Out (New York: Macmillan, 1972), 456.

34 See Dawn Cooper, “Eva Jessye, Afro-American Woman: Her Contribution to American Music and Theater” (Master’s Thesis, Hunter College, 1979); Donald Fisher Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye and Her Contributions to American Music” (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1986); Doris Louise Wilson, “Eva Jessye: Afro-American Choral Director” (EdD diss., Washington University, 1989); Isaiah R McGee. “The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent Professional Black Choirs in the United States” (PhD diss., Florida State University, 2007).

35 Mary C. Blanding "A Catalogue of the Eva Jessye Afro-American Music Collection as of May 1, 1974” (Master’s Thesis, University of Michigan, 1974); Dawn Cooper, “Eva Jessye, Afro-American Woman: Her Contribution to American Music and Theater” (Master’s Thesis, Hunter College, 1979).

36 Donald Fisher Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye and Her Contributions to American Music” (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1986); Doris Louise Wilson, “Eva Jessye: Afro-American Choral Director” (EdD diss., Washington University, 1989).

Cooper provides considerable information on the life of Eva Jessye in her thesis

“Eva Jessye, Afro-American Women: Her Contributions to American Music and

Theatre.”38 She focuses on Jessye’s life in theater and as an actress. Catherine M.

Blanding’s thesis, “A Catalogue of the Eva Jessye Afro-American Music Collection,” gives an historical account of the establishment and contents of the Eva Jessye Collection at the University of Michigan, which includes artifacts from Jessye’s personal and professional life.39

Dissertations by Black and Wilson offer the most wide-ranging information on

Jessye’s life and career as a choral conductor and composer. Black provides a comprehensive biography, tracing Jessye’s life from birth to two years prior to the research document’s publication in 1986. The first four chapters include Jessye’s biography and emphasize her various professional activities as choral director, educator, composer-arranger, poet, and actress. Chapter Five centers on the establishment and the contents of the Eva Jessye Collections at University of Michigan and Pittsburg State

University. While Black places general emphasis on Jessye’s life and work, Wilson highlights Jessye’s performance practice as it relates to African-American choral traditions. Wilson references Cooper’s thesis but not Black’s dissertation, suggesting that she may not have been aware of his document at the time of her research. The

37 Isaiah R McGee. “The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent Professional Black Choirs in the United States” (PhD diss., Florida State University, 2007).

38 Dawn Cooper, “Eva Jessye, Afro-American Woman: Her Contribution to American Music and Theater” (Master’s Thesis, Hunter College, 1979).

39 The Eva Jessye Collection resides in the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan and currently includes artifacts from Jessye’s personal and professional life from 1927-1992.

26 biographical information in both dissertations is consistent, with the exception of minor discrepancies in dates.

Wilson’s introductory chapter outlines the scope of her research and presents the challenges in understanding the required choral tone for performing African-American choral music as practiced by the Eva Jessye Choir. Chapter Two deals with the significant events and specific influences on Jessye's life. Chapter Three examines Black choral tone practiced by the Eva Jessye Choir as it compares to American choral schools.

Chapter Four examines Jessye’s compositional output and provides an analysis of her compositional style. Wilson gives her conclusions and recommendations for further research in the final chapter. She proposes that the Eva Jessye Collections copyright, publish, and thereby make Jessye’s choral music and unpublished folk-oratorios available.

Black made the same recommendation three years earlier, adding that future researchers should also publish Jessye’s radio broadcasting and unpublished poems and investigate the Black college choral tradition, specifically Fisk Jubilee Singers and their influence on

Eva Jessye’s repertory and touring.

Musicologist Dr. Eileen Southern documents Jessye’s professional achievements as “a pioneer among female choral conductors” in The Music of Black Americans: A

History, published in 1977. This was the first time Jessye was included in an historical textbook.40 In the twenty-first century, Jessye continues to appear among other remarkable musicians in texts, including in Martha Furman Schleifer’s and Sylvia

Glickman’s compilation, Women Composers: Music Through the Ages: Volume 7:

Composers Born 1800-1899; Darlene Clark Hine’s Black Women in America; Elizabeth

40 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 55.

Nash’s Autobiographical Reminiscences of African-American Classical Singers, 1853-

Present: Introducing Their Spiritual Heritage into the Concert Repertoire; André J.

Thomas’ Way Over in Beulah Lan’: Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual; and Joan C. Conlon’s and Hilary Apfelstadt’s Wisdom, Wit, and Will: Women Choral

Conductors on Their Art. 41

41 Martha Furman Schleifer and Sylvia Glickman, Women Composers: Music Through the Ages. Vol. 7 (New Haven, Conn: Thomson, Gale, 2003); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005); Elizabeth Nash, Autobiographical Reminiscences of African-American Classical Singers, 1853-Present: Introducing Their Spiritual Heritage into the Concert Repertoire (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2007); André J. Thomas, Way Over in Beulah Lan': Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual (Dayton: Heritage Music Press, 2007); Joan C. Conlon and Hilary Apfelstadt, Wisdom, Wit, and Will: Women Choral Conductors on Their Art (Chicago: GIA, 2009). 28

CHAPTER 3

EVA JESSYE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dr. Eva Alberta Jessye (1895-1992) was selected to appear in Brian Lankers’ I

Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. One of the most captivating aspects of the book is that it relates a profound experience that influenced

Jessye’s path to programming music of her heritage. At the age of ninety-four, Jessye shared this momentous experience:

When I was in school at Kansas Wesleyan University, I heard Booker T. Washington say one day in a lecture, “You go to school, you study about the Germans and the French, but not about your own race. I hope the time will come when you study black history, too. Never forget to sing the songs of your mothers and fathers.”42

Throughout her career, as can be seen in her concert programs, Jessye embraced the music of her “mothers and fathers.” She began introducing a range of African-American music to singers and audiences in the late 1920s, a practice she continued throughout her career. Washington’s advice motivated Jessye to make her heritage a part of her career and the totality of her life experience. Her upbringing and educational experiences also served to inform her programming choices.

On a Sunday morning in Coffeyville, Kansas, at the moment Jessye was born,

“the ‘Amen Corner’ in the Macedonia Baptist Church across the street, was at the boiling point. ‘Hallelujahs,’ ‘Praises to God,’ and frenzied ‘stomp’ of sisters in the throes of religious ecstasy resounded in the air.”43 Jessye’s descriptive narrative of her birth

42 Brian Lanker and Barbara Summers, I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America (New York, NY: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989), 20.

43 Eva Jessye, Preface to My Spirituals (New York: Robbins and Engel, Inc. 1927), 1. 29 foretold the way she would convey her religious convictions through her concert programming and performing. Eva believed there was significance to her birth, later proclaiming, “…for though not born of religious parents, I was intensely religious as a child, loving God and Nature with a passion nearing fanaticism.”44

Her parents, Albert Jessye and Julia Buckner, separated four years after Eva’s birth, and she was entrusted to the care of her maternal grandmother, Mollie Buckner, and several aunts. In the various Buckner maternal households, she experienced singing and dancing and remembers her great-aunt Harriet singing Negro spirituals.45 These joyous experiences likely had a profound influence on her journey as a musician.

Jessye’s musical abilities were recognized at an early age, and her mother purchased a piano to encourage Jessye’s talents. Jessye first began to play piano by ear and later took formal piano lessons. At the age of twelve, she began demonstrating her musical leadership by organizing a girls’ quartet, teaching them music and preparing them for local concerts at the Odd Fellows Hall, a great accomplishment for a young

Black female of that time. A railroad porter introduced her to poetry by giving her literary magazines. It soon became evident that she possessed a skill in that area as well, laying the groundwork for integrating literary texts and the spoken word into her concert programs and folk-oratorios.46

At thirteen, Jessye began attending Western University, a vocational trade school in Quindaro, Kansas, because her hometown did not provide a high school for African

Americans. While a student at Western, an institution jointly maintained by the state of

44 Eva Jessye, Preface to My Spirituals (New York: Robbins and Engel, Inc. 1927), 1.

45 Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye,” 19.

46 Wilson, 14. 30

Kansas and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, she majored in poetry and oratory, with a partial piano requirement.

R.G. Jackson, the choir director and head of the department of music, noticed

Jessye’s abilities in a sight-singing class. He invited Jessye to join the choir and waived the minimum age requirement of fourteen, thereby allowing thirteen-year old Jessye to participate. She served as Jackson’s assistant, rehearsing small ensembles, including the male quartet and female group, in addition to performing solos.

Many African Americans of the time avoided spirituals in order to distance themselves from the reminder of slavery, however, when the choir teacher wanted someone to sing “My Lord, What a Morning,” Jessye embraced her heritage and sang it, remembering the way her grandmother and great-aunt sang spirituals. Many students laughed, but the choir teacher said, “That’s what I’m looking for.” It was then that Jessye resolved to bring greater appreciation of this musical style to others; it became her life’s work.47

While she was at Western University, composer and conductor Will Marion Cook also influenced her choice of a career when he became her teacher and mentor. She served as copyist when his orchestra required music for a performance at Western

University. Impressed by her skills, he referred to her as a “little protégé” and encouraged her to pursue a career in music.48 This was a defining moment in her life.

After graduating with honors in 1914, she attended Langston University for three consecutive summers to obtain her teaching certificate. She went on to teach public

47 Eva Jessye, interviewed by James Standifer, transcript, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, April 4, 1974.

48 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 16. 31 school in the Oklahoma towns of Taft, Haskell, and Muskogee.49 She organized a girls’ glee club in each of the schools in addition to teaching her regular classroom subjects.50

Jessye also gave piano lessons and played piano at the local movie house between 1916 and 1917.

Jessye became the head of the Music Department at Morgan College in 1919. Her position allowed her to organize the first SATB choir there, which performed masterworks in addition to more traditional African-American music. Jessye believed college musicians should experience varied choral literature in order to foster a program that supports musical growth.51 Jessye wanted to dispel the common notion that African

Americans could and should only sing music of their own heritage.52 Her philosophical convictions were met with opposition from the president of Morgan College, who agreed with the prevailing opinion that the Black students should only perform spirituals. “It’s a poor scholar who speaks only his language,” Jessye told the college president.53 This contention led her to resign before the end of the academic year. She moved to

Tullahassee, Oklahoma, where she taught for the next five years at Flipper Key Davis

African Methodist Episcopal Church School.

Jessye returned to Baltimore in 1925 to become a proofreader and eventually a staff writer for a local newspaper, The Baltimore Afro-American. She was also known as a musician and was invited to conduct the Dixie Jubilee Singers, a local choral ensemble.

49 Ibid., 17.

50Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye,” 26.

51 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 19.

52 Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye,” 26.

53 “Dr. Jessye Oratorio Oct. 1,” Alumnian Pittsburg State University, Summer Issue, 1978. Volume 38, accessed at Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 32

She became their director in 1926 and renamed them the Eva Jessye Choir in 1930. The

Eva Jessye Choir and its contemporary, the Hall Johnson Choir, are believed to be among the first professional choirs in the United States.54 This position gave credence to the significance of her work as a pioneer and contributor to the professional choral movement of the twentieth century.

Under Jessye’s direction, the choir moved to New York City. The group gained recognition by regularly performing on Major Bowes Family Radio Hour, the General

Motors Hour, and at the Capitol Theatre from 1926 to 1929. She formed a partnership with Eugene Ormandy at the Capitol Theatre, who was then the music director of the theater.55

Edward Bowes, manager of the Capitol Theatre and vice president of Metro-

Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), recognized her reputation and recommended Eva Jessye and her choir to film director King Vidor for an upcoming motion picture. At Bowes’ recommendation, Vidor hired the Eva Jessye Choir to perform in his 1929 film,

“Hallelujah,” with Jessye as the choral director. Jessye was instrumental in making sure individual singers were paid. These and other Jessye “firsts”—including acting in an all-

Black cast movie—attest to Jessye’s reputation as both leader and pioneer.

Having already established herself as a nationally recognized choral director and radio personality, Jessye became involved in popular stage productions in 1934 and 1935.

She was the choral director for two operas, Gertrude Stein’s and Virgil Thomson’s Four

Saints in Three Acts in 1934 and George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in 1935. Four

Saints in Three Acts featured an all-Black chorus, the Eva Jessye Choir, marking the first

54 James Smith and Thomas Brawley, “Choral Music,” in The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, Vol. 1, eds. H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie (London: MacMillan Press, 1986), 433-434.

55 Eugene Ormandy later became the conductor and musical director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. 33 time an African-American choir appeared in a Broadway production with characters unrelated to African-American life or culture. Virgil Thomson’s decision to utilize an

African-American choir was influenced by Hall Johnson’s production of his folk play,

Run Little Children. He envisioned the European saints with the rich voices of the Black singers for Four Saints in Three Acts, which led Thomson to hire the Eva Jessye Choir.

The opening night in February 1934 at Avery Memorial in Hartford, Connecticut was a success. A follow-up performance at the 44th Street Theater on Broadway and a four- week run at the Larger Empire Theater were equally successful.

Composer George Gershwin was familiar with the reputation of Eva Jessye from her radio broadcasts. Following an audition, Gershwin contracted Jessye to provide sixteen musically prepared singers, to play a small role, and to serve as choral director for the original production of Porgy and Bess.56 As “guardian of the score,” Jessye was associated with Porgy and Bess until the 1970s, conducting and performing several national and international revival productions.57

Jessye prepared the Eva Jessye Choir to perform William Grant Still’s And They

Lynched Him on a Tree under the baton of Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the NBC

Symphony Orchestra, for a 1942 performance. Jessye also collaborated with political leaders on humanitarian efforts and volunteered the Eva Jessye Choir to serve as the official choir for the historic Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963.

Jessye disbanded the touring portion of the Eva Jessye Choir in 1970 in order to devote her attention to other projects.58 She accepted engagements as a guest lecturer and

56 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 39.

57 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 46.

58 Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye,” 46. 34 conductor, and returned to academia to serve as artist-in-residence at Pittsburg State

University in Pittsburg, Kansas from 1979 to 1981, and also at Clark College in Atlanta,

Georgia in 1978 and 1981.

An accomplished composer and arranger, Jessye published My Spirituals, a collection of spirituals for solo voice and piano, in 1927. These arrangements were performed in recital by famous singers such as Marian Anderson, Harry T. Burleigh, and

Paul Robeson. She published several arrangements of African-American folk songs, the majority of which were spirituals, and not merely the familiar spirituals such as “Swing

Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Go Down Moses,” and “Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit.” Unlike the spirituals of her contemporaries such as Harry T. Burleigh and Hall Johnson, Jessye introduced unfamiliar spirituals, including: “I Belong to that Band,” “He’s Carried the

Key and Gone Home,” “Move! Let Me Shine!,” and “Who is Dat Yonder?” Still, her choral arrangements of spirituals included piano accompaniment. Choral arrangements at that time were usually unaccompanied; typically, only solo vocal arrangements of spirituals incorporated piano accompaniment. In an interview, she explained that she used the piano accompaniment to “reinforce the natural rhythm of the song.”59 This compositional ingenuity was simply a part of Jessye’s traditionalist style, which she developed under the influence of Will Marion Cook and music theorist Percy Goetschius.

Although performed, some of Jessye’s works have never been published, including her three folk-oratorios: The Chronicle of Job, Life of Christ in Spirituals, and Paradise Lost and Regained.

Eva Jessye also gained recognition as an actress and a poet. She performed as an actress on the stage and film, appearing in Kurt Weill’s musical Lost in the Stars (1958),

59 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 131. 35

Black Like Me (1964), and Slaves (1969) in addition to her roles in Porgy and Bess. The breadth of her creativity extended to poetry. She wrote poetry of distinction, including

“The Singer, The Maestro (for Eugene Ormandy), and Old, Not So Gifted…and Black,” a reply to Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young, Gifted, and Black.

Jessye’s contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, citations, and honorary degrees. She received honorary doctorates from Eastern Michigan University and University of Michigan. She was nominated as one of the “Six Most Outstanding

Women in Kansas” and appointed as the Kansas Ambassador for the Arts by Kansas

Governor John Carlin in 1978. Her most recent recognition was inclusion in I Dream a

World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America in 1989.60 Jessye established two major collections, the Eva Jessye Afro-American Music Collection at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1974 and the Eva Jessye Collection at Pittsburg State

University in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1977.61 Dr. Eva Jessye died on February 21, 1992 at the age of 97 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

60 Lanker and Summers, I Dream a World, 20.

61 The Eva Jessye Afro-American Music Collection was moved to the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan and was renamed The Eva Jessye Collection. 36

CHAPTER 4

EVA JESSYE’S APPROACH TO PROGRAMMING

The Dallas Evening News applauds a 1950 performance by the Eva Jessye Choir as containing “unusual diversity and effectiveness in program building.”62 This chapter explores the elements of Jessye’s programming by examining and interpreting printed programs spanning more than half a century. The analysis and interpretation will help to classify the organizational schemes and show how her programming concepts developed over time. Concert programs will be examined to interpret:

• Program type

• Ways repertoire is grouped

• Organization in relation to the codified program type

• How Jessye achieved unity and variety

• Jessye’s philosophical foundations for designing a well-planned program

Organizational Schemes

Program Type

Selected concert programs were reviewed and classified for this study (Appendix

A). The author identified three main organizational schemes: themed programs, programs featuring a major choral work, and free-form programs.

