from the North gathered into an old government-building that had been
used for storage purposes, a number of freed children and some grown
persons living in and near Nashville, and formed a school. This
school, at first under the direction of Professor Ogden, was ere long
taken under the care of the American Missionary Association. The
number of pupils rapidly increasing, it was soon found that better
facilities for instruction were required. It was therefore decided to
take steps to erect a better, a more permanent building than the one
then occupied. Just how this was to be done, was, for a while, quite a
knotty problem with this enterprising little band of teachers. Its
solution was attempted finally by one of their number, Mr. George L.
White, in this wise: He had often been struck with the charming melody
of the "slave songs" that he had heard sung by the children of the
school; had, moreover, been the director of several concerts given by
them with much musical and financial success at Nashville and
vicinity. Believing that these songs, so peculiarly beautiful and
heart-touching, sung as they were by these scholars with such
naturalness of manner and sweetness of voice, would fall with
delightful novelty upon Northern ears, Mr. White conceived the idea of
taking a company of the students on a concert-tour over the country,
in order to thus obtain sufficient funds to build a college. This was
a bold idea, seemingly visionary; but the sequel proved that it was a
most practical one.
All arrangements were completed; and the Jubilee Singers, as they were
called, left Nashville in the fall of 1871 for a concert-tour of the
Northern States, to accomplish the worthy object just mentioned.
Professor White, who was an educated and skilful musician, accompanied
them as musical director. Mr. Theodore F. Seward, also of fine
musical ability, was, after a while, associated in like capacity with
the singers. The following are the names of those who at one time and
another, since the date of organization, have been members of the
Jubilee choir:--
MISS ELLA SHEPARD, PIANIST.
MR. THOMAS RUTLING,
MR. H. ALEXANDER,
MR. F.J. LOUDIN,
MR. G.H. OUSLEY,
MR. BENJAMIN M. HOLMES,
MR. ISAAC P. DICKERSON,
MR. GREENE EVANS,
MR. EDMUND WATKINS,
MISS MAGGIE PORTER,
MISS JENNIE JACKSON,
MISS GEORGIE GORDON,
MISS MAGGIE CARNES,
MISS JULIA JACKSON,
MISS ELIZA WALKER,
MISS MINNIE TATE,
MISS JOSEPHINE MOORE,
MISS MABEL LEWIS, AND MISS A.W. ROBINSON.
This list might well be called the _Roll of Honor_.
I have not space to follow in detail this ambitious band of singers in
their remarkable career throughout this country and in Great Britain.
The wonderful story of their journey of song is fully and graphically
told in a book (which I advise all to read) written by Mr. G.D. Pike,
and published in 1873. A brief survey of this journey must here
suffice.
The songs they sang were generally of a religious character,--"slave
_spirituals_,"--and such as have been sung by the American bondmen in
the cruel days of the past. These had originated with the slave; had
sprung spontaneously, so to speak, from souls naturally musical; and
formed, as one eminent writer puts it, "_the only native American
music_."
The strange, weird melody of these songs, which burst upon the
Northern States, and parts of Europe, as a revelation in vocal music,
as a music most thrillingly sweet and soul-touching, sprang then,
strange to say, from a state of slavery; and the habitually minor
character of its tones may well be ascribed to the depression of
feeling, the anguish, that must ever fill the hearts of those who are
forced to lead a life so fraught with woe. This is clearly
exemplified, and the sad story of this musical race is comprehensively
told, in Ps. cxxxvii.:--
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,
when we remembered Zion.
"We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
"For there they that carried us away captive required of us
a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth,
saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
"How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"
And yet, ever patient, ever hopeful of final deliverance, they did
sing on and on, until at last the joyful day of freedom dawned upon
them.
To render these songs essentially as they had been rendered in
slave-land came the Jubilee Singers. They visited most of the cities
and large towns of the North, everywhere drawing large and often
overwhelming audiences, creating an enthusiasm among the people rarely
ever before equalled. The cultured and the uncultured were alike
charmed and melted to tears as they listened with a new enthusiasm to
what was a wonderfully new exhibition of the greatness of song-power.
