While protesting the difficult conditions of racism and injustice in the United States, people sang freedom songs. They sang together because it connected them to one another and gave them strength to keep on working for the cause. Freedom songs work because they are easy to learn, easy to sing and have clear messages about what the singer and listener are to do.

Songs of Freedom explores the origins, evolution and impact of freedom songs and spirituals in America. The Negro spiritual occupies a distinguished place as the foundational soul of American music, and it’s important to learn them, sing them and share their stories. 

Songs of Freedom is narrated by G. Phillip Shoultz, associate conductor and director of learning and engagement for VocalEssence, the award-winning Twin Cities choral ensemble. Known for fostering community and inspiring action among people of all ages and abilities, he is a passionate advocate of expanding boundaries and creating wider access to the choral arts. His work in the community includes hosting the Young People’s Concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, mentorship at regional and national universities, and impactful work at public schools. Find out more.

‘Songs of Freedom’

“Woke Up This Morning”
Created in 1961 from the old gospel song "I Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed on Jesus," the song was written by the Rev. Robert Wesby of Aurora, Illinois, who sang it in the jail in Hinds County, Mississippi, after his arrest and incarceration during the Freedom Rides.

‘We Shall Overcome’
Thought to have descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day," a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, the song also often is attributed to the tobacco workers led by Lucille Simmons during the 1945-46 Charleston Cigar Factory strike in South Carolina. It was published in 1947 under the title "We Will Overcome" in an edition of the People's Songs Bulletin and became associated with the civil-rights movement in 1959 as a protest song.

‘Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round’
This freedom song is based on the spiritual "Don't You Let Nobody Turn You ‘Round," which became an American civil-rights anthem and whose lyrics were often adapted to situations and locations. It was sung during demonstrations for civil rights, including during the Memphis sanitation strike in 1967.

‘Eyes on the Prize, Hold On’
This folk song became influential during the Civil Rights Movement and is based on the traditional song "Gospel Plow," also known as "Hold On," "Keep Your Hand on the Plow" and various other names.

‘We Shall Not Be Moved’
This African American spiritual, hymn and protest song dates to the early 19th-century American south. The song describes being "like a tree planted by the waters" that "shall not be moved" because of faith in God. It gained popularity as a labor union song and a protest song during the Civil Rights Movement.

“Motherless Child”
Also titled "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," this spiritual first came to wide public prominence when it was performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in the early 1870s. The piece was commonly heard during the Civil Rights Movement and expresses deep sorrow through its lyrics and music.

‘Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho’
Known by various alternate names, including "Joshua Fought de Battle of Jericho," this spiritual alludes to the biblical story of the Battle of Jericho, in which Joshua led the Israelites against Canaan. It is speculated that the song's words might also be alluding to the singer’s eventual escape from slavery.

‘Wade in the Water’
A spiritual categorized as a Sorrow Song and associated with the songs of the Underground Railroad, the lyrics to the piece were first published in 1901 in the New Jubilee Songs, as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers scorebook, although there have been subsequent publications with variations on the lyrics since.

‘Deep River’
The first print version and mention of this spiritual is found in The Story of the [Fisk] Jubilee Singers: With Their Songs, by J. B. T. Marsh, from 1877. It was then popularized by Henry Burleigh in his 1916 collection Jubilee Songs of the USA. The lyrics in the piece suggest a yearning for escape to freedom through the phrase “I want to cross over into campground.”

‘Every Time I Feel the Spirit’
African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois ascribed three gifts from the African American community. One of those was “the gift of the Spirit.” Having been frequently recorded by contemporary artists and gospel music groups, “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” contains many scripture references and speaks directly to the act of worship and prayer.

John Blanke was a black musician in London in the early 16th century. He was a trumpeter to the Tudor courts of Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII.

Darin Atwater is considered as one of the foremost music artists of his generation. Atwater is a composer, conductor, pianist, record producer, arranger, film composer, vocalist, and arts advocate. Just as he has performed in many roles throughout his career, Atwater has dabbled in various musical genres, such as gospel and jazz. Having begun playing music on the piano at an early age, by the time he was 12 years old, Atwater was directing his own ensemble. In 2000, Darin Atwater founded Soulful Symphony, an 85-member orchestra with vocals made up of primarily African American and Latino musicians. Soulful Symphony is dedicated to two things: the presentation of symphonic music that represents diverse genres and the preservation of African American cultural expression. Atwater has been engaged with such major orchestras as the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony and has even performed at the White House. In 2015, Atwater performed for the grand opening of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. Ebony magazine named him one of the "30 Leaders of the Future," and the Baltimore Business Journal included him in their exclusive "40 under 40" list. The Chicago Community Chorus is presenting an upcoming concert featuring his work, "A Song in a Strange Land" on April 28, 2018. For more information: www.chicagocommunitychorus.org.

