HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe New Era, 1883-10-05, Page 122 TI-IMTJBI
are pure solos or unisonal measures. The music and
.words This manyst uof these espec ally songs
f were
associated-with-
social worship, which having been produced by the
sudden inspiration of religious fervor, came forth
spontaneously from one voice; while the multitude
caught the ,refrain and' sang it out with a _might y
chorus, as the sound of many waters.
Assuming the correctness of Geo.. MacDonald's
definition of ..a song, as a composition in' which the
emotional lar• el -overbalances the intellectual ele-
OPINIONS OF •THE PRESS.
- UNION SPRINGS ADVERTISER.
THE'JUBILEE GoNC rRT.—A, large audience greet-.;more
ed the Jubilee Singers on Friday night,, and for more.
than, two hours sat spell-bound under the power of
their matchless songs. Although the, encores almost
doubled the printed programme, it seemed all too
short for our hearts as well as our minds.. Many said
they would gladly have listened until midnight: It;
is difficult to conceive of anyone hearaige `�.Stea1
Away to 'Jesus" and " I've, been,Redeeined" without
being deeply,touchecf, Grid being' the better therefor.
It is.the universal, testimony that the oftener the
4-ubilee-Singers! are-heard-,-and=the more intimately
they are: known, the more. fully are they and ,their'
'music appreciated. Although their music originated
m the dark-da days- slavery,springing into life stop:"
taneously out o warm, regius' tions of thea un-
tutored slave, and was not `composed" by technical
musicians, yet it is pronounced by the most capable
critics, even in musical Germany, `to be truly.artistie:''
at
The rythm, while ecu'fiar, is .remarkably from
"misfonn." In most of their' tunes the-fourth and
seventli?-tones of the scale are wanting, ;a.cl aracter-'.
istic of the "Scotch music,, and 'also of that of the
ancient Greeks. While' the songs' in-themselves;are
truly musical; yet most 'of their real power: is due to
the singers. They are educated, refined, Christian
ladies and gentlemen; they sing out of warm hearts"
filled with the-love of Christ: Singing'out 'of hearts
that are themselves deeply touched by.what they sing,
their songs reach and touch the hearts' of':those who
hear. thein. This is the secret of their power. -. Their';:
_
behavior on the stage is notably modest and humble, .
'in strongcontrast to that. of man public sin ers.
Their crescendos and diminuendos. teirr ianosg thee
blending 6 their , Voices, are All asnear �.per-
'fectionas has ever„ et been-reached:
The Jubilee Singers have given in all $17o," . to
Fis1c University! This, .institution- takes -its name
from Gen. Clinton B.- Fisk, the 'Christian.' soldier,
and is mostly manned by Congregationalists and Pres-;
byterians.•
:; To know these sweet singers of Israel personally is
not only to respect them for their abilities and attain-
-merits, -but also to love them for their pure character
and Christ-like;c.is osition.. -.Theyhave done .verytheir
much` to break down thespirit'ocaste in Americ
and' to awaken-and strengthen interest in their race.
Their work is truly a. noble one. 1 But it isnot all for
the colored race. The proceeds of their 'first paid
concert"in the north, although they themselves were,
not comfortably clad, they gave to their white breth-':
ren, the' Chicago sufferers. And. their' songs are
helping us "all heavenward. , A,'G n
. June" 21, 1883.
., :
Europe, and have sent back to the school which sent'
. • a . . . ..
them forth over $ last
The audience last night .was a large one; and a
night
attentive,' more. 'enthusiastic gathering has
seldoniTeen seen in our city. •
• From the' opening -number to- 'tlie. close every one
hung spell-bound on the notes of strange melody, and:
;the encores nearly doubled .the length of the pro-
gramme.
April - . `
.` 9.
CSURCS'UNION-1875.•
There. was no attempt to show strength or volume,
sor to reach high notes ; it was the /one, that was all ;
a clear, round, pathetic, indescribable on of elysian
sweetness.,_ This was the .thing. which thawed clown
the stern matrons and the stolid merchants of Brook -
lyn like ice before an Apriltsun. caused
This is what caused
"Mr.- Gladstone-•ta ybrea Chet, unknown ertnstrels ,
with a complimentary breakfast, and that other Prime
,Minister of England,. Mr: Spurgeon, to affirm that
he. Had :never enjoyed music so much. 'When' we ,
want brilliancy and compass we' bring Jenny Lind
and-.'Nilsson'.from Sweden ; but for real musical:
effect we may have to turn to the opposite' direction,
In same torridrc lands.whethe richest• flowers
those
and gayest plumage are,,: the human' voice may yet he
found in its perfection. ;. , . The Scandinavian
can range; and the Teuton can write the score, but
.from; Africa may comethe voices to reaIizetheir con-
ceptions, and impress their harmonies upon the soul.