Many persons, it is true, were at first attracted to the concert-hall
by motives of mere curiosity, hardly believing, as they went, that
there could be much to enjoy. These, however, once under the influence
of the singers, soon found themselves yielding fully to the enchanting
beauty of the music; and they would come away saying the half had not
been told. The musical critics, like all others in the audiences,
were so lost in admiration, that they forgot to criticise; and, after
recovering from what seemed a trance of delight, they could only say
that this "music of the heart" was beyond the touch of criticism.
I have spoken of the origin and the character of these songs. Those
who so charmingly interpreted them deserve most particular notice. The
rendering of the Jubilee Singers, it is true, was not always strictly
in accordance with artistic forms. The songs did not require this; for
they possessed in themselves a peculiar power, a plaintive, emotional
beauty, and other characteristics which seemed entirely independent of
artistic embellishment. These characteristics were, with a most
refreshing originality, naturalness, and soulfulness of voice and
method, fully developed by the singers, who sang with all their might,
yet with most pleasing sweetness of tone.
But, as regards the judgment passed upon this "Jubilee melody" from a
high musical stand-point, I quote from a very good authority; viz.,
Theo. F. Seward of Orange, N.J.:--
"It is certain that the critic stands completely disarmed in
their presence. He must not only recognize their immense
power over audiences which include many people of the
highest culture, but, if he be not entirely incased in
prejudice, he must yield a tribute of admiration on his own
part, and acknowledge that these songs touch a chord which
the most consummate art fails to reach. Something of this
result is doubtless due to the singers as well as to their
melodies. The excellent rendering of the Jubilee Band is
made more effective, and the interest is intensified, by the
comparison of their former state of slavery and degradation
with the present prospects and hopes of their race, which
crowd upon every listener's mind during the singing of their
songs; yet the power is chiefly in the songs themselves."
It would not do, of course, to assume that to the almost matchless
beauty of the songs and their rendering was due alone the intense
interest that centred in these singers. They were on a _noble
mission_. They sang to build up education in the blighted land in
which they themselves and millions more had so long drearily plodded
in ignorance; and it was a most striking and yet pleasing exhibition
of poetic justice, when many of those who really, in a certain sense,
had been parties to their enslavement, were forced to pay tribute to
the signs of genius found in this native music, and to contribute
money for the cause represented by these delightful musicians.
But I must not give only my own opinion of these singers, as I am
supposed to be a partial witness. Many, many others, among whom are
the most talented and cultured of this country and England, have
spoken of them in terms the most laudatory. Some of these shall now
more than confirm my words of praise.
The Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler of Brooklyn, writing in January, 1872, to
"The New-York Tribune," thus spoke of them:--
"When the Rev. Mr. Chalmers (the younger) visited this
country as the delegate of the Scotch Presbyterian General
Assembly, he went home and reported to his countrymen that
he had 'found the ideal church in America: it was made up of
Methodist praying, Presbyterian preaching, and Southern
negro-singing.' The Scotchman would have been confirmed in
his opinion if he had been in Lafayette-avenue Church last
night, and heard the Jubilee Singers,--a company of colored
students, male and female, from Fisk University of Freedmen,
Nashville, Tenn. In Mr. Beecher's church they delighted a
vast throng of auditors, and another equally packed audience
greeted them last evening.
"I never saw a cultivated Brooklyn assemblage so moved and
melted under the magnetism of music before. The wild
melodies of these emancipated slaves touched the fount of
tears, and gray-haired men wept like children....
"The harmony of these children of nature, and their musical
execution, were beyond the reach of art. Their wonderful
skill was put to the severest test when they attempted
'Home, Sweet Home,' before auditors who had heard these same
household words from the lips of Jenny Lind and Parepa; yet
these emancipated bondwomen, now that they knew what the
word 'home' signifies, rendered that dear old song with a
power and pathos never surpassed.
"Allow me to bespeak through your journal ... a universal
welcome through the North for these living representatives
of the only true native school of American music. We have
long enough had its coarse caricature in corked faces: our
people can now listen to the genuine soul-music of the
slave-cabins before the Lord led his 'children out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.'"