Harry Lawrence Freeman was a pioneering composer, librettist, conductor, and teacher. Freeman composed at least 23 operas, founded an opera company and a music school. Freeman's best-known work is his Voodoo opera.

Hale smith was one America's finest composers. He enjoyed a long and fruitful career in music as an arranger, editor, pianist and educator. In 1952, Hale Smith was a winner of the first Student Composer's Award sponsored by Broadcast Music Inc., and in 1973, he became the first African American to receive the Cleveland Art Prize in Music. Hale Smith was a native of Cleveland, Ohio and began playing piano at the age of seven. He eventually went on to study composition and earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in music. Smith was heavily influenced by Jazz music and he spent quite a bit of time arranging Jazz compositions and performing as a Jazz pianist. His Jazz endeavors occupied much of his time, so creating Classical music, his first love, became especially important. Smith wrote solo pieces, duos, chamber ensembles, string orchestra works, large orchestra pieces, compositions for soloist and orchestra, band, jazz ensembles, choir and incidental music. Notable compositions include his In Memoriam, Beryl Rubinstein (1953) for choir and orchestra and the Sonata for Cello and Piano (1955).

Zenobia Powell Perry was an American pianist, teacher and composer. She wrote music for piano, chamber ensembles, an opera, orchestral works and symphonic wind ensembles. She taught music at several historically black colleges and led a black teacher-training program with guidance from Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt would become a mentor and friend to Perry and even helped sponsor her graduate studies.

Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins was the first African American musician to officially play at the White House. Wiggins was considered a musical genius; he could play difficult works by the likes of Bach and Chopin after hearing them a single time. He was known to gross $50,000 a year in concert revenue.

Francis Johnson was a musician, composer, and bandleader. He composed over three hundred pieces of music. He was a renowned performer on the keyed bugle and violin, and performed for the queen of England in 1837. Johnson and his band introduced the promenade concert style to the United States in 1838.

Ignatius Sancho was a composer, actor, writer, and was the first known black man to vote in a British election. A Renaissance man of learning, Sancho was the first black musician known to have published his own music.

https://youtu.be/NL3DZFHJsfw

Eva Jessye was first black woman to be internationally recognized as a professional choral conductor. She was a singer, choral director, poet, author and actress. Her contributions to the arts were extraordinary; she was often referred to as the "Grand Dame" of black music in America.

https://youtu.be/PYHaiN8mx8E

Nora Holt is best known as the first black woman to earn a Masters degree in the United States. She was an accomplished composer, respected music critic, and famed singer. Holt also co-founded the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1919.

https://youtu.be/GqX6NrGbNgc

Will Marion Cook was a bold and uncompromising composer and violinist; he was instrumental in nearly every aspect of the black music of his time. In the 1890s, he studied with violinist Joseph Joachim and composer Antonin Dvorak. He composed the score for the first musical ever composed and performed entirely by African-Americans that was put up by a major Broadway theater. Will Marion Cook also taught renowned composer and bandleader, Duke Ellington.

William Grant Still was a composer, arranger and conductor. He created over 150 musical works, including five symphonies, four ballets, and nine operas. His opera, "Troubled Island", became the first full-length work written by an African American to be produced by a well-known opera company. In 1981, "A Bayou Legend", became the first opera by a black composer to be performed on national television.

Dr. Adolphus C. Hailstork is an African American composer and professor who got his musical start in the public school system. While in elementary school, he took a musical aptitude test and began taking free violin lessons in the Fourth Grade. Eventually, Hailstork began to sing and learned to play piano and organ. He developed a love for improvisation and turned his studies to composition. Dr. Adolphus Hailstork carved out a successful music career that spans over 50 years. He has composed symphonic works, orchestral tone poems, chamber works band works, and many pieces for piano. One of his notable works, the award-winning American Guernica (1983) was composed in memory of the four little girls killed by a bomb explosion at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, during Sunday school class on September 15th 1963. When asked about his composing philosophy, Dr. Adolphus Hailstork has said, that his compositions are "always lyrical, tonal, narrative, dramatic, and propulsive. I just wanted to add to the repertoire." Dr. Hailstork currently lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is Professor of Music and Eminent Scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

Scott Joplin was dubbed the "King of Ragtime" in the early 20th century. His "Maple Leaf Rag" became the first piece of instrumental music to sell a million copies in the United States. Joplin composed operas and also published a piano workbook: The School of Ragtime: Six Exercises for Piano.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a composer, teacher, conductor and Pan-Africanist, devoted to strengthening bonds between people of African descent. He composed a large and varied body of music, both vocal and instrumental. He dedicated himself to education, spending almost 20 years of his short life teaching at various music schools in the United Kingdom.

