Learning How to “Hold On” from Jester Hairston a Thesis Submitted By

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Learning How to “Hold On” from Jester Hairston

A thesis submitted by

Matthew Wallace-Wright Castilla

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

Music

Tufts University

May 2015

Adviser: Professor John McDonald

Abstract

I propose to show Jester Hairston’s importance to the “movement” to preserve Negro spirituals by undertaking a four-part project that blends compositional, ethnomusicological, and historical approaches to a study of his arrangement of “Hold On.” The four sections begin with Jester Hairston’s biography and role with Negro spirituals. That section is followed by an Interview concerning Negro spirituals that I conducted with Dr. Kathy Castilla, (my mother and a choral director), who continues the tradition inherited from others, such as

Moses Hogan, William Dawson, and Jester Hairston (composers and directors of

Negro spirituals), that is often found on the campus of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Next, there is a Comparative Analysis of Hairston’s arrangement of “Hold On” and my composition “Precious Lord, I’m Holding On.” Finally, I conclude with thoughts about this project and the score of my composition, which is written for piano and alto saxophone.

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Acknowledgements

I dedicate this thesis to the memory of my father, Willenham Cortez

Castilla. I also thank my entire family, especially my mother Kathy, my sister

Kathlyn, and my brothers, Isaiah and William. Finally, I thank my wife Tahari for her unfailing support.

Table of Contents

Overview Pages v-viii

Introduction Pages 1-1

1. Historical/Biographical Section Pages 2-11

A. Short Biography of Jester Hairston (1901-2000) B. A Short History of Negro Spirituals in HBCUs

2. Interview with Dr. Kathy Castilla Pages 11-20

3. Analyses Pages 20-44

A. Musical Sketch Analysis of “Hold On” B. Comparative Analysis of Jester Hairston's “Hold On” and Matthew Castilla’s “Precious Lord, I’m Holding On”

4. Conclusion and Score of Composition “Precious Lord, I’m Holding On” Pages 44-57

Appendices Pages 58-63

Tisch Special Collection and Archive: Jester Hairston Materials and LP Recordings Pages 64-67

Bibliography Pages 68-70

Overview

This project shows Jester Hairston’s importance to the “movement” to preserve Negro spirituals by undertaking a four-part project that blends compositional, ethnomusicological, and historical approaches to a study of his arrangement of “Hold On.”

This overview outlines the phases of research and creative work.

Following my summary of the approaches I plan to use for the project, I will conclude with the expectations and intentions for it.

1. Historical/Biographical Section.

The purpose of this section is to identify the important influence that composer, arranger, choral conductor, and actor, Jester Hairston (1901-2000; graduated from Tufts University in 1929), exerted on the survival and performance of Negro spirituals. To collect accurate historical and biographical information, I worked with Tisch Library Special Collections, which was gifted materials such as letters, compositions, and audio recordings by Jester Hairston’s estate. Through using selected historical and biographical items, I learned how

Hairston gained a voice and visibility in Hollywood for his acting, singing, and choral compositional skills, despite the obvious difficulties he faced due to unjust stereotyping of people of color by the entertainment industry. The importance of this section is in direct relation to the culture over which Hairston’s music has vi held immense influence, which is the African-American community. I aim to answer the overall question: Why does it seem as if there is a glass ceiling in the

African-American community that affects its success, yet African-Americans are expected to teach, share, give, and even “will” the music that is essentially part of their makeup? Additionally, what are the ethical ramifications left to discuss with someone like Hairston, who some could claim worked for and against the progression of equality with his work in Hollywood and with his work as a clinician, often for majority all-white choirs. This becomes incredibly important as Hairston, I argue, embraced the role of the “jester”—playing the “fool” to get something done—and became known for finding ways to highlight racial challenges through musical clinics and performances.

2. Interview

The purpose of this interview is to answer multiple questions:

1. What was Jester Hairston’s importance to the African-American community?

2. How is Hairston still culturally relevant?

3. What is the importance of Negro spirituals and Negro spiritual arrangements?

4. Did Hairston’s model accurately represent the musical expectation of how Negro spirituals should be performed, given his role as a clinician? I sample here from an in-depth interview with Dr. Kathy Castilla. My intention is for this interview to provide important information that clarifies the various roles Hairston played throughout his life and to address how these roles activated and inspired vii musicians and audiences. I also intend for this interview to show how Hairston’s roles embodied “activism without endangerment.”

3. Musical Analysis of “Hold On” Using Archival Sources

To fully express an appropriate analysis of Hairston’s composition, I think that it is necessary to include an in-depth look at his compositional process for

“Hold On.” This portion specifically highlights the studies I conducted of the absence of sketches present in Hairston’s work with Negro spirituals. It especially highlights my study of Hairston’s work, “Hold On.” I also conduct a comparative analysis of Hairston’s “Hold On” by cross-examining physical materials related to that arrangement, including some items displayed in a recent introductory exhibit to Jester Hairston by Digital Collections and Archives research assistant Timothy

Walsh. My goal is to analyze one or two examples of detailed portions of Jester

Hairston’s spiritual arrangements that I believe relate significantly to “Hold On.”

This analysis will draw from how Hairston’s lectures as clinician and performer increased demand for contemporary performances of Negro spiritual arrangements. In my own composition, which is a response to Hairston’s version of “Hold On,” I try to embrace elements of both cultural and theoretical forms of analysis.

4. Compositional Reactions to Hairston’s Arrangements.

After completing my analyses of Hairston’s “Hold On” and my original response, I present my original work “Precious Lord, I’m Holding On” for saxophone and piano in score form. I have gathered inspiration from personal viii experiences and knowledge because I believe that I have been given an opportunity to highlight Negro spirituals as a person born in the tradition. These compositions—Hairston’s “Hold On” and my own response—are presented in a spirit that is sensitive to the performance practice traditions kept in place since

Hairston’s passing, thus bringing the essence of Hairston full circle. At the end of my composition, I dedicate a portion of my work to my father, Willenham Cortez

Castilla—a choral conductor who, similar to Hairston, led a chorale that fell into the traditional range of Negro spirituals through the history of being a Historical

Black University for more than twenty years. That portion of my work represents the last time that I performed with my father. 1

Introduction

My hope is that this hybrid thesis, (which includes research, analysis, and original composition), will highlight the incredibly important mark that Jester

Hairston left on music. He expertly maneuvered his position as an arranger and clinician, specializing in repertory once referred to as “slave songs,” to assist in preserving the oral tradition in ways that directly connect to modes of authentic performance. My belief is that my conclusive findings will support a timeline detailing the origin and development of the performance practice of spirituals leading to the veritable floating state in which this music currently resides in contemporary practice—is it classical concert music, or something even more immediate or exigent? I think my findings support Jester Hairston’s monumental role as a leader and teacher and reveal the continuing vibrancy that Negro spirituals hold within the Africana Diaspora. This project connects Tufts

University, Jester Hairston, and music of a religious tone and amplifies history by using resources that are in Tisch Library’s own stacks. Additionally, because I study music that resembles the music that Jester Hairston composed and am immersed in the black music tradition (from familial, religious, historical, and educational standpoints), I offer an insider’s perspective. This project captures a current state caught between the limits of historical memory and an imagined state posited by my musical response presented in a new concert setting. Ultimately, this project is the culmination of a research initiative that combines compositional, ethnomusicological, and musicological approaches.

Section 1: The Biography & History of Jester Hairston

Jester Hairston was an African-American actor, choral conductor, arranger, and lecturer whose career traversed international waters. Thanks to his music and presence on the stage and in front of the camera, Hairston’s career was dynamic and long. His professional life goes back to the early 1930s when he got his start not only in music, but also as an actor by way of Broadway, radio, television, and film. One of his most famous roles was as the character, Leroy—a major character on the Amos ‘n’ Andy radio and television shows. He played the character for sixteen years.

Hairston was a graduate of Tufts University, where he majored in music and concentrated on composition. He continued his studies at The Julliard School, honing his craft in New York before starting his career. He later received several honorary doctorates for his work as a composer and actor from institutions such as Luther College, the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and his alma mater Tufts University. Hairston was selected by the United States State

Department to serve repeatedly as an “Ambassador of Good Will” to various countries in Europe, South America, and Africa.

Some of Hairston’s earliest musical works were completed while he served as the assistant conductor of the Hall Johnson Choir for the fifteen years following the time that he studied at Julliard with Hall Johnson—a fellow composer and arranger of Negro spirituals. Hairston then worked in front of the screen and behind the scenes in the world of post-production and film scoring, and collaborated with composer Dimitri Tiomkin as his choral arranger for more 3 than twenty years. Perhaps his most notable work in this vein is the score for the

1963 film Lilies of the Field. Hairston first got his start in Hollywood as he and the Hall Johnson choir left New York for Los Angeles to do the chorus music for the movie The Green Pastures. After the work of the all-Negro choir concluded,

Hairston separated from Johnson and stayed in Hollywood, where he put together a mixed-race choir. This choir would go on to sing music for films that included

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Friendly Persuasion, and Carmen Jones.

During this time, in 1936, Hairston began his acting career. His earliest work consisted of roles that were demeaning toward people of color. Hairston took roles that portrayed blacks as happy slaves or as African “savages” in Tarzan and similar films. Much later in his career, Hairston pointed out that he competed with other African-Americans for these demeaning roles. He felt that performing these roles was a means to an end because he and other blacks were paving the way for younger actors and actresses. As mentioned earlier, he worked extensively in supporting roles during his time with the radio and television show

Amos ‘n’ Andy. Hairston later took other acting roles in movies such as Lady

Sings the Blues, The Last Tycoon, The Alamo, In the Heat of the Night, and To

Kill a Mockingbird. Hairston said of his early roles, "We had a hard time then fighting for dignity, we had no power. We had to take it, and because we took it the young people today have opportunities." Hairston had the opportunity to watch the transition of African-Americans going from solely acting in demeaning roles to acting in more respectable roles as time progressed. He also had the opportunity to be a part of that transition. For example, in some cases, Hairston 4 both acted and provided music for the films or television projects in which he was involved and maintained an amazing multifaceted professional profile. He was a true interdisciplinary talent.