The welcome thus eloquently bespoken for the singers was
enthusiastically extended to them all over the North. The journals of
the day fairly teemed with praises of them; and often, in the larger
cities, hundreds of persons were turned away from the concert-hall,
unable to obtain admittance, so great was the rush.
After a while they visited England, where they sang before the Queen
and others of the nobility, everywhere repeating the triumphs that had
been theirs in this country. In fact, it was proved that their power
as singers held sway wherever they sang; wherever was found a soul in
unison with melodious sound, a heart capable of human emotion. It was
not so much the words of their songs--these, it is true, were not
without merit in a religious sense--as the strangely pathetic and
delightful melody of their music, and the freshness and heartiness of
the rendering, that gave them their greatest charm. This has since
been most pointedly demonstrated in Holland and Switzerland, where
these singers have drawn crowded and delighted audiences that neither
speak nor understand a word of English: such is the beautiful,
far-reaching power of this, in the truest sense, "music of the heart."
I now present a few of the many tributes of admiration which their
performances drew from cultured English people. Thus spoke Mr. Colin
Brown, Ewing Lecturer on Music, Andersonian University, Glasgow:--
"As to the manner of their singing, it must be heard before
it can be realized. Like the Swedish melodies of Jenny Lind,
it gives a new musical idea. It has been well remarked, that
in some respects it disarms criticism; in others it may be
truly said that it almost defies it. It was beautifully
described by a simple Highland girl: 'It filled my whole
heart.'
"Such singing (in which the artistic is lost in the natural)
can only be the result of the most careful training. The
richness and purity of tone both in melody and harmony, the
contrast of light and shade, the varieties and grandeur in
expression, and the exquisite refinement of the _piano_ as
contrasted with the power of the _forte_, fill us with
delight, and at the same time make us feel how strange it is
that these unpretending singers should come over here to
teach us what is the true refinement of music; make us feel
its moral and religious power."
Others spoke as follows:--
"I never so enjoyed music."--REV. C.H. SPURGEON.
"They have beautiful voices."--_London Graphic._
"Their voices are clear, rich, and highly
cultivated."--_London Daily News._
"This troupe sing with a pathos, a harmony, and an
expression, which are quite touching."--_London Journal._
"There is something inexpressibly touching in their
wonderfully sweet, round, bell voices."--REV. GEORGE
MACDONALD.
Mr. Gladstone, while prime-minister of England, honored them with a
complimentary breakfast, and listened to their songs, as Newman Hall
writes, "with rapt, enthusiastic attention, saying, 'Isn't it
wonderful? I never heard any thing like it.'"
"We never saw an audience more riveted, nor a more thorough
heart entertainment. Men of hoary hairs, as well as those
younger in the assembly, were moved even to tears as they
listened with rapt attention to some of the identical
slave-songs which these emancipated ones rendered with a
power and pathos perfectly indescribable."--_London Rock._
I might now, if it were necessary, fill many pages with the comments
made upon these charming singers by the American press both before and
after their trip to England; but these would only be repetitions of
the laudatory notices just given. The following is quoted because it
is descriptive of the improvement made by the singers. Said "The
Boston Journal,"--
"THE JUBILEE SINGERS.--The students of Fisk University,
Nashville, Tenn., whose sweet voices made such a popularity
for the Jubilee Singers in this city two or three years ago,
and won royal favor on the other side of the Atlantic, gave
their first concert since their return at Tremont Temple
last evening. The audience numbered some two thousand
persons, and manifested an enthusiasm seldom witnessed at a
concert in this city. From the initial to the finale of the
programme the singers were applauded and encored, and now
and then the enthusiasm broke forth in the interludes. So
many thousands have listened with delight to the full, rich
voices of the 'Jubilees,' and the sweet undertone which
disarms criticism while it charms the popular ear, that it
is needless to speak of them at length. The simple purity of
the rendering of the Lord's Prayer, which initiated the
programme, gave evidence that they had lost none of their
natural grace and simplicity of expression by their tour
across the water; and this was confirmed by the peculiar and
plaintive melodies of the South-land in the days of slavery,
which made up the major part of the programme. A few
selections of more artistic composition were introduced, for
the purpose of demonstrating, as they did most fully, that
the students have been educated to an appreciation of the
higher grades of vocalization. The great charm of these
singers will, however, remain in the reproduction of the
melodies of an era that has gone, happily never to
return,--melodies which were the natural expression of the
fancies and sympathies of an emotional race, and which no
musical culture or refinement can ever render with the sweet
simplicity and charming grace that flow from the lips of
those to whom they are the native music."