Among these thirty-five programs, seventeen of them are themed programs. All seventeen contain groups of works apparently intended to convey the concert title’s message. The next most frequent program type is that featuring a major work. Thirteen of

62 Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye,” 43. 37 the thirty-five programs are in this format. Only five times did Jessye organize programs in a manner that the author designates as free-form. These, too, were usually organized into groups of pieces, but with no evidence of concert title or organizing theme. Since themed concerts represent a chronologically developing characteristic of Jessye’s programming style, focus is placed on her themed program type.

Themed Programs

Themes that centered on African-American music defined Jessye’s early career programs: “Three Centuries of Negro Music” (1931, #2), “Lights and Shades of Negro

Music” (1932, #3), “Unusual Negro Music” (1934, #4, #5), and “Program of Negro

Music” (1935, #7).63

Table 1.1. Jessye’s Early-Career Themed Programs64 ______

# Date Concert Title Location

2 2/12/1931 Three Centuries of Negro Music John Wanamaker Department Store, NYC

3 2/12/1932 Lights and Shades of Negro Music John Wanamaker Department Store, NYC

4 10/26/1934 Unusual Negro Music Howard School, no city listed

5 11/22/1934 Unusual Negro Music Bethel A.M.E. Church,* Detroit, MI

7 2/12/1935 Program of Negro Music John Wanamaker Department Store, NYC

*African Methodist Episcopal ______

63 “Three Centuries of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 2, 1931, “Lights and Shades of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1932, “Unusual Negro Music,” Howard School, October 26, 1934 and “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY., February 12, 1935. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. “Unusual Negro Music,” Detroit, MI, November 22, 1934. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

64 Ibid. 38

Beginning early in her career, she often reused concert titles, slightly varying the concert’s repertoire such as in the “Unusual Negro Music” programs (1934, #4, #5).

Jessye inserts the following quotation at the top of these 1934 programs: “God sent his singers upon earth with songs of sadness and of mirth that they might touch the hearts of men and bring them back to heaven again” (1934, #4, #5).65 Her announcement provides the scope of music and emotions to be presented through choral performance and fortifies the concert’s theme.

In the mid-1930s, she continued to focus on African-American music and added a facet: in addition to what would be performed, she specified who would perform and how they would do so. Self-descriptive concert titles such as, “The Eva Jessye Choir: All-

American Ensemble” (1936, #8), “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music”

(1938-41; #9, #11-#14), and “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of American Music”

(1954, #17) appear during this phase of Jessye’s career. 66

65 Dartmouth College, NH, August 21,1943. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

66 “Eva Jessye Choir: All-American Ensemble,” Winston-Salem, NC, October 14, 1936, “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” Civic Center, October 25, 1938, St. Lawrence University, NY, March 13, 1940, and Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, CT, January 27, 1941, and “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of American Music,” Indiana, PA, Indiana State Teachers College, August 12, 1954. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” University of Minnesota, MN, March 20, 1939, and Dartmouth College, NH, March 13, 1940. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Table 1.2. Jessye’s Middle-Career Themed Programs67 ______

# Date Concert Title Location

8 10/14/1936 The Eva Jessye Choir: All-American Ensemble Winston-Salem Teachers College, Winston-Salem, NC

9 10/25/1938 The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music Civic Center, no city listed

11 3/20/1939 The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

12 3/13/1940 The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

13 3/19/1940 The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

14 1/27/1941 The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, no city listed

17 8/12/1954 The Eva Jessye Choir: Indiana State Teachers College, Dramatist of American Music Indiana, PA ______

Beginning in the late 1950s, Jessye featured the spiritual in three themed concert programs: “A Festival of Negro Spirituals” (1959, #22) and “The Spiritual: A Celebration of Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama” (1978, #33; 1982, #35).68 These concert programs differ in the sequence and spirituals selected. Only one was organized by sets of ensembles (1959, #22); however, the sequence logically unfolds the theme. Ensembles including the combined choirs, Metropolitan Male Chorus, Friendship Festival Choir,

Berean Trio each performed a set of spirituals for the multi-choir festival and benefit concert, “A Festival of Negro Spirituals” (1959, #22). Yet another themed program used

67 Ibid.

68 “A Festival of Negro Spirituals,” New York, NY, December 10, 1959, “The Spiritual: A Celebration of Imagery, Rhythm and Drama,” University of Michigan, MI, November 2, 1978, and Greenville, ME, August 20, 1982. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

40 the structure of a concert title without sets, “The Spiritual: Celebration of Imagery,

Rhythm, and Drama” (1978, #33).

Table 1.3. Jessye’s Late-Career Themed Programs69 ______

# Date Concert Title Location

22 12/10/1959 A Festival of Negro Spirituals Convent Avenue Baptist Church, NYC

33 11/ 2/1978 The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, University of Michigan, and Drama Ann Arbor, MI

35 8/20/1982 The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, Greenville High School and Drama Auditorium, Greenville, ME ______

Conclusions on Themed Programs

These themes ingeniously captured the essence of Eva Jessye’s intent to share the educational and artistic value of music in the African-American tradition. Seven themed program titles contain the phrase “Negro Music;” two, “American Music;” and two “The

Spiritual.” Eva Jessye evidently intended to present both African-American music and

American music as legitimate, viable, and valuable art forms. The body of music continues to appear in later concert titles, such as “Unusual Negro Music,” “Program of

Negro Music,” and “A Festival of Negro Spirituals.” In the mid-1930s, references to the

“Drama” or “Dramatist” appear in concert titles: “The Spiritual: Celebration of Imagery,

Rhythm, and Drama;” “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music;” and “The Eva

Jessye Choir: Dramatist of American Music.” The addition of “Dramatist” in concert

69 Ibid. 41 titles followed the opera productions, Four Saints in Three Acts in 1934 and Porgy and

Bess in 1935.

Eva Jessye took themed programs on her choir’s national tours and also used them for special occasions. For example, the Dixie Jubilee Singers, later renamed The

Eva Jessye Choir, performed themed programs for the annual President Lincoln’s

Birthday concerts: “Three Centuries of Negro Music” (1931, #2), “Lights and Shades of

Negro Music” (1932, #3), and “Program of Negro Music” (1935, #7). Although they differ in the sequence of music and concert title, all portray themes of human rights, freedom, and universal emancipation. This programming technique demonstrates Eva

Jessye’s use of an underlying message to unify the sequence of music.

Themed programs were also used for special occasions, such as choral festivals that featured several choral organizations, soloists, and ensembles of varying sizes. A classic example of this type of concert is “A Festival of Negro Spirituals,” a benefit concert (1959, #22). This concert also belongs in the body of themed concert programs.

Table 1.4. Jessye’s Special-Occasion Themed Programs70 ______

# Date Concert Title Special Event Location

2 2/12/1931 Three Centuries of Negro Music Lincoln’s Birthday John Wanamaker, Concert NYC

3 2/12/1932 Lights and Shades of Negro Music Lincoln’s Birthday/ John Wanamaker, NBC Radio Broadcast NYC

70 “Three Centuries of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 2, 1931, “Lights and Shades of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1932, “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY., February 12, 1935, and “A Festival of Negro Spirituals,” New York, NY, December 10, 1959. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 42

# Date Concert Title Special Event Location

7 2/12/1935 Program of Negro Music Lincoln’s Birthday John Wanamaker, Concert NYC

22 12/10/1959 A Festival of Negro Spirituals Christmas, Benefit Convent Avenue Concert Baptist Church, NYC ______

Themed or Major Work Programs with Similar and Identical Titles but Different Content

Some concert titles are repeated verbatim or nearly so. The concerts may or may not contain the identical order of pieces, but do comprise essentially the same repertoire.

This constitutes a specialized subgroup of the themed concert classification. Jessye’s themed programs with headings for the groupings resemble the organizational layout of her major works. This may show evidence of intermediate steps in Jessye’s concert programming evolution from themed programs to major works. It is true, however, that the headings are used differently in these two program types. Headings such as

“Spirituals,” “Work Songs and Legends,” “Folk Lore and Manner,” and “With Classic and Modern Composers” group genres together, perhaps to inform the audience.

Additionally, Jessye grouped music that shared subject matter, as indicated by text.71

Jessye utilized this practice for themed programs primarily from the early 1930s to the late 1950s.

71 Patricia Johnson Trice indicates that subject categories were classified by R. Nathaniel Dett, ed., Religious Folk Songs of the Negro (Hampton, VA: Hampton Institute Press, 1927); Mary Allen Grissom, The Negro Sings a New Heaven (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1930); John Wesley Work, Folk Song of the American Negro (Nashville: Press of Fisk University, 1915). These texts were published by 1930, therefore, these resources were available to Jessye to formulate sets of spirituals based on subject category. Patricia Johnson Trice, Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals: Historical Overview and Annotated Listings (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998), 221. 43

As Jessye’s practice evolved, she used headings and groupings in her major work,

Go Where I Send Thee. This suggests that these programming techniques may have progressed from her themed programs to major works.72 Jessye used headings such as,

“The Calling,” “Commitment,” “Christian Journey,” “The Vow,” and “Preaching,” for the major work, Go Where I Send Thee (1980, #34). “Commission” is based on the spiritual, “Go Where I Send Thee.” Headings, “Supplication,” “Testimony,” “Narrative,” and “Miracle” frame the opening of “The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama” (1982, #35). The spiritual, “Go Where I Send Thee” extrapolates the heading “Commission,” and spirituals, “Canaan’s Happy Land” and “Joshua Fought the

Battle of Jericho” illustrate the heading “Journey and Conquest.” Excerpts from her major work, Go Where I Send Thee (1980, #34) and themed program “The Spiritual: A

Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama” (1982, #35) appear below to illustrate her use of headings.

Example 1. Excerpt from Program Featuring a Major Work, Go Where I Send Thee (1980, #34) 73 ______

Go Where I Send Thee Expressed in Afro-American Spirituals

The Calling Go Where I Send Thee

Commitment Lord, I’m Out Here on Your Word

The Vow Done Paid My Vow

Preaching Preaching of the Elders

72 “Go Where I Send Thee,” Pittsburg, KS, May 4, 1980. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

73 Ibid.

Example 2. Excerpt from Themed Concert Program, “The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama” (1982, #35) 74 ______

The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama

Commission Go Where I Send Thee

Journey and Conquest Canaan’s Happy Land Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho ______

As another example, two printed programs carry the same title, Western Star

(1955, #20; 1966, #24), but differ in organizational schemes and repertoire. On October 9,

1955, Jessye presented “Eva Jessye Choir in Western Star,” with sixteen individual selections. Although there are no headings or groupings, the sequence of selected literature still hints at the unfolding of an American story. The musical narrative begins with Jessye’s “Hail to the U.S.A.,” continues with repertoire progressions such as “John

Henry” building the train tracks for the “Hand Car Blues,” and concludes with “It’s Not

Your Nationality,” by John Wheldon, and “It’s a Sweet Country,” by Earl Robinson.

Eleven years later, The Eva Jessye Choir presented “Western Star: A Panorama of

American Music suggested by the work of Stephen Vincent Benet.” The 1966 Western

Star production had a more developed structure, with headings including “Prologue,”

“Speaking in Their Tongue,” “Band of Gideon and David’s Harp,” “To the Great Mid-

West,” and “In Tribute.” The 1966 program contained components such as headings, narration, a script, and the inclusion of “panorama” in the concert title that suggests this

74 “The Spiritual: A Celebration of Imagery, Rhythm and Drama,” Greenville, ME, August 20, 1982, Greenville, ME. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

45 was some type of musical or dramatic production. This is an example of a themed program that evolved into a major work. Jessye followed Western Star with musical productions including panorama Kansas, Yours and Mine (1980), a televised production of Western Star (1981), and the musical, The Hallelujah Train (1956).

As her experience and ingenuity accumulated, and especially after her extensive performances with stage productions, Jessye appears to have become increasingly interested in maintaining the flow, development, staging, and repertoire of a single concert theme. The result is a major work consisting of elements of a choral concert but with little or no latitude in specific repertoire selection.

Major Works

Programs organized around a large choral work are identified as a major work program. It was a common practice of the time for programmers to base a performance on one or two major works. Jessye performed major works, including performances of her own compositions, primarily her folk-oratorios, The Life of Christ (1955, #18), The

Chronicle of Job (1978, #31), and Paradise Lost and Regained (1935, #6; 1955, #19;

1967, #25; 1970, #26; 1972, #27; 1972, #28; 1974, #29; 1974, #30; 1978, #32).75

Paradise Lost and Regained is one of Eva Jessye’s signature works and provides an example of her most developed programming style and technique. She programmed it often between 1955 and 1978. The work is based on John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise

Lost and Regained. She describes her folk-oratorio, Paradise Lost and Regained, as

75 “Paradise Lost and Regained,” Jamaica, NY, January 31, 1935, Manchester, NH, April 3,1955, Akron, OH, October 29, 1967, Langston, OK, November 19, 1970, Ann Arbor, MI, April 30, 1972, Washington, D. C. July 11, 1972, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ, May 5, 1974, Philadelphia, PA, October 6, 1974, Pittsburg, KS, October 1, 1978, “The Life of Christ,” Lawrence, MA, February 27, 1955, “Western Star,” Roselle, IL, November 1966, and “Go Where I Send Thee,” Pittsburg, KS, May 1980. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 46 undergoing transformation, beginning in the early 1930s and culminating in the 1972 performance at Washington Cathedral.76 An advertisement says of the work:

This is a brilliant rendition of one of the finest spiritual narratives ever written. In the work American folk music is elevated to unaccustomed heights. Audiences marvel at the smooth blend of two totally diverse styles of expression. It appeals to people of all classes, and particularly to lovers of literature, drama and music, and certainly to all of religious convictions. It is a moving tapestry of music and the spoken word.77

Table 1.5. Jessye’s Major Work Programs78 ______

# Date Major Work Location

6 1/31/1935 Paradise Lost and Regained Allen A.M.E. Church, Jamaica, NY

18 2/27/1955 The Life of Christ Lawrence, MA

19 4/3/1955 Paradise Lost and Regained Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH

24 11/11/1966 Western Star: Panorama of No location listed American Music

25 10/29/1967 Paradise Lost and Regained Central High School Auditorium, Akron, OH

26 11/19/1970 Paradise Lost and Regained L.W. Young Auditorium, Langston University, Langston, OK

27 4/30/1972 Paradise Lost and Regained Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI

76 Joan Perkins, “Dr. Eva Jessye Re-Creates ‘Paradise’,” Glassboro Whit 36, no. 30 (May 9, 1974), 1. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

77 April 30 Performance announcement at Mendelssohn Theatre Milton’s Paradise Lost and Regained (in Folk-Oratorio). Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

78 “Paradise Lost and Regained,” Jamaica, NY, January 31, 1935, Manchester, NH, April 3,1955, Akron, OH, October 29, 1967, Langston, OK, November 19, 1970, Ann Arbor, MI, April 30, 1972, Washington, D. C. July 11, 1972, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ, May 5, 1974, Philadelphia, PA, October 6, 1974, Pittsburg, KS, October 1, 1978, “The Life of Christ,” Lawrence, MA, February 27, 1955, “Western Star,” Roselle, IL, November 1966, and “Go Where I Send Thee,” Pittsburg, KS, May 1980. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 47

# Date Major Work Location

28 7/11/1972 Paradise Lost and Regained Washington Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

29 5/5/1974 Paradise Lost and Regained Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ

30 10/6/1974 Paradise Lost and Regained Tindley Temple United Methodist Church, Philadelphia, PA

31 2/3/1978 The Chronicle of Job Davage Auditorium, Clark College, Atlanta, GA

32 10/1/1978 Paradise Lost and Regained Carney Hall Auditorium, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS

34 5/4/1980 Go Where I Send Thee; Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS Tribute to The Clergy ______

Free-Form

Jessye used the free-form approach less frequently than thematic and major work approaches to concert programming. Five of the thirty-five programs reviewed were in free-form format, bearing no evidence of concert title or organizing theme. At the surface, these programs appear free-form; however, closer examination reveals clearly that Jessye organized the repertoire in chronological and/or artistic sets. The identified free-form programs utilized groups to structure the programs: (1927, #1; 1939, #10; 1943, #15;

1949, #16; and 1963, #23).79

79 Calvary Baptist Church, NY, June 7, 1927, Bowling Green University, OH, March 24, 1949, and New York, NY, December 1, 1963. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University; and Dartmouth College, NH, August 21,1943. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 48

Table 1.6. Jessye’s Free-Form Programs80 ______

# Date Location

1 6/7/1927 Calvary Baptist Church, NYC

10 1/11/1939 Detroit Town Hall, Detroit, MI

15 8/21/1943 Webster Hall, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

16 3/24/1949 Men’s Gymnasium, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH

23 12/1/1963 New York Center, NYC ______

The first of these free-form programs (1927, #1) is divided into two sections, but not according to the typical separation into spirituals and secular works that had became a hallmark of her programming. She grouped the music by genre: three groupings of spirituals, one grouping of slave songs, and one grouping titled, “Readings.” In addition, there were pairs of two selections, each grouped with the other and also connected to the program, but without a heading. One example of this is the opening two pieces, “Swing

Along” and “Wid de Moon,” by Will Marion Cook, and, in the second half, two piano solos, “My Ma’s Pies” and “Juba Dance.”