Hairston’s work with Negro spirituals often left him in a place where he felt compelled to confront the very individuals this music was meant to combat. In a letter to “Jack and Family,” Hairston discusses his lectures and performances at many campuses across the country.1 Hairston mentions conducting a racially integrated high school choir for the 1973 Southern Governors’ Conference. To

Hairston, the conference represented much more than a simple performance. It demonstrated the progress of civil rights. This was apparent as Hairston noted the attendance of notable controversial figures such as Alabama’s former governor,

George Wallace, who condoned violence that was directed at African-Americans during “sit-ins” at his restaurant and promised “segregation forever” when he was sworn into office.

Hairston found pleasure when he performed with an integrated choir before people who made it their mission to legalize racial inequality. This was the music at its best—challenging hate while an educated African-American man led its performance. Yet, Hairston closes the letter by thanking Jack and his family for their kindness to him while he was in Boston and by offering his Los Angeles home to them if they ever visited that city. When Hairston showed such kindness, he also showed that he lived life with charisma. He was simply a man who

1 Source Unknown. "Summertimes Means Musictime." June 10, 1972.

5 approached his day with integrity to help the music carry its very personal message to a broader crowd in the most all-inclusive way possible, whether it was heard in Boston, Los Angeles, Charleston, Jerusalem, or Kenya.

Hairston’s work as a clinician is hailed not just for his work with Negro spirituals, but for the various groups that he often directed. Hairston often worked with and educated choirs with members of African-American descent, but also those with members of various colors and creeds, including all-White groups. At times, he took advantage of opportunities to join groups with members of different backgrounds together, such as when he led the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the

Don Walker Singers, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (collectively) in a music performance and directed those same groups as part of a lecture. Acts such as these emerged from Hairston’s work in Hollywood when he formed a new mixed- race choir after providing the music for The Green Pastures and began a career that allowed him to arrange choral works for movies. Due to such actions, many well-respected individuals hold Hairston in very high regard. Such respect for

Hairston did not stem from the sole act of teaching Negro spirituals across the globe, but also to his willingness to give to others in need. A good example is when he and individuals such as Muhammad Ali, LeVar Burton, Brock Peters, former Los Angeles Councilman Robert Farrell, and Congressmen Julian Dixon and Augustus “Gus” Hawkins donated the proceeds from a concert to help purchase medical supplies for the children of Lusaka, Zambia.2 Throughout his life, when people mentioned Hairston’s name, they often mentioned his acts of kindness.

2 Source Unknown. "Tufts Hairston Materials." January 1, 2000, LP ed. 6

Due to the poor state of race relations at certain times in American history,

Hairston adopted a genial approach to the arts. Describing the impact that music had on race relations in America, Hairston said, “Music was a great entrance into white society, and that it broke down many barriers and prejudices.” He did not intend to imply that when he encountered barriers, other people did not encounter those same barriers. He simply pointed out that by overcoming certain obstacles, he was an example to others who followed after him. He followed this statement by saying, “It is actually hard to believe now living through some of the most humiliating trappings of prejudice, like not being able to eat because you are black.”3 When he mentioned these racial struggles, Hairston indicated that what was often considered part of a civil rights struggle in the early 1940s was not limited to the Deep South, saying, “Even as late as the 1940’s, even here in

Portland, you couldn’t get into a restaurant, while German prisoners of war were allowed into these very eateries during World War II that would not admit blacks.” It is important to note that in 1936, when Hairston first arrived in Los

Angeles, there was only one restaurant, “Clifton’s,” which would allow Blacks to enter the restaurant (but, not near the kitchen, which was in the back). Through

Jester Hairston’s perseverance on and off the stage, and despite the difficulties and challenges he faced, he witnessed a break through such hatred via the power of the same music that empowered his grandmother and others during slavery.

Hairston said, “Music is a language of people, people will sing with you even when they won’t talk with you. If they listen to me, I’ll make a performer by

3 Source Unknown "Tufts Hairston Materials." January 1, 2000, LP ed.

7 using these Negro spirituals.”4

Hairston saw that there was a possibility to bridge the gaps between different people of various cultures and backgrounds. He took the opportunity to not only continue the tradition of concert Negro spirituals among African-

American students, but also to expand it to include White teachers and various communities not commonly integrated African-American music. This practice helped implement what is now commonplace curriculum among many concert choral groups. Hairston focused on the same thread that was passed down through slaves and former slaves, (such as his grandmother), within the African Diaspora, which he then wove into choral music education more strongly than before he contributed to choral music and education. Hairston knew that many spirituals were traditionally performed at historically black colleges and universities,

(which, hereinafter, will be referred to as “HBCUs”), such as Fisk University,

Jackson State University, and Tougaloo College; but, he saw the need to enhance the visibility of the music beyond the Black community to make it a true staple of

American choral music.

A Short History of Negro Spirituals in HBCUs

Hairston often spoke about the Negro spirituals and their arrangements as they related to HBCUs such as Fisk University and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. I will refrain from diving too deep into the history of the Negro spirituals because the topic is vast. Before giving a brief history of Negro spirituals, I feel the need to provide some clarity on what I am referring to when I speak of “Negro spirituals.”

4 "Tufts Hairston Materials." January 1, 2000, LP ed.

Throughout the entire project, I am specifically speaking of Negro spiritual arrangements or spirituals that were taken from the folk, non-western form once sung by slaves, as one of the only forms of communication freely allowed on southern plantations. They were embraced for their ability to commonly sing among slave owners in common song, but inspire mental, spiritual, political, and physical freedom. These Negro spirituals were arranged and concertized to fit within the concept of traditional western performance. Therefore, I begin by referencing the work by Gustavus D. Pike—an American missionary who worked for the American Missionary Association following the end of the Civil War.

Dating as early as the late 1840s, the American Missionary Association was a

Christian abolitionist group that was based in New York and that was dedicated to the education of people of color before the Civil War. In 1870, Pike was assigned as the District Secretary for the association and became known for his meticulousness. At the time, the association was entrusted with assuring the success of an education initiative that was initially ignored after the United States

Congress passed the 1862 Morrill Act. The Morrill Act was a law providing a land grant to qualifying colleges. In 1890, Congress passed the Second Morrill

Act to consider the education of people of color. The success of some of the first colleges and universities for Blacks relied on the American Missionary

Association’s financial and personal investments. The years that followed the conclusion of the Civil War in 1866 led to the founding of Fisk University in

Nashville, Tennessee, which is an institution of higher education that played a 9 major role in the success of HBCUs and the preservation of their songs—the

Negro spirituals.

After the Civil War ended and after the first assassination of a United

States president, tensions were high in all parts of America, including among

Black people. The Black community faced pressure to abandon these songs due to their association with an old way of life. Fisk University and similar schools exposed many possibilities associated with a potential new way of life, and with the encouragement and help of American missionaries like Pike, they eventually realized that the great experiences of the Black community in America were not exclusively limited (musically or otherwise) to European- and Western-centric experiences. Now consider the Jubilee Singers—a group of singers and students at

Fisk University who performed these orally-transmitted slave songs, which were arranged so that they would fit in the concert choral tradition, giving us what we now refer to as the Negro spirituals. Pike utilized his skillset as a secretary during this time and authored an important work called, The Jubilee Singers and their

Campaign for Twenty Thousand Dollars.5 This book focused on the touring of the nine singers to Nashville, to Boston, and to London as they ventured to first spread this (apparently) new musical genre and second, to collect and accept monetary donations that proved to be vital to funding the school and all of its early operations. This began a long tradition of a new form of performance practice, which ensured the vitality of such funding. The history that I discuss gives me a contextual ground in which to work because of the modern

5 Pike, Gustavus D. The Jubilee Singers and Their Campaign for Twenty Thousand Dollars. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1873. 10 implications that the repertory of Negro spirituals currently have versus what the

Fisk Jubilee Singers had in 1872. This includes what Jester Hairston and his contemporaries (Moses Hogan, John W. Work, Thomas Dorsey, William

Dawson, Edward Boatner, Charles Tindley, Harry Burleigh, John Johnson, his mentor Hall Johnson, and others) carried on within the confines of the concert choral stage, and which has, as a result, continued as a tradition. This tradition has been passed down to generations of other arrangers and conductors who were born in the tradition. Among them are choral conductors Willenham Cortez

Castilla and Kathy Castilla—my parents. Although some might consider mentioning one’s own family in an academic presentation unconventional, I believe that my parents’ roles as conductors of HBCU concert choirs make my references to them within this thesis appropriate and, in my opinion, welcome.

My father was a choral director at Jackson State University for twenty years and while there, served as Director of Choral Activities. Similarly, this year is my mother’s nineteenth year as the director of the choir at Tougaloo College. Their knowledge of music is immense and vital in terms of the Concert Negro Spirituals and they led groups that continue the traditions of the African-American composers following the Civil War. I say these things to communicate that although I was born in the tradition, this project is extremely personal because my father and mother offered helpful information concerning music in general and more specifically, Negro spirituals.

Section 2: Interview with Dr. Kathy Castilla 11

With this interview, I intend to shed light on the role of Negro spirituals within the Black community in the collegiate educational setting through the work of people like Dr. Kathy Castilla and Jester Hairston. There is a direct connection between the performance practice of Negro spirituals within the Africana

Diaspora and the collegiate setting (with HBCU choral curricula representing a form of preservation). There are two settings within this educational format that

(to this author) suggest different experiences from one person to another within the same performance practice: 1) The experience within the tradition cultivated inside the Black community and historic Black colleges and universities like the

Tougaloo College Concert Choir led by Kathy Castilla and 2) the experience outside of the Black community within educational settings such as the clinics held and hosted by Jester Hairston. This interview will focus specifically on the former of the two with Dr. Kathy Castilla, the choral director of the Concert Choir at one of the oldest historically Black colleges, Tougaloo College.

In this interview, there is an extensive discussion of the performance practice of Negro spirituals and the experience it provides to the authorities on this music. Dr. Castilla divulges the capacity by which these Negro spirituals function within the specific environment of one historical black college. To show the importance of the environment of which these spirituals are performed, I asked Dr. Castilla, “How are the Negro spirituals related to Tougaloo as far as the choir and the college itself?” Dr. Castilla replies that the concert choir was often

(and in the case of Tougaloo College, still is) the oldest organization on the 12 institution’s campus. Thus, the historical significance is bound to geographical location and opens up discussion for possibilities of historical relevance.