HONEOYE FALLS GAZETTE. •
' •
audience :that evert assembled in a
lding in this
buil ding' in this village was that at the M. E. Church
last Wednesday ;evening, to hear ;the Fisk. jubilee
:oSingers.e'p. The audience, besides being larger' G
one that greeted '- them two years - ago; was"ntore','
,enthusiastic.' -. . r Although' the .troupe is .,.�
composed of nearly theosame number as before, they
showed a marked: tree he merit in their singing. .'
Indeed, they must.'be heard to be appreciated, and
even then one is sorry not to hear them, more.
In the. bass solo by Mr.. Loudin,' he not only struck;' '
lower the onl t went on down the rest of the alphabet;
and only fear'of many was that he was:not going
to stop at Z. . . The fact that the second, con-
cert in this village was more largely attended than .
first is a compliment to them whl.ch they no
doubt appreciated; although they well deserved it. -
March,,31, 1;•883;
•
ment, their songs; with their fullness of sentiment,
seem to realize the ideal. -
A proper .classification of these products rofslavery .
should distinguish between those songs which groan
with the agonies.of a hard and. cruel thraldom, and;
those which palpitate with the joy of a present sal-
cation, and the hope of a glorious home of freedom_
beyond ,the grave.• .
Among the selections ,belonging to the first of these
divisions, theminor key naturally:predoininates. In-'
deed, this is the pitch 'u,pon Which, the majority of
human hearts, the 'World" over,; are' tuned.-' A More-
-exquisite minor melody than' "N'obody Knows the
Trouble I Scet" can- hardly be conceived. ' So, too,
for pure pathos nothing can excel `:"'You'anay.Briry.
Me in the East." But for bold and thrillinggrandeur,
scarcely anything in all the musical conceptions of the
ages can be considered superior to "Go down, Moses,
way down in Egypt Land." As the slaves used to
roar it out, it must have seemed like the very.voice
of Jehovah himself.
In these .songs it is easy to trace the effects of a
galling yoke crushing the poor • body to the dust,;
while the soul rises. triumphant over circumstances in'
I
the conviction of its true - nobility,; and in the hope:
though long deferred,, of•realizing,' even one earth,. its
full liberty. Thegsweetest utterances of: the sacred-perfect
poets of all the centuries, have been' those "songs in
the night " that carne, forth from the bitterest ex-`
periences of human woe. . '
It is related of a certain: Gennan'-nobleman that he
had a number of wires stretched from ttirretto turret
Of his castle which acted like a great �k olian harp,
bringing forth richest music,. but only when the
tempests played upon its quivering strings. So may,
it be said of the slaves in their forlorn condition,. that
they sang most sweetly when the storms of "'adversity
beat Upon-thew most fiercely. ' ' " .
Happily the-Oars of slave musicyare passed. The
system which brought it into existence is abolished ;
but the world owes a great debt of gratitude to those
who have made a study of-these songs and put them'
in print for the benefit' of future generations.
P g
This article would not be complete without asingle
men-tion of the Fisk Jubilee Company, whose wonder-
ful history—more .romantic than the;wildest'.fiction -:'
° furnishes a livingillustration of our theme.
Their first performances doubtless represented the
native music of the South more 'perfectly than 'the
present cultured state of their-voices will 'allow ;but,
while art has refined "their methods; it has:also servedT1-
._to adorn nature-with a chaste-and-quietbeatitytvhich-
wins a way to every soul that comes itnd'erits magicspell.