Chronology

Tradition directs programmers to present repertoire chronologically, beginning with early music of the Renaissance and/or Baroque period, then moving through

Classical and/or Romantic periods onto Contemporary. This logic creates a

80 Ibid.

49 straightforward approach that appears acceptable for conductors and audience members alike.

This chronological strategy was also evident in Jessye’s programming. She used chronology as a means to unfold the history of a people from their own country, sold into slavery, their long struggle in a new land and ultimate triumph over bondage, to present- day life. Jessye utilized chronological sequence as a secondary organizational technique to unfold history within the context of a chosen theme. For the Lincoln’s Birthday concert, “Three Centuries of Negro Music” (1931, #2), she presented an overview of

African-American music from slavery to the present day, including repertoire from West

Africa, spirituals, and African-American folk and love melodies. The opening three pieces of the “Three Centuries of Negro Music” demonstrate Jessye’s chronological approach. The historical journey begins with “Kru Even Song” from West Africa, then

“Slave Ship” by Will Marion Cook, then “Sol’ Away to Georgia,” a slave song discovered and arranged by Jessye.

Organizational Divisions

With rare exception, all themed and free-form concert programs are bipartite.

Jessye devotes the first half to spirituals and the second half to secular works. She demonstrates this technique in eight themed programs (1934, #4 -#5; 1935, #7; 1938, #9;

1939, #11; 1940, #12 -#13; and 1941, #14). Three of her five free-form programs (1939,

#10; 1943, #15; 1949, #16) utilized the same technique. Jessye uses spirituals as bookends for the “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of American Music” (1954; #17).

The inner sub-groups: “Folk Lore and Manner” concludes part one, and “With the

Moderns” opens part two. A different and singular example, “The People, Yes (The 50

Music of America)” (1957, #21), maintains the two-part sectional division.81 Secular works appear on the first half mainly under the group, “Realm of Romance,” while the second half is mostly devoted to spirituals.

Groupings build cohesiveness in Jessye’s programming decisions about portraying African-American life through music. These groupings are found in all reviewed programs from 1927 to 1963, with only two exceptions (1955, #20 and 1978,

#33). In one of these programs (1931, #2), groupings are achieved by genres such as

“Spirituals,” “Sea Chanteys,” “Lullabies,” and “Modern Song Group.” The groupings are further identified with a numbering system such as Roman numerals distinguishing one segment from the other. Other groups used were “With Classic and Modern Composers,”

“From Operas,” “Work Songs,” “Hero Legends,” “Gershwin,” “Travesty,” and “Piano

Solos” (1936, #8; 1938, #9; 1939, #11).

Her sets, most often typed in succession without spacing, usually contained headings. In her 1963 “Tribute to Eva Jessye” (1963, #23), at the New York Center in

New York City, the program consisted of nineteen selections organized as five groups of two pieces, five individual pieces and one group of three.82 The program moves from spirituals to work songs/folk songs to non-spiritual compositions by Fred Work and

William Grant Still, and concludes with Frederick Hall’s arrangement of “Yonder Come

Day.”

81 “The People, Yes (The Music of America),” Trenton, NJ., March 12, 1957. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

82 “Tribute to Eva Jessye,” New York Center, NY, December 1, 1963. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg University. 51

Music, Composers, and Arrangers

The ten most frequently programmed vocal works Jessye used in the selected thirty-five programs from 1927-1982 are listed in Appendix C. Three are spirituals; three are secular folk songs of African Americans; two are selections from Porgy and Bess; and the last two are blues tunes. Spirituals, “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,” “Plenty of Good Room,” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are respectively, the top three selections programmed, appearing on all program types. “Summertime” fourth most often, and “The Strawberry Woman,” fifth, both from Porgy and Bess, were signature pieces. This is understandable, given the Eva Jessye Choir’s participation in the first production in 1935 and in several revivals. The choir’s popularity increased with their association with Porgy and Bess, which afforded them greater audiences for concerts and tours. Jessye’s choir is often referred to as “The Eva Jessye Choir of Porgy and Bess” such as in the advertisement for a March 1936 performance.83

Eva Jessye transcribed and arranged the Southern folktale, “Simon, The

Fisherman,” an integration of choral and spoken narrative. “Simon” was ranked sixth and was quite a crowd pleaser. One of Jessye’s most well-known choir members, Jester

Hairston often programmed “Simon, the Fisherman” for youth choral festivals, including the Southwestern Oregon Junior and Senior High School’s “Negro Spiritual Festival-

Concert” in 1969. Work songs “John Henry,” about the steel-driving man, ranked seventh, and “Water Boy” ranked eighth. “Water Boy” is also known as the “Convict

Song,” arranged by Avery Robinson and made popular by singers Paul Robeson and

83 “The R. Nathaniel Dett Club Scholarship Fund Recital,” March 1936. Concert program. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 52

Roland Hayes in their solo recitals. “All I Got Done,” and “His Trouble was Hard” trail slightly, ranking ninth, and tenth, respectively.

Jessye’s list of frequently programmed composers and arrangers are listed in

Appendix D. The list of composers and arrangers reads like a “Who’s Who” of African-

American and American composers from the mid-twentieth century. It ranges from the

Dean of African-American Composers, William Grant Still, to the Father of Blues, W.C.

Handy. Jessye herself, however, was the most programmed arranger on her concert programs. The author recorded each time Jessye’s name appeared as composer or arranger in the reviewed programs. In most programs, Jessye stated that unless otherwise noted, she was the arranger. Even so, it is possible that some titles designated “Not indicated” were actually arranged by Jessye. Published compositions, recordings, and manuscripts were used to verify attributions to Jessye.

As mentioned earlier, selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess were the second-most frequently programmed music. Porgy and Bess pieces, such as

“Summertime,” “Loved Walked In,” and “The Requiem,” were a drawing card for audiences. Hall Johnson arrangements of spirituals including “City Called Heaven,”

“Hold On,” and “I Been ’buked” place third. Other arrangers, Harry T. Burleigh, Edward

Boatner, John Work, and Wendell P. Talbert increased the body of spirituals represented on Jessye’s program.

Next is William Grant Still, who composed spiritual arrangements and in Western art forms, including ballet and art song. W.C. Handy’s popular Southern Ragtime,

“Memphis Blues,” and spiritual arrangements “I’ll Be There In The Mornin’,” and “I’ll

Never Turn Back No More,” places the Father of Blues fifth most frequently programmed composer. Jazz arranger Russell Wooding ranks on the most programmed 53 list with his choral arrangement of W. C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues.” Jessye’s mentor and theory teacher, Will Marion Cook further diversifies the list with “Swing Along,”

“Exhortation,” and “Rain Song” which are now included in art song collections.

The programs are divided into four sections to better trace the evolution of

Jessye’s programming practices during the fifty-five professional years of concert programs examined. The first section consists of a review of programs #1 (6/7/1927) to

#11 (3/20/1939), the second section is #12 (3/13/1940) to #17 (8/12/1954), and the third section is #18 (2/27/1955) to #25 (10/29/1967). The first three sections #1-#25

(6/7/1927) to (10/29/1967) are representative of her touring career with the Eva Jessye

Choir in her early, middle, and late years. The fourth and final section, programs, #26

(11/19/1970) to #35 (8/20/1982), represents her post-tour years with work as artist-in- residence at Clark College and Pittsburg State University and lecture-artist in Georgia.

A Representative Example of Programming African-American Music, “A Program of

Negro Music” (1935, #7)84

This concert illustrates both general and specific characteristics of Eva Jessye’s programming technique. On Tuesday, February 12, 1935, The Eva Jessye Choir presented “A Program of Negro Music” (1935, #7) for the annual Lincoln’s Birthday

Concert held at John Wanamaker department store in New York City. As usual, she programmed two large sections of music separated by an intermission.

84 “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1935. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 54

Example 3. Excerpt from “A Program of Negro Music” Part I Spirituals (1935, #7)85 ______

Part I. Spirituals

1. a. Send Our Angel Down b. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot—Slow Down, Sweet Chariot c. Somebody’s Knocking at your Door d. Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho

2. a. Won’t You Tell Me b. How Long the Train Been Gone? c. Plenty Good Room

3. I Been ’buked and I Been Scorned…….……….Hall Johnson

4. a. Gwine Up b. My Father Took a Light c. Po’ ol’ Laz’rus

5. a. Wade in de Water b. On Mah Journey……………………………Boatner c. Hold On…………………………………….Hall Johnson-Jessye ______

The concert theme unfolds with five sets of spirituals. Each set focuses on the same subject or on complementary subjects that tell a story. The relationship between the text as it relates to the theme is of highest importance: the texts present a chronology of

Negro life using the figurative and spiritual meanings in biblical texts. In the first set,

Jessye groups spirituals that center on divine help, using the spirituals, “Send Our Angels

Down,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot—Slow Down, Sweet Chariot,” and “Somebody’s

Knocking at Your Door.” With this help, they have the courage to reach the Promised

Land, which is musically celebrated with reminders of the Biblical character Joshua, who overcame trying circumstances, in “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho.”

85 “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1935. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 55

The second set of spirituals centers on trains, symbolizing a passage to heaven or freedom. She begins with a call-and-response spiritual:

Call: Won’t you tell me how long? Won’t you tell me how long?

Response: The train’s been gone, Oh Lord, it won’t come back until judgment day.”

The second spiritual, “How Long the Train Been Gone?” is followed by the syncopated and jubilantly confident message:

Plenty good room, Plenty good room, Plenty good room in my Father’s kingdom

A set containing only one spiritual, Hall Johnson’s arrangement of “I Been ’buked and I Been Scorned,” is followed by the set “Gwine Up,” “My Father Took a Light,” and

“Po’ ol’ Laz’rus,” and the final set, “Wade in de Water,” “On Mah Journey” by Edward

Boatner, and “Hold On” by Hall Johnson-Jessye.86 Johnson’s “I’ve Been ’buked and I

Been Scorned” is a bold and dramatic statement in its own right. The next set of spirituals,

“Gwine Up,” “My Father Took a Light,” and “Po’ ol’ Laz’rus,” keeps a heavenly mindset.87

During the final set of spirituals and final part of the journey, she traces the history of slavery before, during, and after the Emancipation Proclamation. Escaping slaves waded in the water in order to mask their scent from hunting dogs, practically, and figuratively as a means of healing. Physically and spiritually healed and masked from pursuit, they resumed on their difficult journeys, reminding them to persevere – keep

86 Jessye’s usage of hyphenation between two composers suggests that the second listed composer adapted a musical work originally created by the first listed composer.

87 “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1935. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 56 their hands on the plow – always to move forward and never to look back. Jessye presents this unfolding profile of a journey in two types of spirituals, the slow and sustained “Wade in de Water,” and the syncopated and segmented “On Ma Journey” by

Boatner. The “Jessyified” arrangement of Hall Johnson’s “Hold On” closes the final set of spirituals as well as the first half of the program. The first half is symmetrical, with four sets of spirituals divided by Johnson’s individual spiritual, “I’ve Been ’buked and I

Been Scorned.” Jessye expressively unfolds a story through spirituals, a characteristic of her programming.

Example 4. Excerpt from “A Program of Negro Music” Part II Secular Works (1935, #7)88 ______

Part II. Secular [Works]

1. Who’s gonna mourn for Me?...... ………………………..Jacques Wolfe 2. Winter’s Approach………………………………………Dunbar-William Grant Still 3. Death Chant (African Ballet Sahdji)…………………….William Grant Still 4. Water Boy (Convict Song)……………………………....Robinson 5. Po’ lil’ [Lil’] Black Chile’ (Opera Deep River)…………Frank Harling 6. Fantasia: Morning, Noon, Night………………………...Traditional 8. Sorrow Song…………………………………………...... Porter Grainger Voices heard: (Religion, Rebellion, Despondency, Superstition, Tragedy) 9. Lincoln Tribute……………………………………….....Original Hymn of Emancipation Johann Testman at the Organ ______

The second half is non-symmetrical, with nine individual pieces of vocal and choral works by Jessye’s contemporaries. These compositions were written by or for

African Americans. Romanian-born American composer Jacques Wolfe studied African-

88 Ibid. 57

American music, particularly spirituals. His somber “Who’s Gonna Mourn for Me?” opens the second half. William Grant Still’s setting of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem,

“Winter’s Approach,” followed by “Death Chant” from Still’s African ballet, Sahdji, and

“Water Boy,” arranged by Avery Robinson, is classified as a work song. “Po’ Lil’ Black

Chile” from the voodoo-themed opera, Deep River by Frank Harling, and “Fantasia:

Morning, Noon, Night” by Duke Ellington are also included. The final two numbers of the set are “Troubles was Hard” and Porter Grainger’s “Sorrow Song.” Jessye lists

“Religion, Rebellion, Despondency, Superstition, and Tragedy” at the end of the printed program. “Religion” refers to the spirituals from the first half while Winter’s Approach” represents “Despondency.” “Po’ Lil’ Black Chile’” and Still’s Sahdji definitely cover superstition, and “Troubles was Hard” and “Sorrow Song” represent “Tragedy.” In this program, too, Jessye frames the repertoire with headings.

Another Representative Example of Programming African-American Music, “The Eva

Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music” (1938; #9)89

The Eva Jessye Choir performed in the 1934 opera, Four Saints in Three Acts and the 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess. These experiences had an impact upon Jessye’s programming, including the theme, concert title, and addition of repertoire. “The Eva

Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music” (1938; #9) illustrates the impact of the 1934 and 1935 productions on Jessye’s programming. She planned a thematic program with two-part sectional divisions with spirituals in the first half. There is, however, a slight departure from the standard love and slave songs in the second half. Jessye introduces

89 “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” Civic Center, October 25, 1938. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 58 work songs, hero legends, blues, and works by Gershwin, all as a result of her stage experiences including the 1935 production of Porgy and Bess.

Example 5. Excerpt from Themed Concert Program, “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music” (1938, #9)90 ______

Part Two

Work Songs Steel Driver’s Song (I Got a Mule) Water Boy Simon, The Fisherman

Piano Solo Claire Du Lune…………………Debussy Hero Legends John Henry…………………...... Arranged by Bennett Casey Jones………………….....Traditional My Cabin Door

Gershwin Summertime The Strawberry Woman Requiem

Travesty St. Louis Blues…………………Handy-Wooding ______

The second half is more vividly dramatic. It begins with work songs, “Steel

Driver’s Song,” “Water Boy,” and “Simon, the Fisherman,” each a compelling story. A vignette unfolds within each song and within each group of selections. The second half,

“Work Songs, Piano Solo, Hero Legends, Gershwin, and Travesty,” presents a dramatic and musical portrayal of African-American folklore.

Jessye repeated the concert entitled, “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro

Music” (1939; #11) during the same season. The sectional division remains the same, but

90 Ibid. 59 the groupings of repertoire differ slightly from those in the 1938 program. The Negro spirituals appeared in groups of three to five, and one spiritual was performed alone.

Bookends, William Grant Still’s “Sing All Along the Way” and Gershwin’s “Don’t You

Be Downhearted,” from Porgy and Bess, appear on the first half but are not spirituals. It is likely, however, that Gershwin and Still incorporated stylistic characteristics of

African-American culture and music, which may explain the presence of non-spirituals on the program. She moves “Casey Jones” and “My Cabin Door” from “Legends” to

“Work Songs” in this concert and adds a new heading, “The River,” with the piano solo

“Spoon River,” by Percy Grainger.

A year later, Jessye again re-uses the concert title, “The Eva Jessye Choir:

Dramatist of Negro Music” (1940; #12, #13), for performances at St. Lawrence

University and Dartmouth College. Unlike the previous concerts bearing the same title,

Jessye used “Spirituals” as the title for Part I and “Work Songs and Legends” for Part II.

The spirituals appear in groups of one to four, and work songs and legends are in a group of three, two or an individual work song or legend.

“The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music” (1941; #14) made one additional appearance in the body of printed programs. This program demonstrates

Jessye’s evolution in using the same concert titles. In this concert, instead of “Work

Songs and Legend,” she uses “Americana—Light and Shade.” The unfolding of the lights and shades of American music reveals her astute ability to demonstrate the range of style from blues to work songs to works by Gershwin to African-American folksongs.

This concert illustrates structural elements of Eva Jessye’s thematic programming, the main technique she used to design concerts. Themes that centered on the scope of

African-American music appeared in the early 1930s, but from the late 1930s to the 60

1950s, the performer’s focus shifted from an exploration of African-American repertoire to portraying the repertoire’s full dramatic potential. Intermittently, free-form and major works programs appeared throughout her career. By the 1970s, one notes a significant increase in programming of Jessye’s own folk-oratorios and musical productions, and a decline in frequency of her heretofore traditional choral concert, a likely result of the disbanding of the Eva Jessye Tour Choir. Special events, major works, lectures and musical productions increased in the 1980s as well as her guest conducting and lecturing, and work as artist-in-residence at Clark College (1978, 1981) and Pittsburg State

University (1979-1981). During her tenure at Pittsburg State University, Jessye conceived and directed musicals and lectures including Tribute to the Clergy, Tribute to the Teacher with Love, Kansas, Yours and Mine, and Red Carpet and Cold Linoleum.