Dr. Castilla continues to reveal that at a certain point in history, Tougaloo

College required that every student become a member of the choir, regardless of his or her study or focus. The music that these students sing resembles the same music performed internationally by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, i.e. Negro spirituals and Negro spiritual arrangements. She later states that part of the historical significance of the choirs is that their origins have to do with the relationship of the original plantation’s tie to the Amistad slave ship, and the time of the institution’s founding in 1869, which was just four years after the Civil War concluded, and which research has shown was in connection with the same

American Missionary Association that was given title over managing Fisk

University as well as the work of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This suggests that the

Negro spirituals had an important role in the establishment of the collegiate education system dedicated to the Negro’s academic success. This also inspired me to ask the following questions (among others): “What were the goals of former slave owners and white missionaries to whom many colonial detriments to the Africana Diaspora are attributed?” “Why was the romantic fascination with this music so apparent immediately following the bloodiest war in American

History?” Finally, “How did the students and Black community function within this zoned permit given to them by their once white oppressors?” These questions, among others, leave room for exploration beyond the interview with Dr. Castilla, but they do bring the unavoidable question that fills one with eagerness to resolve: 13

“What are the current environmental impacts this music has had on the students and its director?”

The following is a full excerpt from the sit-down interview with Dr.

Castilla:

“MC: Thank you for doing this, I appreciate it (agreeing to do the interview). I know your time is precious.

Dr. Castilla: You know I always make time for you.

MC: First, can you tell me who you are?

Dr. Castilla: I am Kathy Castilla, and you want to know what about me?

MC: What is it that you do currently?

Dr. Castilla: My present position is associate professor of music at Tougaloo College. With that,

I am also the concert choir choral director.

MC: And how long have you held that position?

Dr. Castilla: I’m in my 18th year at Tougaloo.

MC: And how long have you been in music education?

Dr. Castilla: Well my bachelor’s degree is a bachelor’s of music in education because I wanted to teach, and I guess I officially started then when I started student teaching. In addition, thereafter it’s somewhat hard to say at different points of time. However, I did teach middle school for 5 years before I ended up where I am. In addition, I was also a graduate teaching assistant two different times as I was working on graduate degrees.

MC: Well, first let me ask you how are you doing?

Dr. Castilla: I’m doing fine

MC: So these questions I’m going to ask you are really going to center on spirituals and also different connections around communication and different people like Jester Hairston (not necessarily biographical). Just to get your idea of things and asking questions on what you think . . 14

. one of the first things I want to ask you is about the repertoire at Tougaloo College and really get your take on what your choral repertoire is and how you come to choose what you choose.

Dr. Castilla: the music is, well that’s a difficult kind of question, I like so many things, music-wise

(and there’s so much out there), that it makes sometimes it makes it a bit difficult to choose. I make the choices, my choices depend upon several things every year when I choose what I do. I try to choose music that will be educational and that will expose the students to a different genres of music, although we sing a lot of spiritual we also sing what people would term classical music too, but the bulk of what we do, (about 50% of what we do), are spiritual arrangements and the reason for that, which I guess is the second thing that I use to determine what we do repertoire-wise, is that it’s part of our heritage and our culture and it’s important that the students (our students) are exposed to the music of spirituals and continue to keep that tradition alive. A third thing that I choose my music for the students to do is based upon the personnel that I have. For example, there may be some years that I have basses that can reach very low notes and I take advantage of that and choose music, ( especially spirituals), that will highlight that. At times when I don’t have that personnel, I choose other music, which doesn’t mean I’m necessarily settling, it’s just that I choose something else because of the voices that I have. Then the final thing is really what I like. I choose what I like to work with.

MC: How do you come up with what you like?

Dr. Castilla: It’s just how it makes me . . . What I love, what I love to hear as far as music is concerned, which is a lot of music. But if I like it, it will be easier for me to work with it and get the kids, (whether they like it or don’t like it), get them to a point where they at least they really appreciate it because, it’s kind of a good thing if I enjoy it then they do; if I find it a chore to work with then I feel that somehow that bleeds over in how they accept it.

MC: One of the things that I really want to ask you, then, is: How are spirituals related to

Tougaloo as far as the choir and the college itself?

Dr. Castilla: Well the concert choir at Tougaloo is from the history that I can find from the music department on all accounts is the oldest organization on the campus. Was first formed back when the college first started and don’t ask me the years because I might not… (laughing)… well you 15 can look that up, but anyway the concert choir… and because all the students when the college was first formed and in its early years any student who attended had to spend time as a member of the choir. It was required and music was required of everyone to take, and not every student had to remain in the choir during their whole matriculation but they had to be a member of the choir at some point as a student there. Of course, that gave way to a more modern way of doing things as curriculums are today. So the music that choir sang of course was the same type of music that was being made famous by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, which were spirituals and spiritual arrangements. Therefore, it’s embedded in the history of the school itself, not just the music.

That’s why the choir to this day (as in most HBCUs) hold a particular place of importance in the school because of the history of the choir and how it came to be.

MC: You mention that the students, and I think it’s somewhat funny, when you mentioned that all of the students were required at some point to participate in the choir. What were the benefits of having these students of these HBCUs are members of this group that would preserve this deep, rich historical music, and oral tradition? What were the benefits of the student’s participate in that, because you don’t normally see that even when you look at a university, every student being required to attend this music program. What do you think if you could speculate on that? On why every student? And/or the importance of it?

Dr. Castilla: I can only speculate, I think … of course there might be some type of history that states why the founders of the school who were white and former slave owners who wanted to educate as in a lot of historically black colleges after slavery wanted to educate their former slaves. Because music and singing was so important anyone who could see among African-

Americans or Africans and later African-Americans, that music is extremely important particularly vocal music, to us as a people is very easy to see. So there are many reasons. I think also when you would hear them sing just as now, I can only imagine when I can get the students to come close to singing with a type of understanding and depth of their history and ancestors it moves the spirit and kind of goes straight to the heart and there is no sound like it in the world. It is a very special sound and corner of choral music. So I think they recognized it and I think also they recognized the discipline that was involved in music. Working as a unit to perfect choral 16 music, the discipline of singing choral music, and the camaraderie it creates among the singers after having worked on something, perfected it, and eventually performing it… I think it meant something and they understood what it would mean to the students at their school and the camaraderie it would create.

MC: I heard you mention, and this is something I hear a lot amongst people of faith, when the spirit gets to moving. Could you describe what that means? I understand that we are talking about spirituals and specifically, Negro spirituals . . . What is the spirit moving when you hear the voices? Because it seems as though that’s not just something that happens and occurs with this music because it seems that you have to get the students where they reach this point of the spirit moving . . . What is your take with the spirit moving with this music?

Dr. Castilla: I think what causes this is a connection. First, the singers have to reach the listener and make whatever they feel this song is saying . . . get them to understand it. Moreover, in order to do that, I think that the singer needs to relate in some way. I will say that “I’m not saying that only African-Americans can sing these songs.” Some notable performances and recordings of groups that were predominantly non-African-American do a good job of some of these songs. I do think that the African-American student . . . young person . . . Older person . . . Has an advantage though because they have the history of how these songs came about and came into existence.

They have the physical history of what happened. They also have, if families have done their jobs, which most African-American families have, is somehow related some story via the grandmother or the great-grandmother to young people about their history, especially through the African-

American church. Moreover, because of these stories, you can sometimes get them to reach into their memory and get them to tap into what was told to them. And it becomes more real when they begin to sing about it. So that’s the way that I think that it happens. That there is a connection that many of the families have lived through the history, which gives them something to latch onto so-to-speak.

MC: What roles have the spirituals have had in your life as a person of faith, and an educator, and mother/wife/family member? What role have the spirituals had in your life? Because you have a 17 specific role as the director, so I’m interested to see how the spirituals have had an influence on your life.

Dr. Castilla: Before I go on with that . . . The history of the school . . . was founded in 1869 (I couldn’t remember earlier), which is very close to the emancipation proclamation and a direct result of the Amistad. There’s that history of Tougaloo and that’s why I think that they were so close to the spirituals at that time. And we’ve continuously tried to keep that alive in the concert choir since its existence in the 1800’s . . . Now let me go on, to the question that you asked the subject matter of the spirituals hit home. In my history, in family history, and in my church history remember many stories and remember hearing my grandparents sing these spirituals on a daily basis just every day, not arranged as the choir will do arrangements that thrill the audience and composers would craftily and beautifully arrange for the concert choir while still keeping the flavor of the song. But, I grew up with my granny [the interviewee’s grandmother] singing as she was hanging clothes out on the line “don’t you let nobody turn you round” and “my lord what a morning” and . . . singing hymns like “what a friend we have in Jesus” and all of those hymns and spirituals meant something to her. And I can remember her humming under her breath as she was quilting, the songs of the spirituals like “sometimes I feel like a motherless child” . . . not because she felt dejected so much but because her mother was gone and her mother died when she was young. She related to that spiritual in a personal way, but I remember those songs. They used to sing those day-to-day on a daily basis at church. I can remember songs we would sing at night for night service as a girl growing up when the morning service we would use piano accompaniment, that my oldest sister and I had to play the hymns for the church, but that night night service was always ‘A cappella’ and they were always old spirituals and old hymns that we sang. They weren’t refined as the concert choir . . . but they remained authentic in the way that they sang them and the way that their heels hit that wooden floor, keeping the beat was authentic in how they had grown up and had been passed down. So I can still remember, “I can tell the world about this, I can tell the nations that I’m blessed.” With that heel keeping the beat. So, this is something that is a part of my upbringing and it hits home. You know spiritually of the connection it can make in my life and I can understand and feel when my group. We have a 18 concert in fact coming up Saturday in two days that is supposed to be comprised of, because it’s a celebration, it’s supposed to be comprised of spirituals and civil rights songs. And one of the spirituals is “I’ll never turn back no more” and this one was arranged by Paul Johnson which is not one that is as readily recognized as one of the other ones arranged by I believe Dawson or

Debt, but that one . . . because of the way that it has to be performed, it brings me back to that old night service when you have this moan and this arrangement of chords. This breaking and coming back in, and breaking then coming back in, and then the solo from the old deacon, and then the moan at the very end up very high from one of the sisters at the church. So, when I tell them that this is reminiscent of those old Men’s Days programs that the kids used to see when they were quite young. And watching the rhythm . . . the people walking down the aisle . . . and the rhythm was not kept with a drum as they are today (in the church) . . . It was an inner kind of beat that you felt. These are all things that bring the spiritual home to me, that I try to relay to my students.