.The evident enjoyment with'which'they pour forth-
' their music like birds—their marvellous -:power of
crescendo and diminuendo—their faultless articulation
-both of notes and words, even in the most Rialto and
prolonged chords, stamp their style as a model -for;
church choirs and all who engage inythe service of
sacred song,
God be praised that we live to see this day, when
these long-despised and down-trodden -sons And
daughters of toil can visit our Northern cities in the
full enjoyment of American citizenship, and teach us.
of the arTege'd',and.,boasted superior race hew to sing
most expressively and effectively the Lord's song in
a strange land.—The Am rican, Missionary,. Mara;
1882. .. ;
. B• ARRIE NORTHERN ADVANCE.
The.eiitertainuient of the Fisk' Jubilee Singersin
the Town Hall,' on Tuesday-night, marked, ah era in:
-the
)the musical history of the town Every seat in the "
hall was occupied.-Anda the audience was not des-
aphoin d TO say that the singing was appreciated,
would lbs i saying too little. The citizens of Banrre are
not usemonstrative,cept in' trines of: politicahim dex
-contentic)but Several :times during the evening an
ee n ession of- a i troval was elicited to • the wildest
1 11
height-of'liolnii;al enthdsiasin The general consensus
0f:0-pimomrcrs.;t-hat the entcrtm mit w �s;ihe list
ever held in ;the hall. Listening to. them: you forget ..
the individuals,-.and hear the :voices:of .a host crying.
aloud with mightysupph.cati9n fur release from bodily.
and spiritual slavery. ' Let it suffice to say
that •another crowded hoose awaits. them where r
they can arrange to. again visit P.trrie,'
•; Nov. g, 188:x.-- `
-
` TITUSVILLE MORNING' FiE1ZALA
Ir VEArof JUBILEE-SOI-'S vi r t' A'SOUL ;;
--There-is-'an- old illustration;_ worn= thread bar—E15F-
.application to ,all manners of circuihis fan ces, of the
sandal wood. which only yields its subtle . perfume
when wounded ,.by the axe, -and, of. the Rower, the
fragrance-of-whichgrocvs"stronger the more`:we crush:
it in the hand. The simile is an old one but is the
secret of the marvellou's power of the .quaint' lilanta-
tion melodies sung by the_!'isl , Jubilee Singers at,ahe.
M. E.-. Church last might. They are"-he•gngs'"of
bondage,. the weird sadness, the yearning hopes, the
'Sorrows and joys, the doubts and fears of a crushed
race. ; The African race will create no; more such
rtinsiF as ;those str•ange-plantation'choruses....— he-gift
of song in a high' degree they will always have, and
of 4'duality'peculiar to themselves'; but the song of
the;freeman.can never be as the song of the slave:
Four million of bleeding :hearts gave those' melodies
their soul. ,
The' company that sung those' songs of captivity.
last night need no introduction to a Titusville audi-'
Price, 'though it was their first to our. city.'. The name
m
and fame of their .any years work had made itself
known wherever newspapers are, read, and yet it is a
story that-reads like a.romance. Commencing their
.mission poor,; unknown,'-without friends or influence,
struggling against a deep-rooted prejudice,'' they have
sung their way into the hearts of America and
1'gE MARYSVILLE (O.),TRIBUNE.'
p
-• The far-famed minstrels; known. as the Jubilee
Singers; ,made their first appearance„ at' the 'City .
-fIall,--on T-bur-slay--evening, -'March 8th. There .;
'certainly . is no discount on the-vocal powers of this
troupe. Their efforts have been aplirotved biniasical
critics all over the Civilized 'world. . . We have.'' .
certainly never heard a -band of singers, white or ,
colored, who possessed clearer or more distinctly cut
'voices, or who had ntgre aptitude in handling a piece
of music than the Jubilee Singers. . They have been •
drilled to work in .unison and in. -the most; .Perfect,
harmony. - . ' There is no better way of learning
the trials of their;' organiation,.•and the experiment
of going into a selfish 'world to asic Tor support and
for; sufficient' aid' to enable- them to accomplish a, ,
great work,,than by reading their book. '
March 14;1883.• ,
-bVASHINGTON (D. C.) NATIONAL.'
REPUBLICAN,
• . he Fisk Jubilee. Singers were Welcomed hack.ito'
Washington last night by alarge and enthusiasticaudi-
ence at the Congregational Church. -Their wonder-
ful power over audiences continues undiminished, and
this is the highest praise that can ate said of them, for
no band of singers of the weird arid; touching melodies
of the South ever equalled -them.
' May 5, 1883.