As seen in the concert programs, spirituals dominated the first half of the programs and secular music the second half during the 1930s and 1940s. The exceptions are her folk-oratorios, which are expressed in narrative texts and spirituals. “The Eva

Jessye Choir: Dramatists of American Music” (1954, #17) marks a pivotal change in which Jessye concludes with narrative spirituals. Five years later, she featured an entire concert of spirituals, with narration, in “A Festival of Negro Spirituals.”

Unity and Variety

The repertoire programmed demonstrates Jessye’s mission to preserve folk songs of African-American people. She achieved great variety without sacrificing a sense of unity by consistently programming literature of a similar nature. An appropriate question is: how does one create variety within a scope of music that shares similar characteristics? Jessye achieved cohesiveness by grouping genres with headings such as 61

“Spirituals,” “Work Songs,” or “From Operas” or through a concert title, as in “A

Festival of Negro Spirituals.” She demonstrates her strong commitment to the text in the structure that underlays concert programs. In addition, Jessye forms groups of choral pieces and relates the groups themselves to the concert theme or story. This is her genius.

The fact that the text is fundamental is clear from analysis of all program types

Jessye uses: thematic, major works, and free-form. There is shared or complementary subject matter within each set of spirituals in thematic programs, “The Spiritual: A

Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama,” with headings such as “Commission,” or

“Journey and Conquest,” and also in a free-form program in which “Won’t You Tell Me” and “How Long the Train Been Gone?” share a train theme. One also sees textual connections in programs built around a major work. Spirituals align with both the subject matter and the poetry of Milton’s literary text in her folk-oratorio, Paradise Lost and

Regained.

Jessye achieved variety by mixing types of spirituals, such as slow and sustained, syncopated and segmented, narrative, and call-and-response. She incorporated at least two different types of spirituals within each grouping. Solo voices, small ensembles, male and female groups, and female and male smaller ensembles such as “Ladies Trio” and

“Mixed Quartette” performed call-and-response sections and narratives in folk songs, adding another layer of variety. Jessye also used solos, small ensembles, quartets, and gender-specific groups to build a tapestry of sound that heightened interest. Somewhat in variance to general practice, she also included solo vocal repertoire in choral concerts, offering singers a solo platform and broadening the repertory performed.

Instruments infused her concerts with variety. Most of her colleagues performed spirituals unaccompanied. She, on the other hand, wrote choral arrangements of spirituals 62 that integrated piano accompaniment. The accompaniment supported the major melody and controlled its rhythm. Piano solos highlighted accompanists’ talents, as well as offered a transition between major genres of African-American music. Jessye allowed for creativity from her pianists: they were expected to improvise accompaniments as well as to sight-read.91 The cello was featured in many concert programs as both a solo and an accompanying instrument. Paradise Lost and Regained employed orchestra, both as accompaniment and as a dramatic element.

Jessye also achieved variety by incorporating the spoken word. She includes “In the Morning” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and her own poem, “The Great American

Tragedy” under the heading, “Readings” in a 1927 program. Milton’s narrative poem structures her Paradise Lost and Regained. In this folk-oratorio several narrators alternate to speak the narrative poem. In 1955 and 1966, a narrator is listed on the Western Star programs.92 The latter program further eludes use of narratives with the statement, “a panorama of American Music suggested by the work of Stephen Vincent Benet,” a twentieth-century American poet.93 A review of the Eva Jessye Choir’s performance at

New York Town Hall in 1948 mentions “elaborate program, assisted by C. Quentin

Foster, narrator, and James Waters, guitarist.” Jessye’s scripts for major works The

Chronicle of Job and Western Star, and themed-program “The People, Yes (The Music of

America),” give further evidence of the incorporation of a literary form.

91 Black, “The Life and Work of Eva Jessye,” 172.

92 There is no script of narration available, though signs are strong that narrative must have been used. The archived program, which states says “narrator” appears in the appendix.

93 “Western Star,” Roselle, IL, November 1966, Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

A narration is dramatically read before each spiritual in Songs from the Soul: The

Negro Spiritual. In typical Jessye fashion, this is a themed program. The author viewed a film of this 1979 concert performed by The University of Michigan Choir; the film offers information valuable to this study. Her opening narration unfolds the theme and subsequent narrations provide a cultural and historical understanding of “The Negro

Spiritual.” As the cello plays “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” the choir in unison speaks, “We shall sing them as we heard them, from the lips of our forefathers: As they moaned them in their sorrows: As they praised God for His goodness.”94 This is followed by the assuring words, “I’m gonna live always when I get over in the kingdom,” expressed in the spiritual “I’m Gonna Live Always.” The next narration provides the figurative meaning, “This train made not of iron bolt or steel, but a heavenly transport calling all stations, bound for a world unknown.”95 “Won’t you tell me how long” is sung with urgency as the choir asks the question, “won’t you tell me how long the train been gone?” One soloist dramatically asks about her mother’s whereabouts and the other soloist answers, “she won’t come back until judgment day.” Many times, the call and response is between the soloist and the chorus, but in this instance it is between two soloists. Each narration calls attention to the meaning of the spiritual. Before “Beautiful

City,” the narrator recites Jessye’s words, “Man has many visions while upon this earth, but none that can compare with the city of eternal light.”96 Her literary skills support her programming goals to elevate the audience’s understanding of the textual and cultural meaning of the music. The college choir’s delivery in facial expressions, vocal

94 Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual (University of Michigan Film Video Library, 1979), DVD.

95 Ibid.

96 Ibid. 64 inflections, and body movements conveyed the message in each spiritual as well as the overall concert theme. This expressivity and clarity of the diction is a prime example of

Jessye’s philosophical intent to communicate the mood and text of the music. In a 1983 interview, Jessye states, “singers should have enthusiasm, should be able to communicate and bring the audience into the performance and have the ability to attract and hold attention.”97

Philosophy

Analysis of Jessye’s concert programs can identify overarching philosophical principles that directed her programming decisions. These philosophical principles include:

• To preserve and further the music of African-American people

• To diversify the body of literature of African-American music performed

• To ground the concert program preparation and music selection in

scholarly research

• To convey powerful messages or strong convictions through textual and

musical connections

Jessye made a conscious decision to program the music of her heritage. This philosophical premise was initiated upon hearing the inspiring words of Booker T.

Washington while she was a student at the Kansas Wesleyan University. Her life’s work was dedicated to preserving and furthering African-American music and musicians. A life-long educator, Jessye sought to educate audiences—less familiar with the beloved

97 Wilson, 74.

65 music of her ancestry—on African-American music through her choral programming and performance.98 She was dedicated to selecting repertoire that presented audience appeal, musical merit, and vocal skill but its historic value was of most importance.99

Jessye was committed to finding and sharing unfamiliar music of African

Americans to diversify the body of literature performed. Her research and scholarly preparation demonstrates her dedication to seek rare melodies of African-American people.100 She extended this philosophy to programming a variety of composers and arrangers of spirituals, secular folk songs and non-spiritual compositions. Jessye’s commitment to the proliferation of music by African Americans is demonstrated in her comprehensive selection of composers, arrangers, folk songs, and non-spiritual compositions.

Jessye’s philosophical foundation in careful preparation and scholarly research has led to programming practices of thoughtful sequencing of selected music using textual fluency and varied dramatic presentation incorporating other art forms. Jessye acknowledged her scholarly preparation early in her career with program statement, “This program embodying extensive research and careful preparation is presented for the first time today.”101 She also included, “Arrangements of all Spirituals and Worksongs [are]

98 Jessye’s philosophy was to expand one’s musical knowledge. At Morgan College, she sought to enrich her African-American students’ scholarship with choral literature from various stylistic periods and genres. Post-Morgan, she sought to educate her audience on African-American music.

99 Black,127-128.

100 An example would be her rare find of “Sold Away to Georgia,” often performed in her choral concerts, however, first recorded for the 1927 film, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Jessye heard Negro cotton workers in the South singing “Sold Away to Georgia” and other unfamiliar songs that were likely passed down by their ancestors. "Gleanings from the Screen," New York Times (Oct 30, 1927).

101 Three Centuries of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 2, 1931. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

66 by the Director”102 or “All arrangements were made for the Choir by EVA JESSYE unless otherwise indicated” in early programs. 103 These statements bring attention to the importance of her research on the music and performance practice in formulating choral music concerts.

Jessye often included in program notes: “Over-direction is studiously avoided, in order to obtain the flavor of spontaneity.”104 Although pertaining to performance, the implication of this declaration is important both in concert programming and in conducting. That Jessye conveyed only those gestural cues necessary to prompt a full and emotional sound from the choir as can be seen in the 1979 DVD performance, Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual.105 Even with sparse conducting and, the author asserts, because of the economy of her gesture in performance, the power of the storytelling came to life. Jessye infrequently provided printed program notes to explain the historical context of music programmed. It was Jessye’s departure from this trend that added significance to the three exceptions, the legends, John Henry and Casey Jones, and

Negro spirituals in the festival programs. She included program notes explaining the historical significance of the legends and Negro spirituals in the 1938-1941 printed programs.106

102 “Lights and Shades of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1932. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

103 “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” Civic Center, October 25, 1938. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

104 “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1935. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

105 Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual (University of Michigan Film Video Library, 1979), DVD.

106 “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” Civic Center, October 25, 1938, University of Minnesota, MN, March 20, 1939, St. Lawrence University, NY, March 13, 1940, and Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, CT, January 27, 1941, and “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of American 67

Jessye’s personal, religious and societal convictions are evidenced in the textual connections of the repertoire found in many of the concerts. It was her objective to have a powerful message and to find textual as well as musical connections to heighten the pairing or grouping of pieces.

Music,” Indiana, PA, Indiana State Teachers College, August 12, 1954. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” University of Minnesota, MN, March 20, 1939, and Dartmouth College, NH, March 13, 1940. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

CHAPTER 5

CREATING A CONCERT UTILIZING EVA JESSYE’S PROGRAMMING

The journey through a half-century of Eva Jessye’s concert programs is also an account of successful programming. It began with an historic event, the Harlem

Renaissance, and continued through the Civil Rights movement to the late twentieth century. She programmed choral performances for radio, at major concert halls, and prominent colleges and churches across the United States to critical acclaim. It is remarkable that her programming remained significant for more than fifty years, transcending historical changes. Her scholarly and imaginative programming, as evidenced in the selected thirty-five printed concert programs, provide insight into her philosophy and structural thought process in developing a thoughtful sequence of music of and about African Americans.

Her imaginative ideas can still provide models for today’s choral conductor designing programs of African-American music, particularly spirituals. These models can serve as a prototype for Jubilee Choirs, which characteristically program an entire concert of spirituals, as well as for other choirs programming a concert of spirituals or even non- spiritual compositions.107 Directors of schools, churches, and community choral ensembles can interpret Jessye’s models and use her principles of programming, with the freedom also to include the works of present-day composers and arrangers. It is not the goal to duplicate a program devised by Jessye, but rather to apply her programming concepts to current-day choral concerts.

107 Jubilee Choirs are modeled after the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University was an unaccompanied choral ensemble that toured America and Europe from 1871-1878, performing Negro spirituals. 69

Jessye’s programming concepts may be generalized in four main models:

Standard, Standard Variation, Festival of Spirituals, and Concert of Spirituals. The programming concepts presented in this study will be demonstrated in a new concert program, using structural and performance concepts derived from research and classification of the selected thirty-five concert programs of Eva Jessye. The fresh program will frame the selected repertoire using one of Jessye’s concert models and programming concepts to create unity and variety.

Program Type

As has already been stated, Jessye’s concert programs can be classified in three types: theme, major work, and free-form. Themed programs appear most frequently followed by a major work. Themed programs were based upon African-American music as the nucleus, while her major works (specifically, folk-oratorios), were based upon a religious idea expressed in spirituals. The free-form program, which does not carry theme or title, was the type that Jessye used the least. Regardless of the program type, Jessye used a rigorous structural thought process to build a concert, unifying it around a textual flow that served as an unarticulated narrative and grouping sets of music to create imagery, tell a story, or express or expound a biblical or “Americana” idea. Given that

Jessye’s most commonly used themed programs, this chapter will focus on this program type.

Themed Program

To build a Jessye-inspired concert program, it is paramount that the themed program denotes the unifying concept for the body of choral music of American or 70

African-American music. Jessye regarded Negro folk songs with reverence, which can be seen in her approach to programming. She featured the songs of slaves in its most authentic form and chose composers and arrangers whose compositions embraced these folk songs as choral art. Eva Jessye and her contemporaries, Harry T. Burleigh, Hall

Johnson and William Grant Still were frequent arrangers of spirituals, and composers of non-spiritual compositions included on her concert programs.

Figure 1. A Jessye-Inspired Themed Program and Concert Titles, Indicating the Unifying Concept for the Body of Music Selected for the Concert Program’s Intent/Purpose ______

Jessye Concert Titles examples: Jessye-Inspired Concert Titles examples: Three Centuries of Negro Music I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African-American Music

Program of Negro Music On My Journey: Program of African-American Music

Songs from the Soul: Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual Spirituals of Hope, Courage, and Faith ______

Models

Chronological programming often places the folk songs and spirituals toward the end of the concert program. However, Jessye’s own concert programs prove that there are other areas on the program in which the spiritual and other folk songs of African

Americans can successfully be placed. The following four models will suggest these areas and contexts.

The first model (Figure 2. Concert Model One: Standard) is based upon Jessye’s earlier programs and uses a two-part sectional division, with spirituals featured in the first half and secular works in the second. The groupings of spirituals center on a subject or another textual connection to unify the set as well as unfold an overarching story or 71 theme. For example, “Won’t You Tell Me” and “How Long the Train Been Gone?” center on trains, and “On Ma Journey” and “Hold On” center on a journey. Two to three categories of spirituals: slow and sustained, syncopated and segmented, call and response are most often included within each set of spirituals.108 For example, “Wade in de

Water,” “On My Journey,” and “Hold On” is a grouping of spirituals used to close out the first half of Jessye’s 1935 “Program of Negro Music.”109 Two of the three categories of spirituals were represented in this set of spirituals. The second half features African-

American work songs and legends and can have stylistic influences of blues, ragtime, and jazz.

Figure 2. Concert Model One: Standard Indicating the Unifying Concept for the Body of Music Selected ______

I. SPIRITUALS

For each set of spirituals, center on a subject as well as align with the overarching theme vary the categories of spirituals represented, such as call and response, slow and sustained, and syncopated.

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Intermission

108 Jessye mentions three categories of spirituals in her program notes for “The Spiritual: A Celebration in Rhythm and Drama” concerts in November 2, 1978 and August 20, 1982. She also uses headings, “Narrative Spirituals” in a concert program indicating a variant of the three categories. Also, “the shout “is indicated next to spiritual, “Plenty Good Room” in several concert programs. This also may propose that Jessye was indicating another category of spiritual.

109 “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1935. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 72

II. WORK SONGS AND LEGENDS

Secular folk songs of African Americans that are work songs or highlight African-American hero legends such as John Henry

6-8 Individual or 2-3 Groups/Sets of Work Songs and Legends ______

Concert Model Two: Standard Variation is also based on Jessye’s earlier programs of the two-part sectional division, with spirituals in the first half, and secular and non-spiritual compositions in the second half. There are three or four groups of spirituals separated by one individual spiritual. A subject or other textual connection unifies each group of spirituals. The second half features folk and work songs of African

Americans, which speak to their strong character and their significance in history.

African-American legends like “John Henry” and “Casey Jones” were extremely popular in Jessye’s programs in the late 1930s and early 1940s. As in the first model, variants for

Concert Model Two may include a set of spirituals; a set of work or folk songs; a set of spirituals, work, and folk songs; and a set of jazz or blues.

The second model (Figure 3. Concert Model Two: Standard Variation) is similar to the first but with emphasis on works in Western art forms such as ballet, opera, and art song by her contemporaries. These featured composers were early arrangers of spirituals and also composed mainstream Western music. Jessye programmed not only their spiritual arrangements, but also their non-spiritual compositions. Jessye carried out her philosophical dedication to preserving Negro folk songs with the inclusion of her own arrangements but also included newly composed works by her African-American contemporaries.

Figure 3. Concert Model Two: Standard Variation

I. SPIRITUALS

For each set, center on a subject as well as align with the overarching theme. Vary the types of spirituals represented, such as call and response, slow and sustained, and syncopated segmented.

1-3 Spirituals

Intermission

II. SECULAR

7-8 Non-spiritual works

These are works by and for African Americans or works based on the literary texts of African-American poets.

6-8 Individual or 3-4 Groups/Sets of Non-spiritual works ______

Today’s programs can reflect Jessye’s philosophical ideals by offering a full range of music, including not only composers of Jessye’s time period, but also works composed in this century by and for African Americans. Composers of this century have offered arrangements of spirituals, non-spiritual compositions, and settings of African-

American poetry. Rollo Dilworth, Stacey V. Gibbs, Adolphus Hailstork, Moses Hogan,

Undine Smith Moore, Rosephanye Powell, and André J. Thomas, to name only a few, are composers that the author has successfully programmed for adult mixed, treble, men’s, children and/or youth choruses.110

110 An extended list of arrangers of spirituals can be found in the following: André J. Thomas, Way Over in Beulah Lan': Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual (Dayton: Heritage Music Press, 2007); Patricia Johnson Trice, Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals: Historical Overview and Annotated Listings (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998). 74

Aligning with Jessye’s philosophical premise, Concert Model Two: Standard

Variation encourages, but does not exclusively consist of, works by African-American composers. It is perfectly consistent with Jessye’s programming philosophy to incorporate musical settings of African-American poets.