MC: There seems to be this methodology that you’ve developed around a set of principles that reflect history, heritage, and personal experience—not just your own, but a community’s experience . . . This is a theme that we find in the Africana Diaspora. The idea and theme of community and it’s with everyone in a sense, but there is a special form of community within the

Africana Diaspora . . .

Dr. Castilla: And let me say this . . . Something that was brought to mind in my own experience . .

. I can remember specifically there was a lady in our church, (a much older lady), who was the oldest sister of one of our older ministers when I was growing up and every time there was a prayer, (Anyone praying a prayer), she would get on her knees and she would begin to rock during the prayer. She would do this very slow rock with her eyes closed on her knees. And she would hum this hum all through the prayer; this motive if we were studying it in theory, but it was this hum somewhat deep . . . [Interviewee begins to hum]. . . And then she would repeat that all the way through the prayer . . . You would hear it through the entire prayer and when they started to end. And the African-American prayer in the church always seems to follow a certain pattern.

The Old deacons would say, “And when my time comes in that room”. . . And you know they were getting ready to finish. She would start finishing the moan, and they would work in tandem. The 19 prayer and the hummer would always finish when they said “Amen” and she would say

[Interviewee finishes the hum] . . . And they would be finished. So those types of experiences were unforgettable. You just don’t forget them. You know somehow that the motive, that pattern that she hummed, had been passed down to her . . . from . . . because she at the time was around

90 years old and had been passed down from her mother . . . And that’s all that she knew that that’s what you do. I called her the church moaner because she would be the one who would do this . . . and when she passed she was very much missed, because I don’t remember anyone taking her place at that time.”

This interview taps into the surface of the issues at hand and opens up a dialogue for a large-scale analysis. There is an element of connectedness, or according to

Dr. Castilla, a thread, that transcends time and space and is available through the musical experience of the Negro spirituals when delivered by a spirit-filled member of African Diaspora. This shows a selective quality in the experience of this music in a coming of age or rite of passage, and is something that can be given by the host for experience purposes within the audience, but while having received this spiritual encounter, there is a historical timeline being referenced.

This is a commonality within the African Diaspora as a chain of links and a form of self-worth amongst the individuals. There are even more questions that now arise, such as: Where are the individuals within the choir as it pertains to their

“thread?” Additionally, how does that relate to a group of individual people who have different experiences? The historical and spiritual magnitude of this choral working method, (addressed here through these questions), is now at the forefront of pioneering a new work with these “old materials.” I believe that Dr. Castilla speaks of Negro spirituals and choral music in a similar way and with a similar 20 perspective as those composers and arrangers of these spirituals. Here, I feel the need to return to Hairston’s statement, “Music is a language of people, people will sing with you even when they won’t talk with you . . . If they listen to me, I’ll make a performer by using these Negro spirituals.”6 This becomes more apparent when realizing that Negro spirituals, music, and history are rarely taught in schools despite being a strong part of American history. The same thread that Dr.

Castilla has in her ties to the Negro spirituals are the same ties that Jester Hairston had when his grandmother, a former slave, taught him those spirituals.

Section 3A: A Musical Sketch Analysis of “Hold On”

As discussed in Sections 1 and 2, Jester Hairston was an African-

American actor, arranger, and composer, whose work was fully informed by the

Negro spirituals. Hairston notably arranged these spirituals by perceived relevancy. He did this by working as a clinician in an educational setting to teach not only how to sing spiritual arrangements such as "Hold On" from a musical perspective, but also from a life perspective. Here, I discuss the presence of his sketch materials, and lack thereof. I argue that the sketch materials of Hairston's work is not necessarily found in manuscript form, but rather in the guise of audio recordings that were made during his lectures. These lectures were captured on long play records (“LPs”) during concerts of his arrangements, where there is a tradition among African-American directors, composers, and arrangers to orally describe the context of the lyrical content. I believe that Hairston's lectures will

6 . MS040.001.002.00001 The Afro-American slave song: its African roots and American development, 1978 a/v media

21 reveal the creative process that led him to arrive at musical conclusions and helped him to arrange Negro spirituals. This contributes to his legacy by highlighting the historical importance of continuing the tradition of his contemporaries and predecessors by orally passing along the history.

Hairston’s creative process appears to have been similar to the process that Igor Stravinsky had in his approach to the folk material for his ballet works.

This is due to the minimal amount of material found in the spirituals, which makes it a challenging (but necessary) test for William Kinderman’s Genetic

Criticism. The conclusions I draw will reflect my research of the LPs mentioned and of other relevant source material gathered during Professor Joseph Auner’s

3rd semester sketch studies Seminar.

Lack of the Traditional Compositional Sketch

The work of Jester Hairston as a composer and arranger is best known and regarded as preserving Negro spirituals. Hairston’s published spiritual arrangements are, of course, in final form; but, we are not fortunate enough to have the sketch material used for these arrangements. Because sketch studies have become one of the essential forms of analyzing the creative process, one would think that the sketches written would be required. I myself believe that they are certainly helpful (as pointed out in Kinderman’s Genetic Criticism).7

One can gain an understanding of Hairston's creative process without the formal written sketches that are often associated with composition and that are, in

7 Kinderman, William. The Creative Process in Music from Mozart to Kurtág. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. 22 other areas, heavily outlined within the composers’ thought process. I find it interesting that throughout Hairston’s personal written letters and such, none resembled that of a compositional sketch (despite his rigorous note-taking and detail). I also understand that it is possible that more materials were lost in transport and in a rumored house fire. During my discovery and analysis of Jester

Hairston's personal belongings, letters, and catalogued LPs archived in the Tisch

Library's Special Collections, I finally had a breakthrough. The first LP (of many)

I listened to up to that point was a detailed narrative on the history of the Negro spiritual provided by Jester Hairston. Mostly, he spoke about the relationship between slaves in the United States and the Christian religion. The critical point arrived when Hairston finally began to speak about how he arranged Negro spirituals. Because, historically, Negro spirituals are passed down by mouth

(orally), it seems fitting that the composition process that Hairston undertook was also (mostly) by mouth. After Hairston speaks about several spirituals and how they are related to oppression, he introduces us to what he does when he must arrange a Negro spiritual that has lost its oral accompaniment. His creative process consisted of what he described as, "A situation and make an appropriate story to go along with the song if I can't find the authentic storytelling." The song he used to put this approach in perspective, which has become a focus point of my thesis research, is entitled "Hold On!" Because this recording is extremely rare, I think that it is best to include a short excerpt of the recording where he takes listeners through the imagined state described below:

I imagine this song was sung in revival meetings in the churches. During the

18th century in Baptist churches they had what was called the mourners’ bench. Later the mourners’ bench was found in the Methodist Church as well as in the Presbyterian Church, which they called the anxious seat to

"dignify" it. Well, this seat was the first bench in the church for the white slave owners. And the slaves in having created their own church created their own mourners’ bench also. During the church meeting, the minister would ask, "Who is not ashamed to come up here to the front and let us pray for him?" Then maybe some lady would be able to get her husband to come up so the entire church would pray for him. Next, the minister would speak to him and try to persuade him to join the church. He preached the doctrine of hell-fire damnation. You either walk the straight and narrow path or down you went. At one point in the service, one of the deaconesses from the

“amen corner” would come over to this person on the mourners’ bench. And she'd say, "The only way son or daughter that you'll be able to reach heaven is to keep your hand on the plow." When this lady spoke about the plow, she was using symbolism, and to her, the plow was symbolic of Jesus Christ. So she says, "Listen here honey. If you’re plowing with the plow in the field, you hold on firmly to the handles and press down hard. You'll get a straight fertile. But if you take one hand off that plow and say, ‘Hello cousin John' wavin’ yah know ‘Hello cousin Mary.’ That plow is gonna wiggle honey and you'll be goin’ down the wrong path.” So that is the idea that this sister is trying to get across to the sinner. The only way to be a good working

Christian is to keep your mind on Jesus Christ all the time. That's holdin’ on

to the plow. Pronounced correctly it is “hold on, hold on.” But the slave did

not say that because it had a weak sound to it. In order to convey the power

that he wanted, he said “hol'd on,” connecting the D of hold to the o of on.

And that gave the feeling of strength and power. So now we'd like to do this

Jubilee entitled, "Keep your hand on the plow and hol'd on."8

"Hold on!”

Keep yo’ han’ on-a dat plow

Hold on! Hold on!

Nora, Nora let me come in

Do’s all fast’ned an’ de winders pinned

Keep yo’ han’ on dat plow

Hold àn! Hold on!

Nora said, “Ya lost yo’ track

Can’ plow straight an’ keep a-lookin’ back”…

If you wanna get to Heaven, let me tell you how

Just keep yo’ han’ on de Gospel plow

If dat plow stays in you’ han’

It’ll lan’ you straiht into de promised lan’…

8 . MS040.001.002.00001 The Afro-American slave song: its African roots and American development, 1978 a/v media

Mary had a golden chain

Ev’ry link was my Jesus’ name

Keep on climbin’ an’ don’t you tire

Ev’ry rug goes high’r an’ high’r…

I believe that the excerpt above reveals much of what has been left to discover of Hairston's compositional process. Hairston paints a vivid picture of how the song would be when it was completed. He does this while tying historically accurate events of the Protestant Church in the United States to the daily reality that the slaves faced. I say this to offer the notion that Hairston was not operating out of a fictional imagined state that was not supported by truth, but operating out of an imagined state supported by factual accounts. Therefore, it is certainly a possibility that slaves and former slaves learned about this spiritual in a way that is similar to the way that he imagined. A question now comes to the forefront: “How did Hairston arrive to a notated arrangement from folk material lacking previous notation as simple as a lead sheet?” When observing his statements about the slave’s articulation of the words “Hold” and “On,” much is revealed. When Hairston speaks of how slaves would not pronounce hold on as two separate words, but would connect the “d” at the end of the word “hold” to the “o” at the beginning of the word “on” would be an essential compositional component for Hairston. This very important lyrical portion of the piece’s makeup becomes extremely aural and visual after listening and analyzing the way

Hairston welds the actual words, “hold” and “on.” In every musical opportunity,

Hairston has positioned the words each time through the verse-chorus to be strong and long all while continuously getting higher and higher. This happens until the final declaration of holding on takes place with the most powerful demonstration of a lyric that is unanimously given by all voices. When referring back to what

Hairston said in his approach to finding musical inspiration (the focus of power being present while not showing a desperate need to hold on in a weak way), it is obvious that he has carried his creative idea of what has possibly happened in the past to the literal translation expressed through the storytelling of the music. So, despite having a lack of notated sketches, we can see the value in having what I am choosing to call a creative sketch.