"In the summer of 1874 they returned to Nashville, having given two
seasons of concerts in this country, and one in Great Britain. The
best evidence of the appreciative and enthusiastic welcome given them
in both countries is the fact that the net result for Fisk University
was over $90,000." The "problem" of the little band of faithful
teachers had been nobly, gloriously solved. The old government-building
in which they began their labors was soon discarded. To-day, on a
beautiful, commanding site of twenty-five acres, with all the
appliances of the best modern colleges, stands a noble building,
forever dedicated to learning and to Christianity.
[Illustration: FISK UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN.]
Since the events whose record is just closed, it has been determined
by the faculty of Fisk University to raise by other concert tours
$100,000 as an endowment fund. At the present writing (June, 1877) the
Jubilee Singers are making a tour of the Continent. They are now in
Holland. Thus far their success continues unabated; and undoubtedly
they will succeed in amply endowing the institution which, in a manner
so praiseworthy and remarkable, they have erected. The following
extract from a letter affords a pleasant glimpse at the European life
of the singers:--
... "I will tell you something of our summer's experience.
The company had passed through a hard year's work, and
were greatly in need of rest. A charming country-seat
was rented in the suburbs of Geneva at a very reasonable
rate, and the months of July and August were spent there
with great benefit to all. The citizens were evidently
astonished at this introduction of a new shade of humanity;
and the singers seldom passed along the streets without
hearing some remark about '_les nègres_,' or '_les noirs_.'
But they were invariably treated with the greatest respect,
and, in fact, were never once annoyed by a rabble in the
streets, as they frequently are elsewhere, gathering around
with a rude and impertinent curiosity.
"Among other pleasant experiences, there was an afternoon
spent with Père Hyacinthe. We found him very genial and
agreeable, and his American wife no less so. He speaks no
English at all, but Madame acted as interpreter; and there
was none of the stiffness or awkwardness that might have
been expected under the circumstances.
"... The most notable event of our stay at Geneva was a
concert given, just before leaving, in the Salle de la
Réformation. It had been a question of much interest, as to
whether the slave-songs would retain any thing of their
power where the words were not understood. The result was a
new triumph for those mysterious melodies, showing that the
language of nature is universal, and that emotion is capable
of expressing itself without the intervention of words. The
hall was packed to its utmost capacity, and the enthusiasm
at fever-heat. When asked how they could enjoy the songs so
much when they knew nothing of the sentiment that was
conveyed, the reply was, 'We cannot _understand_ them; but
we can _feel_ them.' Père Hyacinthe presided at the concert
as chairman, and evidently enjoyed it as keenly as the rest
of the vast audience."
And now to discriminate; for the writer, while disclaiming all
censorious or pretentious aim, yet, for reasons which may be readily
understood and fully appreciated by the reader, intends this volume to
inculcate the lessons of advancement by always attempting to honestly
distinguish between that which is progressive in music and that which
is the reverse. Have, then, these famous Jubilee Singers, who
everywhere thrilled the hearts of their hearers, and whose charming
melody of voice, and style of rendition, "disarmed the critic,"--have
they established by all this a model for the present and the future?
In some respects they have; in others they have not. And is there to
be no aim beyond the singing of "Jubilee songs"? Professors White and
Seward and all these talented singers will say, I am quite sure, that
there is to be a higher aim. The songs they sang were for the present,
forming a delightful novelty, and serving a noble purpose. Still it
must be sadly remembered that these Jubilee songs sprang from a former
life of enforced degradation; and that, notwithstanding their great
beauty of melody, and occasional words of elevated religious
character, there was often in both melody and words what forcibly
reminded the hearer of the unfortunate state just mentioned; and to
the cultured, sensitive members of the race represented, these
reminders were always of the most painful nature. And yet such persons
could not have the heart to utter words of discouragement to an
enterprise having an object so noble. They, like all others, could not
but enjoy the rich melody and harmony of the wonderful Jubilee voices.