The basic outline of Concert Model Two can be abbreviated to support any length of concert. If the programmer uses Jessye’s concepts to build cohesive sets unified by the text, there is an array of options. Abbreviations to Model Two could include the following: a set of spirituals, a set of non-spiritual compositions, or even a set of spirituals followed by a set of non-spiritual compositions. Thoughtful consideration should be given to the placement of the individual set or sets, using musical, logistical, and textual decisions to structure the sequence.

The Negro spiritual was the main focus in the “A Festival of Negro Spirituals” concert and in the different performances of “The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery,

Rhythm, and Drama” and in Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual (1959, #22; 1982,

#35; 1979, DVD).111 These concerts provide the third model (Figure 4. Concert Model

Three: A Festival of Spirituals), in which more than one performing group sang one or more groups of spirituals to create a choral festival concert. Concert Model Three: A

Festival of Spirituals brings together various singers in united voice with the focus of singing a beloved genre of the American tapestry, the Negro spiritual. The combined choirs perform the opening and closing sets. Then the guest choir and guest soloist alternate to complete the first half of the concert. After intermission, this alternation shifts

111 “A Festival of Negro Spirituals,” New York, NY, December 10, 1959, “The Spiritual: A Celebration of Imagery, Rhythm and Drama,” Ann Arbor, MI, November 2, 1978, and Greenville, ME, August 20, 1982. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 75 to guest choir and host choir. For example, The Eva Jessye Artist Choir (16 singers), and guest singers might alternate.

The nucleus of each set of spirituals and the unifying textual component must be given consideration. Program notes or narration can articulate the connection of a piece or set of pieces to the theme or concert title in a festival layout.

Jessye was successful in programming and conducting concerts of spirituals with singers of various skill levels, ranging from first-time experience with performing spirituals to the most proficient. For the Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual concert, the college students possessed competencies in vocal performance and also in performing spirituals. By contrast, Jessye served as the guest clinician when she worked with singers from Maine who had never sung spirituals.112 Her expertise on the subject of spirituals guided these singers of various levels to perform with appropriate performance practice.

The importance of inviting a clinician knowledgeable in spirituals and their performance practice is worth noting.

Figure 4. Concert Model Three: A Festival of Spirituals

For each set, center on a subject as well as align with the overarching theme. Vary the types of spirituals represented, such as call and response, slow and sustained, and syncopated. ______

Combined Choirs 1-3 Spirituals

Guest Choir 1-3 Spirituals

Guest Soloist 1-2 Spirituals

Guest Choir 1-3 Spirituals

Combined Choirs 1-3 Spirituals

Intermission

112 Wilson, “Eva Jessye,” 68. 76

Guest Choir and Host Choir 1-3 Spirituals

Host Choir 1-3 Spirituals

Combined Choirs 1-3 Spirituals

______

Figure 5 (Concert Model Four: Concert of Spirituals) is a variant of one of the previous festival models, The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama

(1982, #35).113 It already has been pointed out that the programmer must consider the underlying textual logic when grouping spirituals and must strategically sequence these when using Concert Model Three. This same practice should be followed in Concert

Model Four—Concert of Spirituals, noting that Jessye assigned headings to each group of spirituals: “Supplication,” “Testimony,” and “Miracle.” The sequencing of groups and identification of their thematic unity guides the listener to connect with the subject as well as with the biblical significance of the texts.

Figure 5. Concert Model Four: Concert of Spirituals ______

For each set, center on a subject as well as align with the overarching theme. Vary the types of spirituals represented, such as call and response, slow and sustained, and syncopated.

SUPPLICATION 1-3 Spirituals

TESTIMONY 1-3 Spirituals

NARRATIVE 1-3 Spirituals

MIRACLE 1-3 Spirituals

COMMISSION 1-3 Spirituals Intermission

113 “The Spiritual: A Celebration of Imagery, Rhythm and Drama,” Ann Arbor, MI, November 2, 1978. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 77

JOURNEY AND CONQUEST 1-3 Spiritual

HUMAN CONDITION 1-3 Spirituals

THANKSGIVING 1-3 Spirituals

SOUL SEARCHING 1-3 Spirituals

PRAYER FOR THE NATION 1-3 Spirituals

______

Unity and Variety

The main unifying factors for a Jessye program are the body of music and the textual connection between selected pieces and sequenced groups. She achieves variety by the range within the selected scope of African-American music, varying layers of texture in her arrangements of spirituals and work songs, alternating performance by various vocal groups, and incorporating other media, including the spoken word: poetry, narration, and monologues.

To vary the program, Jessye utilized various textures such as gender-specific ensembles, and soloists, both vocal and instrumental. Jessye could call upon her professional choir, skilled singers with headline roles, to feature them as soloists. She used her choral concert forum to display their solo talents, contributing to singers’ career paths while adding texture and variety to the concert program.

In building sets and the entire program itself, consider the length of the concert.

One hour and fifteen minutes to one hour and thirty minutes, with a ten to fifteen minute intermission, is an acceptable length. As discussed in the literature review, the audience should leave wanting more; therefore, apply careful thought to the length of elements of the program—for example, time devoted to choral and solo singing.

Figure 6. Jessye’s Programming Concepts for Incorporating Variety and Texture ______Texture Choir The SATB ensemble is the main performing ensemble that performs choral works and spiritual arrangements.

Small ensembles Gender specific groups and mixed quartets such as:

Women’s small group or ensemble-SSA Men’s small group or ensemble-TTB Mixed quartet-SATB, one on each part

Solo Artist Vocalists perform solo repertoire that fits within in the scope of literature, for example, an arrangement of a spiritual or an art song by an African-American composer for solo voice and piano.

Solo Instrument Feature the piano accompanist’s talent by playing swing, blues, or jazz logically placed between sets of non-spiritual compositions or piano arrangements of spirituals on the first half.

Incorporate a solo instrument to heighten the text painting, remembering Jessye’s commitment to bring out the text. For example, “When the roll is called…” a trumpet call is given in Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual DVD performance.

Incorporate instruments to support the accompaniment. For example, simple drumming was added to spiritual, “I’ll Be There in the Morning” to provide an underlying pulse.

Instrumental ensembles are used primarily for major works but could be considered a four-part harmonization of a spiritual by a string quartet.

Variety Readings Read literary works to frame or emphasize the scope of literature performed or to support the selected theme.

Poetry Read poetry to frame or give emphasis to the scope of music performed or to unfold the selected theme.

Narration Write and perform narrations to bring the audience’s attention to the significance of the choral art being performed. ______

Key relationships between pieces and sets are difficult to determine with many of the compositions created and arranged by Eva Jessye. Many of her works remain in manuscript, no longer in print, or were passed down through aural and oral transmission.

With so few arrangements in print, it’s important to turn to what is available. For example, viewing the 1979 DVD performance, Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual, one observes Jessye’s use of the piano to subtly make harmonic transitions from one key to another.

An Example

“On My Journey: A Program of African-American Music” is based on Jessye’s

1935 concert, “A Program of Negro Music.” This thematic concert of African-American music is based on programming concepts exhibited in Jessye’s Early and Middle Years,

1926-1954, the period of The Eva Jessye Choir. Jessye most often devised thematic programs that focused on African-American music, bearing titles such as “Three

Centuries of Negro Music” (1931, #2), “Lights and Shades of Negro Music” (1932, #3),

“Unusual Negro Music” (1934, #4 and #5), and “The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of

Negro Music (1938, #9; 1939, #11; 1940, #12-#13; 1941, #14). These titles unified the thematic programs while illuminating the choir’s character or purpose. This new program presents a panoramic view of African-American choral music that incorporates various types of spirituals, folk songs of African Americans, and works by African-American composers, based on texts by Harlem Renaissance writer, Langston Hughes which aligns with Jessye’s philosophical foundations.

Figure 7. A New Concert Program Using Jessye’s Programming Concepts ______

On My Journey: Program of African-American Music

Freedom My Lord, What a Moanin’ arr. Adolphus Hailstork III (b. 1941) Plenty Good Room arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003) Men’s Ensemble Ain’t that Good News arr. William Dawson (1899-1990)

Faith We Shall Walk Through the Valley arr. Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989) Ain’t Got Time to Die arr. Hall Johnson (1888-1970) I Belong to that Band adapted Eva Jessye (1895-1992) Solo and Choir

Deep River arr. Noble Cain (1896-1977) Women’s Ensemble

Courage Wade in the Water Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962) On Ma Journey Edward Boatner (1898-1981) Solo and Choir Hold On arr. Jester Hairston (1901-2000)

Intermission

Memories John Henry (Legend) arr. John D. Miller Wanting Memories Ysaye Barnwell (b. 1946)

Dreams Dreams Langston Hughes (1902-1967) Orator

Dream Variations from Three Dream Portraits Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) Based on Hughes’ Poem “Dream Variations” Soprano

Mother to Son Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989) Based on Hughes’ Poem “Mother to Son”

Hold Fast to Dreams André J. Thomas (b.1952) Based on Hughes’ Poem Dreams

I Dream a World Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962) Based on Hughes’ Poem “I Dream a World”

______

The sets of African-American music reflect Jessye’s approach to programming.

Her imaginative programming exhibited the customary textual connections and was organized into sets or groups. Diversity was another important element. This diversity was manifested in the genres included, the composers and arrangers represented, the performing forces, and the incorporation of non-musical art forms, especially poetry and drama.

Genre

The first aspect of diversity is in the genre of pieces on this new program. Several categories of spirituals were included in the sets, such as: call-and-response (“Ain’t Got

Time to Die”), slow and sustained (“We Shall Walk Through the Valley”), segmented, syncopated and short repeated melodies (“Hold On,” “Plenty Good Room,” “I Belong to that Band”). A work song of hero legend (“John Henry”) and non-spiritual compositions by twentieth- and twenty-first century composers (Undine Smith Moore’s “Mother to

Son”) are represented. Present-day composers-arrangers such as Adolphus Hailstork

(b. 1941) and Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962), and twentieth century composers such as

Jester Hairston (1901-2000), Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989), and Moses Hogan

(1957-2003) also appear in the program. The previous generation of African-American composer-arrangers, Hall Johnson (1888-1970) and Eva Jessye (1895-1992), provide historical roots.

Organization

Jessye’s priority of structure is plain: she grouped music first by considering genre, then according to textual connection. She organized her programs in sets of pieces. 82

Following her trends, this themed program, “On My Journey: A Program of African-

American Music,” is in a two-part sectional division. The first half features spirituals and the second half presents secular works, specifically, non-spiritual compositions. There are three sets of spirituals. Within each set, there is a subject matter that ties them together as well as aligns with the overarching theme. The first set of spirituals, “My Lord, What a

Moanin,” “Plenty Good Room,” and “Ain’t that Good News,” centers on heaven or, figuratively, freedom. The second set, “We Shall Walk Through the Valley,” “Ain’t Got

Time to Die,” and “I Belong to that Band,” focuses on faith and freedom. Then there is a single spiritual, “Deep River,” which sings of heaven/freedom by “crossing over in camp ground.” This river and freedom theme has extended expression in, “Wade in the Water,”

“On My Journey,” and “Hold On.”

The second half centers on memories of strong African-American legends (“John

Henry”) and ancestors of great wisdom, (“Wanting Memories”). The journey then focuses on dreams of a better world through the settings of Langston Hughes “Mother to

Son,” “Hold Fast to Dreams,” and “I Dream a World” set by composers Undine Smith

Moore, André J. Thomas, and Rosephanye Powell. The Hughes set is introduced by the reading of his poem, “Dreams.”

This Jessye-inspired program exhibits elements of her approach to programming through the groupings of sets and sequence of music to tell a story of a pilgrim on a journey to freedom with great faith and dreams of a better world. The program as a whole is related by theme, and unifying elements relate each subgroup both to the concert theme and one another. Sequencing the pieces highlights a journey of the African-American experience. Concert subgroups include: the Assurance of Heaven, which figuratively refers to Freedom (the first set of spirituals), and Declaration of Faith in God and 83

Courage (the last two sets of spirituals). Secular Storytelling of Great Legends and

Ancestors, since oral transmission of stories is also an important element of the African-

American experience (“John Henry” and “Wanting Memories”), and Perseverance in

Difficult Situations (“Mother to Son,” “Hold Fast to Dreams,” “I Dream a World”) shapes the second half.

Texture/Variety

A third aspect of diversity in this program is the various performing forces that are incorporated. Although Jessye preferred accompanied spirituals, both unaccompanied and accompanied choral works are incorporated in this inspired program. There are also pieces for gender-specific groups such as women’s ensemble (“Deep River”), men’s ensemble (“Plenty Good Room”), and one for solo voice accompanied by piano (“Dream

Variations”).

Another aspect of variety is the inclusion in the program of non-musical art forms, especially the spoken word. Jessye often featured poetry, dramatic monologues, biblical texts, and her own narrations and narratives in thematic, free-form, and major work concerts. The reading of Langston Hughes’ “Dreams” prepares the final set, which includes settings of his poetry based on a dream theme.

The sets of African-American music represented in this Jessye-inspired program reflect many of the programming approaches of Eva Jessye. This diversity was manifested in the wide range of African-American music programmed, the genres included, the composers and arrangers represented, the performing forces and the incorporation of a non-musical art form, poetry.

Conclusion

This Jessye-inspired program honors the philosophical principles evidenced in

Jessye’s concert programming techniques. It seeks to preserve and further music of

African-American people by including current and contemporary arrangements of spirituals and newly composed music by and for African Americans. Additionally, the inclusion of Jessye and her contemporaries is to honor the historical origins. The varied literature demonstrates a broad view of African-American music including spirituals, newly composed works, and settings of Harlem Renaissance poetry. The textual and musical connections were given consideration in the sequencing and unfolding of the theme.

The elements of Eva Jessye’s programming approach identified in this chapter unify a concert while still providing variety; all in the service of bringing recognition to the artistry of African-American music that deserves a platform through the choral art.

These historical yet timeless principles are as applicable to today as they were in the twentieth century, and serve to continue the musical, cultural and personal legacy of Eva

Jessye.

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION

The life and work of Eva Jessye as a choral conductor and composer-arranger has helped shape the choral profession of the twentieth century. She was a model for choral directors in her pioneering work with professional choirs, creativity in choral composing and arranging, and in her habitual practice of performing the folk songs of African

Americans. Audiences not only enjoyed her work, but also learned about African-

American music through choral performance.

Jessye’s mission—and musical priority—was to preserve the music of her heritage, particularly the Negro spiritual. She used her performance platform to offer concert programs that may be classified into types, which presented many musical genres of African Americans. She gave equal importance to spirituals, secular folk songs, and newly composed works by and for African Americans. Jessye wrote that she gave careful thought to the listener when researching repertoire for programs. She sought “unusual” finds to share with national audiences within the context of cultural integrity and artistic performance. Jessye incorporated her religious convictions and African-American heritage in her thematic works. She poignantly shared the story of African Americans using her unique approach to concert programming.

This study identifies her singularity as a concert programmer. It has pointed out her genius in structuring thematic programs to give African-American music and composers a platform. Based on texts, she grouped pieces, creating subgroups of music that unified the concert message and unfolded history, told a story, presented an idea, 86 expressed imagery, or expounded upon biblical and literary themes. She unified the program as a whole by combining these subgroups of music according to artistic and chronological constructs. Jessye’s strong use of structure evolved over more than fifty years from themed programs to major works and productions including her musicals, panoramas, and folk-oratorios. Some of her programmatic tendencies include the incorporation of poetry or narrations between choral selections, in themed programming, and highlighting of individual performers and small ensembles. Jessye’s major works such as folk-oratorios also display the evolution of her concept of structure in programming in that she aligns spirituals with biblical or literary texts.

Jessye typically opened her concert with spirituals followed by strong characters in work songs and contemporary works. She viewed this repertoire as programming centered on American music. These choices serve as possibilities for creating concert programs based on American and/or African-American music.

Her concerts can offer a meaningful approach to programming African-American choral music in the present day, which has been grounded in more than fifty years of professional experience. Choral musicians will gain ideas in studying her methods of concert programming, to promote scholarly, educational, and engaging structure for creating an artistic and unified aural experience. In these ways, Eva Jessye’s legacy will continue to inspire and hopefully increase great programming of music for and by

African-American people.

Recommendations for Future Research

Jessye’s choral works and arrangements, now out of print, should be republished.114 There is an abundance of quality arrangements of spirituals; however, arrangements of the secular folk songs of African Americans are less available. The

Jessye reprints would make her arrangements, both spirituals and work songs, available to today’s choral musicians, both to program and perform. Lastly, research into her radio broadcast concerts and musical staged productions would provide further insight into her creativity as a radio programmer and writer of scripts. Further research will bring attention to Eva Jessye’s unique musical output and contributions to the choral field.