Genetic Criticism

While William Kinderman’s Genetic Criticism maintains, “The term

‘genetic criticism’ or ‘critique génétique’ relates not to the field of genetics, but to the genesis of works of art, as studied in a broad and inclusive context,”9 there is no real reference to where work composed via oral histories stands in relationship to genetic criticism. Nonetheless, I have applied a portion of Kinderman’s genetic criticism observations to Hairston as they relate to these audio recordings. I did this by searching for the “common thread” present in “Hold On!” as a final creation. Because Jester Hairston’s arrangement of “Hold On!” has become recognized as the “complete” version of the spiritual, one can only conclude that the narrative he creates stands as an essential model of compositional and musical

9 Kinderman, William. The Creative Process in Music from Mozart to Kurtág. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.

29 components of its genesis. Most complex for me has been designating a genetic understanding of the beginning of “Hold On!” without short-selling or overselling the relationships that developed “Hold On!” to be what it has become today. The fact that “Hold On!” does not follow a consistent format to compare and contrast also presents a different challenge. First, we have the spiritual without a notated accompaniment, but with lyrics and a basic melody. Next, there is Hairston, who is experienced in working with many different types of material, including spirituals, with information that is verifiable as to that particular song’s origins, making the backstory for any song that did not have a surviving story attached.

Then, there are the notated sketches of the music. Finally, we have the published surviving and widely circulated version of Hairston's arrangement. This outlines the traditional and non-traditional approach to a genetic criticism and confronts the question, "What would one’s approach be without the materials recognized as the essential parts used to arrive at a conclusion to move from creative mapping with a timeline to sketches and then to finished material?"10 .

Many questions arise out of a method that I propose. One question that comes to my mind almost immediately is, “Where does musical analysis lie in the absence of written musical sketches?” I must point out that amidst sketch studies, the circumstances are rarely “normal,” but rather, they are fortunate. Kinderman points out, “What is called for is an integrated approach, whereby musical analysis takes guidance from the sources, and the philological work of

10 Kinderman, William. The Creative Process in Music from Mozart to Kurtág. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.

30 transcription draws upon analytical insight.”11 I believe that Kinderman’s description of what is ideal in the methodology used to observe the creative process from an analytical point of view is useful for identifying a comparison and contrasting figure within Hairston’s arrangement. Although Hairston’s arrangement “Hold On!” is without the traditional musical sketch outlining his train of thought, much of what is typically involved in the analytical part of sketch studies involves an educated guessing anyway. Hairston’s oral accompaniment can be used to similarly analyze what remains to discover what he envisions the song to mean and sound like.

Conceptual Image

Much of the imagery that Hairston creates concerns what I believe is his conceptual image of African-Americans’ complex relationship in America and with Christianity during times of slavery. This image comes about perhaps because of the establishment of the Black church as an independent structure.

Jester Hairston’s knowledge of African-American history regarding Christianity is much of what guides his description of the typical experience within this community. He represents this with the words, “holding on to the plow,” where much of the word choice involves double meanings. Hence, holding onto the plow could have an entirely different meaning than the hard labor involved with farming. Hairston shows this by using the plow as an object that represents Jesus

Christ.

11 Kinderman, William. The Creative Process in Music from Mozart to Kurtág. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.

Hairston’s knowledge of the multifaceted ways that individuals should view language within the Negro spirituals gives way to the imagination. This is because when Hairston’s understanding is applied, another person could view holding on to the plow in an entirely different manner, while still retaining the historically accurate original meaning of the phrase. Something else that is inherent in Hairston’s expressive approach is the historical relationship of communication within Negro spirituals and the African-American religious experience. Hairston is showing the unique stances one must take with what is given and available within this music to reach a compositional conclusion.

Hairston used his knowledge and his musical ability to “notate” the image that he himself created. Thinking about the way that he experienced the majority of

Negro spirituals (orally, by way of his grandparents who were former slaves),

Hairston embodies this tradition and acts as a storyteller. Hairston thus operates like a compositional griot. By carrying on the oral tradition, by continuing to tell these stories by repetition, and by developing compositional material as an author,

Hairston is consciously choosing to simultaneously honor and expand on its very foundation. He imagines himself as an essential component of this music’s survival by way of composition and does so by reinventing parts of a song that was passed down by giving the music historical accompaniment that was meant to inspire his musical creativity. I believe that the very expansion of the idea that is considered a compositional sketch directly reflects a compass—an optional path for the future development of sketch studies that helps one view conceptual imagery.

I believe Hairston’s “Hold On!” poses an essential question: Where does the oral music stand in connection to composition itself and in the creative process? I ask this question because it is not a foreign or unusual concept to the world of sketch studies. Marvin Gaye’s music, for example, has been studied and observed as outlined in Andrew Flory’s “Marvin Gaye as Vocal Composer.”12 In that study, Flory highlights the role that Marvin Gaye played in the recording studio when he created oral sketches based on preexisting musical material.

Marvin Gaye’s way of reworking content in the musical moment to arrive at a final product did however start out with preexisting musical notation. Therefore, to get to a musical conclusion Gaye changed each vocal phrase of the project to get to his meticulous and polished idea of how the music should be performed and received. Although Gaye’s creative process seemed to have gone from written to vocal in terms of compositional order as opposed to Hairston’s oral to written method, they share similarities in how the elements function.

Hairston’s compositional method involves a critical oral component that mirrors Gaye’s in terms of functionality where one aspect cannot exist without the other. Another important thing to mention about Gaye is that he was disappointed when Motown decided to retroactively release his “Far Cry” without using the traditional method of editing the music, which was a method that he had used by way of tape punches on prior albums. According to Gaye, the idea that such raw material would be released without his consent “humiliated” him. Gaye said the following in his biography:

12 Flory, Jonathan Andrew. I Hear a Symphony: Making Music at Motown, 1959-1979. 2006.

Can you imagine saying to an artist, say Picasso, “Okay Pablo, you’ve

been fooling with this picture long enough. We’ll take your unfinished

canvas and add a leg here, an arm there. You might be the artist but you’re

behind schedule, so we’ll finish this painting for you. If you don’t like the

results, Pablo, baby, that’s tough!”13

This highlights the severity by which a compositional method is developed and perfected by the composer, which in this case, also suggests Hairston’s methods.

Someone could attempt to create an accurate artistic arrangement or composition of a Negro spiritual, but for Hairston this can only be accomplished by living the sung moment—much like Gaye’s nonlinear approach. Thus, Hairston works with sketches that are heard, not seen. By the time Hairston has a completed idea before his composition, and has realized his conceptual image, his compositions are not fully realized until they are being performed. I believe that these are what I will refer to as “imaginary phases.”

The sketch occurs in the process of attempting to compose an accurate story that best represents the lyrics, history, and the scope of the music (even with the loss of the oral accompaniment). The best way for me to describe this is to fill in the gap of an oral history, otherwise known as lining in the genetic scope of a family tree that is missing its root. We know that the song “Hold On!” existed prior to Hairston’s arrangement, and we have a general idea of how Negro spirituals could ideally come to be what they are today,14 but Hairston paints a picture that gives it a body of possibilities as to what “Hold On!” could be and

13 Flory, Jonathan Andrew. I Hear a Symphony: Making Music at Motown, 1959-1979. 2006. 14 Dixon, Christa. Negro Spirituals: From Bible to Folk Song. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976. A history of Negro spirituals from a religious and communal perspective.

34 how he envisions the song. This also brings together the notion of how Hairston’s conceptual image has come to represent the overall image of the Negro spiritual itself. Many might not have heard what Hairston’s specific version of “Hold On!” means to him, but take it to interpret what they think it means, does it make their version any less accurate or truly different? In other words, would the absence of

Hairston’s created oral accompaniment paint a picture that varies and differs from the spiritual he has arranged when interpreted by a listener? I present this argument in the midst of my thesis studies because I, too, am struggling with the lyrics guided by “Hold On!” This is due to the heavy presence of double entendre often found within the Negro Spirituals.

I wonder if “Hold On!” possibly came about not just in the way that

Hairston suggests, but in another context. For example, experts believe that the song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd” was used as a code to guide escaped slaves to freedom in the North via the Underground Railroad. Hairston is not ignorant of this by any means, given his knowledge and area of expertise, but I find it interesting that Hairston only allows the image he creates to come about with historical support on the surface level, but beyond that, he allows little else to be seen or heard. This has to do with how Hairston dove into a conscious career decision as a notable public figure. Hairston, an African-American man who used his acting career and a career in education as a way to highlight many of his spiritual arrangements, chose to display his music in a traditional manner, while showing compositional restraint for the White audience.