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Helen Eugenia Hagan was the first African American woman to graduate from Yale School of Music in 1912. She is also believed to be the school's first African American female student. Robert Blocker, dean of the Yale School of Music, said, "Over a century ago, Helen Hagan embodied the ideals of the School of Music that are reflected in our current students today - artistic excellence, intellectual curiosity, and service to humankind." Hagan is credited as a concert pianist and composer who wrote pianoforte pieces, violin and piano sonatas and string quartets. However, only one piece of music survives. She is perhaps, best known for the time she spent in France entertaining black troops during the First World War. Dubbed "the darling of the dough boys", Hagan was the only female Black musician sent to France to perform during the war effort.

Richard Alston is an American Classical Pianist who leads an illustrious career in both classical performance and performing arts education. A native of East Orange, New Jersey, Alston is known for his technical mastery and his charismatic personality. Richard Alston received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Julliard School of Music and since completing his education, has given solo recitals, played with prominent orchestras, given live opera performances and released commercial music. When he was 15 years old, Alston became the first African American to win the Young Artist Competition for three consecutive years at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina. Most recently, Richard Alston has introduced audiences to his "Classically Black" lecture series highlighting the work of composers of African descent. Passionate about his connection with other musicians of color, Alston has said, "When you play a part of music, you are becoming part of something that was created by somebody, and there is... a spiritual connection." For Richard Alston, "...the nature of music transcends the boundaries of the physical world and touches something deeper."

R. Nathaniel Dett was a writer, teacher, choral director and pianist. Although he was relatively unknown, he published more than 200 works and dedicated his life to preserving Negro spirituals. Dett was very well educated; In 1908, he became the first African American to graduate from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio.

Philippa Schuyler achieved national acclaim in the 1930s and 1940s as a child prodigy on the piano. She was born and raised in New York and was known as Harlem's Mozart and the Shirley Temple of American Negroes. Despite her childhood fame and awe-inspiring talent, Philippa Schuyler was also one of the most unusual and tragic figures in American history.

Joseph Boulogne was the first classical music composer of African descent written about in history books. His name changed to Le Chevalier de Saint-George when he was knighted in the French court. He was a virtuoso violinist, composer and conductor during the 18th century. When he wasn't wielding a bow or tickling the ivories, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a world champion swordsman, a champion runner and pistol marksman.

https://youtu.be/yN9_weY_Hls

Hazel Scott was a piano-playing child prodigy, activist and singer. She went to study at the Juilliard School of Music when she was 8 years old, went on to perform on Broadway and appear in five Hollywood films in the 1940s. Hazel Scott was also the first black person to have her own TV show.

Harry Burleigh was the first black composer to help develop a characteristically American style of music. He wrote the first formal orchestral arrangements for more than 100 Negro Spirituals. Harry T. Burleigh composed over 200 works and was the first black singer to have a performance recorded.

George Augustus Bridgetower was a child prodigy, a crown favorite, a master violinist, composer and respected keyboard teacher. He is best known for his association with Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated his Kreutzer Sonata for the Afro-European musician, and debuted the sonata for violin and piano with Bridgetower. A copy of the sonata autographed by Beethoven is inscribed: Sonata mulattica composta per il mullato

Joseph Douglass was the favorite grandson of prominent American abolitionist, author and orator, Frederick Douglass. Joseph Douglass had a career in classical music that spanned more than three decades. He was the first black violinist to be engaged on an international tour. He also became the first violinist of any race to record music for the Victor Talking Machine Co. In his day, the Black press called him "the most talented violinist of the race."

For more, listen to today's episode of the Black History Spotlight Series.

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Florence Beatrice Price was an award-winning pianist and composer who was the first African-American woman to have a composition performed by a major symphony. She pursued music at an early age and later graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1906 with degrees in organ performance and music education.

Price's history-making piece, "Symphony in E Minor," won the 1932 Wanamaker Prize and was played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

For more, listen this episode of the Black History Spotlight Series above and sample the music below.

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