114 Black, 112 and Wilson, 149. 88

APPENDIX A

CLASSIFICATION OF SELECTED THIRTY-FIVE FULL CONCERT PROGRAMS

CONSTRUCTED BY EVA JESSYE115

______T=Themed FF=Free-form MW=Major Work SE=Special Event F=Festival

# Date Type Organization Theme or Location Major Work

1 6/7/1927 FF Part I and II; N/A Calvary Baptist Groups: Spirituals, Church, Spirituals, New York City Readings, Slave Songs, Spirituals

2 2/12/1931 T, Groups: Songs of Three Centuries John Wanamaker SE Leisure, Spirituals, of Negro Music New York City Sea Chanteys, Lullabys, Spirituals; Chronological

3 2/12/1932 T, Groups, Roman Lights and Shades John Wanamaker SE Numerals of Negro Music New York City

4 10/26/1934 T Pt. I Spirituals, Pt. Unusual Negro Music Howard School, II Secular, Groups state not indicated

5 11/22/1934 T Pt. I Spirituals, Pt. Unusual Negro Music Bethel A.M.E.* II Secular, Groups Church, Detroit, MI

6 1/31/1935 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Allen A.M.E Groups Regained Church, New York City

*African Methodist Episcopal

115 Concert programs used for this study were accessed at the Eva Jessye Collection at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan and the Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. Full citations of the concert programs appear in References. 89

# Date Type Organization Theme or Location Major Work

7 2/12/1935 T, Pt. I Spirituals, Pt. II Program of Negro John Wanamaker, SE Secular, Groups Music New York City

8 10/14/1936 T Groups: Spirituals, Eva Jessye Choir: Winston-Salem With Classic and All-American Teachers College, Modern Composers, Ensemble NC From Operas

9 10/25/1938 T Groups: Spirituals, Eva Jessye Choir: Civic Center, piano solo, Hero Dramatist of Negro no city listed Legends, Gershwin, Music Travesty

10 1/11/1939 FF Groups: Pt. I Eva Jessye Choir Detroit Town Hall, Spirituals, piano Detroit, MI solo, Pt. II Work Songs, piano solo, Hero Legends, Gershwin, Travesty

11 3/20/1939 T Groups: Pt. I The Eva Jessye Cyrus Northrop Spirituals, piano Choir: Dramatist of Memorial solo, Pt. II Work Negro Music Auditorium, Songs, Gershwin, University of Legend, The River, Minnesota piano solo, Travesty Minneapolis, MN

12 3/13/1940 T Groups: Pt. I Eva Jessye Choir: St. Lawrence Spirituals, Pt. II Dramatist of Negro University Work Songs and Music Canton, NY Legends

13 3/19/1940 T Groups: Pt. I The Eva Jessye Webster Hall, Spirituals, Choir: Dramatist of Dartmouth College, Pt. II Work Songs Negro Music Hanover, NH and Legends

# Date Type Organization Theme or Location Major Work

14 1/27/1941 T Groups: Pt. I The Eva Jessye Choir: Horace Bushnell Spirituals, Pt. II Dramatist of Negro Memorial Hall, Americana Music no city listed Light and Shade

15 8/21/1943 FF Groups: Negro N/A Webster Hall, Spirituals, Out on Dartmouth College, the Ocean Sailin’, Hanover, NH Away Down South in Heaven, etc...

16 3/24/1949 FF Pt. I Spiritual, Pt. N/A Men’s Gymnasium, II Secular; Bowling Green Groups State University, Bowling Green, OH

17 8/12/1954 T Groups: Pt. I Eva Jessye Choir: Indiana State Spirituals, Folk Dramatist of American Teachers College, Lore and Manner, Music Indiana, PA Pt. II With the Moderns, Narrative Spirituals

18 2/27/1955 MW Literary Headings, The Life of Christ First Calvary groups Baptist Church, Lawrence, MA

19 4/3/1955 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Currier Gallery of groups Regained Art, Manchester, NH

20 10/9/1955 T N/A Western Star The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

21 3/12/1957 T Groups: Pt. I The People, Yes (The Shiloh Baptist Realm of Music of America) Church, Trenton, Romance, Pt. II NJ Spirituals

# Date Type Organization Theme or Location Major Work

22 12/10/1959 T Groups by A Festival of Negro Convent Avenue ensemble Spirituals Baptist Church, New York City

23 12/1/1963 FF, Groups Special Tribute to The New York SE Eva Jessye Center, NYC

24 11/11/1966 MW Literary and Western Star: No location listed subject headings, Panorama of groups American Music

25 10/29/1967 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Central High School groups Regained Auditorium, Akron, OH

26 11/19/1970 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and L.W. Young groups Regained Auditorium, Langston University, Langston, OK

27 4/30/1972 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Lydia Mendelssohn groups Regained Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI

28 7/11/1972 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Washington groups Regained Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

29 5/5/1974 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Glassboro State groups Regained College, Glassboro, NJ

30 10/6/1974 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Tindley Temple groups Regained United Methodist Church, Philadelphia, PA

31 2/3/1978 T Episode I and II Spirituals of the Early Davage Auditorium, and Black Church; The Clark College, MW Chronicle of Job Atlanta, GA

# Date Type Organization Theme or Location Major Work

32 10/1/1978 MW Literary Headings, Paradise Lost and Carney Hall groups Regained Auditorium, Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS

33 11/ 2/1978 T Groups by The Spiritual: A University of performers Celebration in Michigan Imagery, Rhythm, and Ann Arbor, MI Drama

34 5/4/1980 MW Groups: The Go Where I Send Pittsburg State Calling, Thee; Tribute to The University, Commitment, Clergy Pittsburg, KS Christian Journey, The Vow, Preaching, Testimony, Admonition, Miracles, Time, Eternity, Prophecy, Anticipation, Dedication

35 8/20/1982 T Groups: The Spiritual: A Greenville High Supplication, Celebration in School Auditorium, Testimony, Imagery, Rhythm, and Greenville, ME Narrative, Drama Miracle, Commission, Journey and Conquest, The Human Condition, Thanksgiving, Soul Searching, Prayer for the Nation

______93

APPENDIX B

VOCAL WORKS FROM THIRTY-FIVE SELECTED

FULL-CONCERT PROGRAMS116

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Special Notes:

Titles are listed as they appear in Jessye’s printed concert programs.

The arranger, composer, and/or title of a work, particularly spirituals and works songs, may vary in different performances. These slight variances are recorded as they appear in Jessye’s programs.

Jessye often stated that unless otherwise noted, she was the arranger, therefore these vocal works were attributed to her.117

Hyphens, commas or the conjunction “and” that are between two or more composers or arrangers for a particular vocal work are recorded as they appear in Jessye’s concert program.

( ) – Parentheses are recorded as they appear in Jessye’s printed program. Jessye used parentheses to indicate background information including geographical origin, a secondary title, or an excerpt from an extended work, which appears in italics.

[ ] – Indicates the author’s insertions of corrected or further detailed information that did not appear in Jessye’s printed program.

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger A Child of Grace Not indicated A Singin' an a Singin' Neidlinger, [William Harold] A Spirit Flower Campbell-Tipton, [Louis] Ain't Got Time to Die Johnson, Hall All I Got Done Gone (‘Blues’ Panhandle) Jessye, Eva All I Got Done Gone (Oklahoma Territory) Jessye, Eva All I Got Done Gone (Panhandle, 1800) Jessye, Eva Amen Not indicated Amen…Ride On King Jesus Not indicated An' I Cry Jessye, Eva And They Lynched Him on a Tree – Excerpt Still, William Grant

116 Concert programs used for this study were accessed at the Eva Jessye Collection at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan and the Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. Full citations of the concert programs appear in References.

117 For example, “Arrangements of all Spirituals and Worksongs [are] by the Director” or “Unless otherwise indicated, all arrangements or arrangements of spirituals and worksongs are by the director.” Lights and Shades of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1932, and “The Spiritual: A Celebration of Imagery, Rhythm and Drama,” Greenville, ME, August 20, 1982. Concert Programs. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University KS.

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Anybody Here That Loves My Jesus Jessye, Eva Balm in Gilead Not indicated Banana Boat Song (Day-O) Not indicated Baptism, The Not indicated Bear Afflictions Just Like Job Jessye, Eva Beat of My Heart Spina, [Harold] Bebhold [Behold] That Star Not indicated Belshazzar's Feast Johnson, Hall Blessed be the Name of the Lord Jessye, Eva Blue Moon Rodgers, [Richard] and Hart, [Lorenz] Bones (A Debate) Anderson, (First name not indicated) By the Bend of the River Edwards, [Clara] By the Sea Schubert, [Franz] By' an' By' Not indicated By' an' By' Traditional Canaan's Happy Land Jessye, Eva Canaan's Happy Land Not indicated Carry the Key Jessye, Eva Carry the Key Not indicated Carry the Key an' Gone Home Jessye, Eva Casey Jones Traditional Chariot Wheel Not indicated Chariot Wheel Traditional Chariot Wheel (Wheel in a Wheel)…Swing Low, Jessye, Eva Sweet Chariot Cheer the Weary Traveler Jessye, Eva Child of Grace Jessye, Eva Chink, Pink, Honey (New Orleans) Not indicated Christ was Baptized Not indicated Cimmaron [Cimarron] (from Oklahoma Territory) Jessye, Eva Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah Peace Jr., Elroy City Called Heaven Johnson, Hall Climbing up the Mountain Jessye, Eva Congo Love Song Johnson, J. Rosamond Cotton Call Not indicated Cotton Call and Picking Song Not indicated Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray Not indicated Crab Man, The (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Crazy Cantata, The (Three Blind Mice) Bennett, [Robert Russell] Creation, The Not indicated Daniel Saw the Stone Jessye, Eva Danny Boy Weatherby, [Frank] David was a Shepherd Boy Not indicated Death Chant (African Ballet Sahdji) Still, William Grant Death, Ain't You Got No Shame Jessye, Eva Deep River Burleigh, [Harry T.] Dis Boat am Bound to Go Jessye, Eva Dis Mawnin', Dis Evenin' Jessye, Eva 95

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Don't You be Downhearted (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Done Made My Vow Boatner, [Edward] Done Paid My Vow Jessye, Eva Done Paid My Vow Not indicated Done Written Down My Name Jessye, Eva Down de Lovah's Lane Cook, Will Marion [Down de] Lover’s Lane Cook, Will Marion Down Yonder in Virginia Not indicated Dry Bones Jessye, Eva Dry Bones (Apostolic Version) Jessye, Eva Dry Bones (Evangelistic) Jessye, Eva Dry Bones in the Valley Not indicated E-I-O (Folk Game - Oklahoma) Jessye, Eva E-I-O (Folk Game - Oklahoma) Not indicated E-I-O (Frolic) Jessye, Eva E-I-O (Saturday Night Revelry) (Texas) Not indicated E-I-O (Traditional Frolic) Not indicated East, West, North, South Jessye, Eva Eli Not indicated Eli (Elijah) Not indicated Eli, Shout for Joy Jessye, Eva Ellingtonia Ellington, Duke Ev'ry Time I Fell [Feel] the Spirit (To Booker T. Traditional Washington) Exhortation Cook, Will Marion Ezekiel Saw de Wheel Thamon, Eugene Ezekiel Saw the Wheel Jessye, Eva Fantasia: Morning, Noon, Night Ellington, Duke Far Away Places Kramer, [Alex] Father Abraham Not indicated Father Mississippi Alkst, Harry Feel Lak Mah Time Ain't Long Not indicated Fisk Lullaby Work, Fred [Frederick Jerome] Get on the Main Line Jessye, Eva Get on the Main Line Traditional Get Thee Behind Me, Satan Jessye, Eva Give Away, Jordan Hayes, (First name not indicated) Give Away, Jordan Traditional Give Me Your Hand Jessye, Eva Glory Train, The Jessye, Eva Go Down, Moses Hall, J. [James] Go Down, Moses Not indicated Go Down, Moses (Grass Roots Version) Holmes, Charles, researcher Go to Sleep, lil' Baby Jessye, Eva Go Where I Send Thee Jessye, Eva Go Where I Send Thee Not indicated Gonna Journey Away Ryder, Noah Francis Good Lord, Shall I Ever Be the One? Not indicated 96

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Goodbye Jessye, Eva Got a Head Like a Rock (from John Henry) Wolfe, [Jacques] Great American Tragedy, The Jessye, Eva Great Gittin up Mornin' Johnson, Hall Grumbelin' People Jessye, Eva Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah Traditional Gwine to the Nation Jessye, Eva Gwine Up Jessye, Eva Hail the Crown Bron, Harl Hail to My Native Shore (Salutation) Jessye, Eva Hail to the USA Jessye, Eva Hail, Hail, Hail Not indicated Hand Car Blues Jessye, Eva Hand Car Blues (KS-Texas) Not indicated Hangman, Hangman (Drama of The Chain Gang) Elders, (First name not indicated) Hard Trials Burleigh, [Harry T.] He Calmed the Ocean Not indicated He Walks Across the Sky Spina, [Harold] He Went on Man's Bond Not indicated He's Carried the Key and Gone Home Jessye, Eva Heab’n Bound Not indicated Heaven is a Beautiful Place Jessye, Eva Heavenly Res' Jessye, Eva Heavens Above, The Jessye, Eva Here Is One Not indicated Heroes Not indicated High in the Heavens Not indicated [His] Troubles Was Hard Jessye, Eva [His] Troubles Was Hard Traditional [His] Troubles Were Hard Jessye, Eva His Trouble Was Hard Not indicated Hold On Johnson, Hall Hold On Johnson, Hall-Jessye, Eva Holy is the Son of God Not indicated Honor, Honor Johnson, Hall Hop Light, Lou Nathan, Hans How I Got Over Not indicated How Long the Train Been Gone? Carolina Low Country How Long the Train Been Gone? Jessye, Eva How Many Members Gone? Jessye, Eva I Am Going to Travel Traditional I Been ‘Buked Johnson, Hall I Been ‘buked and I been scorned Johnson, Hall I Belong to That Band Jessye-Beane I Belong to That Band Jessye, Eva I Belong to That Band Not indicated I Can't Sit Down Gershwin, George I Fold up My Arms and I Wonder Jessye, Eva 97

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger I Got a Home in that Rock Not indicated I Got Shoes Not indicated I Got Two Wings Jessye, Eva I Heard from Heaven Today Still, William Grant I Know I Been Changed Not indicated I Know the Lord Has Laid His Hands on Me Mells, (First name not indicated) I Love You Stor, Jean I Spied a Ship Come Sailin' Not indicated I Stand and Fol' My Arms Jessye, Eva I Stood on the River of Jerdon (To the Memory of John F. Kennedy) Not indicated I Stood on the River of Jerdon (To the Memory of John Burleigh, [Harry T.] F. Kennedy) I Stood on the River of Jordan Not indicated I Want Jesus to Walk with Me Boatner, Edward I Want to Be Ready to Try on My Long White Robe Miller, (First name not indicated) I Will Run This Christian Race Not indicated I'll Be There in the Mornin' Handy, [W.C.] I'll Never Turn Back No More Handy, W.C. I'm Gonna Live Always Jessye, Eva I'm Gonna Live Always Not indicated I'm Gonna Live Always Traditional I'm Mighty Tired Jessye, Eva I'm on My Way (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George I'm So Glad Trouble Don't Las' Always Dett, [Robert Nathaniel] I'se Mighty Tired Jessye, Eva If You Love God, Serve Him Not indicated Immortal Song (from Concerto Opus 23) [With SATB Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich Choral Paraphrase] In Blue Mood Johnson, James, P., Lucile Handy In Spiritual Realm McGimsey, [MacGimsey, Robert] In the Bosom of Abraham Jessye, Eva In the Bosom of Abraham Traditional Is There Anybody Here Who Loves King Jesus Not indicated It Take a Long Pull (Fishermen's Chantey) Gershwin, George It’s a Sweet Country Robinson-Wheadon It’s a Sweet Country Robinson, Earl It’s a Sweet Country (Excerpts) Traditional It’s Not Your Nationality (It's Simply You) Whedon, John It’s Not Your Nationality, It's Simply You Not indicated Jeremiah Cried Not indicated Jeremiah Cried Traditional Jerusalem (O What a Beautiful City) Not indicated Jesus Christ, The First and Last…No Man Works Like Not indicated Him Jesus, Lead Me to the Great Rock on High Traditional John Henry Not indicated John Henry (A Legend) Traditional John Henry (Strong Man Legend or Hero Legend) Bennett, (First name not indicated) 98