While it is true that Hairston worked in multiple professions, on the surface, some would minimize his respected contributions to society as a musician, composer, and scholar. I believe Hairston embraced his first name to take on the biggest acting role in his life—a jester who provides the audience with an education regarding the music that, without a doubt, goes deeper than what is presented (but, also goes only as far as appreciated and circulated). This approach, although unconventional, was necessary for a man of color seeking to integrate

White America’s entertainment and music education system (through clinics, television and film roles, and music). Hairston makes a compositional decision by forming a conceptual image around how his music will be received, which is critical due to his race and the time at which he was a public figure, representing the African-American culture not just on the screen or stage in the United States, but internationally as a frequent ambassador.15 “Hold On!” directly reflects the limitation Hairston had when creating a conceptual image for his musical arrangement, which is due to who he was and whom he represented. This brings about the notion of recognizing what composers present as opposed to what is currently available. For example, this is evident in the role of Dimitri

Shostakovich and his relationship with the Soviet Government while he experienced a similar level of public notoriety for his ballet works and film music amidst political unrest. Hence, Solomon Volkov refers to Shostakovich

15 Grant, Joyce Sandra Jones. Jester Hairston: Artist in Transition. 1975. An academic piece (thesis) on Jester Hairston as an Artist during his life (1975)

36 maintaining the role of the “vurodivy” or “holy fool” in his relationship to the government.16

Although scholars such as Laurel Fay and Richard Taruskin cast doubt as to the authenticity of Shostakovich maintaining this role of the Russian jester (or, perhaps, a Shakespearean fool), it is largely accepted that Shostakovich embodied this role to some degree, hence the purposeful posthumous release of his satirical cantina “Rayok,” which joked about the “Anti-Formalist” propaganda rampant during the Soviet Union’s height.1718 I draw the comparison to the Russian composer due to my belief that Hairston’s musical choices directly reflect his life and career roles. I suggest that Hairston embraced his first name and became a jester of sorts to those who would have him entertain at his own, and his people’s, expense, only to take it a step further and push the boundaries to not only educate the world about the art and his personal take on the spirituals themselves, but to also perform at the highest level possible while maintaining a very public face.

Hairston challenged the prevalent stereotype of a professional community and maintained the power to end his career at any moment. This becomes apparent when watching the unaccredited Hairston play the role of a slave in “Minstrel

Show Plantation Vignette” alongside the Jester Hairston Singers.19

The Black characters in that particular film were depicted as happy and carefree on a southern plantation, while Hairston provided the musical

16 Martynov, Ivan, and T. Guralsky. Dimitri Shostakovich: The Man and His Work. New York: Philosophical Library, 1947 17 Martynov, Ivan, and T. Guralsky. Dimitri Shostakovich: The Man and His Work. New York: Philosophical Library, 1947 18 Bartlett, Rosamund. Shostakovich in Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000 19 “Minstrel Show Plantation Vignette”, YouTube video, January 9th, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vRmMIiqGhc

37 arrangements that contrasted with this possibility. On camera, while smiling, the group sings “Deep River,” saying, “My home is over Jordan . . . I want to cross over into camp ground,” which is a song meant to advise runaway slaves to run through the river because it will wash away the scent that the dogs will be tracking. Another song, titled, “Roll Jordan Roll,” followed “Deep River.” “Roll

Jordan Roll” gives the “primary example of slaves’ claiming and subverting a

Christian message to express their own needs and send their own messages.”20

Singers sang a final rendition of “The Gospel Train,” which Hairston led himself, to show how slaves warned other slaves that a group of slaves were going to be escaping on the ‘gospel train,’ which was the Underground Railroad.21 This song allowed Hairston to show how he embraced the role as a jester early in his career

(while on camera). He retained his dignity as an actor and represented African-

Americans by providing music that was in direct protest to the very stereotype

Hollywood relentlessly portrayed.

In his own way, Jester Hairston manages to stay true to the music and his people just enough to publicly make a difference in the survival of these Negro spirituals that speak to the painful realities of slavery in the United States, while still remaining a successful actor, performer, composer, and arranger. If we do not have the traditional written sketches, yet somehow arrive at the non-traditional representation of the sketches, does that make it the complete representation of the music? Despite not having all of the possibilities present and accounted for,

20 Powers, Ann. NPR ’12 Years a Slave’, 2013. 21 Southern, Eileen; Wright, Josephine, eds. African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance, 1600s–1920: An Annotated Bibliography of Literature, Collections, and Artworks. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.

38 which is often the case for sketch studies and provides a good argument as to the need for the oral music, (such as Negro spirituals within sketch studies), it is very possible that genetically speaking, this music can be compositionally broken down by way of observing the oral accompaniment as illustrative of Hairston’s creative process as evidenced by his work “Hold On!”

B. A Comparative Analysis of Jester Hairston's “Hold On!” and Matthew Castilla’s Composition “Precious Lord, I’m Holding On”

In an effort to fully grasp the impact of Hairston's “Hold On!,” I offer the following musical analysis that pays close attention to dynamics, lyricism, and a comparison of such. Although in this analysis I refrain from a more traditional discussion of melody, harmony, or rhythm, I choose to do so because much of the emphasis within

Negro spirituals arrangements is on dynamics and lyrics because the arrangement often operates on the principle of using the traditional spiritual as a blueprint in terms of melody, harmony, and rhythm.22 Hairston’s “Hold On!” uses traditional techniques often implemented within the internal structure of Negro spiritual arrangements. Hairston focuses on the melody, which is introduced in a simple way for SATBB (all in unison).

Additionally, although throughout this a cappella piece there is a simple use of F minor, there are complexities evident in the heightened lyricism and the melodic structure as it relates to the traditions held within Negro spirituals. An example of this is the way

Hairston actually introduces “Hold On!” As a result, it makes sense to hear Hairston’s use of this two-word title phrase as an emblem treated similarly, to “He's got the Whole

World in His Hands” or “Wade in the Water Children.” The spiritual also maintains a common use of biblical references as it brings into context the role Noah had in the book

22 Work, John W. American Negro Songs and Spirituals: A Comprehensive Collection of 230 Folk Songs, Religious and Secular. New York: Bonanza Books, 1940. !

39 of Genesis after building the ark. When God replenished the earth by sending flood waters to the Earth, the people who were deemed sinful were not allowed on the ark, and as the result of a “hold on,” it opens by saying, "Nora Nora let me come in, the doors are all fastened and hear the windows pinned." In the background you hear a steady, "Keep your hand on the plow and hold on," which will continue after the tenor soloist goes on to sing more about Noah's response.

As the choir hums softly in the background, the soloist delivers the words,

"Noah said you done lost your track, you can't plow on straight and keep looking back," thus highlighting the perceived magnitude of consequences that can come upon a sinner who has lost his or her way. After the choir concludes its reminder of keeping steadfast, it strongly continues by proclaiming, “Hold on hold on keep your hand on the plow, and hold on." As the low tenors and basses fade away, the sopranos and altos begin the next verse, overlapping the final F chord by accenting it dynamically—coming in forte on the downbeat. Together, they sing,

“The way this sooner can get to heaven by saying if you want to get to heaven let me tell you how/Just keep your hand on the gospel plow and hold on.” Measure

37 continues the trend with the sopranos and altos singing, “If that plow stays in your hand it will land you straight in the promised land,” indicating that those who hold onto their faith and stay the course will receive an afterlife reward.

As the song gains momentum, so do the dynamics as variations occur and the melodic structure, (while continuing the same trend), goes up and down in strong waves. Then the lyrics get more personal as the sopranos and altos sing again (double forte), “Oh brother hold on,” which is followed by, “Oh sister hold on.” The sopranos and altos sing those words while still maintaining the

40 collective, “Keep your hand on the plow” and a narrative supported by the tenors and basses, giving the effect of a congregation finding agreement within the church body (as mentioned earlier when discussing the sketches of Jester

Hairston's story for how he composed the song). Next, dynamics and structure play a strong part in the deviation of the approach Hairston takes. The sopranos, altos, and now tenors, while the basses accent “Hold On!” (Mezzo piano, due to the melancholy state with the thought of a mother losing her child), continue now in piano, "Mary had a gold chain every link spelled my Jesus name." This is also the first and only reference to Jesus directly as one to whom a person must hold to gain salvation or, more specifically, freedom from the bondage of slavery and oppression, which is something very close to Hairston—the grandson of former slaves. This is important due to the multi-level layering that often takes place within Negro spirituals, indicating deeper meanings that can be found within the lyrics.

The final verse continues in the same verse-chorus fashion, saying, “Keep on climbing and don't you tire/every rung goes higher and higher.” The lyrics indicate that as hard as it is to hold on during difficult times, each step gets you closer to the goal at the end, which is not just salvation, but freedom. The song closes out with the same approach to “hold on,” only now, everyone is on the same page and syncing together until the final two chords suspend on "hold" and resolve to "on." I think that it is important to mention that throughout the entire piece, the variation of dynamics plays an intricate role in the way one would normally communicate. If we step back from the story that Hairston imagined,

41 and place it in the form of a discussion about "Black America" at the time during slavery and post-slavery Civil Rights Era, we might find similarities in the survival tactics. Due to the techniques that people of color used to communicate, singing the spirituals became a line of code as a workaround for unjust legal limits to human expression.

What I see when I imagine the placement of how Hairston performed this music is with a forte beginning of “keep your hand on the plow and hold on” as a possible declaration one would receive from an authority figure—either a protagonist such as a deacon (about which Hairston spoke), or an antagonist, such as a slave owner. Hairston did not speak as a jester who entertained White people who were callous toward the realities or the plight of being Black in the United

States. As everything quickly changes to a hum, my mindset shifts to being in the field and working as a farmer and as a sharecropper and reading The Holy Bible, while maintaining a steady pace at work. The dynamics continually shift and change to mimic plowing while avoiding confrontation, but also while being an encouragement to nearby people who are also in the same state of oppression.

Thus, the piece gives the impression of solidarity while maintaining a mental and spiritual protest. I believe that Hairston was fully aware of this possibility. He took on a political role as a jester to get something done, and made it possible for

African-Americans to maintain their dignity while opening up room for more respectable roles that would soon follow.

My own arrangement of “Hold On!” does three things. It pays respects to

Hairston and his “Hold On!,” it clarifies the experience of what hold on means to

42 me, (especially due to the unexpected passing of my father—a choral conductor of a historically black university), and it honors my father’s legacy as one who truly enjoyed and loved Hairston's work and Negro spirituals. The most notable difference between my composition and Hairston’s arrangement would probably have to be the fact that his arrangement of “Hold On!” is meant to be performed a cappella for SATBB, where my arrangement is scored for alto saxophone and piano. The thought behind my composition is that it is inspired by what “Hold

On!” meant to Hairston. Where words seem to be insufficient, the use of instruments seemed to be fitting. I originally approached the piece through the lens of first, an observer holding on to the ideals of Jester Hairston—someone who, while conscious of the disparity of racial inequality around him, chose to embrace the role as “Jester” (public face)—and educator to preserve and transform the nature of where and how the Negro spirituals were being used during his lifetime.