They, too, often listened spell-bound; and when inclined, as at times
they were, to murmur, the inspiriting voice of hope was heard bidding
them to turn from a view of the dark and receding past to that of a
rapidly-dawning day, whose coming should bring for these singers, and
all others of their race, increase of opportunities, and therefore
increase of culture.
On the foregoing pages but little has been said of the secular songs
with which at times the troupe indulged their audiences. Even in music
of this kind they were exceedingly pleasing; and it is very
gratifying to reflect that the members of the company constantly
aimed to obtain a scientific knowledge of general music. No fears need
be entertained that the students of Fisk University will ever lack for
instruction in music of the highest order, as ample provision is there
made for the same. Of course the model of slave "spirituals" will in a
short while give place to such music as befits the new order of
things. The students themselves will wish to aim higher, as the spirit
of true progress will demand it. Nevertheless, some of the
characteristics displayed by the great Jubilee choir it will be well
for them to ever retain, and for all other singers to imitate: I mean
the heartiness, the soulfulness, of their style of rendition. Indeed,
in their striking exhibitions of these latter qualities, I think they
may justly claim the honor of standing quite peerless and alone, and
of having presented a model for the present and the future,--a model
founded on that power of the singer, which enables him to melt, to
stir to its innermost recesses, the human heart; that power that
enables him to sing as one inspired.
And here let me conclude by venturing a brief prediction. My mind goes
a few years into the future. I attend a concert given by students or
by graduates of Fisk University; I listen to music of the most
classical order rendered in a manner that would satisfy the most
exacting critic of the art; and at the same time I am pleasantly
reminded of the famous "Jubilee Singers" of days in the past by the
peculiarly thrilling sweetness of voice, and the charming simplicity
and soulfulness of manner, that distinguish and add to the beauty of
the rendering.
XX.
THE GEORGIA MINSTRELS.
"All the minstrel art I know,
I the viol well can play;
I the pipe and syrinx blow;
Harp and geige my hand obey;
Psaltery, symphony, and rote
Help to charm the listening throng;
And Armonia lends its note
While I warble forth my song."
_The Lay of the Minstrel._
The origin of troubadours, or minstrels, dates back to the year 1100
(A.D.) at least. There are accounts, somewhat vague, however, which
make them still more ancient. They were at one time almost the sole
producers of poetry and music, always composing the songs they sang,
accompanying the same generally, at first, with the music of the
dulcet-toned harp, and, at a later period, with that of the guitar.
Their accomplishments, especially in music, secured for them the ready
_entrée_ of the most refined society, particularly that of elegant
ladies, of whom they were great favorites; while the most polished
princes always extended them a warm welcome.
At one time in their history, the fate of letters was in the sole
keeping of the troubadours. Had it not been for the frequent
presentations and allusions made to literature in their songs, its
chain, connecting past and present, would have been broken.
An elegant French writer, speaking of the ancient troubadours,
observes, "They banished scholastic quarrels and ill-breeding,
polished the manners, established rules of politeness, enlivened
conversation, and purified gallantry. That urbanity that distinguishes
us (the French) from other peoples is the fruit of their songs; and,
if it is not from them that we derive our virtues, they at least
taught us how to render them amiable."
I have thus briefly alluded to the early history and characteristics
of the minstrel, because I consider such a course as just towards the
present profession, and in order to show how sadly (in this country
certainly) have its members deviated from the refined, the brilliant
practices of their predecessors. Besides, in doing this, I am not
without a hope that I may be contributing in some slight degree
towards elevating a profession, the archetypes of which discoursed the
finest music of their times, and whose courtliness of demeanor and
varied acquirements were such as to render them the fit associates of
persons of the highest culture. For, in this instance, why may not
what has been be again?