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger John Said You Must Baptize Not indicated Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho Not indicated Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho Broadnax, Edward Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho Jessye, Eva Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho Not indicated June Will Come Again Thompson, DeKoven Keep the Ark Amoverin' Not indicated King Jesus Is A-Listenin’ Not indicated Kru Even Song Sie, Thorgues Moton, Robert Russa – discovered L'envoi (I'm a Going to Travel) “L’envoi” Labor Plaint Jessye, Eva Land of Degradation McGimsey [MacGimsey, Robert] Let Us Break Bread Together Lawrence, [William] Let's Go to Italy (Folkgame from Oklahoma) Jessye, Eva Lia's Recitative and Aria (L'enfant prodique) Debussy, Claude Lil’ Gal Johnson, [J. Rosamond] Lil’ Gal Johnson, J. Rosamond Lincoln Tribute: Original Hymn of Emancipation Not indicated Lindy Lou Strickland, [Lindy] Live Always Jessye, Eva Live Humble Not indicated Long Gone Handy, W.C. [William Christopher] Look Away in the Heaven Not indicated Loose the Man Not indicated Lord Shake the Heavens, The (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Lord, He Made the Sun and Moon, The Not indicated Lord, I Can't Turn Back Williams, Robert E. Lord, I'm Out Here on Your Word Work, [John] Lord, Won't You Hear Me Pray? Not indicated Louisiana Hayride Schwartz, [Arthur] Love Is Where You Find It Brown, Nacio Herb Love Walked in from The Goldwyn Follies Gershwin, George and Ira Gershwin Lucifer, Son of The Morning Jessye, Eva Mah Little Banjo Dichmont, [William] Man of War Not indicated Mean World Jessye, Eva Memphis Blues Handy-Still Memphis Blues Handy, [W. C.] Mercy and Justice Jessye, Eva Moses Not indicated Mount Sinai Not indicated Move, Let Me Shine (Like A Morning Star) Jessye, Eva Move! Let Me Shine! Jessye, Eva

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Move! Let Me Shine! Not indicated Murmuring Zephyr Jensen (First name not indicated) My Cabin Door Jessye, Eva My Desire Nevin, [Ethelbert Woodbridge] My Father Took a Light Jessye, Eva My God, He Is a Man of War Not indicated My Heart Is a Silent Violin Fox, [Oscar] My Hero Straus, [Oscar] My Jesus' Camp Ground Jessye, Eva My Lord, What A Mornin' Talbert, Wendell My Man's Gone Now (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George My Ol’ Cap’s (Alabama) Not indicated My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord Price, Florence Never Let a Dollar Roll By Dowdy, (First name not indicated) Never Let a Dollar Roll By Traditional New Hiding Place Burleigh, Harry T. Newborn Excerpts Not indicated No Bottom (from John Henry) Wolfe, [Jacques] No Condemnation Not indicated Noah Not indicated Noah and the Ark Not indicated Noah Found Grace Schmertz, [Robert] Nobody (An Impersonation) Williams, (First name not indicated) Now Daniel Was a Hebrew Child Not indicated Now, Let Me Fly to Mount Zion Not indicated O Freedom Not indicated O Holy Lord Hairston, Jester O What a Beautiful City Boatner-Jessye O, What a Beautiful City (Authentic Version) Jessye, Eva Ol' Ark's A-Moverin' Jessye, Eva Ol' Ark's A' Moverin' Jessye, Eva Ol' Cimmaron [Cimarron], The (Indian Territory) Jessye, Eva Ol' Man River Kern, (First name not indicated) Ol’ Ark's A-Moverin' Jessye, Eva Old Ark's Moverin' Not indicated Old Black Joe Foster, [Stephen] Old Ship of Zion, The Jessye, Eva On Mah Journey Boatner, Edward Our World (Finale) Razaf, Andy Out on the Ocean Sailin’ Not indicated Palms of Victory Not indicated Peter, Go Ring Them Bells Still, [William Grant] Plenty Good Room Jessye, Eva Plenty Good Room (Plantation Shout) Jessye, Eva Plenty Good Room (Shout) Jessye, Eva

100

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Po Man Lazarus Jessye, Eva Po' lil' Black Chile' (Deep River) Harling, Frank Po' Ol Laz'rus Jessye, Eva Po' Ol Laz'rus Traditional Praise Sequence: Honor; Glory and Honor Not indicated Prayer for a Nation Not indicated Prayer for Bess (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Preaching of the Elders Not indicated Prepare Me a Body Not indicated Prepare Me a Body, The (Son’s Offer) Not indicated Rain Song Cook, Will Marion Read in the Bible Not indicated Report on the State of the Nation Robinson, [Earl]-LaTouche, [John] Requiem Gershwin, [George] Ride On, King Jesus Boatner, [Edward] Ride On, King Jesus Not indicated Ride up in the Chariot Not indicated Rock My Soul Jessye, Eva Rock My Soul Not indicated Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham Not indicated Rock on High, The Not indicated Rock, Mount Sinai Traditional Rockin' Jerusalem Work, John Roll the Cotton Not indicated Roll, Jordan, Roll Jessye, Eva Rome (City On Seven Hills) Not indicated Salutation…Hail to the USA Jessye, Eva Santa Anna Not indicated Saturday Night Africa-Thence Scandalized My Name Hayes, (First name not indicated) Send One Angel Down Jessye, Eva Send Our Angel Down Jessye, Eva Set Down Jessye, Eva Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego McGimsey [MacGimsey, Robert] Shady Grove (Kentucky Hoe-Down) Not indicated Shady Grove (Tenn-Ky) [Tennessee-Kentucky] Jessye, Eva Shortenin' Bread Jessye, Eva Shortenin' Bread Wolfe-Jessye Sign of the Judgment, The Dowdy-Jessye Sign of the Judgment, The Not indicated Simon, The Fisherman Traditional Work Song Simon, The Fisherman (Choral and Spoken Narrative) Jessye, Eva Sing All Along the Way Still, William Grant Singing with a Sword in My Hand Jessye, Eva Sinning in Zion Not indicated Sister Mary Had a' But One Child (from The Life Of Hayes, Roland Christ)

101

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Slave Ship, The Cook, Will Marion Sleep, Mah Honey Baby Work, John So I Can Write My Name Jessye, Eva Sodom And Gomorray [Gomorrah] Jessye, Eva Sol' Away to Georgia Jessye, Eva Sold Away to Georgia Jessye, Eva Soldiers in the Army Not indicated Rodgers, Richard and Hammerstein, Some Enchanted Evening (from South Pacific) Oscar Somebody's Knocking at Your Door Jessye, Eva Son's Baptism, The Not indicated Song of Regret Not indicated Song of The Soul Breil, Joseph Sorrow Song, The Grainger, Porter Spirit of the Lord Done Fell on Me Jessye, Eva St. Louis Blues Handy-Wooding St. Louis Blues Handy, [W.C.]-Ellington-Jessye St. Theresa, (from The Role of “St. Theresa” In Four Thomson, Virgil Saints) Stand and Fold My Arms Soliloquy, (First name not indicated) Star of Bethlehem Not indicated Steel Driver's Song (I Got A Mule) Jessye, Eva Strawberry Woman, The (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Strawberry Woman’s Call, The (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Summertime, Clara's Lullaby (Porgy And Bess) Gershwin, George Swanee River Foster, [Stephen] Sweet Miss Mary Neidlinger, [William H.] Swing Along Cook, Will Marion Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Jessye, Eva Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Jessye, Eva Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Not indicated Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Not indicated Swing Low, Sweet Chariot…Slow Down, Chariot Jessye, Eva Tabernacle, The Not indicated Talk About a Child That Love Jesus, Here Is One Not indicated Tall Angel Not indicated Tall Angel at the Bar Jessye, Eva That Ancient City [Jessye, Eva] That True Religion Jessye, Eva Them Dry Bones Jessye, Eva Them Dry Bones Shall Rise Again Not indicated They Threw Him out Heaven Not indicated This Is a Mean World Traditional

102

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger Three Questions Johnson, [J.] Rosamond Three Shadows Burleigh, [Harry T.] Three Tears Jessye, Eva Three Tears of the Spirit Jessye, Eva Timber Not indicated Timber (Deep South) Jessye, Eva Time to Stop Idlin' Jessye, Eva Time to Stop Idlin' Traditional To North Carolina Freed-Styne Toll the Bell Angel Jessye, Eva Train's Been Gone Traditional Travesty (Wake Scene from Porgy And Bess) Handy, [W.C.] - Wooding, [Russell] Trees Have Grown So, The Burleigh, [Harry T.] Trouble in the Garden Not indicated Trouble in Zion Not indicated Troubled Water Bonds, Margaret Use Me Lord Robison, Willard Valley of Dry Bones Jessye, Eva Wade de the Water Jessye, Eva Wade de the Water Robinson, (First name not indicated) Wade in the Water Jessye, Eva Wade in the Water Traditional Waitin' for the Trumpet to Sound Not indicated Walk in Jerusalem Jus' Like John Jessye, Eva Walk Together Children Lloyd, Charles War Between Good and Evil Not indicated Water Boy (Convict Song) Robinson, [Avery] Way Back Yonder Dowdy-Jessye Way Back Yonder Jessye, Eva Way Back Yonder Jessye, Eva Way Back Yonder (Eden and The Fall) Not indicated Way Back Yonder When the World Began Not indicated Way up in Heaven Johnson, Hall Way up in Heaven Not indicated What Harlem Means to Me Jessye, Eva What Harlem Means to Me Razaf, [Andy] When Moses Smote the Water (from Jessye's My Jessye, Eva Spirituals) When the Black Man Has a Nation All His Own Handy-Miller-Jessye When the General Roll Is Called Jessye, Eva When the General Roll Is Called Not indicated

103

Title of Vocal Work Composer or Arranger When the Saints Go Marching In (Traditional) Jessye, Eva Where Is Adam? Not indicated Who Is Dat Yondah? Jessye, Eva Who Is Dat Yonder? Jessye, Eva Who Is Dat Yonder? Not indicated Who Is That Yonder? Jessye, Eva Who’s Gonna Mourn for Me? Wolfe, Jacques Whole World in His Hand, The Traditional Wid de Moon Cook, [Will Marion] Winter’s Approach Dunbar [poet]-Still Winter’s Approach Still, William Grant Wish I’se in Heab’m, Settin Down Bron, Harl Without a Song Youmans, (First name not indicated) Without a Song Youmans; arr. Robert Russell Bennett Won’t You Tell Me Jessye, Eva Won’t You Use Me, Lord Robison, Willard Wonderful Counsellor [Counselor] Not indicated Workin’ on a Building Not indicated Yellow Bird Not indicated Yonder Come Day Hall, Frederick You Better Mind Not indicated You Better Run Traditional You Read About Samson Not indicated Young at Heart Johnny, Richards

______

104

APPENDIX C

MOST FREQUENTLY PROGRAMMED TITLES AS IDENTIFIED IN THIRTY-FIVE

SELECTED PROGRAMS (1927-1982)118

______

Special Note: Variants of each title are included in the tally.119

Titles Overall Chronological Order

1927- 82 1927-39 1940-54 1955-67 1970 -82

1. Joshua Fought The Battle of Jericho 13 8 3 0 2 2. Plenty Good Room 13 7 5 1 0 3. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 12 7 2 2 2 4. Summertime 11 4 5 2 0 5. The Strawberry Woman 11 4 4 3 0 6. Simon, The Fisherman 10 3 6 1 0 7. John Henry 9 3 4 2 0 8. Water Boy (Convict Song) 8 6 1 1 0 9. All I Got Done Gone 7 1 4 2 0 10. His Trouble was Hard 7 6 1 0 0

______

118 Concert programs used for this study were accessed at the Eva Jessye Collection at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan and the Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. Full citations of the concert programs appear in References.

119 For example, “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho” and “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho,” and “His Trouble was Hard” and “Trouble was Hard.”

105

APPENDIX D

MOST FREQUENTLY PROGRAMMED COMPOSERS/ARRANGERS AS

IDENTIFIED IN THIRTY-FIVE SELECTED CONCERT PROGRAMS120

______

Composer/Arranger Vocal Title # Times Programmed

Jessye, Eva Over 200 (1895-1992) All I Got Done Gone (Blues, Panhandle) E-I-O (Folk Game - Oklahoma) Plenty Good Room Simon, The Fisherman (Choral and Spoken Narrative) Extended List Appears On Appendix B

Gershwin, George 33 (1898-1937) The Lord Shake The Heavens Porgy And Bess The Crab Man Don't You Be Downhearted I Can't Sit Down I'm On My Way It Takes A Long Pull (Fishermen’s Chantey) Love Walked In My Man's Gone Now Prayer For Bess Requiem Summertime The Strawberry Woman

Johnson, Hall 19 (1888-1970) Ain’t Got Time To Die Belshazzar’s Feast City Called Heaven Great Getting Up Mornin’ Hold On Honor, Honor I Been ’buked Way Up In Heaven

120 Concert programs used for this study were accessed at the Eva Jessye Collection at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan and the Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. Full citations of the concert programs appear in References. 106

Still, Grant William 14 (1895-1978) And They Lynched Him on a Tree Death Chant (African Ballet, Sahdji) I Heard from Heaven Today Sing All Along The Way Peter, Go Ring Them Bells Winter’s Approach Handy, W. C. 14 (1873-1958) Travesty (On Wake Scene from Porgy And Bess) I'll Be There In The Mornin' I'll Never Turn Back No More Long Gone Memphis Blues St. Louis Blues When The Black Man Has A Nation All His Own

Wolfe, Jacques 9 (1896-1973) Got A Head Like A Rock (from John Henry) No Bottom (from John Henry) Who's Gonna Mourn For Me? Shortenin' Bread

Cook, Will Marion 9 (1869-1973) Down De Lovah’s Lane Exhortation Rain Song Slave Ship Swing Along Wid De Moon

Bennett, Robert Russell 9 (1894-1981) Crazy Cantata (Three Blind Mice) John Henry Without A Song [Youmans, arr. Bennett]

Robinson, Avery 8 (1878-1965) Water Boy (Convict Song)

Burleigh, Harry T. 6 (1866-1949) Deep River Hard Trials I Stood On The River Of Jordan Three Shadows The Trees Have Grown So

107

MacGimsey, Robert 7 (1898-1979) In Spiritual Realm Land Of Degradation Shadrach, Meshack, And Abednego

Boatner, Edward 6 (1898-1981) Done Made My Vow I Want Jesus To Walk With Me On Mah Journey O What A Beautiful City Ride On King Jesus

Wooding, Russell 6 (1891-1955) Travesty (On Wake Scene from Porgy And Bess) St. Louis Blues

Grainger, Porter 5 (1891-1955) Sorrow Song

Hall, Frederick 4 (1898-1954) Yonder Come Day

Work, John 4 (1901-1967) Lord, I’m Out Here On Your Word Rockin' Jerusalem Sleep, Mah Honey Baby

Talbert, Wendell P. 4 (Unknown) My Lord What A Mornin’

Bron, Harl 4 (1858-1907) Wish I'se In Heab'm, Settin' Down Hail The Crown

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108

APPENDIX E

PERMISSIONS

Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

109

Lynnel Jenkins [email protected]

Malgosia Myc, Lead Reference Archivist Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan 1150 Beal Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113

August 8, 2016

Dear Malgosia Myc,

I am completing a document (dissertation) at the University of Arizona titled The Evolution of Eva Jessye’s Programming as Evidenced in Her Choral Concert Programs from 1927-1982. I am submitting the Permission to Publish Request form to seek permission to publish and quote materials from the Eva Jessye Collection at the Bentley Collection, University of Michigan. To complete the request form, below are the titles and description of materials I seek to quote and publish:

Transcription

Eva Jessye, interview by James Standifer, April 4, 1974, interview, transcript, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Concert Programs

Dartmouth College, NH, August 21,1943.

“The Eva Jessye Choir,” Detroit Town Hall, Detroit, MI, January 11, 1939.

“The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” Dartmouth College, NH, March 13, 1940.

“The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music,” University of Minnesota, MN, March 20, 1939.

“The People, Yes (The Music of America),” Trenton, NJ., March 12, 1957.

“The R. Nathaniel Dett Club Scholarship Fund Recital,” March 1936.

“Unusual Negro Music,” Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Detroit, MI, November 22, 1934

“Western Star,” Brooklyn, NY, October 9, 1955.

Thank you for your consideration.

Lynnel Jenkins, Doctor of Musical Arts Student

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Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University

111

Lynnel Jenkins [email protected]

Steve Cox, Curator of Special Collections/University Archivist Janette Mauk, Senior Administrative Specialist Special Collections & University Archives Leonard H. Axe Library, Pittsburg State University 1701 S. Broadway Pittsburg KS 66762-5889

August 8, 2016

Dear Mr. Cox and Ms. Mauk,

I am completing a document (dissertation) at the University of Arizona titled The Evolution of Eva Jessye’s Programming as Evidenced in Her Choral Concert Programs from 1927-1982. I would like permission to quote and/or reproduce materials from the following articles, periodicals, and concert programs accessed at the Eva Jessye Collection, Leonard H. Axe Library, Pittsburg State University:

Articles/Periodicals

“Paradise Lost and Regained to be Given February 28—4:00 P. M.” The Courier: The Greater Lawrence Council of Churches (Lawrence, MA), March 1954.

“Dr. Jessye Oratorio Oct. 1.” Alumnian Pittsburg State University 38, no. 1 (1978): 2-5.

Perkins, Joan. “Dr. Eva Jessye Re-Creates ‘Paradise,’” Glassboro Whit 36, no. 30, (Glassboro, NJ), May 9, 1974.

“April 30 Performance announcement at Mendelssohn Theatre Milton’s Paradise Lost and Regained (in Folk-Oratorio).” Eva Jessye Collection, Leonard H. Axe Library, Pittsburg State University.