By allowing certain traditional elements that Hairston utilized, such as rhythmic form and melodic simplicity, accompanied by chordal layering, Hairston achieved the level of complexity that he desired in his music. The goal is to say something more than what is simply visible on the surface and give way to underlying issues. I would liken my approach to Hairston’s story of how he

“imagined” “Hold On!,” along with his simultaneous failure to mention the slave- master relationship and the use of double entendre, which are often found within

Negro spirituals. I acknowledge a unique approach both musically and artistically in an area that is in danger of falling to the background, all while answering the

43 following question: “To what are we holding on?” As the black bodies of Treyvon

Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner line the streets with the same aroma as that of Emmett Till, and living myself as a man of color from Jackson,

Mississippi, this is a question I have asked because I am the child of two choral conductors of Historically Black Colleges and Universities who proudly carried the tradition of Hairston. To project these two contrasting approaches, I needed to utilize the music to its fullest to convey all of my ideas. To do that, I used a line of melodic fashion similar to that of "Hold On!" in a traditional approach commonly found among Negro spirituals. The goal here is, simply, to start the music at its starting point. As the music continues, complexity begins to enter the piano part, which is an approach that Hairston himself took when building the foundation of the music. Taking the opportunity to indicate that the piano material is a separate stream of music, I orchestrate it to resemble that of something similar, yet different.

One of the first things one notices is that this piece is not in F minor as

Hairston's, but rather, C minor. I utilize the reoccurring melody, “Keep your hand on the plow and hold on," as the home base for the entire composition. The music transitions from a melancholy beginning to an uplifting approach in the following measures. The uplift almost derailed after yet another return home to the melodic theme of holding on to the plow or in this case, something in which we believe.

Yet, I cannot help but wander to a new place that provides a glimpse of the realistic nature of such a sensitive topic by musically expressing a hammering that starts at measure 45 and continuing (without fail) until it arrives at a dynamic

44 contrast of silence with only the phrase recognized from “Hold On!” To properly express the words and meaning, “Hold On!” without any vocal parts, but rather through instrumentals, I chose a simple perfect fifth—in this case, C and G—and continue to develop that sound in terms of vertical spacing. After a particular section, I go back to the idea of leaving silence between ideas and thoughts with the continuing motif of “hold on,” only now in a musical question. I delve into what it means to hold on, and in the midst of all of these questions, I continue to go back to keeping the hand on the plow as the foundation of the music in each of the sections until the piece ends in a complete breakdown.

Conclusion

With this project, I reference the foundation of holding on in Negro spirituals and discuss Hairston's legacy, Blackness in America, and my own place in America. I conclude here with something from my own personal journey and that I believe is an appropriate reference in this project and composition. In late

February, my father, whom I was planning to interview for this project, unexpectedly passed away. Because he admired and respected Hairston, my father continued the legacy of many great conductors and directors of this choral music within the education system. My father, Willenham Cortez Castilla, and my mother, Dr. Kathy Castilla, introduced me to Negro spirituals and their arrangements. This introduction included knowing who the bearers of these cultural phenomena were and their place in history.

It is important to note that Hairston was just one of the directors that my parents admired. Not only did my parents introduce me to Negro spirituals, but

45 also introduced many members of the community to those spirituals. On the day before my father’s birthday in 2000, I heard NPR announce that Hairston had passed and wondered why people were so saddened by the news of his death. The sorrow that people seemed to experience indicated that even members of the general public viewed him as a personal teacher and friend. Now, because of my father’s recent death, I find myself sorrowful because, like Hairston, my father was a personal teacher and friend, and carried the same torch as Hairston. Now I believe it is necessary to show the musical importance of not only what Hairston has done, but of the legacy of those following Hairston, such as my father and his generation. Musically, my saxophone and piano piece transitions to going away to a “secret place,” which is a reference to one of my father’s favorite gospel songs and to his favorite Bible verses. I create another atmosphere and transition from the dynamic range of the music to the space by which it is expressed.

I accomplish the transition harmonically as well by shifting the focus from familiar tones in keys and diving deep into a new (secret) place between A-major an Ab-Major to close out the piece before introducing a modal interchange that leads to C-major. This personal change in my life and family dynamic is exemplified in the instrumental change I made while writing this music. I took away what originally had cello and voice within the instrumentation and decided to make it a duet between piano and alto saxophone to represent the final performance between my father and me. This final section also represents how I found peace with questions that I had concerning holding on through three different generations of slavery: First, through Jester Hairston, next, through my

46 father Cortez, and finally, through me. In the end, I would like this piece to represent the torch that both Hairston and my father took upon themselves, making certain that this music is preserved and performed and continues to be a tool that is used to educate and uplift all communities. Hairston’s legacy is one that inspires musicians and audiences by embodying activism without endangerment, which further indicates his breath of influence.

Appendix of Jester Hairston’s Film Credits

Actor (63 credits)-

1999-Being John Malkovich Lester's Friend (uncredited) 1993- Family Matters (TV Series) William - Mama's Wedding (1993) ... William 1986-1991-Amen (TV Series) Rolly Forbes - Deliverance: Part 2 (1991) ... Rolly Forbes - Deliverance: Part 1 (1991) ... Rolly Forbes - Date with an Angel (1991) ... Rolly Forbes - Three's a Crowd (1991) ... Rolly Forbes - The Wild Deak (1991) ... Rolly Forbes Show all 110 episodes 1988-I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Pop 1976-The Last Tycoon (Director- Elia Kazan), (Production- Academy Pictures Corporation, Paramount Pictures) Waiter in Stahr's Office (uncredited) 1976-The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Furry Taylor 1975-Harry O (TV Series) Jefferson Johnson - Tender Killing Care (1975) ... Jefferson Johnson 1974-1975-That's My Mama (TV Series) Wildcat - Stephanie's Boyfriend (1975) ... Wildcat - Clifton and Politics (1975) ... Wildcat - Trial and Error (1975) ... Wildcat - The Image Maker (1975) ... Wildcat - The Hero (1975) ... Wildcat Show all 22 episodes 1972-Lady Sings the Blues (Director- Sidney J. Furie), (Production Company- Jobete Productions, Motown Productions, Paramount Pictures) The Butler 1972-Nichols (TV Series) Melville - Eddie Joe (1972) ... Melville 1969-The Virginian (TV Series) John Douglas - The Long Ride Home (1969) ... John Douglas 1969-The Outcasts (TV Series)

Daniel - Give Me Tomorrow (1969) ... Daniel 1968-Finian's Rainbow Passion Pilgrim Gospeleer (uncredited) 1967-In the Heat of the Night (Directors- Norman Jewison), (Production- Mirisch Corporation) Butler 1964-Hazel (TV Series) Marvin - Everybody's a Comedian (1964) ... Marvin 1962-To Kill a Mockingbird (Director- Robert Mulligan), (Production- Universal International Pictures (UI), Pakula-Mulligan, Brentwood Productions) Spence Robinson - Tom's Father (uncredited) 1962-Have Gun - Will Travel (TV Series) Euclid / Moses - The Old Man - Penelope (1962) ... Euclid - The Waiting Room (1962) ... Moses - The Old Man 1961-Summer and Smoke Thomas (uncredited) 1961-Thriller (TV Series) Papa Benjamin - Papa Benjamin (1961) ... Papa Benjamin 1960-The Alamo Jethro 1960-Raymie Ransom 1960-The Man in the Moon (TV Movie) 1959-Rawhide (TV Series) Zachariah - Incident on the Edge of Madness (1959) ... Zachariah 1958-St. Louis Blues Choir Member (uncredited) 1958-The Court of Last Resort (TV Series) Seth - The Stephen Lowell Case (1958) ... Seth 1957-Studio 57 (TV Series) Thomas - The Alibi (1957) ... Thomas 1956-Full of Life Train Porter (uncredited) 1956-Tension at Table Rock Black Janitor (uncredited) 1956-The 20th Century-Fox Hour (TV Series) Jacob - Deception (1956) ... Jacob 1956-Gunsmoke (TV Series)

Wellington - Professor Lute Bone (1956) ... Wellington 1955-Screen Directors Playhouse (TV Series) Train Cook - Life of Vernon Hathaway (1955) ... Train Cook (uncredited) 1955-Pete Kelly's Blues Mourner, Pre-Credit Sequence (uncredited) 1955-You Are There (TV Series) Thornton - The Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) (1955) ... Thornton 1955-Tarzan's Hidden Jungle Witch Doctor (uncredited) 1954-Tanganyika Singer (uncredited) 1954-Gypsy Colt Carl 1953-So This Is Love Preacher (uncredited) 1953-Your Favorite Story (TV Series) - The Gold Bug (1953) 1951-1953-The Amos 'n Andy Show (TV Series) – (Creators- Charles J. Correll, Freeman F. Gosden), (Production Company- CBS Television Network) Henry Van Porter / Leroy Smith / Mr. Johnson - Kingfish Goes to Work (1953) ... Mr. Johnson - The New Neighbors (1953) ... Landlord - The Adoption (1953) ... Mr. Phillips - The Piggy Bank (1952) ... Grocery Store Man (uncredited) - Relatives (1951) ... Leroy Smith (uncredited) Show all 10 episodes 1952-We're Not Married! Lead Christmas Caroler (uncredited) 1951-Yes Sir, Mr. Bones Jester Hairston 1950-The Moods (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Folk Lore (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Long Remembrances (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Highlights of Long Ago (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Glory Filled Spirituals (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Tunes That Live (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Memorable Gems (Short)

Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-The Tradition (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Southern A Capella (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Cherished Melodies (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Melodies Reborn (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Symphonic Shades (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Melodius Sketches (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Visions and Voices (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Melodic Spirituals (Short) Choir Director (as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Treasured Ballads (Short) Choir Director (as Jasper J. Hairston) 1942-Tales of Manhattan Undetermined Role (uncredited) 1942-In This Our Life Black Man in Jail (uncredited) 1942-The Vanishing Virginian Mover (uncredited) 1941-Sullivan's Travels Charlie - Church Projectionist (uncredited) 1941-Sundown Native Boy (uncredited) 1936-The Green Pastures (Directors- Marc Connelly, William Keighley), (Production Company- Warner Bros.) Member of Hall Johnson Choir (uncredited) Hide