Concert Programs:

PSU Folder # Date Program Title Performance Location f. 100 6/7/1927 N/A Calvary Baptist Church, NYC f. 100 2/12/1931 Three Centuries of Negro Music John Wanamaker, NYC f. 100 2/12/1932 Lights and Shades of Negro Music John Wanamaker, NYC f. 101 10/26/1934 Unusual Negro Music Howard School f. 101 1/31/1935 Paradise Lost and Regained Allen A.M.E. Church, Jamaica, NY f. 101 2/12/1935 Program of Negro Music John Wanamaker, NYC f. 101 10/14/1936 Eva Jessye Choir: Winston-Salem All-American Ensemble Teachers College, NC f. 101 10/25/1938 Eva Jessye Choir: Civic Center, no city listed Dramatist of Negro Music f. 102 3/13/1940 Eva Jessye Choir: St. Lawrence University, NY Dramatist of Negro Music f. 102 1/27/1941 The Eva Jessye Choir: Horace Bushnell Dramatist of Negro Music Memorial Hall 112 f. 103 3/24/1949 N/A Bowling Green State University, OH f. 104 8/12/1954 Eva Jessye Choir: State Teachers College, Dramatist of American Music Indiana, PA f. 104 2/27/1955 The Life of Christ First-Calvary Baptist Church, Lawrence, MA f. 104 4/3/1955 Paradise Lost and Regained Manchester, NH f. 105 12/10/1959 A Festival of Negro Spirituals New York, NY f. 107 12/1/1963 Special Tribute to Eva Jessye New York Center – New York City f. 108 11/11/1966 Western Star: Panorama of No location listed American Music f. 109 10/29/1967 Paradise Lost and Regained Akron, OH f. 110 11/19/1970 Paradise Lost and Regained Langston University, OK f. 111 4/30/1972 Paradise Lost and Regained Ann Arbor, MI f. 111 7/11/1972 Paradise Lost and Regained Washington Cathedral, Washington, D.C. f. 113 5/5/1974 Paradise Lost and Regained Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ f. 113 10/6/1974 Paradise Lost and Regained Tindley Temple UM Church, Philadelphia, PA f. 116 2/3/1978 Spirituals of the Early Black Davage Auditorium, Church and The Chronicle of Job Clark College, Atlanta, GA f. 116 10/1/1978 Paradise Lost and Regained Pittsburg State University, KS f. 116 11/2/1978 The Spiritual: A Celebration in University of Michigan, MI Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama f. 117 5/4/1980 Go Where I Send Thee Tribute Pittsburg State University, KS to The Clergy f. 118/121 8/20/1982 The Spiritual: A Celebration in Greenville High School, Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama Greenville, ME

With granted permission, citations will identify the Eva Jessye Collection, Leonard H. Axe Library, Pittsburg State University in my document. Please respond and let me know if these terms are acceptable. I look forward to your reply. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Lynnel Jenkins Choral Conducting Doctor of Musical Arts Student

113

APPENDIX F

JESSYE CONCERT PROGRAM EXAMPLES

______

Example 1: A Program of Negro Music, February 12, 1935121

121 “A Program of Negro Music,” John Wanamaker, NY, February 12, 1935. Concert Program. Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 114

Example 2: The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music October 25, 1938122

122 “Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music,” Civic Center, October 25, 1938. Concert Program. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 115

Example 3: The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music March 13, 1940123

123 “Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music,” St. Lawrence University, March 13, 1940. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 116

REFERENCES

Dissertations and Theses

Anderson, Paul A. "From Spirituals to Swing: Harlem Renaissance Intellectuals, the Folk Inheritance, and the Prospects of Jazz." PhD diss., Cornell University, 1997.

Anderson, Toni Passmore. "The Fisk Jubilee Singers: Performing Ambassadors for the Survival of an American Treasure, 1871-1878." PhD diss., Georgia State University, 1997.

Black, Donald Fisher. "The Life and Work of Eva Jessye and Her Contributions to American Music." PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1986.

Blanding, Mary C. "A Catalogue of the Eva Jessye Afro-American Music Collection as of May 1, 1974." Master’s thesis, University of Michigan, 1974.

Bucker, William Robert. "Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles, A History of Chorus America –Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles." D.M.A. diss., University of Missouri, 1991.

Burns, Pamela T. "The Negro Spiritual: From the Southern Plantations to the Concert Stages of America." D.M.A. document, University of Alabama, 1993.

Clency, Cleveland C. "European Classical Influences in Modern Choral Settings of the African-American Spiritual." D.M.A. doctoral essay, University of Miami, 1999.

Cooper, Dawn. "Eva Jessye, Afro-American Woman: Her Contribution to American Music and Theater." Master’s thesis, Hunter College, 1979.

Davis, Leo H. "The Choral Music of Moses George Hogan." D.M.A. research document, University of Memphis, 2006.

Evans, Arthur L. "The Development of the Negro Spiritual as Choral Art Music by Afro- American Composers with an Annotated Guide to the Performance of Selected Spirituals." PhD diss., University of Miami, 1973.

Giger, Jerry E. "Music Selection and Concert Programming Practices of the Christian College Coalition Touring Choirs." D.M.A. diss., Arizona State University, 1991.

Graham, Sandra J. "The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Concert Spiritual: The Beginnings of an American Tradition." PhD diss., New York University, 2001.

117

Hendricksen, David Alan. "Twentieth Century Choral Music Programming by Concordia, Luther, and St. Olaf College Choirs, 1950-1986." D.A. diss., Ball State University, 1988.

McGee, Isaiah R. "The Origin and Historical Development of Prominent Professional Black Choirs in the United States." PhD diss., Florida State University, 2007.

Morrow, Phillip J. "The Influence of the Robert Shaw Chorale, the Roger Wagner Chorale and the Gregg Smith Singers on the Professional Chorus in the United States." D.M.A. diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1993.

Schisler, Charles H. "A History of Westminster Choir College, 1926-1973." PhD diss., Indiana University, 1976.

Simmonds, Kevin M. "Jubilee: The Place of Negro Spirituals as Perceived by Choir Directors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities." PhD diss., University of South Carolina, 2005.

Spillane, James David. "All-State Choral Music: A Comprehensive Study of the Music Selected for High School All-State Choirs of the Fifty States from 1995-2000." D.M.A. document, University of Arizona, 2004.

Wilson, Doris L. "Eva Jessye: Afro-American Choral Director." EdD diss., Washington University, 1989.

Books

Bailey, Brooke. The Remarkable Lives of 100 Women Artists. Holbrook, MA: Bob Adams, 1994.

Cain, Noble. Choral Music and Its Practice, With Particular Reference to A Cappella Music. New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1932.

Carter, Marva Griffin. Swing Along: The Musical Life of Will Marion Cook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Conlon, Joan C., and Hilary Apfelstadt. Wisdom, Wit, and Will: Women Choral Conductors on Their Art. Chicago: GIA, 2009.

Cuney-Hare, Maud. Negro Musicians and Their Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.

Dett, R. Nathaniel. Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro. New York: AMS Press, 1972.

Ehret, Walter. The Choral Conductor's Handbook. New York: E.B. Marks Music, 1959.

Garretson, Robert L. Conducting Choral Music. New Jersey: Saddle River, 1981. 118

Glenn, Carole. In Quest of Answers: Interviews with American Choral Conductors. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Hinshaw Music, Inc, 1991.

Gordon, Lewis. Choral Director's Rehearsal and Performance Guide. West Nyack, NY: Parker, 1989.

Green, Mildred D., Black Women Composers: A Genesis. Boston: Twayne, 1983.

Grissom, Mary Allen. The Negro Sings a New Heaven. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1969.

Hine, Darlene C., Elsa Barkley Brown, and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson, 1993.

Hine, Darlene Clark. Black Women in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Jessye, Eva. My Spirituals. New York: Robbins-Engels, Inc., 1927.

_____. Selected Poems. Pittsburg, Kansas: Little Balkan Press, 1978.

Johnson, James Weldon, J. Rosamond Johnson, and Lawrence Brown. The Book of American Negro Spirituals. New York: Viking Press, 1925.

Krehbiel, Henry E., Afro-American Folksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music. New York: F. Ungar, 1962.

Lanker, Brian, and Barbara Summers. I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989.

Locke, Alain. The Negro and His Music. New York: Kennikat, 1968.

Lovell, John. Black Song: The Forge and the Flame. New York, NY: Paragon House Publishers, 1972.

Nash, Elizabeth. Autobiographical Reminiscences of African-American Classical Singers, 1853-Present: Introducing Their Spiritual Heritage into the Concert Repertoire. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2007.

Peretti, Burton W. Lift Every Voice: The History of African-American Music. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.

Phillips, M. Scott, ed. Theatre, War, and Propaganda 1930-2005. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2006.

Roe, Paul F. Choral Music Education. Englewood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 119

Schleifer, Martha Furman, and Sylvia Glickman. Women Composers: Music Through the Ages. Vol. 7. New Haven, Conn: Thomson, Gale, 2003.

Simpson, Eugene Thamon. Hall Johnson: His Life, His Spirit, and His Music. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008.

Smith, James, and Thomas Brawley. "Choral Music," The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, Vol. 1. Edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie. London: MacMillan Press, 1986.

Southern, Eileen. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1982.

_____. The Music of Black Americans: A History. 3rd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997.

Thomas, André J. Way Over in Beulah Lan': Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual. Dayton: Heritage Music Press, 2007.

Trice, Patricia J. Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals: Historical Overview and Annotated Listings. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Walker-Hill, Helen. From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and their Music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Weisenfeld, Judith. "Truths that Liberate the Soul: Eva Jessye and the Politics of Religious Performance." Women and Religion in the Africa Diaspora: Knowledge, Power, and Performance, edited by R. Marie Griffith and Barbara Dianne Savage. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2006.

_____. Hollywood Be Thy Name: African American Religion in American Film, 1929- 1949. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.

Whalum, Wendell. Afro-American Folk Songs. Atlanta: Atlanta University, 1970.

White, Evelyn Davidson. Choral Music by Afro-American Composers: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1981.

Williams, Ora. American Black Women in the Arts and Social Sciences. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1994.

_____. “Porgy and Bess Will Soon be 50: But Eva Jessye Will be 90!” Los Angeles Sentinel, December 27, 1984. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

Work, John W. American Negro Songs: 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious, and Secular. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1998.

120

Yellin, Victor F. “The Operas of Virgil Thomson.” Twentieth-Century Composers: American Music Since 1910. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.

Journal and Periodical Articles

Apfelstadt, Hilary. "First Things First: Selecting Repertoire." Music Educators Journal 87, no. 1 (2000): 19-22, 46.

Brunner, David L. "Choral Program Design Structure and Symmetry." Music Educators Journal 80, no. 6 (1994): 46-49.

Buckner, Reginald T. "A History of Music Education in the Black Community of Kansas City, Kansas, 1905-1954." Journal of Research in Music Education 30, no. 2 (1982): 91-106.

Cumbo, Clarissa, and Marion Cumbo. "The Symphony of the New World." The Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 3 (1975): 312-330.

"Dr. Jessye Oratorio Oct. 1." Alumnian Pittsburg State University, 1978, Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

Hoekstra, Gerald R. "Thematic Choral Programming." The Choral Journal 20, no. 2 (October 1979): 20-24.

Movie Review. "Gleanings from the Screen." New York Times, October 30, 1927.

"Paradise Lost and Regained to be Given February 28—4:00 P. M." The Courier: The Greater Lawrence Council of Churches, March 1954. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

Perkins, Joan. "Dr. Eva Jessye Re-Creates Paradise." Glassboro Whit 36, no. 30, (Glassboro, NJ), May 9, 1974.

Reinthaler, Joan. "Folk-Oratorio at Cathedral." The Washington Post (Washington, DC), July 12, 1972. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

Ryder, Georgia A. "The Black-American Music Symposium." The Black Perspective in Music 14, no. 1 (1986): 85-86.

Sears, Lawrence. "A Visit by the Guardian of the Score." The Sunday Star (Washington, DC), July 9, 1972. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

121

_____. "Sermon Hit at Cathedral." Washington Evening Star (Washington, DC), July 12, 1972. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

Seidman, Peter. "Eva Jessye." The Black Perspective in Music 18, no. 1-2 (1990): 259- 263.

Shirley, Wayne D. "William Grant Still's Choral Ballad And They Lynched Him on a Tree." American Music 12, no. 4 (1994): 425-461.

Standifer, James A. "Reminiscences of Black Musicians." American Music 4, no. 2 (1986): 194-205.

Van Camp, Leonard. "The Formation of A Cappella Choirs at Northwestern University, St. Olaf College, and Westminster Choir College." Journal of Research in Music Education 13, no. 4 (1965): 227-38.

_____. "The Rise of American Choral Music and the A Cappella Bandwagon." Music Educators Journal 67, no. 3 (Nov., 1980): 36-40.

"Whatever Happened to Eva Jessye?" Ebony 29, (May, 1974): 162.

Scores and Recordings

Arlen, Harold, et al. Vocal Recital Elzy, Ruby – Gershwin, G. Naxos Music Library. Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services Ltd., 2009.

Gershwin, George, DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin, Anne Brown, Todd Duncan, and Alexander Smallens. Porgy and Bess Original Broadway Cast. Universal City, CA: MCA Classics, 1992.

Jessye, Eva. He’s Carried the Key and Gone Home. New York: Skidmore, 1965.

_____. I Belong to That Band. New York: Skidmore, 1965.

_____. Paradise Lost. Unpublished, 1979.

_____. Simon, the Fisherman. Summy-Birchard, 1964.

Songs from the Soul: The Negro Spiritual. University of Michigan Film Video Library, 1979. DVD.

122

On-Line Sources

James G. Smith and Percy M. Young. "Chorus." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/ subscriber/article/grove/music/05684 (accessed August 21, 2010).

Transcription

Jessye, Eva, interviewed by James Standifer. Ann Arbor, MI, April 4, 1974. transcript, Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Collections

Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University, KS.

Concert Programs

"A Festival of Negro Spirituals," Eva Jessye, New York, NY, December 10, 1959. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Dixie Jubilee Singers," Eva Jessye, Calvary Baptist Church, NY, June 7, 1927. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Eva Jessye Choir," Eva Jessye, Bowling Green University, OH, March 24, 1949. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Eva Jessye Choir," Eva Jessye, Dartmouth College, NH, August 21,1943. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Eva Jessye Choir: All-American Ensemble," Eva Jessye, Winston-Salem Teachers College, NC, October 14, 1936. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

123

"Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of American Music," Eva Jessye, State Teachers College, Indiana, PA, August 12, 1954. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music," Eva Jessye, Civic Center, October 25, 1938. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music," Eva Jessye, St. Lawrence University, NY, March 13, 1940. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Go Where I Send Thee," Eva Jessye, Pittsburg State University, KS, May 5, 1980. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Light and Shades of Negro Music," Eva Jessye, John Wanamaker, New York, February 12, 1932. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Akron, OH, October 29, 1967. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Ann Arbor, MI, April 30, 1972. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Glassboro State College, NJ, May 5, 1974. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Jamaica, New York, January 31, 1935. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, John Wanamaker, New York, January 12, 1935. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Langston University, OK, November 19, 1970. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Manchester, NH, April 3, 1955. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Philadelphia, PA, October 6, 1974. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University. 124

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Pittsburg State University, KS, October 1, 1978. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Paradise Lost and Regained," Eva Jessye, Washington Cathedral, Washington, D. C. July 11, 1972. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Special Tribute to Eva Jessye," Eva Jessye, New York Center-New York City, NY, December 1, 1963. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Spirituals of the Early Black Church," and “Spirituals of the Early Black Church and The Chronicle of Job,” Eva Jessye, Clark College, Atlanta, GA, February 3, 1978. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"The Eva Jessye Choir," Eva Jessye, Dartmouth College, NH, March 13, 1940. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

"The Eva Jessye Choir," Eva Jessye, Detroit Town Hall, Detroit, MI, January 11, 1939. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

"The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatist of Negro Music," Eva Jessye, Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, January 27, 1941. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music," Eva Jessye, Dartmouth College, NH, March 13, 1940. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

"The Eva Jessye Choir: Dramatists of Negro Music," University of Minnesota, MN, March 20, 1939. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

"The Life of Christ," Eva Jessye, First-Calvary Baptist Church, Lawrence, MA, February 27, 1955. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"The People, Yes (The Music of America)," Eva Jessye, Trenton, NJ, March 12, 1957. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

"The R. Nathaniel Dett Club Scholarship Fund Recital," Eva Jessye, March 1936. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

125

"The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama," Eva Jessye, Greenville, ME, August 20, 1982. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"The Spiritual: A Celebration in Imagery, Rhythm, and Drama," Eva Jessye, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, November 2, 1978. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Three Centuries of Negro Music," Eva Jessye, John Wanamaker, New York City, February 12, 1931. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Unusual Negro Music," Eva Jessye, Detroit, MI, November 22, 1934. Eva Jessye Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

"Unusual Negro Music," Eva Jessye, Howard School, October 26, 1934. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Western Star," Eva Jessye, Brooklyn, NY, October 9, 1955. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.

"Western Star: Panorama of American Music," Eva Jessye, November 11, 1966. Eva Jessye Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, Pittsburg State University.