Music department (29 credits)-

1963-Lilies of the Field (music arranger: vocal arrangements) 1957-Band of Angels (choral director - uncredited) 1955-Land of the Pharaohs (choral director - uncredited) 1954-Carmen Jones (choral director - uncredited) / (vocal coach - uncredited) 1954-The Gambler from Natchez (composer: additional music - uncredited) 1953-The Sun Shines Bright (music arranger - uncredited) 1950-The Moods (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Folk Lore (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Long Remembrances (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Highlights of Long Ago (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston)

1950-Glory Filled Spirituals (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Tunes That Live (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Memorable Gems (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-The Tradition (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1950-Southern A Capella (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Cherished Melodies (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Melodies Reborn (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Symphonic Shades (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (choral director - uncredited) 1949-Melodius Sketches (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Visions and Voices (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Melodic Spirituals (Short) (music supervisor - as Jester J. Hairston) 1949-Treasured Ballads (Short) (musical director - as Jester J. Hairston) 1948-Red River (choral director - uncredited) 1947-The Foxes of Harrow (vocal coach - uncredited) 1946-Duel in the Sun (choral director - uncredited) 1944-The Negro Soldier (Documentary short) (choral director - uncredited) 1942-The Vanishing Virginian (music arranger: negro spirituals) 1937-Lost Horizon (choral director - uncredited) Hide

Soundtrack (12 credits)-

2013-Glee (TV Series) (writer - 1 episode) - Previously Unaired Christmas (2013) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child" - uncredited) 2013-Top of the Pops: The Story of 1978 (TV Movie documentary) (writer: "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord") 2011-Britain's Favourite Christmas Songs (TV Movie documentary) (writer: "Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord") 2011-Sing Your Song (Documentary) (writer: "Amen") 2009-Loose Women (TV Series) (writer - 1 episode) - Episode #14.75 (2009) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord") 2000-Dream a Dream: Charlotte Church in the Holy Land (Video documentary) (writer: "Mary's Boy Child") 1987-Personal Services (writer: "Mary's Boy Child") 1978-1979-Top of the Pops (TV Series) (writer - 5 episodes) - Episode dated 25 December 1979 (1979) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child") - Episode dated 25 December 1978 (1978) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord") - Episode dated 14 December 1978 (1978) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord") - Episode dated 7 December 1978 (1978) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord") - Episode dated 30 November 1978 (1978) ... (writer: "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord")

1968-Finian's Rainbow (performer: "The Begat" (1946) - uncredited) 1963-Lilies of the Field ("Amen", uncredited) / (performer: "Amen" - uncredited) 1954-Tanganyika (writer: "FUNERAL CHANT", "NATIVE CHANT AND DRUMS", "NUKUMBI WARRIORS' SONG", "NUKUMBI DANCE SONG" - uncredited) 1953-The Sun Shines Bright (arranger: "My Old Kentucky Home", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Deep River" - uncredited) Hide

Writer (1 credit)-

1930-Deep South Hide

Self (2 credits)-

1999-60 Minutes Wednesday (TV Series documentary) Himself - Conductor (segment "Family Ties") - The Minister's Blessing/Family Ties/Classic: The Trashing of Clayton Hartwig (1999) ... Himself - Conductor (segment "Family Ties") 1988-Ebony/Jet Showcase (TV Series) Himself - Episode dated 29 July 1988 (1988) ... Himself Hide Archive footage (2 credits) 1999-60 Minutes Wednesday (TV Series documentary) Himself - Conductor (segment "Family Ties") - Nerd of the Amazon/Family Ties/Classic: Arthur Miller (1999) ... Himself - Conductor (segment "Family Ties") 1992-John Wayne's 'The Alamo' (Video documentary short) Jethro

Appendix of Jester Hairston’s Choral Compositions and Arrangements

Amen- (SSA) (TTBB) (SAB) (SATB) (all with solos) Angels Rolled De Stone Away- (SATB) (TTBB) Band of Angels- (SATB) Christmas Gift- (SSAB) (SATB) Christmas In De Tropics- (SATB) Christmas Spirituals of Jester Hairston “A Choral Collection”- (SA) Crucifixion- (SATB) Deep River- (SATB with contralto solo) Dis’ Ol Hammer- (SSATB) Don’t Be Weary Traveler- (SSATB) Elijah Rock- (SSA) (SATB) Free At Last- (SATB) Give Me Jesus- (SATB) Go Down In De Lonesome Valley- (SATB) Go Tell It On The Mountains- (SATB) God’s Gonna Buil’ Up Zion’s Wall- SATB Goin’ Down Dat Lonesome Road- (SATB) Goodbye Song- (SATB) Gossip, Gossip- (SATB) Great God A’mighty- (TTBB) (SATB) Hand Me Down-(SATB) Hold My Mule While I Dance Josey- (SATB) Hold On- (SSATTBB) Home In Dat Rock- (SATB) I Can Tell The World- (SATB) I’m a Travelin’ Man- (SATB, with Baritone solo) I Want Jesus- (SSATB) In Dat Great Getting’ Up Mornin’- (SSA) (TTBB) (SATB) It’s All Over Me- SATB Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho- (SATB) Let The Church Roll On- (SSAA) (SATB) Live A Humble- (SSATBB) Long John Done Gone- (SATB with baritone solo) Lord, I Don’t Fell Noways Tired- (SATB) Mary, Mary, Where Is Your Baby? - (SATB) Mary’s Little Boy Child- (SATB) No Ne Li Domi (You Can’t Dance With Me)- (TTBB) Oh, Rocka My Soul- (SSATTBB) Poor Man Lazrus- (SATTB) (SSA) (TTBB) Ring De Christmas Bells- (SATB) Rise Up, Shepard, And Foller- (SATB) Sakara, Sakara/ Song Of The Cherry Blossoms- (SSATB)

Scandalized My Name- (SSATB) Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Chile- (SATB) Spirituals & Folk Songs “A Choral Collectiona- ( SATB) Steal Away- (SATB) Swing A Lady Gum Pum- (SSATB) Tataleo (who’ll Buy My Pancackes!)- (SATB) That Old House Is Ha’nted- (SATB) Two Encores (Barbershop Style)- (SATB) We’re Goin’ To That Ball- (SATB) What Kind O’ Shoes You Gonna Wear- (SSATTBB) Who’ll Be A Witness For My Lord? - (SSATB) Wonderful Counselor- (SATB) You Better Mind- (SATB)

Tisch Special Collection and Archive: Jester Hairston Materials and LP Recordings

1. MS040.001.001.00005 1970 All-state music clinic, 1970 a/v media

2. MS040.001.001.00006 1971 Pops concert: an evening with Jester Hairston, 1971 a/v media

3. MS040.001.002.00001 The Afro-American slave song: its African roots and American development, 1978 a/v media

4. MS040.001.002.00006 Amen!, 1965 a/v media

5. MS040.001.004.00004 A concert of spirituals with Jester Hairston, 1962 a/v media

6. MS040.001.004.00009 An evening of spirituals with Jester Hairston and the Fullerton Jr. College a Capella Choir, 1961 a/v media

7. MS040.001.004.00010 An evening of spirituals with Jester Hairston and the Fullerton Jr. College a Capella Choir, 1961 a/v media

8. MS040.001.006.00003 The Grand Island City Singers and the Northwest High School A Capella Choir presents "Jester and the Singers", 1972 a/v media

9. MS040.001.007.00006 The Henry Sibley high school choirs 1980 present An evening with Jester Hairston, 1979 a/v media

10. MS040.001.007.00007 The Henry Sibley high school choirs present An evening with Jester Hairston, 1977 a/v media

11. MS040.001.007.00010 Jester Hairston choral festival, 1972 a/v media

12. MS040.001.007.00011 The Jester Hairston collection, 1984 a/v media MS040.001.007.00012 The Jester Hairston collection, 1984 a/v media

13. MS040.001.008.00010 Jester Hairston TV special with the Utah State University Chorale, 1970 a/v media

MS040.001.008.00011 Jester Hairston TV special with the Utah State University Chorale, 1970 a/v media MS040.001.008.00012 Jester Hairston TV special with the Utah State University Chorale, 1970 a/v media MS040.001.008.00013 Jester Hairston TV special with the Utah State University Chorale, 1970 a/v media

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Flory, Jonathan Andrew. I Hear a Symphony: Making Music at Motown, 1959- 1979. 2006.

Grant, Joyce Sandra Jones. Jester Hairston: Artist in Transition. 1975. An academic piece (thesis) on Jester Hairston as an Artist during his life (1975).

Hayes, Roland. Roland Hayes Words of Songs. 1926. This allows someone to learn to dig deep into the word "play" within the Negro spiritual songs.

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Seroff, Victor Ilyich. Dimitri Shostakovich: The Life and Background of a Soviet Composer. New York, 1943.

Seeger, Anthony. Guide to Programs in Ethnomusicology in the United States and Canada, 1992. Bloomington, IN: Society for Ethnomusicology, 1992.

Source Unknown. "Summertimes Means Musictime." June 10, 1972.

Source Unknown, "Tufts Special Collection Hairston Materials." January 1, 2000, LP ed.

Southern, Eileen; Wright, Josephine, eds. African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance, 1600s–1920: An Annotated Bibliography of Literature, Collections, and Artworks. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.

Spicer, Mark Stuart., and John Rudolph. Covach. Sounding out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010.

Tang, Patricia. Masters of the Sabar: Wolof Griot Percussionists of Senegal. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2007.

Taruskin, Richard. Defining Russia Musically: Historical and Hermeneutical Essays. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997.

Taruskin, Richard. On Russian Music. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.

Vitali, J. Jules. Styrogami: A Conceptual Image. S.l.: Artist, 2005. This book was helpful in understanding a more rigorous definition of the conceptual image from the world of contemporary art.

Work, John W. American Negro Songs and Spirituals: A Comprehensive Collection of 230 Folk Songs, Religious and Secular. New York: Bonanza Books, 1940.